PMH and The Dilly

Master P aka Grand Wizard Pmh aka People Miss Heroin aka Pretty Much Hopeless aka Panty Munching Hero aka Pussy Mash Hash. All of this, and much more is Pmh (www.fotolog.com/lapmh), well known artist that is currently based in deep ‘Nam, on the outskirts of Old London Town, UK. What’s his real name we don’t know and he ain’t gonna tell us. What we really want to know, though, is all about his zine The Dilly (www.ledilly.com), its upcoming issue and its new web site. Between the Sex Pistols and sunny Barcelona he has much to say and show. Let’s hear him out then.

One question we always ask everybody: When, where and how did you start to create work for the streets?

I started a while back hand painting stickers and drawing on walls around London town. Looking back now I’m embarrassed, but that’s the truth and everyone’s got to start somewhere! I enjoy painting with spray paint but it has never been a big part of me, and when I have hit the streets it’s been with posters and paint with a brush, although I have been notorious for drunken stupid tagging. I haven’t hit the streets in a while, I still love the thrill of it, and the way the work is presented to the world, but at the moment in London, its either buffed straight away or its over-saturated with rubbish work, so I’m enjoying using my camera and sketchbook to create. I only really like my stuff from the last year or two, so it feels good to be starting out fresh!

Tell me, one day you just wake up and said : Ok I’m gonna start a fanzine and I’m gonna call it The Dilly?

It kind of started because of my frustration. I was frustrated with the gallery system, certain artists, certain money grabbing managers etc, etc. I was annoyed at the way most shows that I saw/read about were featuring the same artists, who I was getting bored, very bored with, very quickly, doing the same stale style/jpeg reproduction: All they were doing were hanging work in some trendy shop doing a show of customized skateboards/trainers/japanese toys, with no focus or anything to make it different. Part of my frustration grew from knowing about equally or more talented artists that weren’t given the same opportunities or wall space as these hyped up artists. I thought, if there’s all this money/wall space/opportunities why not let the talented good guys get theirs? If no-one else is doing it, why don’t I do it? So The Dilly was born.

What exactly means Dilly?

The Dilly name comes from some forgotten blaxplotation film where some Harlem street hustlers greeted each other with “What’s the dilly my brother?”, as in ‘What’s up?”. It kinda stuck in my head.

Some pages from The Dilly 1

Was it your first experiment in the magazine world, or you had previous experience in the field?

I have had a little experience in the magazine world, but just in a kind of journalist way,…. I interviewed people like Kaws, Barry McGee, Espo, (Todd James) Reas, Will Bankhead etc back in like 2002/3. I have also written a few pieces and intros here and there, like the intro to the Bfree interview on this site! My main experience (if any) is from making zines. Which Is putting out your own magazine. I mostly have done a few of my own work (Bloodclot 1-3, Infinite Chances, East vs West…) but The Dilly is the first time working with people, doing something a bit good and something that I will be proud of later on. My own zines were done whilst bored at work, so with hindsight they’re not great, but The Dilly has a bit more going for it. At least I think so…

The Dilly is much more than a simple fanzine, is a way of promoting good art. You show your art and the art of other artists. In the first issue you invited artists like Gomes, New studios, Bfree etc… How do you select them?

First up thank you very much for a very nice compliment! It’s very nice to hear that. As you noticed and said, it’s my way of promoting good art, and there’s one trouble with that: there’s so many good artists out there! So it’s very exciting but also quite hard to narrow down. I wanted the pages to be platforms for the artists to do whatever they wanted. I gave them one rule, to be proud of it. I don’t care what they submit because I trust them. I only pick artists I love, and I love them for a reason, so I just give them free control. I don’t want someone to submit something rushed to meet a deadline. I’d rather postpone it until it’s ready. For the first issue I wanted to work with people that I knew personally, and I thought these guys would make a nice spread.

Would you say that The Dilly is an urban project? In which direction you want to lead this fanzine and what are your influences?

Urban? Street art urban? What is urban? The Dilly isn’t urban. It isn’t the countryside. It’s about artists, and they come from everywhere. It’s not supposed to be an urban project. If it is, then that’s because of subliminal forces, but it’s never been about creating anything specifically urban. Not with the zines anyway. I want the zine to be a regular thing. I want it to be more regular, I want more pages, more copies in more places, I want to work with more cool people putting on good shows… so I want quite a bit! My influences is everything: music, art, cinema, drinking, partying, traveling… whatever. And with art it’s so personal, and my list changes quite often. My influences and favorites are quite broad, and I want The Dilly to reflect them. I want to do hundreds of zines so you can look back and see Europe’s grimiest writers next to some west coast hippy. I love sixties designers like Glaser and Edelmann to Punk flyers, eighties Hull (the city) Graffiti to the new wave in Europe… the list is endless but there are a few constants that continue to inspire me, and the biggest one is Europe. We have so much going on here, such diversity in such a small area is amazing. We have so many different styles in each country, and from country to country. Music, fashion, art, partying, to me Europe is the best! Grime in London, the Paris scene (TTC, Ed Banger…), Vol, Ers, Wssk…its all good, and it continues to make me want to do stuff.

The Dilly show at Iguapop Gallery (Barcelona). Works by Mysterious Al, Nano4814 and Bfree

Tell me a little bit about the process of making a fanzine. It can be somewhat like making an exhibition, right? You are curating your own show, and you build it with your own hands. This is the true nature of the Do It Yourself (DIY) culture, right?

I’m glad you’re asking this, so that others who read this (if anyone is reading my stupid words) might go out and make their own zines! First up: anyone can do it. My mum could do it. If you’ve got an idea, some drawings, and access to a photocopier or printer, then make a zine! Give them your friends. DIY nature is the punk ethic: if something’s shit, do it yourself. You don’t need a big bank balance to make an impact, you don’t need to have a fancy website to show your work, you don’t need to be known in books or magazines for people to read about you. Look at the Sex Pistols and Ramones, they couldn’t play their instruments, but they had what it takes: talent. You don’t have to be the most well connected guy, you could be living in shitsville USA, but if you have stamps and a photocopier you can send your work anywhere in the world. What sets it apart from having a fotolog/flickr/myspace?… Cos it’s a zine. It’s like a little present, something personal you can hold, keep always and go back to. It never crashes due to excessive bandwidth. It’s got uniqueness. It’s always a pleasure to be given something for you to have and hold, like a present. That’s why magazines are still being bought after the Internet. People like physical things, and if it’s handmade and a piece of art in itself, even better. Especially when they are free and limited edition. Zines are awesome. You can say whatever you want, draw whatever you want, because it’s yours. You’re the editor, the curator, you decided what goes in. In a zine like The Dilly I am curating a show, gathering artists I think will work well, but this is better than a show in some ways as it’s a show seen forever now while there are copies, and can be seen at the same time by someone on the toilet in Liverpool or on the beach in Spain, miles away from wifi/galleries. All you need to do, if you don’t know: Make photocopies. Have fun. Screen-print them. Make them look cheap. Make them look expensive. Draw them. Paint them. Put nothing in them. Send me a copy (email me!) Go and make zines!!!

The Dilly show at Iguapop Gallery (Barcelona). General view and work by Erosie

And you take The Dilly one step further by curating and organizing actual shows like the one you did this month in Iguapop Gallery. What is the relation between the fanzine and the show?

As you said I just wanna put out some great art by great people, and shows are just one of the main ways to see art. Its like with a band, you got the cd that you can enjoy at home or wherever (like the zine) but on a different wavelength you have the live experience, the gig, or in my case the exhibition. My original plan was to do a show for each zine, bringing the pages to life in some way. The first zine show was done at London’s Dreambagsjaguarshoes. I was quite keen on getting the artists at the space rather than have some show delivered by the postman. So I got them over, with the help of mr visa card, and we ruined this trendy bar, but in a good way. The Mentary brothers put a giant phallic latex monster over the main stairs, which gave one of the owners nightmares, so I knew it was good. I wanted to take a fairly stale cliché: trendy bar exhibition and do it differently. The second show happened a few weeks back in Barcelona. Urban Funke asked me to come out and organize a gallery show. The invitation was too good to miss. So I wanted to do a decent gallery art show, and I did it, with help from all the artists: Erosie, Boris Hoppek, Mysterious Al, Bfree, Nano, me (Pmh) and Edbyus. I was happy with the way most of it turned out (didn’t finish my piece). I have a few things planned for the immediate future, little ideas I’m brewing. The next shows will be back to back ‘Dilly presents’ shows, which are shows, kinda like the Barcelona exhibition, where they’re not tied to specific zines, its just a chance to show work of artists I really like. Then I got the show for when the second issue finally drops. Both are stupidly overdue, but I definitely want to keep expanding The Dilly 10000%

How did you find Barcelona? Do you think it’s still has a strong urban/street scene? And what about the Spanish artists, do you feel there’s the will to create new stuff?

Barcelona seems like my second home. Truly. I have been going there every year for the last few years. I have a lot of good friends there, I know the city well, I have great memories of the place and every-time I go I make more! Everyone I’ve met there is awesome. Spanish artists, except for that Jordi guy who does Sandwich and Friends, are fantastic. And I’m not just talking Barcelona now, but the whole of Spain, there are some really exciting people there, doing some really exciting things, and its a strong scene that I really really like. You have the obvious culprits like El tono, Nuria and Nano (the hero), to people that I’m just getting familiar like Sixe. I love the VOL crew as well-VOL crew to me are the shit. Awesome style. ONG, Tofu-Pax, Inocuo… I saw a show with Blami and Lolo in Barcelona when I was out there that was amazing, which I thought was great, then Iñigo from Iguapop gave me a catalogue of Blami’s work which I liked. Blami and Lolo are cool. Big up Gamebombing too. I think Barcelona suffered by me and my peers: Grafitti/Street art tourists, and when the world woke up to how great Barcelona was for that type of thing, the authorities understandably didn’t like it and clamped down which was kinda bad on the locals. So I feel part of the problem and apologize. But things like this have positives: it will make the hardcore bomb harder, it will clean the streets of the toys, and generally will make everyone raise their game a bit higher. I think Spain has one of the best scenes, and its still going from strength to strength, thankfully!

And I know that you are working on the second issue as we speak. Is it gonna be free again? And are you gonna be making more copies? Obviously you’re not doing it for the money but if the demand gets bigger and you have to make more copies would you be thinking of selling it? If the underground turns commercial what happens?

This is an awesome question and one that has definitely has had me thinking a lot. The second issue is definitely free: no doubts, and in my mind I would always like it to be free, always. I’m glad you can see it aint about the money. The artists don’t charge me to put their work in, so why should I make money off it? But the problem is costs. I am no millionaire. The point was always work with great people and get their art out there, and if there aren’t enough copies then that’s kind of damaging the point, so I would definitely like more copies, but at the moment I can’t afford it. I would also love to have some pages in color, perhaps change the format, but I can’t afford it! So at some point in the future I will need more money to come in from outside. I look at Vice magazine and they cram their pages with ads, that’s how they make money, but I don’t like the idea of adverts in The Dilly. I could charge, but keep it real cheap like 2-4 euros, but again I like the freeness, that’s what zine culture is about, free & easy. There’s sponsorship, but I wouldn’t like it sponsored by a brand as then it becomes their magazine, y’know? So I’m fucked basically! hahahaha. What I have decided is that when I get to the stage where I need money I will have a poll on the site, where people will hopefully vote. So that way whatever happens is decided by other people, not me. But I want as many people to see great art as possible!!! I aint doing it for the money. If money is ever taken, its always going to be very very artist directed, as in, I aint going to buy me a new pair of Nikes of the back of a friend. I aint the best business minded person on a selfish level. Don’t get me wrong, I want The Dilly to succeed and be a success but I believe you don’t have to be a money grabbing shit-head to do it… I hope!

And you are also working on the website, what exactly are we gonna find there?

It’s been far too long getting it sorted out (like the second zine). I wanted to get loads of things up on there, like videos, but people didn’t get round to editing them…etc, etc so I recently just said fuck it, let’s just get something up there, then we can add as we go. So at the moment it’s pretty simple: pages on the shows, zines etc. Its not overly complicated as I hate flash heavy confusing websites. I wanted to keep it simple. We will have videos up soon of both shows, and competitions, and then a few more surprises planned for the future. But rather than wait for them to be done I wanted something up now! I hope you like it. I designed it but I wanna shout out my boy Mysterious Al as well for putting it up and building it. He was they guy going “what did you do this for? Why don’t you name the layers in Photoshop? Dickhead!!!” Thanks Al!

Any plans for the future that you can tell us about?

Yeah, got lots on, especially with The Dilly (more zines /shows). I’m moving into music promoting by having a night at Dreambagsjaguarshoes in London called L.M.F (myspace.com/lmfhq). It will be every last Friday of the month, with free entry and late license. I’m not using many proper DJ’s, but my mates: fashion designers, punks, graff legends, musicians, photographers to DJ. In the vague future I might be doing a show in Berlin and I want to try and have my first solo show. I’ve got something called “Holy Mountain” on the boil, which should be good. I’m in talks with a psychedelic british hip hop group who want me to do a video for them. More pictures for and perhaps a zine of www.frowsyhq.com. Bits and bobs really. I want to find that perfect balance of organizing and doing my own thing..

Something you want to do that it hasn’t been proposed to you yet?

As I said I’d really like to do a solo show of mine, but I want it to be good and full of stuff, so I want to take time to do it well. I’m a bit of a DIY guy, so if I wanna do something that hasn’t been proposed to me yet, I go and do it myself. I guess bringing out my own Vans color scheme would be pretty amazing.

Can you turn us into some artists or something interesting in general?

There’s so much goodness out there, but there’s a few that I’m really psyched and am in love with, but I’m gonna keep under my hat as I don’t want someone to pinch them to do something cool before I have a chance to! Artists, of course from the UK, Hulls DRA crew, seeing Eko and Pinky paint at the Aerosolic competition the other week was great, and they were painting with amazing dude no.1 Chum101. 88 posse still holding it down, Bfree new work and Fancy Pants Stick It website. There’s an illustrator OG from London town called Jiro who is hot. And I’ve seen sneaks of Mysterious Al and JR (photographer) new stuff, and they got shows dropping that I know will be hot. General stuff? If you haven’t checked out www.tinyvices.com then do: hotness. www.arcademode.com is fulfilling my obsession with current French music/eurokrunk. Remnants of the Beta band, a band called The Aliens, are pretty great. YouTube searches: check out Chris Cunningham’s video for the brilliant band The Horrors, and Club Parisparis Ipod battle as well as dope old Hip Hop videos. New label coming out called Ahead of the Game, which is run by one of the Scratch Perverts, with great artwork will be one to keep Hip Hop floors heaving UK style.

I’d like to add some thanks – to you Ana, to everyone in Subaquatica (esp. Nano), to Sam, my dad, Mysterious, Simon, everyone in Spain and London. To all the artists involved, to all the artists that get me excited, to all the people that have a copy of the zine and like it, to all the people that want a copy but haven’t got one, to all the people who came out and partied and all the people that wanted to come out and party. Thanks.

Interview by: Ana Neto

August 1st, 2006 01:38pm Administrador