Ghostshrimp

Dan Ghostshrimp has ADHD, lives in the woods, drives something called the LandShark, and though he's only been in two fights his entire life, he threw the first punch both times.

Oh, and he's a brilliant illustrator. Fucking brilliant.






Chief Magazine: You’ve done 30-something illustrations for The NY Times Book Review, over a dozen for The Stranger in Seattle, and much more including illustrations for The New Yorker, SubPop Records, book covers, logos… how did it all get started? Was the hardest part getting that first gig and the rest snowballed after?

Ghostshrimp: The hardest part about becoming an illustrator for me was simply all the time I spent not knowing that drawing was a job. Back when I was in high school, all I wanted to do was ride bikes and draw. Since it was hard to ride a bike in class, I would mostly sit and draw on my desk and make lots of conversation about clogging diapers with my fellow classmates. Basically what I get paid to do now. Back then everyone acted like I was raping cripples if I wasn't paying attention to every single asinine word uttered by the exiled Nazis that my school hired on as teachers. I used to get suspended, yelled at and thrown out all the time. I have never been able to do things that didn't make sense to me, so I just kept on drawing, getting in trouble, spitting on teachers and calling them fucking bitches just so they would shut the fuck up for one second. Why do teachers think they are your boss? Shut the fuck up, bitch!

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So anyway, once I realized drawing was a job and I could make money for nothing, I was all set. I was already doing flyers for my friends, and that’s not much different from what I do now. Mostly I just get in touch with people I like: musicians, labels, magazines and coffee shops, and then I do drawings for them. Then people see those drawings and call me up to do shit for them, and if I like what they do, we get down. It’s just an example of doing what comes natural and everything makes sense, which seems to be the way the world works if you let it. It’s a lot of work, and anytime you are trying to master something there are frustrating circumstances, but overall, since I love it, it's easy. I spend most of my time working on personal projects, mostly stories. I work all the time even when I'm not working, if you get me. Everything I do or see or think or say or hear or punch in the face eventually ends up in a drawing. For me, the only trouble I've had is drawing for people who fuck around. Like asking for stupid irrelevant changes to a finished illustration. A few years ago I would suck it up and work with these assholes, but now if someone is out to run the show I just walk. Fuck em! Let ‘em get mad and draw it themselves. The best illustrations I do are always the ones where someone comes to me and says, "we love what you do, here’s the basic idea, go nuts." Those are the jobs I do now.

One might think that working in the illustration field outside the major metropolises of America would hinder your career, but oh no, not Ghostshrimp. Where the hell do you live?

Well we have a few bases of operation. Ghostshrimp island is our main stronghold. It’s an old military facility way out in the Atlantic that we inherited from family - about as far as you can get from the world of man and still find folks wearing really short shorts. Then there's our mainland headquarters, Camp Ghostwood on Mystery Mountain. Camp Ghostwood is really a place for us to learn how to build. We plan on building several small cabins there, all powered by solar panels and wind turbines. Our first project there has been the Microbarn, which we began building last summer. We have been doing all our illustration work there since December. We have also harvested enough wood for a few more small cabins that we will be working on as time permits in the next few years. After we have learned the ins and outs of building we will begin planning Ghostshrimp Village, which will be located just south of Canada. Ghostshrimp Village will be a sort of center where, during certain months, anyone can come and stay for free, ride bikes in the forest, make bows and arrows, learn about renewable living and building, and wrestle with alligators. And draw, obviously.

Ghostshrimp Headquarters… I envision a log cabin fortress atop a high mountain peak above the cloud layer. Am I close?

Yes, that’s somewhat close. We will be building with logs once they are dry. The Microbarn is built from leftover rough-cut boards harvested from a friend's land. It has a grey blue metal gambrel roof and it is built on the exposed rock ledge of Mystery Mountain. Sometimes we are above the clouds of the valley, and we are often in the clouds on overcast days. Camp Ghostwood is 1000 feet above sea level, so we are not very high up, but we can see the White Mountain range is only a handful of houses. It's a very perfect place to grow one's imagination. Lots of strange plants, animals, noises, trees and boulders. There is no road, just a trail up the mountain, so it is very fun to arrive there and hike up.

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Your style is very eclectic and detailed and it seems to be paying off… has this always been the goal, to work and rework this hand until, well, until it paid off? What were some of your earliest illustrations like?

I used to draw characters from comics I liked, like super heroes or Don Martin people from Mad Magazine. When I was younger I used to draw more cartoony stuff, like big round eyes and shit I saw around. At some point I just become more interested in inventing my own people. Nowadays I don't think too much about how I draw. I just get an impression in my head, like a dreamy image and just work the pencil around the paper until something sticks. A lot of times I will draw for hours before I find lines that I can keep. It’s like the more I draw, the more I can draw, so my drawings get more detailed cause now I can handle the extra information. There's lots I can't do still. I'm not all that good at drawing real people's likenesses, but I'm beginning to figure it out. My main goal is to just keep pushing my subject matter and character further out into la la land. The stranger the better.

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Was there a definitive moment when you went from Dan to Ghostshrimp? Where did this idea, this identity come from? Did a ghostshrimp visit you in a dream?

Shit, I have no idea. Always and forever probably. Ghostshrimp is a lifestyle, and its always changing really. Back then it was raiding gardens and throwing vegetables at cars from 60 feet up a tree. Then it was putting dog shit and sandwich meat into peoples coffee mugs. Then it was climbing on the roof of the school and swearing at teachers. Now its drawing illustrations for The New Yorker and building cabins in the woods on a mountain. It’s all the same thing really. There are tangible events that mark times where I took big steps to what I am now, but it is so much bigger than that. It’s really all about having the most fun and doing everything you want to do, and then getting that done and thinking up even more fun shit to do. And then it’s about having other people doing what they want to do. If there’s one sure-fire way to change the way people think, and in my opinion a lot of people are fucked, it’s to become the best version of yourself and have a good time doing it.

Your slogan, ADHD since 1980… do you take medication for that or is it part of the magic that is Ghostshrimp?

Back when I still took candy from strangers, I was on drugs that would "help me" in school. When the teachers yell at you they are helping you, when you yell back at your teachers you need medication. After conclusive testing that was much more interesting than school itself, the doctors said I had severe ADHD. ADHD means that you have no tolerance for stupid boring shit, and you have endless focus for things that interest you. It’s probably a mild form of autism. After I realized that the drugs were probably slowly killing me, I stopped taking them. People with diabetes should take medication. People with ADHD should be given bicycles and headphones. ADHD is a super power, without it I would be nothing. Hyper-focus is what allows me to sit in a chair and draw for 12 hours. It’s what made it impossible for me to put up with a world of stupid bullshit and made me figure out how I was going to beat all that. My only regret is that I don't have a twin. Twins and ADHD are both pure magic.

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What’s up with the Ghostshrimp theme songs?

I've had a couple producers. I like making Ghostshrimp theme songs. I plan to amass a collection of Ghostshrimp theme songs. I haven't really had time to hustle more yet, but if anybody who reads this wants to throw down we'll rock it. We have a whole new website planned and I hope to have more theme songs on it, so people can jam out while they look at the illustrations.

Politics or Sports? Sports or Politics?

I used to live for sports. I have books of baseball and basketball cards. I love to play basketball, and I love the game of baseball on every level. I don't have time to follow pro sports anymore. I watch games here and there with my brother. He's still way into it. I would love to go to real games. I really don't do much other than draw and work on camp Ghostwood stuff. I hate politics, but I do follow them. I listen to the radio, NPR. Politics is the rich man's sport. It’s a bunch of rich fucks flaking out the world. I love Dennis Kucinich. I vote local and national. It’s just all so fucked.

Politics can change things. Usually they're just things that are so damn backwards in the first place. Giving women the vote. Hmm, tough one. Equality amongst peoples. Hmm. But his skin is darker than mine, daddy. He’s spooky. I can't drink the same water as him, I’ll get infected. People are fucked, but people have always been fucked. People always fight each other. Throughout history. Everybody fight. Everybody hates. Everybody dies. Again, I just think it’s a matter of being the change you want to see in the world, and not being an asshole. Politics is bullshit on a dinner plate.

Any big plans for the summer?

Plans, yup. I'm finishing up a few awesome book projects. Personal projects I've been working on. I've just started working with the writer Will Clarke on a super crazy story that we're both very excited about. We're just laying out the story now, so it will be a bit yet. I also have five or six other stories in various stages of production that I’m working on as personal projects. Some of them are very strange. We're going to be working more on The Microbarn, finishing up interior details and whatnot.

I hope to get a moped this summer. I haven't driven a car in 10 years. I have a bicycle and a six wheel aquatic ATV we call the “Landshark.” I’m very good at breaking the Landshark, so I have become a handy mechanic. I would like to have a whole fleet of strange vehicles by the time we make it to Ghostshrimp Village. My older brother is visiting with his daughter from Hawaii soon. I’m going to see Sage Francis and Buck 65 in July. I’m very excited about that. I have never seen either of them and they are both in my top five of favorite musicians. My uncle is moving to Mexico and I might go visit him. The summer is ripe with possibilities. Also, we just planted a vegetable garden at Camp Ghostwood, so I look forward to eating lots of fresh food.

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You haven't driven a car in 10 years? Really? Do you not like driving cars?

Yeah, I drove a car for like two months when I was 16, then I flipped it over and destroyed it. I was fine but that was the only car I ever had. After that I just rode my bike everywhere. Now I just carpool with friends or ride my bike. I've never really been a fan of cars. Although sometime I would like to get an old diesel station wagon and convert it to SVO. I would like cars better if they only went 30 miles per hour. That’s why I want a moped. Cars are too easy to operate in proportion to how much damage they can do. I'm used to cars, but they're really dangerous. Almost everyone I know has had some crazy car accident. Plus, most cars just eat gas like there’s no tomorrow, which is bad. I know global warming is a myth, and that women were created from Adam’s spare rib, and that Noah fit two of every animal in the world on a boat he built with his family, but gas is just so smelly. I'd rather use vegetable oil. Then I can siphon my tank and cook French fries on my engine.

You mentioned gardening and growing vegetables. Do you also like to cook? Are you a good cook?

I like to cook. I'm an alright cook. I cook every day, so I’m probably getting better. It’s all about the right ingredients. The right spices and sauces. Our wood stove has two burners on top, so in the winter that’s how we did all our cooking. Now that it's warm outside we cook on a little stone grill we built. If it’s raining we use a little gas camp stove inside.

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Who or what inspires you?

Different things at different times. Then also the same things all the time. The films of Wes Anderson are huge for me. I watch them a lot. I love John Irving’s books and Hunter S. Thompson’s everything. Whenever I get derailed, I can pick up a Hunter S. Thompson book and get right back on track. I love reading. I listen to books on tape while I draw most of the time. To really sit and draw for like, 10 or 12 hours for consecutive days, I need a good book to listen to or some good albums. I get in the zone and forget where I am. Without that external stimulation I get antsy, and I have to keep getting up and walking around. I get less done. I love music. I love Bob Dylan and Beck. I listen to a lot of different stuff, but hip-hop is my real addiction. I usually buy a couple albums every week, although I’ve been cutting back lately to save up for Ghostshrimp Village. It’s the little stuff that adds up. I love The Shapeshifters, Buck 65 and all the anticon guys. I love Sage Francis. I've been getting into David Lynch movies lately. Somehow I was never told about David Lynch until now. I fired all my secretaries over that one.

My largest all time source of ideas, imagination and inspiration is the forest. That's the major reason we created Camp Ghostwood, to get out into the middle of the woods. To really become another part of the woods. Everything is different in the woods at night. People don't understand it really. Everything is alive around you. There are bears, coyotes, chipmunks, beetles, hemlocks, lady slippers, ponds, snakes, moose, deer, ghosts, bones and strange people doing strange things. All happening all the time. I love everything about life in the forest. It’s the greatest story of all time every day right there under you feet. We cut trails and build bridges. We sled and ride bikes. There are six abandoned girl scout cabins and a graveyard here. Serious log lean-to style cabins and a huge lodge that was all burned out back in the eighties. There are all kinds of old stone foundations and wells. It’s like a ghost town. There are all kinds of trails and dirt roads. We ride the Landshark back there. Then I break the Landshark and fix it and break it again. It’s so awesome. It’s like being little with no adults around and no one else in the world. Lord of the Flies. If there is one way I would choose to describe what I want to do in life and work, it's Lord of the Flies, without the rescue.

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Didn't you do an album cover for Sage Francis? How did that come about? What other musicians are you digging on?

I did a drawing for Sage. It’s going to be inside the booklet of the re-issued Known Unsoldier album. The one with "Makeshift Patriot" on it. That song was sort of the idea behind the drawing, but then we also throw a little Brave New World in there too. That came about through talking with Sage on MySpace.com. We're talking about doing some more stuff on either his next album or the one after that. I've gotten a lot of illustration work on MySpace.com, especially with bands I like. That’s how I hooked up with Awol, one of The Shapeshifters. I've done the album cover for Splitsville, and the "You Know Verse" tour poster before that. He actually was just here at Camp Ghostwood a few weekends ago. Awol, Factor, DJ Moves, DJ Hoppa, Evil, and Mine+Us had a few days off on tour and they came and camped out for a couple nights. It was incredibly awesome. They recorded two songs right in front of The Microbarn with the microphone dangling from a tree branch.
It was wicked classic.

Was there ever a moment, or perhaps more than one, when you found yourself in a tight situation where you thought, “Holy shit, I might not live through this.”

Yes, I have almost died many times. Once I tried to jump off a cliff into the ocean for fun and landed on a rock and broke every bone in both my feet, and also my left wrist. Once when I was riding my bike really fast I flipped over and slid upside down through traffic on my helmet, inches from a car bumper. Once on that crazy old loop-dee-do highway deal coming in and out of Boston, my brother’s car broke down with no lights around a blind corner at night and I had to get out and push the car to the breakdown lane by myself while cars were literally not seeing me until the absolute last moment when they screeched to one side and flew by shaking me and the car. I thought I was really going to die then. This may be another reason I'm not such a fan of cars. Other than that, I got the usual stuff. After the first time I had sex I peed cloudy and I was convinced I had AIDS. I told my mom that I had AIDS. Awesome. Every mother's dream come true. AIDS is one of those things that is only funny if you don't actually have it. I also was almost beat up by the girl's older brother in the store 24 parking lot. I somehow talked my way out of that one but I was very frightened. He beat another kid with a mag-light in the woods one time and he was substantially bigger and tougher than I was.

I've only been in two fights in my life. I threw the first punch both times. One during a school kickball game and the other during a school basketball game. I won the kickball fight by opening up the other boys nose. The basketball fight was a draw since the referees pulled us apart very quickly. They were both glorious fights. I also hit my friend in the head with a shovel kind of by accident, and kind of on purpose. Also, I’m a decent street wrestler.

Every time there is turbulence on an airplane, I’m sure I will die. Whenever I find myself in a car with someone who is either drunk or driving like they are drunk, I’m sure I’m going to die. In Hawaii people drink and drive all the fucking time. They'll be drinking a beer filling up at a gas station, just standing there. My brother lives there. He is one of those people. Whenever I swim in the ocean I can feel the sharks out there swimming towards me. They are out there. All the time. In the same water as me. As soon as I get in they all change course. I can only swim for so long or they'll find me. It’s my destiny to be eaten by a shark. I know this for sure so I've plea bargained. In my will it states that all my meat is to be fed to great white sharks at sea. My skeleton will be preserved and displayed at Ghostshrimp Village. I think it’s such a waste to bury a good skeleton.

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Website

www.ghostshrimp.net

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