Real Name: Daniel Jon Mumford
Age: 25
Location: London, UK
Website: www.dan-mumford.com

BIB: Our mutual friend, Horsebites, introduced us to each other a couple years ago but I had seen your work on band t-shirts and magazines for some time. How did you get started in illustration?
Dan Mumford: I would have to say accidentally. I always liked comics, films, sci-fi, computer games, you get the idea. I was a nerd, but a metal nerd. So I guess when I decided to go to uni and do art, on the foundation course my work just sort of leaned towards illustration. I was actually meant to join the graphic design class, but at the last minute I went in the wrong room, my name wasn’t on the list, and it wasn’t till the second day I realized I was meant to be in the graphics class….that says a lot about my dwindling memory. So if it weren’t for me going in the wrong room I probably wouldn’t be doing what I do now.

The whole working with bands and record labels thing is just an evolution from playing in bands and being involved in local scenes during the period I was at university and school, so that all sort of evolved quite naturally to the point I’m at now.

BIB: What are some of your favorite projects you’ve worked on?
Dan Mumford: You know, I have to say it probably goes back to my last year of university, so nearly three years ago now. That was when it was all clicking in my head, and I had no limits to what I was doing and all the time I wanted really. I created a piece called ‘Francesca.’ It took about two weeks in total to draw and screenprint. It’s pretty unlike 75% of my work, but I am eternally trying to do something that is better than that. It was A1 in size, and I printed it at A0.

Apart from that, all the Gallows stuff was great. The guys totally allowed me 100% freedom on that, with an unlimited budget to do whatever we wanted with the packaging, which was insane. On the tee side of things I would say all my work with The Black Dahlia Murder. I’ve worked on about 8 tees for them now, and I think its got to the point where they trust I can deliver, and that’s really nice, so I always just have a good time working with them. Its sad that my more recent projects don’t feel as fulfilling, but I put that down to this being my job and not being able to spend as long on projects.

BIB: If different, what piece are you most proud of?
Dan Mumford: I think I would have to say I am proud that I managed to give ‘Gallows’ quite a unique aesthetic for the time. It’s not quite as unique now, but it did feel quite different for a release on a major label to have this intricate artwork adorning it, with little to no text bar or sticker on the front. I was real surprised we got away with that actually. The label were really open to letting the band do their own thing. So we did, and it stuck out, in a good way! I think I prefer the two singles to the album. I spent far too long drawing those up and watched countless DVD’s in the process.

BIB: You are also a screen printer. Do you screen print for other people/companies or just for yourself?
Dan Mumford: I don’t screen print enough! I love to screen print, and I wish I had more time. In fact I wish all I did was draw something, separate its colours and then print it. I do bits here and there for my friends when they need it, a few commercial jobs, its basically a way to make a bit of cash on the side. I don’t necessarily enjoy printing commercial stuff, but sometimes I need to. The majority of my print work as of this year is going to be my own. I plan on doing a lot more gig posters and just art prints to get out there. That’s really what I enjoy the most. There’s something really fulfilling about spending a good 14 hours in a print room and finally having this run of prints all drying on a rack at the end of the day. It absolutely destroys me physically, but it’s a great feeling.

BIB: I noticed you have a FAQ page on your website that you direct people to before they contact you. What is the weirdest and/or worst client request you’ve ever gotten?
Dan Mumford: Hmmm, that’s a tough question. Yeah, I have the FAQ just to jump a few of the initial questions a potential client might have, and to make sure they get as much relevant info over to me in the first email. I still get the usual emails such as ‘Can you design my band an awesome/gnarly tee?’…with no more info or even a band link or name from some obscure email address. I don’t even know how to respond to that, I always do respond politely though, regardless of how ridiculous the request might be!

I haven’t had any really crazy requests actually…a few portraits, even a mural in someone’s bedroom. I have had some awful client experiences though. It’s generally when a commercial agency contacts me to create something for an ad campaign or something along those lines, and the changes and edits to a piece are just way too much for me to deal with. Basically it’s when an art director has no idea about how you create your work and they don’t care how you do it, just make it happen. So yeah, those clients generally make you feel a bit worthless, so I try to steer clear of those sort of jobs.

BIB: Do you ever get burned out?
Dan Mumford: All the time. I would say I am constantly burned out at the moment. It’s been a crazy couple of years, even when I am on holiday I am burned out! Hahaha…but seriously…yeah, I’m shattered. I’m kind of bored of where I am at, and I need a shot in the arm of some sort (in a metaphorical sense of course). Maybe a change of scenery. I plan to take a little bit of time out to just do some work for myself. The problem is I have to keep at it just to pay the bills, so time to myself is hard to come by. It’s a tough situation, but I can’t complain. I get paid to do this and create some crazy stuff and that is amazing. I would never have believed I could make a living out of this, so I just remind myself that.

BIB: Your work has a lot of imitators. Do you have any advice for young artists who are still trying to find their own style?
Dan Mumford: Yeah, its strange. It only really dawned on me that perhaps there were people imitating me recently. I was sort of thinking ‘who would imitate me?’ So I find it quite humbling if they really are, and my only advice would be, try as hard as you can to be yourself. Sounds so cliché I know, but I honestly got to this point with my work by ignoring everything else. I was doing this amongst a very different art scene at university, and that really allowed me to not be influenced by anyone else doing the same sort of thing. I didn’t really look at music-based art at all. So I would say, try to find influences outside of the genre you are working in. If you are creating metal/hardcore tee designs, don’t try and find influence from artists working in that scene. Go out and look at other sorts of art, go to a museum, listen to some classical music, take a new tangent, otherwise you will just end up like everyone else. And the market is super over-saturated with similar designers right now. It’s a competitive scene.

BIB: How often do you get asked to design someone’s tattoo and how annoying is it?
Dan Mumford: On a scale of 1-10, its at least a 10…hahaha. I think the problem is, no one really understands why its annoying. It’s unfortunate, but I don’t want that pressure at all, one guy’s arm or a tee shirt that will be mass produced, way too much pressure there for me. But there are quite a few people out there branded with my artwork for life. That still freaks me out a bit. It’s awesome, but still a bit…woaaaaaah.

BIB: What is the best part about living in the U.K.?
Dan Mumford: You know, there is really no good answer to this. Oh wait I know…it’s close to Europe. I seriously don’t hold much love for the UK. It’s not bad…it’s just not special either. Obviously I have my friends and family here. I just don’t feel an amazing connection with the country.

BIB: Do you collect anything and if so, what?
Dan Mumford: Well, I’m very much a consumer, I have way too many CDs (I can’t go digital, I have to own it, the CD will never die!!), too many DVDs and boxsets, computer games, and also recently i started collecting dunny’s/munny’s…they are my new obsession. There’s a couple of shops in London that I pop into and always have to buy at least one or two. They are just so moreish…haha. I have quite a few comics as well. Not as many as I wish I did. I’m a little out of touch with that scene, but I am enjoying ‘The boys’ by Garth Ennis. That’s pretty good. Nothing will ever top Preacher though.

Check out Dan Mumford’s Back In Black 2 T-Shirt here.