Interview of Metaphrog given for Afterhours Magazine#20, Tokyo:
http://afterhours.img8.com/
Interview of Metaphrog given for Afterhours Magazine#20, Tokyo:
http://afterhours.img8.com/
1. I heard you (Sandra and John) are a Franco-Scottish duo. Would you tell me how you started to publish comics together since 1996, what had each of you been doing before that happened, and your profile (if possible, your birthday and all, too).
When we met in Glasgow in 1994, John (1965) was back from working in the Netherlands, and I (1973) had just dropped out of university and moved over from France. Very quickly we decided to work together. John had a science and engineering background and wanted to change, to write, and I had been doing photography, drawing and painting. We though of combining our interests and thus started our first crap comic book (we never finished it). Neither of us knew very much about comics then, and we learned as we went along. We first worked on short stories about a character called Martin Nitram, and sent them to loads of publishers. Nothing happened, so we decided to jump and publish them ourselves. Strange Weather Lately #1 came out in the winter of 1996.2. Do you live and mainly work in Glasgow?
We live and work in Glasgow, and travel quite a bit, mainly for comic festivals.3. I think there is a scene called BD in France. What kind of scene is the comic in within Scotland?
The comic scene in Scotland is very very small (compared to Japan!), and part of the still small UK scene. Most people (such as Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely and Alan Grant in Scotland) work for the bigger US publishers, others like, Bryan Talbot, Lorna Miller, Andi Watson based in England create work with smaller US based publishing houses, for example, SLG. People like Northern Lightz publish their own magazine here, Kingly produces books by John Bagnall, Ed Pinset and others, while several small publishers operate across the UK: anthology magazines are appearing, Sentence, Sturgeon White Moss; and there are a good number of extant self-publishers like Paul Girst, Gary Spencer Millidge, Nick Abadzis, Gary Northfield, Mark Stafford, Matt Abbiss... After Escape and Deadline, Slab-o-Concrete continued to pave the way for fresh ideas and exciting books and minicomics, publishing established cartoonists such as Ilya and Woodrow Pheonix. Although sadly it is no more; even without its existence, globally it seems as if a natural reaction were occurring to the corporate controlled pressures against diversity, and there is a very healthy scene, supported by enthusiasts, people who really care about the medium, and about its future: Paul Gravett, Bugpowder, Zum!, Caption, CAOF, TRS, Comic Forum, Roger Sabin, Marc Baines... but, these people embrace the positive aspects of internationalisation and don't only focus on the UK. Recently, newspapers including The Guardian and The Independent have given extensive coverage to comics and sequential art, and the ICA has been a recent venue for events featuring work by new UK comic creators as well as established US based ones, like Chris Ware or Daniel Clowes.4. Is METAPHROG the creator of LOUIS and also the publisher? If so, isn't it difficult to sustain the artistic side (as a comic creator) and the business side (as a publisher)?
Metaphrog both create and publish Louis. It is quite hard to juggle both, especially if you don't have a business type of mind... but it is quite enjoyable to approach the business side in a creative way also. And really, it is doing new things, trying and learning, attempting to communicate, and understand people better that helps.5. Your first serialization is "Strange Weather Lately and The Maze". What kind of story does this comic have?
SWL was published as a continuous series between 1996 and 1999, and gathered in two volumes in 1999 and 2000. It is a dark, fragmented story, with Martin Nitram at its centre, an everyperson protagonist. The Maze is a two part psychological thriller set on a mythical (Mediterranean) island. With these works we were learning our trade really (we still are). They are very different in style from the Louis books but have explored similar themes.6. LOUIS is really cute, pure and full of adventure-full spirit. Its cuteness transcends the sexual difference (it is so cute it is almost asexual) and expresses the pureness of a sort of a fairy or a child. How did you come up with the idea of the comic of LOUIS?
We were finishing writing Strange Weather Lately and wanted to work on something new, completely different, and more light hearted, and were keen that the book could be read by all... We decided to try a different style (anthropomorphic), and also really wanted to start working in colour. The idea fermented over a year, we weren't sure whither it was a good one and we let time do its job. When we started working on Red Letter Day it was a bit trial and error, we tried different approaches. Looking at it today I (Sandra) would like to rework the drawing of the whole book :-)
Louis is indeed asexual, and that is something that we wanted to convey, as well as a certain innocence. Louis has not been corrupted by the society he lives in, unlike his neighbours Clean and Jerk, and of course the ones who have power in Hamlet. The dreams he has help him maintain a purity that his neighbours seem to have lost. For him it is a natural thing. But he can also have moments where he shows his dark side. It is a metaphor for our society really, an attempt to understand, portray it, cope with it, and hopefully try to pass on a good message.
7. Is there any model on which LOUIS is based?
Louis is an everyperson.8. Are there four LOUIS related books so far("Red Letter Day" "Lying to Clive" "The Clown's Last Words" "Lost on the moore/The Round the World Rug Race")? Would you give us some comments on each book?
There are three Louis books and a mini comic, assembling Louis - Lost on the Moore and Louis - The Round the World Rug Race, two short stories which we did for two different anthologies. So, Louis - Dreams Never Die will be the fourth Louis book.
Red Letter Day presents Hamlet, the daily life, and chores that Louis has to do, interrupted by his dreams of exploring the mountains; it also introduces his neighbours and their attempts to spoil his life. It follows Louis’ attempts to live his dreams.
In Lying to Clive, Louis has been taken to a bee farm, a metaphor for what was called the developing world, as (abstract) punishment. There he makes friend with Clive, a would-be bee. It is, in part, a comment on the north/south divide, and is a lot more acerbic than the first book.
The Clown's Last Words is darker. The inhabitants of Hamlet are obliged to take part in the Fun Day Out, and design a video game. Here we examine the entertainment industry, and the importance of the role creativity plays. Also, diarrhoea.
The books can be read separately.
9 . Does the number "3120", which is on the LOUIS's clothes, mean anything?
The number itself does not mean anything in particular, apart from the fact that we are almost all forced in some way to have numbers.10. The animation you gave us has really beautiful patterns and colors and the part LOUIS smiles and runs in the world of dream is a little psychedelic and reminds of me a fairyland. However, it is heartbreaking to think about going back to daily work. Is the story of the animation connected to the one of the book? Would you tell me how you happened to create animation?
The animation is Louis reduced to its essence, what he generally feels like. He prefers to run wild in his dreams than inhabit his confined, materialistic, and boring reality. This idea was introduced in Red Letter Day.
We'd always wanted to animate Louis, but didn't really know how to go about it. The dreams never die project, and getting a grant for computer technology, gave us an opportunity to do so. Again, we learned as we went along (and weren't sure if we would succeed!). We would love to do a longer animation. But feel it is important also to not lose the reader's inner voice. Something using sounds and movement without dialogue would be interesting.
11. How did you meet HEY? Did the friendship start because you liked their music?
We first met hey's records; a seven inch single had found its way to Rub a Dub record shop and hearing it, and then the first hey cd, Dreams Never Die, we recognised a kindred spirit. It seemed like it would be possible to contact hey and propose working on a project together, and out of that, friendship has grown. We met lots of good people and even got to see hey-o-hansen playing live in Berlin when we were over for the Berliner Comic festival and Warburger book launch. And Helmut made us nice traditional Tirol dumplings :-)12. I heard you were looking for some special guests for this animation and you finally found MUM. How did you find and meet them?
hey found them in Berlin, where he played a gig with them, and later, we had the chance to meet them in Glasgow, and talked under the stars with a magic jacket. We were very happy to hear they had liked the Louis books and had had a good time making the music for the project.13. Besides HEY, I heard you like Pole, Jan Jelinek, Fela Kuti, Sun Ra, Faust, Neu!, Can, anything on Fat Cat, The Fall, Mark Eitzel, The Deep Freeze Mice, Elvis Costello as musicians. Do you have any other particular music/musicians you like lately?
We listen to all sorts, early jazz, blues, reggae, dub, punk, electronic music... lately we've been listening to John Phillips solo LP John The Wolfking of LA, Nuada by Candidate, The Time Has Come - Anne Briggs, Jackson C. Frank, Moondog, Morricone, The Mice Parade, Him, Danny Breaks "Another Dimension", and most recently múm "summer make good" and hey "magnetophone"!14. I think there are a lot of musicians living in Glasgow. Are you friends with any of them?
John's sister Jane plays in a few bands, Pink Kross, The Amphetameanies (formerly with Alex from Franz Ferdinand), and Bleachie (a Blondie tribute band) and his brother Andi was in Ex-Cathedra. Thinking about it, a lot of our friends are involved in music, either in bands, or DJing, or making tracks at home: DHK, which is influenced by a lot of Japanese music like Pizzicato 5, as well as by labels like Bungalow; The Void, which is more psychedelic, or, bands such as The Poison Sisters or Lukey Luke and many others, play out live... other friends are involved with record shops and distribution, as well as working providing spaces or venues for music to flourish: mono, and stereo, vegan cafe venues; Nice 'n' Sleazy; King Tuts... around Glasgow in smaller towns a lot of interesting music thrives. Chemical Underground very kindly sent us samples of Mogwai, Arab Strap, The Delgados, artist on their label when we approached them for sponsorship. Other friends pass on their bands records regularly, Stapleton, Wow Kafe…15. Which comic creators are you influenced by?
Sandra: I mostly read BD. People like Jacques Tardi, Moebius, Enki Bilal, Hugo Pratt, Hergé, but also Ozamu Tezuka. Recently I've really enjoyed books by Nicolas De Crécy, Sylvain Chomet, Joann Sfar.
John: Lately, I have mostly been reading and feel inspired by literature, by Nabokov, Anthony Burgess, Angela Carter, Haruki Murakami and also non-fiction, Invisible Republic by Greil Marcus, but love comics: underground comix were a big part of growing up for me, as was music - Osamu Tezuka's comics are wonderful, Adolf is an amazing story. Also, Ben Katchor's books, art speigleman and Francois Mouly, Charles Burns, Alan Moore...
We also like to read Calvin and Hobbes sometimes before falling asleep :-)
16. Which musicians do you want to collaborate with in future? Do you have any future release plans?
We've really enjoyed doing the dreams never die project, making friends, and also seeing a little of how other people work, and how open and enthusiastic FatCat are. We'd happily do something in the future again with them, and also look forward to working more with both hey and múm. For the moment we have to concentrate our energy and see what comes from that before we can say for sure who next we'll work with. But we very much hope to keep on working on the Louis books and record projects.