3 questions: ghostshrimp

Q: What inspired you to found GHOSTWOOD?

A: Well. Lots of things. The mystery of female condoms for one – our childhood for another. We grew up in the forest building forts – GHOSTWOOD is just that: big kids building forts in the forest. GHOSTWOOD is also an experiment. You see, we are life scientists, we want to push ourselves outside of what has already been established – start from scratch. We cut down some trees in the woods – pitched our tents – started making a habitat for ourselves. Soon we had a solar powered cabin built. We discovered that creating our own environment makes everything meaningful + personal, + greatly enhances our superpowers.Building is something that nearly everyone did for themselves just a few hundred years ago. We’re bringing that back in a big way. We are the new pilgrims – no rules – steady dreaming. Big dreams. We’re talking hard + wet. We see the world very differently from most people. We think our culture is filled with bad ideas – like decaffeinated coffee or sugarless gum – to us that shit doesn’t even exist. We want to live the most amazing lives we can imagine right now – forever – we’re creating our own world.

Q: GHOSTWOOD + your new gig designing the world for Cartoon Network’s ADVENTURE TIME (which is awesome, everybody) seem like distant relatives. How has the transition been?

A: Hollywood is most definitely the opposite of GHOSTWOOD. For instance-there are a lot more non-passable trannies here in Hollywood. You can spot them from a mile off and that wouldn’t fly back home. Non-passable trannies get beat up pretty bad in New England. Also, black face doesn’t seem to be really as popular on the West Coast as it is in the North East. I guess it’s because there are real live black people here. We pretty much always wear our OJ Simpson masks when we draw for ADVENTURE TIME. It helps us focus and keeps our co-workers from knowing what we really look like. We also talk in fake voices around the office to throw people off. It’s a dream job really. Like one day Pen Ward was just like: “YO GHOST – I would feel really good knowing that you are in charge of the world for my show” + we were like “all day baby!” and that was that. It was a huge moment – for us – in television history. Now the show is on the air + we have like a billion fans watching – totally topless – every week. It really feels just like we’re getting the whole world pregnant at once. It’s that rad. But we totally really wicked miss living up on Mystery Mountain – and so do our dogs! They eat deer scat like it was raisonettes for brunch. I think they’ll be really glad to move back to GHOSTWOOD.

Q: What was your favorite thing to draw when you were a kid?

A: We used to draw a lot of comic book characters – like Captain Unicorn. We liked to make believe what was going on inside his rape van – we also drew maps to imaginary worlds with our older brother. He was really good at drawing maps. Every country was a different color. His maps looked way too real. It wasn’t that we were ever very good at drawing – we just kept doing it. Eventually we discovered how to capture a special feeling in our heads – and on the paper – while we drew. Then we really got obsessed with it. The only thing that even compares to that feeling for us is jerking off with a broken hand. Some people were born to be snake handlers or family therapists – we’re just like them but better. It’s simple really. Just ask someone what they do during their free time. Whatever they answer is what they love most in the world. For us – that is drawing. If we couldn’t draw we would be a park ranger. If we couldn’t be a park ranger we would probably be in jail for murdering our elementary school principal. That guy was such a dick. Drawing keeps our dark side in check. There was a time in our life when we were confused – we were pretty close to ending up in jail back then. We would just drink Mad Dog 20/20′s + spit at the police station. We were always looking at Playboy magazines + talking about drugs. One time we flattened all the tires on a logging truck. We were wicked out of control in those days. Drawing was the one thing that helped us understand our place in this crazy world. Look at us now – we’re out here in Hollywood getting wigger rich – watching the NBA playoffs in sports bars – trying on shoes at the mall – upgrading our cell phone plans. Dreams totally can come true.

Check out some of Ghostshrimp’s work after the jump!

Every Wednesday we sit down (briefly) with a talented artist + ask them 3 questions.

If you’re an artist + you’d like to be grilled, email me at questions@hardfeelingsblog.com