Eric Mast is a very busy person: he runs an excellent record label, Audio Dregs, is a painter/electronic artist/dj, and recently started the project Dreem Street with friend Matt Chambers. He is seriously a force of creative nature. Below he somehow found time to answer a few questions. (Please, someone, get this man an intern! The world NEEDS a hand-drawn video for the remix of R. Kelly’s “Real Talk”, seriously.) Photo above by Nilina Mason-Campbell – thank you.
Why did you start Dreem Street and what do you want it to be?Dreem Street is a collaborative project disguised as a commercial venture that my friend Matt Chambers and I started about a year ago; doing small runs of prints of drawings on T-shirts. Matt did a small gallery, zine and clothing line called Trudi out of LA, where he lives, which was a similar idea. Trudi had a two year expiration date as a project and Dreem Street is the sequel to that. We collaborated on a painting that he sold and we used that money as the capitol to buy a pile of blank shirts. We draw the images directly to the screens, print a few and reclaim the screen for another image right away. This way its as direct as possible, just drawings on shirts. It takes things out of an “art” context. Matt is a full time painter these days, but we both have DIY music backgrounds, punk, skateboarding, etc. So this project is about making objects that have a direct relevance to your life; something an 18 year old kid can wear rather than a print on the wall in a gallery. There’s also an underlying “humor” theme of why things are funny from a psychological stand point. We like to talk dissect a joke the same way we would discuss art or philosophy, as in they are all a means to the same end. That’s why the Groucho face is sort of an unofficial logo.
Is the limited edition of it all due to the new economy of small runs or for environmental reasons, or because you want to add things frequently and want to do tons of work, or, what?
Basically we have no commercial sense, and we’d rather work than sell. Its more fun to have an idea, actualize it and move on quickly before you have a chance to second guess your bad ideas. So doing small runs is easier for the working process and you don’t have to spend much time promoting if there’s less money ventured on materials. This way we can lose money more slowly, stretch it out like a long painful death scene; I’m thinking of Peter Sellars in the opening scene to The Party (1968). The best ideas are often the worst ideas so this gives us more chances to make bad choices.
Copy just came out with a rad cd on yr record label audio dregs, are you gonna make any crazy flash videos for that limited edition R Kelly Remixx cd??????
I’ve thought about it. I wanted to do a remake of “Real Talk” but all hand drawn ink on paper. I’m not sure I’ll have time. I still haven’t gotten around to doing the Copy vs Bone Thugs “Ecstasy (Remix)” video that I wanted to do 2 years ago, and I’ve been trying to spend less time on the computer these days. If I get an intern before the end of the year then I can make it happen.
What are you working on now?I’m working on a series of larger ink drawings and a new E*Rock album and trying to solidify a new video based E*Rock set. Also I’m working on getting this dabke inspired band that I started with Panther Charlie re-formed as a live/performance based group. In other Dreem Street related news: Matt Chambers finished 80 paintings for a show that opened last week at Untitled gallery in NYC.http://nyuntitled.com/2010/10/23/matthew-chambers/?pid=35
what is inspiring you right now?
It’s been a pretty bleak year for me as far as finding external stimulus that I find motivating me to want to work. Its all too distracting. Matt has honestly been my biggest influence in getting me to make art, go bigger and put in more hours. Ratatat has been inspiring to me musically. I like to go offline, go into another part of the house to record or read a book or the New Yorker and then put on a loud record and tune out and draw.