About 3 weeks back a friend of mine and I was checking out Electro Bands on myspace. We sorted it by plays and bands next to our LA zip code. The top band that came up was this band called Millionaires. It was some wannabe Orange County Electro Band(ewww gross!). Anyway we were like WTF! These girls are unsigned. They have music that sounds like it was recorded on garage band or just really badly done and have close to 20,000 plays a day without even playing a single show or record out. I can personally make something better by making a beat my Casio keyboard and free styling drunk for 15 minutes. I would be rich if there was really a demand for electro music done bad. Now something was up because Justin Timberlake has 949,134 fans and 20000 average plays a day. According to my good friend Aaron who is the booker for bands such as Skid Row and sadly enough Kevin Costner (point is they are arena rock), he said good old JT is the hottest ticket in the country and sells out arenas all across the US. How come we have not heard of this sensation? Now this adds to that issue which does not make any sense. Millionaires and their 20,000 plays a day are playing live for once. If you are that popular you should at least be playing a venue that holds at least 2000 people such as the Avalon in Hollywood. Guess where they are playing a show. The Joint which can maybe hold 150 people tops. I think my ex-girlfriend headlined a gig there once where she was playing flute. If you were good and wanted to play a small venue you would play the Troubadour, they would book you in a second if you were really that big. Also their DJ Hyphy Krunk, who is one of their top friends and makes their music, only has 70 plays on his myspace. I assume he is getting all his plays because he is spinning a super cool party at Paulie Shore’s house. Haha I guess he isn’t as popular as the 20000 play ladies. To top it off our good Asian friend John from the LA Noise Gods HEALTH came back from tour and was telling me about a shady myspace message they got. Keep in mind HEALTH was ranked in the top most blogged about bands this year. They get approached be all sorts of credible sources such as pitchfork media, 4ad records etc. These guys are approaching an average of around 1000 plays a day after their recent US and UK tour. Crystal Castles ,another electro/electronic group, is probably the hottest electro duo in the world right now considering they are playing the Reading Festival without even putting out a full length. Even 50 Cent uses their samples because they are so hot. With them we are talking about 6500 plays a day. On top of that most of their promotion is internet based so their plays will be high. Getting to the point, John gets a message on HEALTH’s myspace from this dude saying “want more plays give me a call” and he left a number. In John’s exact words “fuck that shit” Apparently there are people out there who have servers that keep on refreshing plays and hits on bands myspace pages that you can pay so it looks like a ton of people like you. They will also spam people for you too. This does exist, I know how to write programs that would do this. I put my time towards better things though. You can see how this is involved in getting signed. It’s pretty ironic considering Millionaires headline is “Put the money on the COUNTER”. Do you mean “Myspace Play Counter”? It’s sad what people do to get around making good music and touring.

Around Los Angeles there is a huge art community. Plenty of incredible artists, but definitely more shitty ones. Come on you know how it goes. There are always those untalented, but hot art school girls, that paint pictures of gay guys or trannys in an expected mediocre way who get into shows in downtown because someone wants to put their dick inside them. Very boring, over done, and not interesting. Just give in, I know you are going to marry some 45 year old balding, boring, producer or lawyer. Anyway, what I have here is the complete opposite of that. A Chinaman with a mustache that draws some of the most entertaining and interesting drawings I have ever seen. That man is Michael C Hsiung. Personally I am a huge fan of his art. I shot a few questions way to pick Mike’s mind about his life as an artist here in LA. Here the are:

So how did you come about doing this art has drawing always been a big part of your life?
Drawing has always been a big part of my early life. I actually still have drawings my dad saved of dinosaurs, horses, and men with facial hair. I used to draw inside my Chinese Exercise books – everyone is melting, has a beard, or crapping I haven’t come a long way. Ha ha. I drew well up into high school, but somehow fell out of it and lost interest somewhere after college. It wasn’t until I had quit my job in San Jose, was majorly depressed, and moved back to LA that I started to draw more regularly out of boredom. I think at the time I was drawing to make my friends laugh, and slowly through that I got encouraged to draw more and more.

I remember seeing one of your first drawings on a sign at Nash’s house in K-town, the No More War for Metal with some unicorns on it. I thought it was fucking hilarious. At that time did you see yourself being an artist?
I didn’t see myself as an artist at that point. I hadn’t sold anything, I wasn’t showing anywhere, and thinking of it too seriously. It was me having fun and drawing for fun.

The Downfall of the Mermen

What inspires you the most?
Will Smith, Ice skaters, facial hair, mythology, Dungeons & Dragons, Doctor Who, friends, art, and boredom.

Do you ever think K-town is ever going to get gentrified? They have been talking about it for years just like Echo Park and you see how that part of town is now. K-town still seems the same. Just a few weeks back 18th street hit up Nash’s house and his neighbor got shot? Do you still walk the Gauntlet? Please explain us who don’t know what it is.
Korea town probably will get gentrified in a few years as the renters realize they can get more money of young kids and stuff, but for now it’s still double-parking, street tamales, abandon couches and tv’s. Just the way I like it.

Hell no I don’t walk the Gauntlet anymore. The Gauntlet is this stretch of sketchiness (2nd street and Kenmore) that I used to walk home from either drunk or whatever at like 2 am. Not advisable. Some nights I would run through it, or lightly jog. I almost got mugged on that damn thing. But yes, I totally stopped after someone got shot on Catalina by Nash’s home court. The guy was walking home at 1 am, 30 something, and Mexican. I wish the Gauntlet on no one.

A puppeteer entertaining a handicapped child

Your opinion on mustaches?
I’ve always been obsessed with moustaches as a kid. Don’t know why. It wasn’t until I was so depressed that I just stopped shaving for work that it grew. Nobody at the office even said anything about it until the lesbian IT person walked by me one day and said, “nice stache.” I think everyone should have a Hitler or Chaplin stache depending on what school of thought you’re from.

What do you define as good art?
Pearl Hsiung, Mike Stilkey, and the guy who draws D&D art . . .

What strikes you as bad art?
The guy who draws D&D art…

Two distinguished gentlemen riding a unicorn

What is your opinion on art school? Do you feel art school is necessary?
Well it’s interesting because while I didn’t go to art school, my sister who is a tremendous influence has been to art school and graduate school for Fine arts. So I see that it can be a helpful environment to develop ideas and collaborate. For myself, however, and some other artists I know like Mike Stilkey, it wasn’t necessary. We might have been different types of artists if we went .. who knows. I always encourage education, but it’s not necessary. You can be an artist without an art degree or an artist with one.

What current projects are you working on? I know you have tons of people interested in working with you.

Well I’m currently preparing for a show at Gallery Revisited (www.galleryrevisited.com) on June 23, 2007 with artist Cole Gerst that requires I draw like 20 pieces and put out a mini-publication of illustrations accompanied by writing (Kathleen Brzezinksi). I’ve got a Cd cover to finish for my friend Davin (sorry I’m behind), I’m contributing once in a while to www.daytrotter.com, writing a blog and doing interviews for www.ourartsite.com, and planning to build a robot.

Man at Cronos struggling with worms

What do you find yourself drawing the most?
It depends. I go through periods. For instance I’ll draw something until I sort of get tired of him. You’ll notice there’s been a lack of Mermen in my life. Shh!

Is there a message behind the art you are doing? I found it so entertaining that I didn’t even care for one.
I think my art is more thematic, but not purposely. I usually draw shapes and scenes where I don’t realize what they are until after they are completed. If there was a message in my art, I think it’s like kill animals, pandas and unicorns hate each other , let the gay mermen be, and ice skating can be stressful.

Baby Hitler

If you could sum up your art in one word what would it be?
I know what my friends would say, but I think “realistic” would sum it up very accurately.

Michael is always showing in the local LA area. Best way to view his pieces are at shows which are listed on his website or myspace. You can also purchase prints through his website. Get them while they last! You can find his work at the sites below.

Website
Myspace
Gallery Revisited
OurArtSite.com

Freethescene.com has teamed up with LAvsSF.com. They will now be posting some of their material here, including local SF performers/artists, and other random shit they are known for such as how much subway sucks, famous gay dogs, and translating what peoples myspace’s mean. A lot of good shit here, but to tell you the truth no one in LA cares to compare themselves to SF. They just like to visit there. Anyway you can find some awesome stuff on the site from the infamous local Angelino Scott Maize and Curt. Anyway check it out.