Black: A pizza cook, that's great! I was going to ask for those who think we artists don't know what hard work is what other types of jobs have you had in your life?
Black: BTW. Don't think I missed the fact that an Italian became a pizza cook!!!! Badda bing! Pope's Pizza..Pizza with a pope on top and MASS-erella cheese! LOL!
Lou: Ugh, I worked at Sea World as a youth, still won't step into the fucking place. Pizza for a while. Nordstrom for a few years, won't step into that fucking place either. Did 2 years designing window display/production art. Worked in a shipyard. Worked in a shitty liquor store in a piss poor neighborhood. Did 12 years a production artist working on giant inflatables.
Black: Sea World!!! I worked at Disneyland as a teen!!! LOL
Lou: Hahaha! Working in a pizza place was great! Free food, all the beer and wine I could drink!
Lou: Disneyland!! I love Disneyland, how do you feel about it after working there?
Black: It had it's fun moments. Lemme tell you bud, when a parade came through and I had to sweep up Elephant shit on a hot day...not so cool brother. Dumbo ain't that cute when he drops a 30 pound turd in front of you and you're wearing all white!!!
Lou: Yeah, i was the same at Sea World. I HATED them making the animals perform!
Ha-ha! Elephant shit!
Black: Or when I had to haul industrial sized garbage bins with a tractor type vehicle and then wash the things out and sweep up the gunk underneath where they sat. YUCK!
Rotten soda, burgers, popcorn and diapers...groovy!
Lou: Yeah, I had the same shitty duties! When I worked there minimum wage was $2.65!
The shit they served as food was criminal! LOL..specially for what those places charged to get in even back then.
Lou: I think working my ass off as a kid prepared me for life and gave me no delusions of grandeur
Black: Me too, I think i got paid about $5.25 in 1987 when I worked for Mickey Mouse.
Black: So, from one Disney fan to another (despite my past history as an employee), what is your fav Disney attraction?
Lou: I love Indiana Jones! Hate the movies, but LOVE the ride!! What is yours?
Black: That ride (Indiana Jones) was one of my mother's favs, that one and Star Tours. I'm partial to the fantasy kiddie rides, like Mr Toads Wild Ride, Alice in Wonderland, Snow White,Pirates of the Caribbean, The Haunted Mansion and Splash Mountain. I like the ones that make me feel like I'm in a cartoon...LOL. Oh, And I love the Tower of Terror at Disney's California Adventure park. I had the SUPER Max no blackout dates annual pass a couple years ago.Cost me something like $800.00 I went at least once a week for a year, I'd get buzzed at the House of Blues and then go trip around the park for a few hours...lol
Lou: TOWER OF TERROR is my new favorite! I dig Splash Mountain and the whole theme of The Song Of The South! Too bad that movie has been banned for its supposed racism.
Black: Man oh man, we could go on and on with that subject. I WOULD KILL for a dvd copy of that film!!! It's such bullshit that it's been yanked due to political correctness. It's actually not racist at all, in fact it is rather socially aware for it's time.
Lou: Agreed, I have to explain it my wife when we go on it, she has never seen it. It is an accurate portrait of American history, why bury it?? So everyone can forget? How about Al Jolson?
Black: Song of the South, and Sambo's died for the same sin....making people who were actually RACISTS uncomfortable. Remember Sambo's diners? Sambo wasn't even black, he was East Indian and based on the Rudyard Kipling story of Sambo and the Tiger's.
Lou: Yes! What about Al Jolson? Speaking of Kipling, I love Riki Tiki Tavi
Black: Well..I can kinda see how Al Jolson would make people squirm a bit. That is a reflection of a time WHEN black's cold not perform in theater so, Al Jolson had to wear black face. So, I can see how it could be a painful reminder to people of African decent of the bigotry and dicsrimination they faced in that era.
Lou: Yes, but to act like that whole period never happened is just like Amerika.
Black: Agreed, people like to erase their memories so they can feel squeaky clean when they look in the mirror.
Black: What type of music did you grow up listening to in your household as a child and what did you eventually gravitate to as a teen, and adult?
Lou: I grew up on Sinatra, Dean Martin, Elvis, Caruso, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash...As I grew up I liked heavier music; Sabbath, Zeppelin, Deep Purple, then I moved towards punk in its first inception. I love Iggy Pop!
Black: Great!, From country to crooners and in everywhere between!! It seems a logical progression, for most people though I spent time with Elvis and Creedence, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Rush, and of course NEW WAVE!!!
Lou: The ingenuity and originality of many of these musicians led me to believe I could create my own vision too. Love Elton John! New Wave, Metal, Thrash, Rap, I love it all! Even Lady Gaga! I love Lady Gaga!
Black: Yes, you heard it here first, we both share a respect and appreciation for Lady Gaga!!I I recall you went with you wife to see her tour this year. I went to the show here in L.A.
Lou: Seen her twice now, been a fan for while She is a True Artist!
Black: Ok, lets' get back to your influences in music. You saw that those influences translated into work visually as an artist rather than as a musician? I often wonder what makes a young artist "choose" art or music. Is it that one comes easier than the other or perhaps one is supported more by the family,parents etc?
Black: Are you musically inclined as well? Play an instrument? I know you sing Karaoke..lol
Lou: Art always came to me easily, it was a way for me to communicate. I tried guitar and I really sucked and could not grasp it. Karaoke is something I stomach for my lovely wife. I am not musically inclined. I only know what I like when I hear it. I tried singing for a band a few times, was lousy. I Always wanted the rock star lifestyle!
Black: I like karaoke! It's the best when your drunk to belt out some shitty 80's song and bum everyone's night!!
Lou: I don't drink, I am the one sitting there bummed out, haha!
Black: I see.....You are sober huh? By choice, court order or health?
Lou: I quit drinking about 17 years ago, I could drink a lot and hold it well.
Black: I'm a social drinker, I only drink about twice a month,but I can kill your liquor cabinet when I hit it..., So watch out!!! LOL.
Lou: I drank beer like water, hard alcohol and me were good friends!
Black: BINGE, BINGE,BINGE!!, SEX, DRUGS, FOOD, LIFE!!! I've live it FULL on when it's "that time",sounds like you were an expert yourself. But you know, you can't keep drinking pints of Jaegar and dropping acid too often in your old age. The recovery just kills an aging bastard like me.
Lou: Exactly!
Black: I always say, your 20's are when you learn how to either live or die playing with drugs and alcohol, your 30's are refining your tastes, and your 40's are where you say "Holy shit..I could die in 20 years and get on a health kick". LOL.
Lou: Sounds about right!Working at a liquor store let me see myself too. Alcohol mutates people.
Black: Alcoholics are the worst in my view, them and crack heads/tweekers.
Lou: Yeah, people don't dabble anymore, they dive right in be it alcohol or drugs. They make it a lifestyle vs.. a recreation.
Black: I'm a product of "The Cali Kultivation Generation/Revolution". Me and my medical marijuana recommendation are never far apart...lol.
Lou: WEST COAST REPRESENT!
Black: I thought dabbling was strictly the realm of black magic and gay sex? At least that's what the reports always say, I.E. "Mr. Bachman may have once "dabbled" in gay sex!!!".LOL
Lou: Hahaha!
Black: They always say in news reports and such,"He dabbled in Black Magic/The occult", or "She dabbled in girl on girl sex in college".
Lou: True! I dabbled in girl on girl sex back in college too!!! LOL.
Black: Ok, moving on, before we devolve into silliness. So, you mentioned to me before in conversation that you used to do a lot of commercial artwork in the past until the economy fell to shit, what kind of stuff did you do as a commercial artist?
Lou: I did 2 dimensional displays for department stores and windows, I did that for two years. then i did Giant Inflatables for about 15 years, we did stuff for movie premieres, a lot of Disney films. I did a 35' Rock for one of the Wrestlemanias. We did a 80' Arnold Schwarzenegger's for the Last Action Hero. Lots of fun stuff and lots of beer cans and bottles too.Hundreds of Ronald McDonald's.Tons of Wendy's cups.
Black: Is this where you developed your distinctive style or was your personal style something you developed outside of your commercial work?
Lou: I think my personal style was already developed by then. I had a lot of structure with the inflatables, too much bullshit. I only lasted so long because I was in control of the department the last 8 years.
Black: Did you do freelance work during this time as well. I am aware that you have done album covers for bands as well as some comic work correct?
Lou: I worked a lot, so I did not do a lot of freelance until maybe two years prior to Myspace blowing up. I did a lot of hand painted backdrops for groups which led to doing t-shirt designs and cd covers. Necrophagia, Mortician, Skinless, Cattle Decapitation, Regurgitation, Ghoul, Impaled. lots of Death Metal and Grind groups.
Black: What about your work in comics?
Lou: I have only guest starred in a few comics. Most notably Bloke's TOMB OF TERROR Halloween annual 2010 and 2011.
Black: any plans of a Lou Rusconi Independent comic down the road?
Lou: Yes! One is in the works right now!! My first one is "OBAMA:ZOMBI KING" and it will be a rollicking fun, irreverent gut-munching chunk blower! DO NOT EXPECT heavy or overt political overtones, this will be pure underground, throwback to the late 70's, early 80's retro-love, then later I will release my huge RUSCONI'S BASEMENT OF TERROR! With different writers and lots of fun!!
Black: Sounds great! I Can't wait! Your work reminds me of the style and subversion of the late 60's early 70's counter culture comics, like Zapp, or the work of R. Crumb, combined with the feel and storytelling of golden age EC horror comics such as "Tales From The Crypt", "Shock Suspense Stories" and "Weird Science"!!!
Lou: That is a huge compliment! All of those played a huge part in influencing me!
Black: Well, this bring us to your big plug!!! You are doing a signing at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood Aug 12th for the Girls and Corpses release( http://www.girlsandcorpses.com/ )what can you tell us about this and what people can expect from the new issue as well as the signing. Who else will be in attendance besides yourself and your lovely wife Paula?
Lou: Tera Patrick and Joslyn James will be there. More excitedly "MANIAC" director William Lustig and excellent artist Peter Adamyan! Also, the incredible sword swallower Murragan The Mystic too! Of course Robert Rhine/Corpsy editor and brains behind Girls and Corpses. Robert has helped me immensely and I salute him!
Black: Excellent!!!! I hope to be there!!! BTW. Maniac is one of mine and Keith's All time fav 80's slasher movie posters. We were just talking about it the other day.
Lou: That poster ( http://posterwire.com/image.php?img_full=/wp-content/images/maniac.jpg&img_title=Maniac ) really captures the film!! I saw the film in a hardcore all night grindhouse/shithouse theatre and it blew the audience away!!
Black: So for the readers who are wondering, what role did you play in this particular issue that the siging is being held for? is it a special issue?
Lou: Peter Adamyan (http://www.peteradamyan.com/ ) is the featured artist in this issue. I have two pieces in it that highlight the body image issues America faces.
Black: Peter Adamyan is amazing, People really ought to pay close attentuion to that guy!!!!
Lou: He is great! His pop culture references are stunning.
Black: Something tells me we all share that same sense of humor and socio-political commentarian gene...or Meanstreak....were' in the same league as southpark and American Dad.
Lou: Without the big bucks!! Haha!
Black: American Dad's, Roger the alien is my fucking hero!!!
bar none the best characters on T.V. ever!!!
Lou: He is hilarious!
Black: Seriously If I was an Alien, I'd be Roger...lol
Black: Well that's about the end of it Lou, Thanks for sharing your thoughts and some histor with me and the rest of your fans.
Lou: Thank you Mr. Mass and thnaks to Keith Wigdor and surrealismnow.com I really appreciate what you guys are doing for the arts and other artists here. Radio Black Mass RULES!!!!
