Gerry Carnelly is a tattooist, artist, musician and all-round creative based in Nottingham and has just released the first edition of his new art zine Fuck That Weak Shit. We manage to stop his crazy world for a minute and ask him about his journey so far....
Thanks for the interview, Gerry. Can you tell me something about your new zine and why you decided to release it?
My art zine is about weird and grotesque underground art. I make a lot of art that doesn’t really fit in anywhere else, and so, at the encouragement of friends, I decided to make a zine. I grew up in the eighties and nineties listening to a lot of hardcore punk and noise, and zines were a big part of the pre-internet underground communication network. The first issue is the art I made back in those days. I got better though, haha!
Where can folks get their hands on the new zine?
They can buy it online from my website. I’m doing small runs right now, the first has sold out, the second is selling fast. If there’s demand, I might do a third - but we’ll see how it goes.
So, will it be a regular monthly release?
Bi-monthly, at the moment. I’m a tattoo artist and also make electronic music and art for bands, so have a lot going on. Next issue will be in mid-to-late March.
I'm trying to cram as much stuff as I can into this short life and have a lot of fun doing it
Ah, that's not too long to wait then. What’s your art background, Gerry?
I grew up in Rochdale, near Manchester, so art-wise I was very isolated. I went to art college, but I didn’t really fit in with their idea of good art. I had an abusive stepfather who I escaped from aged sixteen, so a lot of the imagery in the first issue can be traced back to the fallout from that. Music and art were my saviours at the time, and continue to be so. I got into tattooing in 1992, and that was my main focus for the next twenty-odd years. But I still kept doing my own stuff, and here we are.
I grew up in Rochdale, near Manchester, so art-wise I was very isolated. I went to art college, but I didn’t really fit in with their idea of good art. I had an abusive stepfather who I escaped from aged sixteen, so a lot of the imagery in the first issue can be traced back to the fallout from that. Music and art were my saviours at the time, and continue to be so. I got into tattooing in 1992, and that was my main focus for the next twenty-odd years. But I still kept doing my own stuff, and here we are.
What are your influences?
My earliest influence at age seven was Ken Reid, a Salford monster artist who drew for Shiver and Shake comic in the seventies. After that, it was 2000AD, Kevin O’Neill, Brian Bolland, and so on. Then underground comics from Robert Crumb, Rick Griffin and the Zap Comix artists, and punk artists like Pushead, Squeal, and Jeff Gaither, along with French comics legends Moebius and Druillet. These days, I like Jim Woodring, Szukalski, Chris Mars, the list goes on. I could bore you all day!
It's certainly not boring, Gerry! What will you be up to this year?
Tattooing, making art for the zine, painting, making weird music and hopefully playing live a bit more, making videos for small bands, communicating with like-minded people, trying to get my stuff out there. Already, we might be hosting metal LP art legend Arik Roper to do a book release event at Liquid Light Brewery in the spring, but I'm waiting for confirmation on that. Trying to cram as much stuff as I can into this short life and have a lot of fun doing it. Just pushing it in Nottingham and beyond. I love this city!
We have a favour to ask
LeftLion is Nottingham’s meeting point for information about what’s going on in our city, from the established organisations to the grassroots. We want to keep what we do free to all to access, but increasingly we are relying on revenue from our readers to continue. Can you spare a few quid each month to support us?
