As I wrote several weeks ago, I'm working on an article about designer Jason Munn and the art he produces under the moniker of The Small Stakes, essentially a one-man design studio with a knack for music posters and holding an inside niche in the indie music scene (and its fans). Chronicle has just published a full-color book entitled, not surprisingly, The Small Stakes: Music Posters, which contains over 150 reproductions of Jason's posters and a long-form Q/A with the artist himself. (You can also purchase the book directly from the artist here.)
I recently interviewed Jason for the article that will appear in Filter in late summer. It was a wonderful conversation, and he is as insightful and intelligent as he is kind and accommodating. Below is an excerpt from the interview, in which he speaks of process, inspiration and his future aspirations. Also, if you're interested, Filter is holding a contest to win a signed copy of The Small Stakes. If you're feeling lucky, enter-to-win here.
When did you begin to design music posters?
Jason Munn: While I was a student in Madison, Wisc., where I'm from, I was interested in doing music related work. If I was given a choice on a project, I’d choose music for the most part. Also, I had friends in small bands in school and I would occasionally do a flier for them and a record or T-shirt design for fun. I worked for a design studio in Madison for a little bit and eventually moved to Oakland. A friend of mine moved out here a few years later and had booked shows at a local venue, which was essentially an interview room in the basement of a church in Berkeley, and they would do one to two shows per month. They asked me to do a poster for the show and that’s kinda how I got started. I've been doing it ever since.
When making a poster, do you listen to the music first to get inspired or do you jump right in?
I view it as collaboration between myself and the band. I really try to keep them in mind when I’m making something. I don’t want to make something that’s simply my idea and doesn’t make sense with the music. I try to pull things from the music, like album titles or personalities of the band or the feel of the music. It might be a reference to something that makes sense to the band so that someone who doesn’t know the band at least becomes intrigued by it. It’s that middle ground that I really like to be in - you don’t have to be such an insider that you have to know something about the band to enjoy the poster. I want it to be a bit of a mix.
Do you see yourself in the future moving onto "fine art" or larger art projects?
That’s a really good question, and I never really know how to answer that. But, I’ve been thinking a lot about whether I want to do something different. I’m not really sure because I still really enjoy making the posters. I sometimes veer off for a couple of weeks to work on some other projects that are not poster related and then I always go back to the posters. I still have a huge interest in music and I think that will always be part of who I am. It’s hard for me to say - I’m still enjoying it so I’m not trying to think too much about it.
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