This week’s installment of the Art CVLT Interview Series features a graphic artist named Szymon Siech, or you may know him as VBRRTRD. Hailing from the country of Poland, Szymon has been at it for years designing for the likes of INTEGRITY, FULL OF HELL, RISE AND FALL, A389 RECORDS, BLIND TO FAITH and many many more. With no shortage of carnage and gore, Szymon’s style is very unique as he takes influence from themes like Japanese B Horror Movies, Destruction, and iconic religious imagery. I reached out to Syzmon to get an insight on his beginnings and his composition of work. Enjoy.
Q: The beauty of being into “extreme” music is that it can lead to so many different outlets, but still be coherent and connected to music. Was it your love for hardcore that what got you into graphic design? Was it something non-music related?
My genes I guess. Both my mother and my sister are educated artists. I’m not. I’m just a self-thought, so it must be in our blood I think. Then came music. Metal, hardcore, grindcore, sludge… It was cool to combine those two passions. And still is.
Q: In my opinion I feel like you can listen to a band and have a pretty good idea of where they’re from based on their sound and style. Sometimes the same could be said for graphic artists. Do you think being from Poland, whether it’s the music, local occurrences, or how you were raised that has influenced your style of design?
Being from Poland has nothing to do with it I think. I know you could say being born and raised in a communist country had some major influence on everything. And yeah, it had, but more on a personal level. My style and themes I work on are mixtures of my interests, taste and my nature. I had a happy childhood, my parents tried hard to give us good living, etc. I didn’t feel I lived in some fucked up totalitarian place. Some kids drew flowers, sunshine, happy people, I preferred bombs, tanks, war and destruction.
Q: Who would you say has influenced you the most during your career as a graphic artist?
Oh, plenty of artists. To name a few: Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Hieronymus Bosch, Zbigniew Beksiński – a great Polish artist – Pushead, Sakevi, Chris Moyen, Suehiro Maruo…
Q: Pick your poison: Photoshop or Illustrator?
Photoshop. I rarely use Illustrator.
Q: I’ve been following your work for a little while now, and it seems as though you started off designing for mainly Polish / European bands. Aside from the obvious answer of using the internet, how did you begin linking up with all of these American bands such as Homewrecker, Noisem, Full of Hell, etc etc…?
Yes, I have to say that few years ago I had mostly contacts in Europe. Then people (bands or labels) spread some word about my works or they just liked them and contacted me. As Simple as that.
Q: Care to give us any insight on what you’re currently working on?
Blind To Faith, as always. I’m working on the new artwork for their “T.S.F.Y.A.O.” reedition and new merch for UK tour with Nails. Shin To Shin LP and some other stuff for A389 Recs like Noisem tshirt, In Cold Blood reedition. What else… Cowards t-shirt, Acid Deathtrip/Hangman’s Chair split LP, Suffering Mind, “Nirwana Blute” – German movie, Citizens Patrol t-shirt for their Japan Tour, longsleeve for Deathrite… Soon I’ll work on some stuff for Epidemic Cloth together with Razoreater and WrittenInBlack – two German artists. Check out their works.
Q: When you begin working with a band do you prefer for them to give you a concept, or are you more about listening to their music and reading their lyrics to give you something to run with?
I usually ask if they have any ideas and then I throw them away haha. Actually, more important is what they DON’T want to see and the rest is my vision. Sometimes we discuss concepts and details, but people have trust in me and my vision mostly, which is the best option. If they want to use me as a “tool” and give me some specific detailed instructions then we probably won’t reach an agreement.
Sure, I always ask for some music if I don’t know the band already. And I check out their lyrics, because I’m not working on anything against my personal thoughts. This whole process, making artwork, is important to me and I have to “feel” the band and see some potential or passion in their music.
Q: Do you approach projects any differently for a band you’ve already designed for, opposed to a band you’ve never worked with previously?
Sure, because I don’t know the people behind the band yet. I have to figure them out 1st, how to talk with them haha. Just kidding. It depends on people, my attitude is pretty much the same all the time. I’m always stoked for any new Blind To Faith design. Both while working on it and waiting to get it in my hands. We are friends and we share similar thoughts on music, artwork and generally have good contact with each other, which helps a lot. But hey, you can’t be everybody’s friend.
Q: What does a typical playlist look like while you’re working on stuff?
Recently I just go on youtube and play some war documentaries in the background to hear people speaking, because with talking just to my cat I would go mad soon haha. There’s no typical playlist, just bands I find interesting at that moment. I listen to many different kinds of music, so it just depends on my mood.
Q: If you could design for any band, whether it’s a current band, or a band from the past. Who would it be?
Dude… so many. Eyehategod, Obituary, Grief, Haymaker and Left For Dead, Celtic Frost and Hellhammer, Noothgrush, From Ashes Rise, Pulling Teeth… and of course Judas Priest.
Q: If you had to use one font for the rest of your existence as a graphic designer, what would it be?
Oh it’s easy, any sans serif PV style font, capital letters!
You can check out more of Szymon’s work here: http://vbrrtrd.tumblr.com/
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