Following his outstanding pop up gallery at Sub Hub back in April in our loft space high above Glasgow’s Style Mile, we caught up with Dan Axon, the main man behind Joints, Lines and Fades, an exhibition of artwork created for the Dixon Avenue Basement Jams record label.
Dan Tell the Subbie readers who you are and what you do?
Hello! I’m an artist and designer currently living in York, i’m a mixed-media artist which means i’ll do pretty much anything to avoid proper work – i’ll wash your car for a tenner, for example. Go on then call it a fiver.
How did you get to know and end up working with Rub A Dub and D.A.B.J?
I moved up to Glasgow in 2000 and immediately got involved with those reprobates. When I moved back down tut Yorksher I couldn’t shake them, and recently they asked me to do a series of drawings to use as inserts for the Dixon Avenue Basement Jams label.
Tell us a bit more about your sketches of certain places in Glasgow, including our beloved Sub Club?
The idea was to depict Glasgow themes that are significant to the label – so Dixon Ave, The Soundhaus, Rubadub, and of course the Sub Club plus a few others. I wanted to work in greyscale to see how much power and energy could be developed without using colour. The drawings got increasingly technical and complex – the later ones were using up to 20 stencils before the line work even began. It was a good project, I really developed some techniques. Kenny and Dan were very supportive and just let me get on with it – they knocked the odd one back which you actually appreciate as an artist – it means they care.
FAG PACKET CONCEPT-” This was my initial idea of just drawing the punters, or their energy, almost like an energy map of the site.”
FIRST ROUGH – ” Here I was working on how to represent peoples energy individually but also as one entity. There are dozens of these, working towards stencils which are the base layer of the final pieces.”
ENERGY MESH – “This first finished piece was a lot of fun, I was absolutely arseholed doing this one Saturday night and I think that comes across in a good way. Dan and Kenny liked it but said it was difficult to recognise it as the Subbie.”
AXON’S PLAN – “Needing more information to draw the entire space I sent this plan through to Dan…”
LURINKY’S PLAN – Dan responded with this masterpiece. We probably should have just called this the final piece. Obviously he wasn’t DJing on that night because he’s definitely a c**t but he’s written ‘DJ’.
ENEGRY BALL – With enough info to draw it I set to and here is the piece that will be used as the next DABJ insert…as someone said at the Sub Hub show “I like the jaggy shit” I hope I’ve done it justice…
How did that come about? Was there any funny stories about certain targeted locations ;)
It was around the time the label was really getting going. I was up visiting and Kenny and Dan put the idea to me, it sounded interesting to draw buildings in a tripped-out manner – I started studying architecture but it bored me to tears so I jumped ship to art school. This was a nice chance to have some fun drawing buildings and spaces. The Sub Club drawing was ridiculous – no-one could remember it properly, even the day after they’d been in the place (something in the water?). We sent some very amusing sketches (probably not suitable for general consumption!) back and forth until we decided we were all halfwits and I came up just to sketch it. There’s a few versions of that drawing – and mountains of roughs.
5. Hypothetically speaking, if you could have designed the artwork for any three music albums, what would they be?
” haha that’s a good’un – err…any three bands with an actual artwork budget please. No but seriously, i’m music-mad so won’t give it too much thought – off the top of my head some things I could maybe do justice.. I haven’t just picked my all-time favourite records here – i’ve tried to pick music that I think my style suits “
Drexciya: any album but “Harnessed the Storm” is a fave – really atmospheric and immaculately produced, best synth music ever in my opinion.
Napalm Death: “Again any but i’m into the new’un; “Apex Predator”. People think it’s mindless music but if you listen carefully it’s actually mindless noise haha.”
Jeff Beck – Wired “Bit of a weird choice this because i’m not a huge fusion/jazz fan but i have a tape of “Wired/Blow by Blow” in the studio and I often find it really motivates me (that one and DJ Miltons “1-800 Get Some More” mixtape from 1997) I think the intensity and heaviness of this music is similar to that of my work. It sounds a bit like the inside of my head. Which can’t be good”
Other recent work…
“I restyled 12 technics 1200’s, the project was called Twelve Twelve Hundreds“
A series of nautical themed paintings dedicated to a good friend of mine who was lost at sea off Brazil a year ago in his tiny boat…
I’ll be announcing shows for this work later this year – watch my site/twitter @danaxondesign for details of this and other shows.
ARTY BOLLOX: I’m probably guilty of shifting media and even style too much which may confuse audiences but I don’t get how many artists can churn out variations of the same piece for years on end – it certainly helps to sell and find an audience but that would bore me to tears. I have to make a conscious effort to make series’ and not just one-offs – once i’ve realised an image I instinctively want to move on, I guess i’m just not commercially wired. I really respect Gerhard Richter for that – not only for his continual high quality output over several decades but for his courage in continually moving forward and exploring and never pausing to cash in.
PRACTICE BOLLOX: I work on music related art a lot and I create electronic music as a hobby – the two are very related – my art is always made listening to loud music or about music, and when I create music I think quite visually/sculpturally and try and translate the shapes, textures and forms into sound. When I used to release music it was quite inaccessible – my art is made with the exact same uncompromising ethos but somehow translates to an audience better. Now I have my music back as a hobby and it feeds my artwork. In the future I’m continuing with the fine art and design stuff but i’m also going to start with product design again.
DABJ stuff is at available HERE.
We’re sure we will see Dans work in and around the Sub Hub or at the club again some time soon, but in the meantime keep an eye out for what’s upcoming…
Following on from ‘Twelve Twelve Hundreds’ – a test piece for a new series of circular/rotational works actually created on a Technics 1200.
If you’re interested in buying originals or prints of Dan’s work, or would like to commission him for a one-off piece or artwork for your club/label/band then give him a shout on info@danaxon.co.uk.
Our mutual pals over at No Way Back Cafe on Nithsdale Road (Glasgow’s Southside) currently have a limited number of DABJ print sets in stock too.