Mr. Hooper Art Blog

One of the questions I get asked a lot at shows is, “What is your inspiration.” In all honesty it is one of the most difficult things to sum up in a sentence or two. For the most part I go to my stock answer: “Pop culture, Southern culture, B-movies, and bad sci-fi.

But the truth of the matter is that there are all sorts of things that I come across that put a little spark in my brain. You may notice that song lyrics sometimes find their way in some of my paintings. Well, one of my favorite things is to work in the studio with some good tunes floating through the air. I can just get lost in the music and the painting. Before I know it  hours have just melted away.

God knows the world loves top ten lists. With that in mind, I want to share with you the top ten musical artists I am listening to in the studio for the past month or so. Here we go, in no particular order:

1) The Vaselines

The Vaselines were one of Curt Cobain’s favorite bands. I have known about them for a while, but have been listening to them a lot over the last couple of weeks.

Check out “Molly’s Lip’s” for some good Vaseline’s flavor.

2) The Replacements

I first  got turned on to The Replacements via college radio in the 1980′s and have been a fan ever since. I have had the album Pleased to Meet Me in heavy rotation in the studio lately.

Check out “Can’t Hardly Wait” . This is one of my favorites.

3) Band of Horses

A great band with a laid back Southern flare.

4) Iggy Pop

I have been listening to Iggy’s version of China Girl from his album The Idiot which I used to have on LP, but I downloaded for the first time a couple of weeks ago.

5) The Modern Lovers

I love this band for so many reasons. Check out Road Runner!

6) The 101er’s

This was Joe Strummer’s band before The Clash. Here is a little sample of what the 101ers sound like.

7) David Bowie

I have had the LP Honky Dory since I was a teenager, but decided to download it a few weeks ago and have been listening to it a lot. It reminds me of being 15.

Buck Owens

The man with the red, white and blue guitar! You’ve got to love Tiger By The Tail.

9) Camper Van Beethoven

Again an alternative band from the 80′s and 90′s. Honk if you remember Take the Skinheads Bowling.

10) Echo and the Bunnymen

I am an absolute sucker for British Post-Punk like the classic Lips Like Sugar

Well, there you go! My first top ten.

The Appreciation Post's album cover

Hey, this is some of my work on the album cover for the Boston-based band The Appreciation Post. I thought it looked pretty cool and was worth sharing. Their album Work/Sleep officially releases tomorrow. However, the band is allowing folks to download the album free at:

http://theappreciationpost.bandcamp.com/album/work-sleep-free