August 26, 2025 • 49 mins
This week, Mike & Erica sit down with legendary gig poster artist Justin Hampton. From Nirvana flyers in 1990 to Soundgarden shirts, Pearl Jam, Radiohead & Nine Inch Nails posters, Justin has lived through, and helped shape the golden era of Seattle’s grunge explosion and beyond.Join hosts Mike and Erica as they bring you engaging content around gig poster artists, merch and art prints.
Guest: Justin Hampton | IG: @hamptonia
If you liked this episode follow and like us on all major platforms, find out more at: bestofthetour.com
Want to support the podcast? You can buy us a coffee at: buymeacoffee.com/bestofthetour. Every contribution helps keep the gig poster stories coming.
Best of the Tour is presented by Invisible Industries LLC.
Episode Sponsor Links:
LEGAL NOTICE ---Views expressed by hosts and guests are their own. All trademarks, images, and artwork remain the property of their owners and are shown for identification, commentary, criticism, or review under U.S. fair use law (17 U.S.C. §107). No copyright infringement intended. No endorsement or affiliation implied. BEST OF THE TOUR™ is a trademark of Invisible Industries LLC. © MMXXV. All rights reserved worldwide.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Flannels were not cool to wear until Seattle and grunge made it
cool and it was like we're we could do it and hold our heads
high. It's time for another episode of
Best of the Tour. This is the show that takes you
behind the scenes of your favorite gig, posters, tour
merch, and the artists who bringit all to life.
(00:22):
Let's start the show. Welcome to episode three of Best
of the Tour Podcast. We are entitling this one.
Welcome to Hamptonia. I really like that name.
It's an Instagram handle of our guests that we're fortunate
enough to be sitting here with Justin Hampton, who's a gig
(00:43):
poster artist as well as other pop culture items.
Justin, welcome to the show. Thank you, nice to be here.
Great to have you. For our listeners tuning in, we
are your hosts. My name is Mike America.
You may be familiar with us fromour other podcast called Posters
in Every Direction. And now we're here on this
project with our friends at Invisible Industries on Best of
(01:06):
the Tour. And So what we like to do is
dive into a little bit of a artist interview, kind of get
some perspective of folks who'vebeen in the industry for quite
some time honing their craft. And so Justin sitting down with
us this afternoon. Yeah, and Justin, for for those
who may not be familiar with your work or who you are, you
(01:29):
might be living under a rock if you don't know the name Justin
Hampton. Justin, if you want to give a
little background, you know, tell us a little bit about, you
know, how how long have you beenan artist?
What, what brought you into the concert gig poster world in the
industry? And we'll just, you know, love
to hear your story. Sounds good.
(01:50):
Well, I basically started my career in 1990 after I graduated
art school in Seattle. So I was kind of at the
epicenter of the grunge explosion that was coming out of
the town at that point and before it blew up on a
nationwide level. So I was going to these little
shows that were, you know, thesehuge name bands that weren't big
(02:12):
yet that became legendary, you know, And I worked for a local
music magazine called the Rockets, and it was covering all
the local scene. And we knew that we had
something special in the city atthat point, but we had no idea
that it was going to become a global phenomenon.
It was just cool stuff that was happening in our town, you know.
(02:33):
And so I worked under the art direction of Art Chantry at the
Rocket. And he was doing rock posters
and had been since the mid 80s, maybe even, maybe even late 70s,
honestly, like his punk rock stuff.
But so I was exposed to that stuff.
But I had seen at that point already some of the Coop and
(02:55):
Kozik and Firehouse and Derek Hess and all that kind of stuff.
I just had no idea how to go about doing something like that.
I was an illustrator and I was doing like record review
illustrations for the Rocket Mover reviews, op eds.
That kind of whatever they askedme to do, I was doing slowly
(03:16):
over time. Different people that work there
also worked in different facets of the industry.
Some promoted shows, some were musicians.
And so I just started getting asked to do Flyers because
people liked what I did for the Rocket for illustration work.
So I would just do a flyer and it would be like, you know, 25
bucks to do it and free admittance to the show and free
(03:37):
beer, maybe food if they had a kitchen, you know what I mean?
And that was like that was it gohang out with friends and, you
know, see the show and the the Flyers would be up all around
town. And that was kind of neat to see
them bigger than the illustrations and the magazines.
And it was, it was fun. And it was a way to be really
involved in a different aspect, you know, than just the, the
(03:58):
magazine stuff. Cause a lot of people saw that
stuff. And this is all pre Internet.
So a lot of word of mouth, like people going like, yeah, it's
all your rocky illustration, butI've seen your Flyers all around
town. That's wild, you know, And so
that's kind of how I got started.
And then around the early mid 90s, like 93 or so, the it's
(04:19):
weird 'cause like Seattle basically created a vacuum for
posters to happen, like screen printed posters in the sense
that they did a poster ban 'cause they decided that Flyers
on telecomposed in the city was like ugly and, you know, taking
away from the beauty of the city.
And so they banned putting them up.
You'd get a ticket, get like potentially arrested.
(04:40):
Yeah, for, for putting up a flyer.
So now. You've got these small bands out
there just trying to promote themselves.
Just try to, you know, make a couple bucks and they're not
even allowed to promote them via.
Flyer. So the interesting thing that
happened was suddenly all of thewindow space or record shops,
bookstores, grocery stores became like the hot spot to put
(05:03):
Flyers because you couldn't haveit on a pole, but you could have
it in a window on the street. So now the promoters were like,
OK, so we need more impact, lesscoverage, maybe we'll start
running multi colors and you know, let's do some screen
prints. There's a few screen printers in
town. And that's where I basically was
(05:25):
invited by a promoter to like, hey, you want to do a screen
print? And I was like, I've never done
one. I have no idea, you know, how to
do it, you know, but I had done screen printed T-shirts that was
similar, different and similar because I work for the printer
in town that did all of the bandshirts for all of the bands at
the time. So I learned the process of
doing that on shirts for bands like Soundgarden and Buddy Honey
(05:50):
and Nirvana. And all these bands got to work
with some of those acts as well.And so when it came to doing a
poster, I was like, OK, I know how to do that.
I think I understand, but I'm done on paper.
It's a different process. And so so it wasn't that big of
a, a gap to bridge, but I did, you know, it was a little moment
(06:10):
of kind of like, OK, I gotta figure this out.
And so my first screen printed poster was 1994, but I had been
doing Flyers from like 91 through.
Well, my first one was for Nirvana in 90 Nirvana Tads and
the Tad and the gets and, and itwas just a learner, you know, I
(06:31):
honestly at that point had no idea that there would be money
eventually made. I just was like this.
Is cool. 25 bucks and beer, you know.
OK, cool, I'm in, you know, and I'll see the show for free.
Sweet, you know. But beyond that, it was just
like. And basically a small
independent local band. They they call themselves
Nirvana at that point, right? I mean, they're they're, they're
(06:52):
not yet the MTV Unplugged Kurt Cobain Nirvana that we we came
to know and love his children like.
No one knew what he looked like 'cause he had such long hair and
it was always in his face that he he looked like Cousin It from
the Adams fan. Yes, absolutely.
That's exactly what I was thinking.
And you know, it's so interesting because, you know, I
(07:13):
mean, we, we are, we grew up in,in the, I mean, grew up in the
90s. We were, you know, young adults
in the 90s. And so for us, you know, we we
have young kids now and one of our our kids is an older
teenager and he's like really into 90's rock.
Like a lot of the bands that you've done art for is like
(07:34):
favorites of our son you. Know that's cool.
Yeah, Nirvana. Nirvana and and Soundgarden
Radiohead, like he is like I waslike he picked him up and like
plopped him out of the 90s. This kid like loves all of that,
but it is really amazing. I think for us maybe took it for
granted. I if you ask me like best
(07:54):
generation of music, like best like decade of music.
The 90s were just so. They were, they were.
Prolific and instrumental in so many ways it was like before the
Internet cusp of like online, you know and and so you still
had these tangible. When it was this different feel,
(08:14):
this just whole different vibes that shifted everything.
I mean, I really felt like at least my own personal experience
was like as a young kid, I was always exposed to music.
My my parents always had music on the House, whether it's my
dad's record player or my mom had, you know, well, in the car,
an 8 track player and all this. So, you know, I grew up the song
(08:36):
stylings of everything from, youknow, The Rolling Stones to The
Who to Billy Joel and Kenny Rogers on, on my mom's side.
And but, but it was like my mom loved The Beatles, like had this
passion for The Beatles and my dad like, you know, loved The
Who and Tommy and, and it was just like there had been no
(08:57):
sound. That was my, you know,
generational kind of sound. I grew up with some of the 80s
hair band stuff and Michael Jackson was a big deal.
But it felt like these things just weren't really didn't
belong. That's a good way to say it.
But then grunts, the Adam Grungedrops.
It comes, you know, Pearl Jam and Nirvana and Soundgarden and
you know, then you start, I wentto the opposite then and like
(09:20):
then found out about Temple of the Dog and you know, hunger
strike and all that stuff. But it was like, this is
different. And then it was like a, it felt
like a shift. It was that almost adolescent
shift for me from middle school into high school around that
time. And you know, it was, it also
gave a reason to make flannel cool.
And I love flannel. So I was like, you kind of just
(09:42):
jived with me. Well, the really funny thing
about that in in Seattle was everyone was broke and it was
cold, you know, and you could goto the thrift store and get it
for cheap. It wasn't a fashion statement.
It was just literally like everyone universally understood
that it was warm and it was coldoutside and it was cheap.
That was it. That's right and.
(10:03):
Then when it became a fashion statement it was like, this is
weird, why are people doing this?
That's I, I grew up in Pittsburgh and it was, you know,
part of your holiday gift every year, whether it was your, you
know, your mom and your dad or grandparents.
It was like you'd get, you'd geta flammable shirt from the LL
Bean catalog. And it was like, it was a nice
gesture and grateful for it and all.
And Pittsburgh's a cold city andso you kind of needed it.
(10:26):
But they weren't cool like it. Flannels were not cool to wear
until Seattle and grunge made itcool.
And then it was like we were we could do it and hold our heads
high kind of thing. But I can't even imagine though,
like we've talked to artists before where they started off at
with the art and then had to learn sort of how it translates
into the screen printing processprocess.
(10:48):
You sort of had that opposite where you like understood layers
of of the ink and how things hadto lay on and then go back like
basically like backwards compatible, like figure out how
to do it on the other way. It's true.
Well, I mean, the interesting thing about it back then too, is
it was so, I mean, the ultimate DIY in the sense that like you
did everything with Ruby Lift overlays, which is like a film
(11:11):
that has like this rubber coating on it that you would cut
out the parts that you want the ink to go through, not all the
way through, just down to the acetate and peel the rubber part
back. And then when you were doing
multiple colours, you were literally in your mind keeping
it track of how it was all goingto look because all you were
saying was like orange. Then you do another colour, it'd
(11:32):
be like darker orange, Another colour will be darker orange.
And you're like, OK, I think this makes sense.
Like I, I think I understand howthis is all going to play out.
Like you might do a comp on a Xerox in like, you know, colour
pencil or watercolour or something of like, sort of like
that. And then you're just cutting
away going like I hope this makes sense when the printer
gets this. But somehow it always it works
(11:54):
out. It did, yeah.
And then, you know, there were mistakes made, of course.
And sometimes you're like, yeah,no, that was totally
intentional. I meant to look like that.
It was. It was.
Totally planned. That's all we want with it.
That's really cool. And so oh.
You had well, the other thing I was going to say is I thought
the way that you kind of describe the chronology of where
you started and I got in with this, that early Pearl Jam flyer
(12:17):
and things was that you said youstarted the screaming Nirvana.
I'm sorry, Nirvana. This is total lost in.
The. Lost in the sauce, but you said
you started with T-shirts beforethe actual Flyers.
And so we've talked a lot in oursort of different conversations
and, and casts and experiences about, you know, that the poster
(12:39):
game is sort of one piece of this sort of larger merch, kind
of leaner collective, if you will.
And so the fact that you were doing T-shirts first to me is
just really intriguing because we talk a lot about how those
T-shirts have become almost likewearable posters to a degree for
some. Of the shoes you go to, you
know, yeah. So what's really crazy is I held
(13:02):
a few of those shirts back, likewhen I would do one for or, you
know, screen print, I would be like, hey, can I grab one of
these? And my boss would be like, just
pay for the shirt, you know, so I would like, it'd be like 6-6
bucks or something like that, 3 bucks, whatever shirts were back
then, you know, you scream it yourself.
And I was like, pull, OK, I justdid anyway, like, whatever.
(13:22):
And so, so I would grab shirts and certain ones I liked.
I didn't think like I should grab one of each because if I
had holy crap, I would have so much dough.
But the ones that I did save, I,I just recently some collector,
I've been having people literally bug me for like
decades whenever I'd post something on Instagram or
(13:43):
Facebook or whatever. Here's some of the shirts I have
and people like, dude, I want tobuy that.
I'm like, it's not for sale. I was just showing it.
It's, I'm not trying to sell these.
I'm just interested. I'm, I'm, they're in my
archives. And then I was thinking about it
just recently and I know how hotthey've gotten, you know what I
mean? And I was like, you know, I'm
maybe I will just let these go. They're just sitting in a box in
the basement. It's not like I'm like doing
(14:05):
anything, but I know they're there and it's cool whenever I
go through them every, you know,once every couple years, like,
oh, that's cool. I remember that show or whatever
it was. And I was just like, it's
probably peaking the value. Maybe I'll just let these go.
And so the last person had reached out to me.
I was like, hey, maybe interested in selling these.
And he was like, OK, well, what do you have?
(14:26):
And I showed him and he was like, holy crap, I want all of
these. And I was like, all right, make
me an offer. And I thought it was going to be
some low ball offer of like, youknow, I want to, you know, pad
it so I can make money and turn these around and sell them to do
Offered me thousands of dollars.And I was like, OK, what fair
price sold. Yeah, done.
And I, and I felt great, 'cause I mean, I paid literally like,
(14:48):
you know, maybe $24.00 for all these shirts.
Yeah. But also, I made thousands of
dollars. That's crazy.
And somebody like that's probably buying them, investing
for their own collection, which is probably meaningful as well
because now, you know, hey, there's an end sort of user out
there or owner that's going to take care of them and experience
(15:09):
that for a joy that maybe you'renot, you're not, you're not
getting any more out-of-the-box in the basement, you know?
Totally. Yeah.
Yeah, exactly. Well, the cool thing too, it was
a guy who knew what he was looking at because he wasn't
even like, make sure to show me the specific times for the
certain year. And I need to see the texture of
the shirt to make sure it's thatone that was printed that one
time at that one printer. And I was like, I worked for the
printer and and I just showed him a couple and he was like, I,
(15:32):
I believe you. I believe.
Yeah. Because I had a like Nirvana
Vestibles shirt on black with the white ink goes from bleach.
And I printed it, you know, way back when, you know, And he was
just like, holy crap, I want oneof those soap.
And I'm like, it was. And when I sent it off, it felt
really great. Like I felt like, OK, they went
(15:54):
to someone who actually got it, loved it, and he paid a dollar
for it. And all with these go down.
Yeah, that, I mean, for for us is like just habitual collectors
of, you know, we collect postersand pins and art prints and
T-shirts. They're wearable.
Collectors, yeah, I mean, but like we, for me personally, I, I
(16:16):
know the and it's hard mostly for Mike, it's hard to get rid
of things like, because there's such sentimental stories and
memories that are tied to it. But like being able to be like
somebody who could like receive a, a super collectible piece
like that. I mean that you just had to have
made that guy's like Millennium.Yeah, there's.
Well, and it was cool for me that it was like, OK, I've had
(16:38):
this for 35 years, I think I canlet go now.
I. Put my limit, stored my storage.
Yeah, exactly. No, but that was good.
Like it means so much if I'm much more on that sort of
consumer collector end of those discussions like the guy that
(17:00):
bought them from you. And this is just a quick aside.
These are the tangents here. Here we go with the story.
But you know, there there's a band Erica and I've gotten into
recently, last couple years by the name of Goose.
They're out of sort of Connecticut.
You're familiar. Can't wait to see a Justin
Hampton Goose poster at some point.
Shameless Plaudge. But there was a the way they do
(17:23):
their T-shirt drops, they do a venue specific, which is
interesting. Pearl Jam does this a lot, you
know, being Dave Matthews Band fans, Erica and I for years.
They do it very, very seldom. So it's kind of a new, newer
thing for us because you're like, you go to the show, you
know, in, in North Carolina or in Cincinnati or wherever it is.
There's a specific shirt done byan artist, right?
(17:46):
Right. There's only so many and they're
sold out and they're gone. It just, it feels super old
school the way they're doing this, which is awesome.
And there was one that was in the Philadelphia area and it was
this sort of celebration of Philadelphia.
It's got this boxer in very patriotic trunks.
We won't say it's Rocky because of I.
Was going to say, I wonder who that can be referred to.
(18:09):
And these he's hitting this heavy bag and the heavy bag says
goose on it, you know, and it's like cringing.
And I just thought this PA guy grew up in Pittsburgh, not a
Philly guy, but have love for the city of brotherly love.
Saw this shirt and I was like, Ineeded it like I had to have it.
I, I texted friends that were atthe show.
(18:29):
I had three separate people try to go First of all, I need a 2X
or bigger. So it's always a challenge, you
know, and everybody sold out. Nobody got it.
So I just kind of searched the, the Internet trying to talk to
people. A couple people flaked on me.
Didn't happen, didn't happen Randomly.
We're in line waiting to get into a show in Winston Salem.
(18:49):
And we, we meet these guys behind us and one of them is
wearing the shirt. And I was like, you know, we're
talking. I was like, you're wearing like
my Holy Grail of T-shirts. I'm really trying to get it.
And his buddy was like, hey, man, I just, I actually just
lost like 80 lbs and I have one in that size and it can't wear
it. Do you want it?
I was like, how many dinero do you want for this shirt?
(19:12):
I will pay. He's like, no, look, just trade
me a shirt. And I was like, well, we're
going to some shows. We're going to Cincinnati and
he's like, yeah, that'll be cool.
So I grabbed him a shirt in Cincinnati.
We met up at a concert in Charleston, SC, and we traded
shirts. And that's how you know, And it
it's like my prize T-shirt possession at.
This point it's, but it's funny because back in the day I had
(19:34):
stuff like that too, where I would do something that was
special for Soundgarden or whatever.
And I wear it out because I was like, I really like the way this
one turned out, which is kind of, you know, narcissistic way
or sure, but I was stoked. You know, I'd just done
something with Soundgarden somewhere would come up and
literally be like, dude, I've never seen that before.
I have no idea where you got that.
And I just tell them I did it. It's mine.
(19:55):
I work for the print on the desktop Soundgard.
And they were like, I will buy that off your back for like
$300. And like back in 1990, that was
a lot of money, you know? But but that was one, that's one
of the shirts I did not let go of.
There's a social story about that one that's actually in my
book. So that seems to be a pretty
good segue to talk. Man, you're a pro That that,
(20:16):
that's the thing I've heard. I was in my mind working toward
a segue of like, we're hearing all this incredible history.
It has to be archived somewhere.And Justin has just dropped a
book of I know it's about 10 lbs.
How many years you're recovering?
Tell us about the book. I mean, it's literally 35 plus
(20:37):
years of story. I talk about, you know, where I
came from, and that's like starts in 87.
But that's a very small intro. And then I go into the story of
starting my career in 1990 and the work for Gin Sorenson,
printing those T-shirts in the back of the old Tattoo Emporium
on Pike St. And, you know, and I just go
(20:58):
into all these tales about like,what Seattle was like and what
it was like, 'cause I mean, I would literally have, you know,
Jeff Ament would come in from Pearl Jam and he'd want to work
on a new shirt. And we didn't really think about
it like, Oh my God, it's Jeff Ament.
You know, we were just like, oh,it's the guy from, you know,
Mookie Blaylock. That was the name of the van
that's bad. They hadn't called the Pearl Jam
(21:21):
yet. So I was like, oh, it's the
Mookie guy. Cool.
And and it wasn't that big of a deal, although it was neat
because I really liked all thesepeople's music a lot, you know,
But I I wasn't like, you know, Oh my God, that's like Robert
Plant. You know what?
To me, that was like a differentera where there were those
legends, you know what I mean? Couldn't think about it.
And that way I was just like, yeah, the youth is now doing
cool, unique stuff and maybe someday people will appreciate
(21:44):
it, you know, who knows? You know?
But it now people are like, Oh my God, that's insane.
You. And it's like, yeah, didn't it
didn't seem like amazing at the time.
It was just kind of cool, you know, but so I tell a lot of
those tales about that stuff andI show off the early work and
T-shirt designs that I did and rocket illustrations and I go
into all the stories of like howI got started during posters.
(22:06):
And it's it all that stuff kind of started when I was just
writing stuff on Facebook because I would have memories of
certain things, especially on dates, you know, on this day I
did, you know, that thing, my first Burster was spring of
honor or whatever. And so I started writing these
things on Facebook and eventually I was like, you know
what, I've written enough of these stories and they're just
kind of like getting lost in thealgorithm of like, oh, that's
(22:29):
what happened that day. And then, you know, who's ever
going to hear that story again unless it comes up in a memory
or later. And I've got enough of that
stuff written down that I, when I started thinking about
seriously during a book, I was like, you know, what if I just
go through my Facebook, not likethe actual like, you know, daily
story things, but like search for the stories that I know I
told, I'll have an outline for alot of the stuff that I could
(22:51):
just start there, copy that stuff, paste it and expand it.
And I have the beginnings of a book, you know, and I was like,
holy shit, that's kind of crazy because it seemed like such a
daunting task. And it was true, but it took six
years to bring it to fruition. Once I started, once I
committed, yeah. But I, I could not be more happy
(23:12):
with how it turned out. It's, it took a long time.
I get a Kickstarter. My Kickstarter backers have been
incredibly patient because like I, I was supposed to be, I think
I launched like 3 years ago. And but I've just kept updating
people and going. Look, I promise you, you're
going to love this product when you get it because I'm just
putting that much more into it. And you guys enabled me to do
(23:35):
this as a self publisher to to just put this out.
And part of that was due to the fact that I just, it was hard to
convince publishers to do this thing 'cause it's such a big
book. It's a.
Beast. And yeah, it is like someone
that, you know, it's funny, 'cause I've, I've had different
people say like, Oh my God, you're like this legend or
whatever. And I'm like, and that little
(23:56):
like microcosm small world of this niche.
There are some people that mightuse that word, but in the
greater populist people like who's who.
So I'm like, I get the publishers were trepidatious,
even though I'd been in a bunch of the rock poster books like
Art of Modern Rock. But in the end, you know, I
wanted to do my own version of Art of Modern Rock that size.
(24:18):
That was like a full career retrospective.
And but they were just kind of, you know, we're not going to
spend that much money. We don't know if we'll make it
back. You know, it's I'm in 100 page
book and I would just be like, no, no, I don't, that's not what
I want. I don't, I want to do.
And so we were having conflicting, you know, ideas
about what it would be and I just ended up like decided to do
(24:40):
it myself. But I'm really glad I did.
So it's literally top to bottom,designed by me, written by me.
All the art in it is mine. It's my baby.
I self published it and and I was really lucky to have all of
these amazing backers that believed in it and supported me
throughout it. So.
So for those that don't know, Kickstarter crowdfunding
(25:02):
platform usually backers, they advance the money so the
projects like this can get off the ground.
Am that all familiar with? I'm a little bit familiar.
I've backed some Kickstarters. And then you know, it does take
time, it takes patience. I think your communication there
is key. But what happens with Rudolfim
to us and the collector community is you strike out, you
(25:23):
miss out, you're under a rock, you didn't know about the
Kickstarter. And it's like, man, I wish I
could go back in time and get that.
And so good news for the listener as I sit here myself
scrolling. You can go to justinhampton.com
right now. And Justin, correct me if I'm
wrong, but you have, I believe that the book is called Visual
Feast, The Tantalizing Art of Justin Hampton.
(25:44):
And there's two versions. I'm really, really interested in
this. Erica knows she's already
smiling. There's there's what we'll call
a standard edition that is unnumbered and unsigned and it's
got slip case number one. So I'm going to ask you about
this. But then there's a second
version. And let me tell you guys, it's
(26:05):
not bad. It's only $50 more.
It is really reasonable. Like for a book of this size,
it's signed and numbered. It's limited to only 1000
copies. So it says the website and
Justin the man can confirm for us right here.
But to me, to have that kind of archive of work numbered, signed
with what I'm guessing is a special slip cover, can you talk
(26:29):
to us a little bit about that? I can indeed.
In fact, I have a copy of it right here.
So I'm going to show you what this one is.
This is the signed and numbered addition of 1000 and I wanted to
make. I had three different tiers.
The main one was the one you described, which is unsigned and
numbered, which has a repeat of the dust jacket of the book on
(26:49):
the slip case. The second version, which is the
signed and number addition of 1000 has a unique slip case to
itself. And then there was a third
version that was a limited edition of only 50 that had a
had a silver slip case. But you not only got the silver
slip case sign the number edition of 50, you also got your
(27:09):
number or your name sorry listedin the Adisha inside the book.
Oh, very cool. Yeah, a special thanks to and
you got a mini print that was only available to the 50 people
at the bottom. So that was like the earlier
word back super backer kind of thing.
Back during, you know, when it'spulled out super fast.
Yeah, that was 50 copies. Those are gone.
But but so this one has similar art.
(27:30):
It's the same art itself, but instead of on black, it's on
silver. That's the one that went.
That was all 50 copies but this one you can see it has a gloss,
burnish and then matte. Yep, there's a.
There's a lot of texture there. There's depth to.
It this wow has that spot Burnish.
Yeah. So like, yeah, then this thing
(27:51):
is heavy duty. Just just that level in.
Fact did you see that my my camera just dropped when I put
it on the table so. Heavy.
That's how heavy it is. It's funny because I didn't even
think about adding that to the height, but it seems to work
with my style of of music that Ido a lot of work for is heavy
stuff. So I was like, this book is
(28:12):
heavy and so this is the book itself. 444 pages.
Right, Justin, Right. And it this is the dust jacket
about. 1010 lbs in weight. I mean, this thing is a beast.
Yeah, the book itself is £9, thebox is a pound, so it's
incredible. And then I've got a lot of
really amazing quotes for musicians I've worked for,
(28:33):
including Kim Thiel from Soundgarden, Jeff Amends, the
guys who we Danger Mouse. And this actually also has a
repeat of the what you saw in the box on the hardcover too.
That's. Incredible front and back.
And were these art pieces that you from from the visual piece
(28:54):
or is these something you created specific for the book or
were these art pieces or pieces from posters that you had done
It's? A good question.
This is actually the original version of this is from a 2009
green poster at the Outside Lands festival and I just did it
above the the main group of characters.
(29:16):
There was just the name we the the Alice from the Alice of
Wonderland homage that it is twisted Alice or Wonderland.
I did later because I'd always wanted to do an art print
version of that particular thingand I always had it in mind that
it was going to be Alice loomingover the other characters.
Because it's like that tea time,but they're having a lunch.
(29:37):
Basically. The lunch is the Caterpillar.
It's. A dark line.
It's a dark 1. Alex in the Wonderland.
Alex, have the. Yeah, the tables have turned.
You stopped exactly. So the the the timing worked out
really well because my daughter was the exact age ish that like
Alice would be, you know, compared to the cartoon and the
(29:59):
story would not. So I had her pose for it.
So it's literally my daughter onthe cover and inside the book I
showed photo that that I took ofher.
I show the black and white drawing and then I show the
final version and show the wing poster next to the visual feast
version and how far it came and it turned out really.
So she's really happy. So I've actually taken her a
(30:20):
couple of these sightings I've had lately and she signed
posters with me because she's onthe cover.
That's. So cool.
Like and she thought that was pretty fun.
That's that's got to earn you like super dad of the of the
year, at least for like a minuteuntil you know, we've got we've
got teenagers who's you know, they're fair weather with us
anyways, so. I'll just shout out, pour one
out. Sad calip Caterpillar.
(30:41):
Poor, poor Caterpillar. Just put one for the team.
Treasure Cat could have been gone.
I don't know why, but no, it's that.
I mean, the piece is incredible.It's just and to have it either
those colors are so vibrant and you know, this is one of those
things that it's it just screamslike conversation piece coffee
(31:02):
table friends over having some beverages, listen to some music
and then checking checking this out.
It's really, it's an. Incredible.
That's awesome. Thank you.
So thanks to our friends over atthe Rock Poster Society.
If you don't know TRPS, they area nonprofit behind the world's
longest running rock poster collection shows.
That includes the Festival of Rock Posters in San Francisco,
(31:23):
which is a bucket list thing forMike and I to go to, but they
have been championing the art ofposter for decades.
They support both the artists and those people who collect
them and preserve them. If you want to get involved, go
over to trps.org if you want to become a member and check out
their upcoming events. Check them out.
(31:43):
One of the coolest things I've heard coming back from people
that have seen it so far is they've all said, I mean,
literally I, it's, it's kind of wild.
Like I, I knew that, you know, Ihave a flair for words.
I know that I can write. OK, you know what I mean?
But to have sat down and told these stories and polished them
so many times over and over until I was really happy with
(32:05):
it. The input that I've gotten back
is like people are saying, this is so much more than just an art
book. There's the stories are so well
written and so engaging and so funny and interesting and cool
that I just can't believe how great this is.
And I'm just, I'm just blown away 'cause you do all these
things, including posters or whatever in your studio and you
(32:27):
just kind of like are in your own little bubble with your own
little world and you set it freein the world.
And you never know what the response is going to be, you
know what I mean? So to hear the sick back is so
amazing. Well, and it's, you don't see a
lot of tangible things like art books these days.
I, I, my background is art history.
I have an art history degree Andso like I still have all of my
(32:47):
like college art books that we've got one that's going to be
going to college. And like I hear that there's
just no books anymore. Like it's either everything is
electronic or just online. And I, I think part of the
reason why for me personally, I'm not going to speak for Mike,
but I mean, I kind of sometimes speak for him anyways.
But one of the reasons I think Ilove collecting of the posters
(33:12):
and, and these types of things is this tangible.
And it's it's something I can walk by and see and and have
that memory and for you for. Your.
Tories because you've got your memories that are in your head,
but now you've put them out intothe world.
And so for for the fans of your artwork and for the fans of the
music of the art that you've done.
(33:33):
I mean, these are like behind the scenes.
It's peeling back that curtain of of things that like you just
got to go back in time with Yeah.
And I'm. It's so cool I.
I love some of the copy you have.
I'm going to take a minute and just read it here.
Justin for for folks who might pull up the website.
But this is again the visual feast, the tantalizing art of
(33:54):
Justin Hampton. And this is ultimate art book
for music and design lovers. 35 years of iconic art, 444 pages
of music history, 1 unforgettable collection from
Soundgarden to Radiohead, Metallica, Nick Cave, every
poster you've ever loved, Pearl Jam, Primus, 9 Inch Nails, and
then behind the scenes stories that history that Justin's told
(34:17):
us about to be archived here to be able to read these stories
and unforgettable moments yourself.
Additionally, sketches and unseen work.
This is one of those things thatI know as a collector and fan.
We love this stuff. You know, I think those might be
the Ralph Mcquarrie art done forthe Star Wars movies.
You know these are. The operation.
(34:38):
Pieces that launched a universe really a must have, it says for
music fans, I think that's a given inspiration, stunning
visuals, perfect gift and there's, you know, there's
there's these versions available.
I also wanted to make mention really quickly because I think
this is incredibly cool of just like the total package.
(34:59):
There's also an art print that is the cover of the book that's
available on your website, and then there's one of one and you
showed us this before we started.
Oh, it's insane. It's a Visual feast 3D shadow
box and it's basically you've taken the print and you it's
been cut. You tell us a little bit about
how meticulous and the process there, but it's a 3D version of
(35:21):
the poster that is that twisted Alice in Wonderland cover of the
book. Yeah, this is something that's a
buddy of mine who I went to art school with way back when.
We've been friends ever since. He's he's a madman in the sense
that he loves detail and he's all about that kind of stuff.
So he literally people see it and they're like, Oh my God,
that's amazing. Was that laser cut?
(35:42):
And it's like no, that's my dudewith an exacto blade and lots of
band aids from all the cuts and different level of dark.
Just like what this poster, thisnothing snap there and we got
basically Edward Exacto Blade's hands.
Same there. Yeah, yeah.
Totally his his own DNA mixed inthe mix of the glue and stuff
(36:03):
yeah. So I'll, I'll literally when I
do a poster, I'll, if I, if it'sone that I think is iconic
enough and would make sense, I'll give him like 5 copies of
the poster and he'll cut them all apart and then reassemble
them. So it's like, you know, this
weird Frankenstein's monster of of the poster, but he puts them
all on different levels of foam core, on little stilts and just
(36:25):
builds them up. And all the curves, all the
circles, all, it's all ahead. He's so precise it's crazy.
And on the website, there's a little video clip of this.
If you go to justinhampton.com again, just to shout out for the
listeners, take a look at this piece.
It's a one of one and it's. I'll try to relay it because I
actually have it here in the video.
(36:46):
So it's, it's, it's hard to convey not in person, but this
thing is a juggernaut. And I think what I'm seeing with
some of the reflections here, Justin, if you can confirm that
it looks like there's some foil elements.
It is this is on one of the variants on swirl foil that you
barely see peeking out underneath.
But yeah, it's it's just massive.
(37:07):
So cool. Opportunity that if you've
listened to to our podcast, but look at that, I mean it is like
it's. Like maybe 4 inches deep, like
the shadow box itself. OK, yeah.
And it's got this cool swirl pattern.
But yeah. Yeah, I just, we just sold one
of these. I did one of my William
Troutdale posters, which was a Queen of Hearts, another Alice
(37:29):
in Wonderland reference. Someone just picked that up for
three grand. Wow.
And I just, first of all, I haveto also say, like growing up,
Alice in Wonderland has been around as a story for a very,
very long time, generations and generations.
So you know, us as children, that was a generation even
before us with Alice in Wonderland.
We grew up with the Disney version and you know, our kids
(37:51):
now they've redone it. We've got the Johnny Depp
version of the Alice in Wonderland and the other movies
that they've done. But like this classic, I guess,
I guess it's a fairy tale, classic fairy tale still.
And we see a lot of the Alice inWonderland imagery in a lot of
band artwork. We've seen it for For Goose.
(38:12):
I remember one with Ben Kwok doing doing an Alice in
Wonderland one. We've seen other artists just
like yourself use that imagery. And I just think it's so cool
how it just translates and everyartist treats it differently by
their style. But the thing that ties them, I
think all together is it is so vibrant.
The colored in Alice in Wonderland Wonderland are just
(38:34):
these like bold and like vibrantneons and like because I think
Cheshire Cat. I think of the neon purples and
the pinks and the swirl and it'sjust so cool to see.
Fryer made it. He's fine.
Yeah. OK.
It's the Caterpillar. The Caterpillar that took the.
Brunt, he's the one who was likesmoking that crazy weird like
(38:57):
pipe thing or. What a what a concept too, to
have this have been a piece thatyou did at one point in time.
And then it's the cover for the book and the book is called
Visual Feast. And this is.
Very tied in SO. Well, but it's a.
Feast, right? Yeah.
Thank you. Yeah, thank you.
It's funny. I got a a quote from one of the
old school our curators of Seattle, Larry Reed, who used to
(39:21):
be the curator of COCA back in the day downtown on 1st Ave.
And he gave me a quote and he said he said that my work was
delightfully demented and I was like, take you, Larry.
That's really sweet. I love the.
Alliterate and. That's fantastic.
Delightfully demented. But the type for the theme was
(39:42):
that show Outside Lands where wewas in San Francisco.
And I was trying to think of a theme for the band.
And then there's a lot of like, you know, obviously drug
references and, and, and lyricalreferences and all these things
that I wanted to incorporate, but I needed a greater a theme
to tie it all together. I was like, well, San Francisco
(40:02):
White Rabbit, that's Jefferson Airplane Land, you know what I
mean? And so talking about going back
to the legends and the classics or whatever, and how many
generations have been affected by, you know, Alice the
Wonderland boar, you know, So that was really fun to do.
And then like in the image itself, it's got like, if you
look, there's like maybe 10 different references to wing
songs. Yeah.
(40:23):
OK, chocolate and cheese is on there.
Cockroaches are running around the tables.
Yeah, little little Zoloft pillsfor Yep.
So it's full of pull of little Easter eggs.
It's, it's really cool and it's just, I mean, kudos and
congratulations on 35 years of, of stories and art that have
(40:47):
impacted the collectors and the people who love the bands that
you've done that artwork for. Because it's not, again, it's
not just I love the bands. I'm going to get the artwork.
It's like for us, it's both. It's sort of like I get to take
a tangible item home with me to put up on my wall to prop up
back behind us, run out of wall space.
(41:10):
But it is it is so incredible. And, and you know, if you are a
fan of any of the, the art of that, of Justin's, but also the
music and the bands that he's been just, I mean, just that's,
it's incredible to be able to have a depth of those.
Well, yeah. And I think if you just love
this genre in general, if you'vegot a passion for music, for
(41:32):
collecting, to hear or read those stories that Justin has.
I mean, I, I, it's, it's one of those things that seems like you
had to get it out there. But like if I can from just one
member of the community, just thank you for sharing all that
because I. Just think.
That knowledge to have those experiences recorded somewhere,
it's just going to pay dividendsto to people, generations to
(41:54):
come to learn about those stories.
I mean, to hear those early daysof Nirvana and and Mookie
Blaylock and I mean, these are things that are at this point
they're legends, right? And it's you lived.
It's weird. Like you said, they were just
wasn't legendary at the moment. But then, right, they become
that because of think about it, your career, their career and
(42:17):
everything. So Congrats, man, on an
incredible. I mean, obviously 35 years, but
I mean, the book just looks, it looks incredible.
Yeah. Well.
What I appreciate. What's kind of coming up next
for you? I mean, I know, you know, we're
already in the back. I can't believe we're like back
half of 2025. Yeah, I.
Know it's weird. Like it it just this year just
blinked and we were we're here. But you know, what are some
(42:40):
things that you know, you're excited about that are coming up
on the horizon maybe in the next, you know, the end of this
year until beginning of 26? Right.
Well, what I'm focusing on a lotnow and I'm still taking gigs,
but I'm being more selective. I'm, I'm mostly booking like
book signings and exhibitions and that kind of thing.
(43:00):
And that's what I'm really honestly most excited about
right now. I'm, I'm hoping to be a part of
a festival that happens over in the Netherlands at some point
this year. And, and I'm looking into that,
that book market, you know, to try to just keep, keep pushing
this because I mean, when I did the book, you get a good deal on
printing if you print more. So I was able to fund it.
(43:22):
So I printed 3000 copies. That's awesome.
I've got probably about half of that because I, I, I made a, a
deal with a distributor and theypicked up 1000 books to put in
bookstores. So it's now available off on
bookstores, which is really, really cool because that's,
that's one of those things wherelike, you know, in in the niche,
(43:44):
like I was talking about before,it's such a narrow bandwidth of
people that people that wouldn'tnecessarily be exposed to it,
you know, often aren't unless they're a specific show for
their specific band or they walkby a window and whatever.
So being in a bookstore is like,I couldn't, I couldn't pay for
that advertising, you know what I mean?
To just have it on the shelf next to art books or music books
(44:07):
or wherever it's placed. So to have that torque, that
deal out was really, really huge.
So I'm very excited. And going and doing book
signings and being present, likemeeting with the people and the
fans like that. That's AI think that's something
that maybe we're missing a little bit more these days.
Is that interconnectivity with like other humans.
And I mean to be able to go likeI feel this way about the shows
(44:29):
like flat stock and TRPS rock poster shows, to be able to go
to events like that to meet yourposter heroes, to shake your
hands and say thank you for the art that's on my walls and and
just have that like energy exchange.
I think it's really cool. Is there something that people
like? So if somebody wants to know
where they might be able to findyou or like, hey, where's a
(44:52):
heads up, where can people go toto get that information?
I mean, the, the main place would be to go to my website,
justinhampton.com and sign up onmy mailing list and then you'll
get all the announcements. I'm also on social media with
Hamptonia on Instagram. All right, All the links are
actually on my website. So I would just say go to that
(45:14):
website at the very bottom. If you want to go to social
media links, they're all at the bottom, but I'm on all the
platforms. So it's, it's another cool way
to connect with people. I get lots of messages through
Facebook and whatnot where people are like, you know, I've
met my wife at this one show 20 years ago and you know, we,
we're wondering if you might have a copy.
And you know, I often have copies like in very limited
(45:37):
quantities that I've just kind of held onto.
And so that's always fun to likeengage with people that are,
have their own story, you know what I mean about how it
affected them or what not. And, and that's really fun.
That's, it's, I think one of thecoolest things about, I think
about this craft, I think a lot of poster artists would say this
is, it's a lot of the community.It's a lot of the connections
(45:58):
you make with the fans, with people, 'cause I have collectors
that have literally bought my stuff for like 30 years.
And they're just like, I, I literally had a, a signing
recently where some guy came up and he's like, I've got your
mazy star from 96. I've got your pavement from 95.
I've got and then, you know, Queens and Stone Age stuff to
(46:18):
the mid 2000s to Pearl Jam lately.
And, and it's just really cool to hear that.
Like there's this connection. And I've literally had people
say too, like, you know, I feel like I know you in the sense of
like our musical tastes are verysimilar and the bands that you
like to do posters for are the bands that I like to collect and
(46:39):
listen to. And so it feels like we have
this connection and, and it's, it's true.
It's interesting, isn't it? When you're like someone says,
do you like so and so? And you're like, I love that.
And you instantly feel that connection. 100%, yeah.
Yeah, you can build a relationship on top of that,
like. I mean, some of the best friends
we have, that's that's where it starts.
(46:59):
Some of the bands that we go seeand and our friend that we go
now on tour with or go to shows with or just visit one another
now, our friends from poster lines, which it.
It's true. It's sort of like it.
It's the litmus test. Like automatically you're like,
oh, you like this, this, this, and you're in line at 6:00 AM
while you're on vacation to try to get a poster.
(47:21):
We're best friends. You're cool.
Yeah. You're crazy Mattress, right?
Right well, again, for our listeners, check out Hamptonia
on Instagram, check out justinhampton.com.
Keep track, be on the lookout for drops for book signings.
Check out Visual Feast, available now in two editions.
(47:44):
And Justin, just thank you so much for stopping by Best of the
Tour, absolutely. And chatting with us for a bit.
It's been absolutely awesome. Agreed, I had a great time.
Thank you guys for the invite. Forward to seeing what's next
for you and and thanks for joining us.
Love talking to you and we'll catch you on the next episode.
Sounds good. The best of the tour is
(48:07):
presented by Invisible Industries.
Find us at www.bestofthetour.comand on all major streaming
platforms including Spotify and Apple Music.
You can also catch Erica and Mike on their other podcast
Posters in Every Direction, streaming wherever you stream
your podcasts from. A big thanks for listening and
(48:29):
we will talk to you next time. Hey y'all, if you are a poster
collector or poster aficionado like Mike and I want to give a
quick shout out over to the Poster Institute and you may not
know them from that name. You may be more familiar with
their actual cool event that they do called Flat Stock, which
(48:51):
is an event that takes place every year in variety of cities
that really help to support the artists that are creating those
posters that you love and you know on your walls.
They also help to expand the standards and the fields for the
artists and our really incredible organization.
(49:11):
It gives different opportunitiesfor the professionals and the
supporters and the public to really just connect first hand
with those artists that you love.
If you're interested in going and supporting the Poster
Institute, finding ways to get involved, or attending those
cool Flat stock events, I need you to go over to
posterinstitute.org and find howyou can get involved to support
(49:32):
this amazing nonprofit organization.
Flannels were not cool to wear until Seattle and grunge made it
cool and it was like we're we could do it and hold our heads
high. It's time for another episode of
Best of the Tour. This is the show that takes you
behind the scenes of your favorite gig, posters, tour
merch, and the artists who bringit all to life.
(00:22):
Let's start the show. Welcome to episode three of Best
of the Tour Podcast. We are entitling this one.
Welcome to Hamptonia. I really like that name.
It's an Instagram handle of our guests that we're fortunate
enough to be sitting here with Justin Hampton, who's a gig
(00:43):
poster artist as well as other pop culture items.
Justin, welcome to the show. Thank you, nice to be here.
Great to have you. For our listeners tuning in, we
are your hosts. My name is Mike America.
You may be familiar with us fromour other podcast called Posters
in Every Direction. And now we're here on this
project with our friends at Invisible Industries on Best of
(01:06):
the Tour. And So what we like to do is
dive into a little bit of a artist interview, kind of get
some perspective of folks who'vebeen in the industry for quite
some time honing their craft. And so Justin sitting down with
us this afternoon. Yeah, and Justin, for for those
who may not be familiar with your work or who you are, you
(01:29):
might be living under a rock if you don't know the name Justin
Hampton. Justin, if you want to give a
little background, you know, tell us a little bit about, you
know, how how long have you beenan artist?
What, what brought you into the concert gig poster world in the
industry? And we'll just, you know, love
to hear your story. Sounds good.
(01:50):
Well, I basically started my career in 1990 after I graduated
art school in Seattle. So I was kind of at the
epicenter of the grunge explosion that was coming out of
the town at that point and before it blew up on a
nationwide level. So I was going to these little
shows that were, you know, thesehuge name bands that weren't big
(02:12):
yet that became legendary, you know, And I worked for a local
music magazine called the Rockets, and it was covering all
the local scene. And we knew that we had
something special in the city atthat point, but we had no idea
that it was going to become a global phenomenon.
It was just cool stuff that was happening in our town, you know.
(02:33):
And so I worked under the art direction of Art Chantry at the
Rocket. And he was doing rock posters
and had been since the mid 80s, maybe even, maybe even late 70s,
honestly, like his punk rock stuff.
But so I was exposed to that stuff.
But I had seen at that point already some of the Coop and
(02:55):
Kozik and Firehouse and Derek Hess and all that kind of stuff.
I just had no idea how to go about doing something like that.
I was an illustrator and I was doing like record review
illustrations for the Rocket Mover reviews, op eds.
That kind of whatever they askedme to do, I was doing slowly
(03:16):
over time. Different people that work there
also worked in different facets of the industry.
Some promoted shows, some were musicians.
And so I just started getting asked to do Flyers because
people liked what I did for the Rocket for illustration work.
So I would just do a flyer and it would be like, you know, 25
bucks to do it and free admittance to the show and free
(03:37):
beer, maybe food if they had a kitchen, you know what I mean?
And that was like that was it gohang out with friends and, you
know, see the show and the the Flyers would be up all around
town. And that was kind of neat to see
them bigger than the illustrations and the magazines.
And it was, it was fun. And it was a way to be really
involved in a different aspect, you know, than just the, the
(03:58):
magazine stuff. Cause a lot of people saw that
stuff. And this is all pre Internet.
So a lot of word of mouth, like people going like, yeah, it's
all your rocky illustration, butI've seen your Flyers all around
town. That's wild, you know, And so
that's kind of how I got started.
And then around the early mid 90s, like 93 or so, the it's
(04:19):
weird 'cause like Seattle basically created a vacuum for
posters to happen, like screen printed posters in the sense
that they did a poster ban 'cause they decided that Flyers
on telecomposed in the city was like ugly and, you know, taking
away from the beauty of the city.
And so they banned putting them up.
You'd get a ticket, get like potentially arrested.
(04:40):
Yeah, for, for putting up a flyer.
So now. You've got these small bands out
there just trying to promote themselves.
Just try to, you know, make a couple bucks and they're not
even allowed to promote them via.
Flyer. So the interesting thing that
happened was suddenly all of thewindow space or record shops,
bookstores, grocery stores became like the hot spot to put
(05:03):
Flyers because you couldn't haveit on a pole, but you could have
it in a window on the street. So now the promoters were like,
OK, so we need more impact, lesscoverage, maybe we'll start
running multi colors and you know, let's do some screen
prints. There's a few screen printers in
town. And that's where I basically was
(05:25):
invited by a promoter to like, hey, you want to do a screen
print? And I was like, I've never done
one. I have no idea, you know, how to
do it, you know, but I had done screen printed T-shirts that was
similar, different and similar because I work for the printer
in town that did all of the bandshirts for all of the bands at
the time. So I learned the process of
doing that on shirts for bands like Soundgarden and Buddy Honey
(05:50):
and Nirvana. And all these bands got to work
with some of those acts as well.And so when it came to doing a
poster, I was like, OK, I know how to do that.
I think I understand, but I'm done on paper.
It's a different process. And so so it wasn't that big of
a, a gap to bridge, but I did, you know, it was a little moment
(06:10):
of kind of like, OK, I gotta figure this out.
And so my first screen printed poster was 1994, but I had been
doing Flyers from like 91 through.
Well, my first one was for Nirvana in 90 Nirvana Tads and
the Tad and the gets and, and itwas just a learner, you know, I
(06:31):
honestly at that point had no idea that there would be money
eventually made. I just was like this.
Is cool. 25 bucks and beer, you know.
OK, cool, I'm in, you know, and I'll see the show for free.
Sweet, you know. But beyond that, it was just
like. And basically a small
independent local band. They they call themselves
Nirvana at that point, right? I mean, they're they're, they're
(06:52):
not yet the MTV Unplugged Kurt Cobain Nirvana that we we came
to know and love his children like.
No one knew what he looked like 'cause he had such long hair and
it was always in his face that he he looked like Cousin It from
the Adams fan. Yes, absolutely.
That's exactly what I was thinking.
And you know, it's so interesting because, you know, I
(07:13):
mean, we, we are, we grew up in,in the, I mean, grew up in the
90s. We were, you know, young adults
in the 90s. And so for us, you know, we we
have young kids now and one of our our kids is an older
teenager and he's like really into 90's rock.
Like a lot of the bands that you've done art for is like
(07:34):
favorites of our son you. Know that's cool.
Yeah, Nirvana. Nirvana and and Soundgarden
Radiohead, like he is like I waslike he picked him up and like
plopped him out of the 90s. This kid like loves all of that,
but it is really amazing. I think for us maybe took it for
granted. I if you ask me like best
(07:54):
generation of music, like best like decade of music.
The 90s were just so. They were, they were.
Prolific and instrumental in so many ways it was like before the
Internet cusp of like online, you know and and so you still
had these tangible. When it was this different feel,
(08:14):
this just whole different vibes that shifted everything.
I mean, I really felt like at least my own personal experience
was like as a young kid, I was always exposed to music.
My my parents always had music on the House, whether it's my
dad's record player or my mom had, you know, well, in the car,
an 8 track player and all this. So, you know, I grew up the song
(08:36):
stylings of everything from, youknow, The Rolling Stones to The
Who to Billy Joel and Kenny Rogers on, on my mom's side.
And but, but it was like my mom loved The Beatles, like had this
passion for The Beatles and my dad like, you know, loved The
Who and Tommy and, and it was just like there had been no
(08:57):
sound. That was my, you know,
generational kind of sound. I grew up with some of the 80s
hair band stuff and Michael Jackson was a big deal.
But it felt like these things just weren't really didn't
belong. That's a good way to say it.
But then grunts, the Adam Grungedrops.
It comes, you know, Pearl Jam and Nirvana and Soundgarden and
you know, then you start, I wentto the opposite then and like
(09:20):
then found out about Temple of the Dog and you know, hunger
strike and all that stuff. But it was like, this is
different. And then it was like a, it felt
like a shift. It was that almost adolescent
shift for me from middle school into high school around that
time. And you know, it was, it also
gave a reason to make flannel cool.
And I love flannel. So I was like, you kind of just
(09:42):
jived with me. Well, the really funny thing
about that in in Seattle was everyone was broke and it was
cold, you know, and you could goto the thrift store and get it
for cheap. It wasn't a fashion statement.
It was just literally like everyone universally understood
that it was warm and it was coldoutside and it was cheap.
That was it. That's right and.
(10:03):
Then when it became a fashion statement it was like, this is
weird, why are people doing this?
That's I, I grew up in Pittsburgh and it was, you know,
part of your holiday gift every year, whether it was your, you
know, your mom and your dad or grandparents.
It was like you'd get, you'd geta flammable shirt from the LL
Bean catalog. And it was like, it was a nice
gesture and grateful for it and all.
And Pittsburgh's a cold city andso you kind of needed it.
(10:26):
But they weren't cool like it. Flannels were not cool to wear
until Seattle and grunge made itcool.
And then it was like we were we could do it and hold our heads
high kind of thing. But I can't even imagine though,
like we've talked to artists before where they started off at
with the art and then had to learn sort of how it translates
into the screen printing processprocess.
(10:48):
You sort of had that opposite where you like understood layers
of of the ink and how things hadto lay on and then go back like
basically like backwards compatible, like figure out how
to do it on the other way. It's true.
Well, I mean, the interesting thing about it back then too, is
it was so, I mean, the ultimate DIY in the sense that like you
did everything with Ruby Lift overlays, which is like a film
(11:11):
that has like this rubber coating on it that you would cut
out the parts that you want the ink to go through, not all the
way through, just down to the acetate and peel the rubber part
back. And then when you were doing
multiple colours, you were literally in your mind keeping
it track of how it was all goingto look because all you were
saying was like orange. Then you do another colour, it'd
(11:32):
be like darker orange, Another colour will be darker orange.
And you're like, OK, I think this makes sense.
Like I, I think I understand howthis is all going to play out.
Like you might do a comp on a Xerox in like, you know, colour
pencil or watercolour or something of like, sort of like
that. And then you're just cutting
away going like I hope this makes sense when the printer
gets this. But somehow it always it works
(11:54):
out. It did, yeah.
And then, you know, there were mistakes made, of course.
And sometimes you're like, yeah,no, that was totally
intentional. I meant to look like that.
It was. It was.
Totally planned. That's all we want with it.
That's really cool. And so oh.
You had well, the other thing I was going to say is I thought
the way that you kind of describe the chronology of where
you started and I got in with this, that early Pearl Jam flyer
(12:17):
and things was that you said youstarted the screaming Nirvana.
I'm sorry, Nirvana. This is total lost in.
The. Lost in the sauce, but you said
you started with T-shirts beforethe actual Flyers.
And so we've talked a lot in oursort of different conversations
and, and casts and experiences about, you know, that the poster
(12:39):
game is sort of one piece of this sort of larger merch, kind
of leaner collective, if you will.
And so the fact that you were doing T-shirts first to me is
just really intriguing because we talk a lot about how those
T-shirts have become almost likewearable posters to a degree for
some. Of the shoes you go to, you
know, yeah. So what's really crazy is I held
(13:02):
a few of those shirts back, likewhen I would do one for or, you
know, screen print, I would be like, hey, can I grab one of
these? And my boss would be like, just
pay for the shirt, you know, so I would like, it'd be like 6-6
bucks or something like that, 3 bucks, whatever shirts were back
then, you know, you scream it yourself.
And I was like, pull, OK, I justdid anyway, like, whatever.
(13:22):
And so, so I would grab shirts and certain ones I liked.
I didn't think like I should grab one of each because if I
had holy crap, I would have so much dough.
But the ones that I did save, I,I just recently some collector,
I've been having people literally bug me for like
decades whenever I'd post something on Instagram or
(13:43):
Facebook or whatever. Here's some of the shirts I have
and people like, dude, I want tobuy that.
I'm like, it's not for sale. I was just showing it.
It's, I'm not trying to sell these.
I'm just interested. I'm, I'm, they're in my
archives. And then I was thinking about it
just recently and I know how hotthey've gotten, you know what I
mean? And I was like, you know, I'm
maybe I will just let these go. They're just sitting in a box in
the basement. It's not like I'm like doing
(14:05):
anything, but I know they're there and it's cool whenever I
go through them every, you know,once every couple years, like,
oh, that's cool. I remember that show or whatever
it was. And I was just like, it's
probably peaking the value. Maybe I'll just let these go.
And so the last person had reached out to me.
I was like, hey, maybe interested in selling these.
And he was like, OK, well, what do you have?
(14:26):
And I showed him and he was like, holy crap, I want all of
these. And I was like, all right, make
me an offer. And I thought it was going to be
some low ball offer of like, youknow, I want to, you know, pad
it so I can make money and turn these around and sell them to do
Offered me thousands of dollars.And I was like, OK, what fair
price sold. Yeah, done.
And I, and I felt great, 'cause I mean, I paid literally like,
(14:48):
you know, maybe $24.00 for all these shirts.
Yeah. But also, I made thousands of
dollars. That's crazy.
And somebody like that's probably buying them, investing
for their own collection, which is probably meaningful as well
because now, you know, hey, there's an end sort of user out
there or owner that's going to take care of them and experience
(15:09):
that for a joy that maybe you'renot, you're not, you're not
getting any more out-of-the-box in the basement, you know?
Totally. Yeah.
Yeah, exactly. Well, the cool thing too, it was
a guy who knew what he was looking at because he wasn't
even like, make sure to show me the specific times for the
certain year. And I need to see the texture of
the shirt to make sure it's thatone that was printed that one
time at that one printer. And I was like, I worked for the
printer and and I just showed him a couple and he was like, I,
(15:32):
I believe you. I believe.
Yeah. Because I had a like Nirvana
Vestibles shirt on black with the white ink goes from bleach.
And I printed it, you know, way back when, you know, And he was
just like, holy crap, I want oneof those soap.
And I'm like, it was. And when I sent it off, it felt
really great. Like I felt like, OK, they went
(15:54):
to someone who actually got it, loved it, and he paid a dollar
for it. And all with these go down.
Yeah, that, I mean, for for us is like just habitual collectors
of, you know, we collect postersand pins and art prints and
T-shirts. They're wearable.
Collectors, yeah, I mean, but like we, for me personally, I, I
(16:16):
know the and it's hard mostly for Mike, it's hard to get rid
of things like, because there's such sentimental stories and
memories that are tied to it. But like being able to be like
somebody who could like receive a, a super collectible piece
like that. I mean that you just had to have
made that guy's like Millennium.Yeah, there's.
Well, and it was cool for me that it was like, OK, I've had
(16:38):
this for 35 years, I think I canlet go now.
I. Put my limit, stored my storage.
Yeah, exactly. No, but that was good.
Like it means so much if I'm much more on that sort of
consumer collector end of those discussions like the guy that
(17:00):
bought them from you. And this is just a quick aside.
These are the tangents here. Here we go with the story.
But you know, there there's a band Erica and I've gotten into
recently, last couple years by the name of Goose.
They're out of sort of Connecticut.
You're familiar. Can't wait to see a Justin
Hampton Goose poster at some point.
Shameless Plaudge. But there was a the way they do
(17:23):
their T-shirt drops, they do a venue specific, which is
interesting. Pearl Jam does this a lot, you
know, being Dave Matthews Band fans, Erica and I for years.
They do it very, very seldom. So it's kind of a new, newer
thing for us because you're like, you go to the show, you
know, in, in North Carolina or in Cincinnati or wherever it is.
There's a specific shirt done byan artist, right?
(17:46):
Right. There's only so many and they're
sold out and they're gone. It just, it feels super old
school the way they're doing this, which is awesome.
And there was one that was in the Philadelphia area and it was
this sort of celebration of Philadelphia.
It's got this boxer in very patriotic trunks.
We won't say it's Rocky because of I.
Was going to say, I wonder who that can be referred to.
(18:09):
And these he's hitting this heavy bag and the heavy bag says
goose on it, you know, and it's like cringing.
And I just thought this PA guy grew up in Pittsburgh, not a
Philly guy, but have love for the city of brotherly love.
Saw this shirt and I was like, Ineeded it like I had to have it.
I, I texted friends that were atthe show.
(18:29):
I had three separate people try to go First of all, I need a 2X
or bigger. So it's always a challenge, you
know, and everybody sold out. Nobody got it.
So I just kind of searched the, the Internet trying to talk to
people. A couple people flaked on me.
Didn't happen, didn't happen Randomly.
We're in line waiting to get into a show in Winston Salem.
(18:49):
And we, we meet these guys behind us and one of them is
wearing the shirt. And I was like, you know, we're
talking. I was like, you're wearing like
my Holy Grail of T-shirts. I'm really trying to get it.
And his buddy was like, hey, man, I just, I actually just
lost like 80 lbs and I have one in that size and it can't wear
it. Do you want it?
I was like, how many dinero do you want for this shirt?
(19:12):
I will pay. He's like, no, look, just trade
me a shirt. And I was like, well, we're
going to some shows. We're going to Cincinnati and
he's like, yeah, that'll be cool.
So I grabbed him a shirt in Cincinnati.
We met up at a concert in Charleston, SC, and we traded
shirts. And that's how you know, And it
it's like my prize T-shirt possession at.
This point it's, but it's funny because back in the day I had
(19:34):
stuff like that too, where I would do something that was
special for Soundgarden or whatever.
And I wear it out because I was like, I really like the way this
one turned out, which is kind of, you know, narcissistic way
or sure, but I was stoked. You know, I'd just done
something with Soundgarden somewhere would come up and
literally be like, dude, I've never seen that before.
I have no idea where you got that.
And I just tell them I did it. It's mine.
(19:55):
I work for the print on the desktop Soundgard.
And they were like, I will buy that off your back for like
$300. And like back in 1990, that was
a lot of money, you know? But but that was one, that's one
of the shirts I did not let go of.
There's a social story about that one that's actually in my
book. So that seems to be a pretty
good segue to talk. Man, you're a pro That that,
(20:16):
that's the thing I've heard. I was in my mind working toward
a segue of like, we're hearing all this incredible history.
It has to be archived somewhere.And Justin has just dropped a
book of I know it's about 10 lbs.
How many years you're recovering?
Tell us about the book. I mean, it's literally 35 plus
(20:37):
years of story. I talk about, you know, where I
came from, and that's like starts in 87.
But that's a very small intro. And then I go into the story of
starting my career in 1990 and the work for Gin Sorenson,
printing those T-shirts in the back of the old Tattoo Emporium
on Pike St. And, you know, and I just go
(20:58):
into all these tales about like,what Seattle was like and what
it was like, 'cause I mean, I would literally have, you know,
Jeff Ament would come in from Pearl Jam and he'd want to work
on a new shirt. And we didn't really think about
it like, Oh my God, it's Jeff Ament.
You know, we were just like, oh,it's the guy from, you know,
Mookie Blaylock. That was the name of the van
that's bad. They hadn't called the Pearl Jam
(21:21):
yet. So I was like, oh, it's the
Mookie guy. Cool.
And and it wasn't that big of a deal, although it was neat
because I really liked all thesepeople's music a lot, you know,
But I I wasn't like, you know, Oh my God, that's like Robert
Plant. You know what?
To me, that was like a differentera where there were those
legends, you know what I mean? Couldn't think about it.
And that way I was just like, yeah, the youth is now doing
cool, unique stuff and maybe someday people will appreciate
(21:44):
it, you know, who knows? You know?
But it now people are like, Oh my God, that's insane.
You. And it's like, yeah, didn't it
didn't seem like amazing at the time.
It was just kind of cool, you know, but so I tell a lot of
those tales about that stuff andI show off the early work and
T-shirt designs that I did and rocket illustrations and I go
into all the stories of like howI got started during posters.
(22:06):
And it's it all that stuff kind of started when I was just
writing stuff on Facebook because I would have memories of
certain things, especially on dates, you know, on this day I
did, you know, that thing, my first Burster was spring of
honor or whatever. And so I started writing these
things on Facebook and eventually I was like, you know
what, I've written enough of these stories and they're just
kind of like getting lost in thealgorithm of like, oh, that's
(22:29):
what happened that day. And then, you know, who's ever
going to hear that story again unless it comes up in a memory
or later. And I've got enough of that
stuff written down that I, when I started thinking about
seriously during a book, I was like, you know, what if I just
go through my Facebook, not likethe actual like, you know, daily
story things, but like search for the stories that I know I
told, I'll have an outline for alot of the stuff that I could
(22:51):
just start there, copy that stuff, paste it and expand it.
And I have the beginnings of a book, you know, and I was like,
holy shit, that's kind of crazy because it seemed like such a
daunting task. And it was true, but it took six
years to bring it to fruition. Once I started, once I
committed, yeah. But I, I could not be more happy
(23:12):
with how it turned out. It's, it took a long time.
I get a Kickstarter. My Kickstarter backers have been
incredibly patient because like I, I was supposed to be, I think
I launched like 3 years ago. And but I've just kept updating
people and going. Look, I promise you, you're
going to love this product when you get it because I'm just
putting that much more into it. And you guys enabled me to do
(23:35):
this as a self publisher to to just put this out.
And part of that was due to the fact that I just, it was hard to
convince publishers to do this thing 'cause it's such a big
book. It's a.
Beast. And yeah, it is like someone
that, you know, it's funny, 'cause I've, I've had different
people say like, Oh my God, you're like this legend or
whatever. And I'm like, and that little
(23:56):
like microcosm small world of this niche.
There are some people that mightuse that word, but in the
greater populist people like who's who.
So I'm like, I get the publishers were trepidatious,
even though I'd been in a bunch of the rock poster books like
Art of Modern Rock. But in the end, you know, I
wanted to do my own version of Art of Modern Rock that size.
(24:18):
That was like a full career retrospective.
And but they were just kind of, you know, we're not going to
spend that much money. We don't know if we'll make it
back. You know, it's I'm in 100 page
book and I would just be like, no, no, I don't, that's not what
I want. I don't, I want to do.
And so we were having conflicting, you know, ideas
about what it would be and I just ended up like decided to do
(24:40):
it myself. But I'm really glad I did.
So it's literally top to bottom,designed by me, written by me.
All the art in it is mine. It's my baby.
I self published it and and I was really lucky to have all of
these amazing backers that believed in it and supported me
throughout it. So.
So for those that don't know, Kickstarter crowdfunding
(25:02):
platform usually backers, they advance the money so the
projects like this can get off the ground.
Am that all familiar with? I'm a little bit familiar.
I've backed some Kickstarters. And then you know, it does take
time, it takes patience. I think your communication there
is key. But what happens with Rudolfim
to us and the collector community is you strike out, you
(25:23):
miss out, you're under a rock, you didn't know about the
Kickstarter. And it's like, man, I wish I
could go back in time and get that.
And so good news for the listener as I sit here myself
scrolling. You can go to justinhampton.com
right now. And Justin, correct me if I'm
wrong, but you have, I believe that the book is called Visual
Feast, The Tantalizing Art of Justin Hampton.
(25:44):
And there's two versions. I'm really, really interested in
this. Erica knows she's already
smiling. There's there's what we'll call
a standard edition that is unnumbered and unsigned and it's
got slip case number one. So I'm going to ask you about
this. But then there's a second
version. And let me tell you guys, it's
(26:05):
not bad. It's only $50 more.
It is really reasonable. Like for a book of this size,
it's signed and numbered. It's limited to only 1000
copies. So it says the website and
Justin the man can confirm for us right here.
But to me, to have that kind of archive of work numbered, signed
with what I'm guessing is a special slip cover, can you talk
(26:29):
to us a little bit about that? I can indeed.
In fact, I have a copy of it right here.
So I'm going to show you what this one is.
This is the signed and numbered addition of 1000 and I wanted to
make. I had three different tiers.
The main one was the one you described, which is unsigned and
numbered, which has a repeat of the dust jacket of the book on
(26:49):
the slip case. The second version, which is the
signed and number addition of 1000 has a unique slip case to
itself. And then there was a third
version that was a limited edition of only 50 that had a
had a silver slip case. But you not only got the silver
slip case sign the number edition of 50, you also got your
(27:09):
number or your name sorry listedin the Adisha inside the book.
Oh, very cool. Yeah, a special thanks to and
you got a mini print that was only available to the 50 people
at the bottom. So that was like the earlier
word back super backer kind of thing.
Back during, you know, when it'spulled out super fast.
Yeah, that was 50 copies. Those are gone.
But but so this one has similar art.
(27:30):
It's the same art itself, but instead of on black, it's on
silver. That's the one that went.
That was all 50 copies but this one you can see it has a gloss,
burnish and then matte. Yep, there's a.
There's a lot of texture there. There's depth to.
It this wow has that spot Burnish.
Yeah. So like, yeah, then this thing
(27:51):
is heavy duty. Just just that level in.
Fact did you see that my my camera just dropped when I put
it on the table so. Heavy.
That's how heavy it is. It's funny because I didn't even
think about adding that to the height, but it seems to work
with my style of of music that Ido a lot of work for is heavy
stuff. So I was like, this book is
(28:12):
heavy and so this is the book itself. 444 pages.
Right, Justin, Right. And it this is the dust jacket
about. 1010 lbs in weight. I mean, this thing is a beast.
Yeah, the book itself is £9, thebox is a pound, so it's
incredible. And then I've got a lot of
really amazing quotes for musicians I've worked for,
(28:33):
including Kim Thiel from Soundgarden, Jeff Amends, the
guys who we Danger Mouse. And this actually also has a
repeat of the what you saw in the box on the hardcover too.
That's. Incredible front and back.
And were these art pieces that you from from the visual piece
(28:54):
or is these something you created specific for the book or
were these art pieces or pieces from posters that you had done
It's? A good question.
This is actually the original version of this is from a 2009
green poster at the Outside Lands festival and I just did it
above the the main group of characters.
(29:16):
There was just the name we the the Alice from the Alice of
Wonderland homage that it is twisted Alice or Wonderland.
I did later because I'd always wanted to do an art print
version of that particular thingand I always had it in mind that
it was going to be Alice loomingover the other characters.
Because it's like that tea time,but they're having a lunch.
(29:37):
Basically. The lunch is the Caterpillar.
It's. A dark line.
It's a dark 1. Alex in the Wonderland.
Alex, have the. Yeah, the tables have turned.
You stopped exactly. So the the the timing worked out
really well because my daughter was the exact age ish that like
Alice would be, you know, compared to the cartoon and the
(29:59):
story would not. So I had her pose for it.
So it's literally my daughter onthe cover and inside the book I
showed photo that that I took ofher.
I show the black and white drawing and then I show the
final version and show the wing poster next to the visual feast
version and how far it came and it turned out really.
So she's really happy. So I've actually taken her a
(30:20):
couple of these sightings I've had lately and she signed
posters with me because she's onthe cover.
That's. So cool.
Like and she thought that was pretty fun.
That's that's got to earn you like super dad of the of the
year, at least for like a minuteuntil you know, we've got we've
got teenagers who's you know, they're fair weather with us
anyways, so. I'll just shout out, pour one
out. Sad calip Caterpillar.
(30:41):
Poor, poor Caterpillar. Just put one for the team.
Treasure Cat could have been gone.
I don't know why, but no, it's that.
I mean, the piece is incredible.It's just and to have it either
those colors are so vibrant and you know, this is one of those
things that it's it just screamslike conversation piece coffee
(31:02):
table friends over having some beverages, listen to some music
and then checking checking this out.
It's really, it's an. Incredible.
That's awesome. Thank you.
So thanks to our friends over atthe Rock Poster Society.
If you don't know TRPS, they area nonprofit behind the world's
longest running rock poster collection shows.
That includes the Festival of Rock Posters in San Francisco,
(31:23):
which is a bucket list thing forMike and I to go to, but they
have been championing the art ofposter for decades.
They support both the artists and those people who collect
them and preserve them. If you want to get involved, go
over to trps.org if you want to become a member and check out
their upcoming events. Check them out.
(31:43):
One of the coolest things I've heard coming back from people
that have seen it so far is they've all said, I mean,
literally I, it's, it's kind of wild.
Like I, I knew that, you know, Ihave a flair for words.
I know that I can write. OK, you know what I mean?
But to have sat down and told these stories and polished them
so many times over and over until I was really happy with
(32:05):
it. The input that I've gotten back
is like people are saying, this is so much more than just an art
book. There's the stories are so well
written and so engaging and so funny and interesting and cool
that I just can't believe how great this is.
And I'm just, I'm just blown away 'cause you do all these
things, including posters or whatever in your studio and you
(32:27):
just kind of like are in your own little bubble with your own
little world and you set it freein the world.
And you never know what the response is going to be, you
know what I mean? So to hear the sick back is so
amazing. Well, and it's, you don't see a
lot of tangible things like art books these days.
I, I, my background is art history.
I have an art history degree Andso like I still have all of my
(32:47):
like college art books that we've got one that's going to be
going to college. And like I hear that there's
just no books anymore. Like it's either everything is
electronic or just online. And I, I think part of the
reason why for me personally, I'm not going to speak for Mike,
but I mean, I kind of sometimes speak for him anyways.
But one of the reasons I think Ilove collecting of the posters
(33:12):
and, and these types of things is this tangible.
And it's it's something I can walk by and see and and have
that memory and for you for. Your.
Tories because you've got your memories that are in your head,
but now you've put them out intothe world.
And so for for the fans of your artwork and for the fans of the
music of the art that you've done.
(33:33):
I mean, these are like behind the scenes.
It's peeling back that curtain of of things that like you just
got to go back in time with Yeah.
And I'm. It's so cool I.
I love some of the copy you have.
I'm going to take a minute and just read it here.
Justin for for folks who might pull up the website.
But this is again the visual feast, the tantalizing art of
(33:54):
Justin Hampton. And this is ultimate art book
for music and design lovers. 35 years of iconic art, 444 pages
of music history, 1 unforgettable collection from
Soundgarden to Radiohead, Metallica, Nick Cave, every
poster you've ever loved, Pearl Jam, Primus, 9 Inch Nails, and
then behind the scenes stories that history that Justin's told
(34:17):
us about to be archived here to be able to read these stories
and unforgettable moments yourself.
Additionally, sketches and unseen work.
This is one of those things thatI know as a collector and fan.
We love this stuff. You know, I think those might be
the Ralph Mcquarrie art done forthe Star Wars movies.
You know these are. The operation.
(34:38):
Pieces that launched a universe really a must have, it says for
music fans, I think that's a given inspiration, stunning
visuals, perfect gift and there's, you know, there's
there's these versions available.
I also wanted to make mention really quickly because I think
this is incredibly cool of just like the total package.
(34:59):
There's also an art print that is the cover of the book that's
available on your website, and then there's one of one and you
showed us this before we started.
Oh, it's insane. It's a Visual feast 3D shadow
box and it's basically you've taken the print and you it's
been cut. You tell us a little bit about
how meticulous and the process there, but it's a 3D version of
(35:21):
the poster that is that twisted Alice in Wonderland cover of the
book. Yeah, this is something that's a
buddy of mine who I went to art school with way back when.
We've been friends ever since. He's he's a madman in the sense
that he loves detail and he's all about that kind of stuff.
So he literally people see it and they're like, Oh my God,
that's amazing. Was that laser cut?
(35:42):
And it's like no, that's my dudewith an exacto blade and lots of
band aids from all the cuts and different level of dark.
Just like what this poster, thisnothing snap there and we got
basically Edward Exacto Blade's hands.
Same there. Yeah, yeah.
Totally his his own DNA mixed inthe mix of the glue and stuff
(36:03):
yeah. So I'll, I'll literally when I
do a poster, I'll, if I, if it'sone that I think is iconic
enough and would make sense, I'll give him like 5 copies of
the poster and he'll cut them all apart and then reassemble
them. So it's like, you know, this
weird Frankenstein's monster of of the poster, but he puts them
all on different levels of foam core, on little stilts and just
(36:25):
builds them up. And all the curves, all the
circles, all, it's all ahead. He's so precise it's crazy.
And on the website, there's a little video clip of this.
If you go to justinhampton.com again, just to shout out for the
listeners, take a look at this piece.
It's a one of one and it's. I'll try to relay it because I
actually have it here in the video.
(36:46):
So it's, it's, it's hard to convey not in person, but this
thing is a juggernaut. And I think what I'm seeing with
some of the reflections here, Justin, if you can confirm that
it looks like there's some foil elements.
It is this is on one of the variants on swirl foil that you
barely see peeking out underneath.
But yeah, it's it's just massive.
(37:07):
So cool. Opportunity that if you've
listened to to our podcast, but look at that, I mean it is like
it's. Like maybe 4 inches deep, like
the shadow box itself. OK, yeah.
And it's got this cool swirl pattern.
But yeah. Yeah, I just, we just sold one
of these. I did one of my William
Troutdale posters, which was a Queen of Hearts, another Alice
(37:29):
in Wonderland reference. Someone just picked that up for
three grand. Wow.
And I just, first of all, I haveto also say, like growing up,
Alice in Wonderland has been around as a story for a very,
very long time, generations and generations.
So you know, us as children, that was a generation even
before us with Alice in Wonderland.
We grew up with the Disney version and you know, our kids
(37:51):
now they've redone it. We've got the Johnny Depp
version of the Alice in Wonderland and the other movies
that they've done. But like this classic, I guess,
I guess it's a fairy tale, classic fairy tale still.
And we see a lot of the Alice inWonderland imagery in a lot of
band artwork. We've seen it for For Goose.
(38:12):
I remember one with Ben Kwok doing doing an Alice in
Wonderland one. We've seen other artists just
like yourself use that imagery. And I just think it's so cool
how it just translates and everyartist treats it differently by
their style. But the thing that ties them, I
think all together is it is so vibrant.
The colored in Alice in Wonderland Wonderland are just
(38:34):
these like bold and like vibrantneons and like because I think
Cheshire Cat. I think of the neon purples and
the pinks and the swirl and it'sjust so cool to see.
Fryer made it. He's fine.
Yeah. OK.
It's the Caterpillar. The Caterpillar that took the.
Brunt, he's the one who was likesmoking that crazy weird like
(38:57):
pipe thing or. What a what a concept too, to
have this have been a piece thatyou did at one point in time.
And then it's the cover for the book and the book is called
Visual Feast. And this is.
Very tied in SO. Well, but it's a.
Feast, right? Yeah.
Thank you. Yeah, thank you.
It's funny. I got a a quote from one of the
old school our curators of Seattle, Larry Reed, who used to
(39:21):
be the curator of COCA back in the day downtown on 1st Ave.
And he gave me a quote and he said he said that my work was
delightfully demented and I was like, take you, Larry.
That's really sweet. I love the.
Alliterate and. That's fantastic.
Delightfully demented. But the type for the theme was
(39:42):
that show Outside Lands where wewas in San Francisco.
And I was trying to think of a theme for the band.
And then there's a lot of like, you know, obviously drug
references and, and, and lyricalreferences and all these things
that I wanted to incorporate, but I needed a greater a theme
to tie it all together. I was like, well, San Francisco
(40:02):
White Rabbit, that's Jefferson Airplane Land, you know what I
mean? And so talking about going back
to the legends and the classics or whatever, and how many
generations have been affected by, you know, Alice the
Wonderland boar, you know, So that was really fun to do.
And then like in the image itself, it's got like, if you
look, there's like maybe 10 different references to wing
songs. Yeah.
(40:23):
OK, chocolate and cheese is on there.
Cockroaches are running around the tables.
Yeah, little little Zoloft pillsfor Yep.
So it's full of pull of little Easter eggs.
It's, it's really cool and it's just, I mean, kudos and
congratulations on 35 years of, of stories and art that have
(40:47):
impacted the collectors and the people who love the bands that
you've done that artwork for. Because it's not, again, it's
not just I love the bands. I'm going to get the artwork.
It's like for us, it's both. It's sort of like I get to take
a tangible item home with me to put up on my wall to prop up
back behind us, run out of wall space.
(41:10):
But it is it is so incredible. And, and you know, if you are a
fan of any of the, the art of that, of Justin's, but also the
music and the bands that he's been just, I mean, just that's,
it's incredible to be able to have a depth of those.
Well, yeah. And I think if you just love
this genre in general, if you'vegot a passion for music, for
(41:32):
collecting, to hear or read those stories that Justin has.
I mean, I, I, it's, it's one of those things that seems like you
had to get it out there. But like if I can from just one
member of the community, just thank you for sharing all that
because I. Just think.
That knowledge to have those experiences recorded somewhere,
it's just going to pay dividendsto to people, generations to
(41:54):
come to learn about those stories.
I mean, to hear those early daysof Nirvana and and Mookie
Blaylock and I mean, these are things that are at this point
they're legends, right? And it's you lived.
It's weird. Like you said, they were just
wasn't legendary at the moment. But then, right, they become
that because of think about it, your career, their career and
(42:17):
everything. So Congrats, man, on an
incredible. I mean, obviously 35 years, but
I mean, the book just looks, it looks incredible.
Yeah. Well.
What I appreciate. What's kind of coming up next
for you? I mean, I know, you know, we're
already in the back. I can't believe we're like back
half of 2025. Yeah, I.
Know it's weird. Like it it just this year just
blinked and we were we're here. But you know, what are some
(42:40):
things that you know, you're excited about that are coming up
on the horizon maybe in the next, you know, the end of this
year until beginning of 26? Right.
Well, what I'm focusing on a lotnow and I'm still taking gigs,
but I'm being more selective. I'm, I'm mostly booking like
book signings and exhibitions and that kind of thing.
(43:00):
And that's what I'm really honestly most excited about
right now. I'm, I'm hoping to be a part of
a festival that happens over in the Netherlands at some point
this year. And, and I'm looking into that,
that book market, you know, to try to just keep, keep pushing
this because I mean, when I did the book, you get a good deal on
printing if you print more. So I was able to fund it.
(43:22):
So I printed 3000 copies. That's awesome.
I've got probably about half of that because I, I, I made a, a
deal with a distributor and theypicked up 1000 books to put in
bookstores. So it's now available off on
bookstores, which is really, really cool because that's,
that's one of those things wherelike, you know, in in the niche,
(43:44):
like I was talking about before,it's such a narrow bandwidth of
people that people that wouldn'tnecessarily be exposed to it,
you know, often aren't unless they're a specific show for
their specific band or they walkby a window and whatever.
So being in a bookstore is like,I couldn't, I couldn't pay for
that advertising, you know what I mean?
To just have it on the shelf next to art books or music books
(44:07):
or wherever it's placed. So to have that torque, that
deal out was really, really huge.
So I'm very excited. And going and doing book
signings and being present, likemeeting with the people and the
fans like that. That's AI think that's something
that maybe we're missing a little bit more these days.
Is that interconnectivity with like other humans.
And I mean to be able to go likeI feel this way about the shows
(44:29):
like flat stock and TRPS rock poster shows, to be able to go
to events like that to meet yourposter heroes, to shake your
hands and say thank you for the art that's on my walls and and
just have that like energy exchange.
I think it's really cool. Is there something that people
like? So if somebody wants to know
where they might be able to findyou or like, hey, where's a
(44:52):
heads up, where can people go toto get that information?
I mean, the, the main place would be to go to my website,
justinhampton.com and sign up onmy mailing list and then you'll
get all the announcements. I'm also on social media with
Hamptonia on Instagram. All right, All the links are
actually on my website. So I would just say go to that
(45:14):
website at the very bottom. If you want to go to social
media links, they're all at the bottom, but I'm on all the
platforms. So it's, it's another cool way
to connect with people. I get lots of messages through
Facebook and whatnot where people are like, you know, I've
met my wife at this one show 20 years ago and you know, we,
we're wondering if you might have a copy.
And you know, I often have copies like in very limited
(45:37):
quantities that I've just kind of held onto.
And so that's always fun to likeengage with people that are,
have their own story, you know what I mean about how it
affected them or what not. And, and that's really fun.
That's, it's, I think one of thecoolest things about, I think
about this craft, I think a lot of poster artists would say this
is, it's a lot of the community.It's a lot of the connections
(45:58):
you make with the fans, with people, 'cause I have collectors
that have literally bought my stuff for like 30 years.
And they're just like, I, I literally had a, a signing
recently where some guy came up and he's like, I've got your
mazy star from 96. I've got your pavement from 95.
I've got and then, you know, Queens and Stone Age stuff to
(46:18):
the mid 2000s to Pearl Jam lately.
And, and it's just really cool to hear that.
Like there's this connection. And I've literally had people
say too, like, you know, I feel like I know you in the sense of
like our musical tastes are verysimilar and the bands that you
like to do posters for are the bands that I like to collect and
(46:39):
listen to. And so it feels like we have
this connection and, and it's, it's true.
It's interesting, isn't it? When you're like someone says,
do you like so and so? And you're like, I love that.
And you instantly feel that connection. 100%, yeah.
Yeah, you can build a relationship on top of that,
like. I mean, some of the best friends
we have, that's that's where it starts.
(46:59):
Some of the bands that we go seeand and our friend that we go
now on tour with or go to shows with or just visit one another
now, our friends from poster lines, which it.
It's true. It's sort of like it.
It's the litmus test. Like automatically you're like,
oh, you like this, this, this, and you're in line at 6:00 AM
while you're on vacation to try to get a poster.
(47:21):
We're best friends. You're cool.
Yeah. You're crazy Mattress, right?
Right well, again, for our listeners, check out Hamptonia
on Instagram, check out justinhampton.com.
Keep track, be on the lookout for drops for book signings.
Check out Visual Feast, available now in two editions.
(47:44):
And Justin, just thank you so much for stopping by Best of the
Tour, absolutely. And chatting with us for a bit.
It's been absolutely awesome. Agreed, I had a great time.
Thank you guys for the invite. Forward to seeing what's next
for you and and thanks for joining us.
Love talking to you and we'll catch you on the next episode.
Sounds good. The best of the tour is
(48:07):
presented by Invisible Industries.
Find us at www.bestofthetour.comand on all major streaming
platforms including Spotify and Apple Music.
You can also catch Erica and Mike on their other podcast
Posters in Every Direction, streaming wherever you stream
your podcasts from. A big thanks for listening and
(48:29):
we will talk to you next time. Hey y'all, if you are a poster
collector or poster aficionado like Mike and I want to give a
quick shout out over to the Poster Institute and you may not
know them from that name. You may be more familiar with
their actual cool event that they do called Flat Stock, which
(48:51):
is an event that takes place every year in variety of cities
that really help to support the artists that are creating those
posters that you love and you know on your walls.
They also help to expand the standards and the fields for the
artists and our really incredible organization.
(49:11):
It gives different opportunitiesfor the professionals and the
supporters and the public to really just connect first hand
with those artists that you love.
If you're interested in going and supporting the Poster
Institute, finding ways to get involved, or attending those
cool Flat stock events, I need you to go over to
posterinstitute.org and find howyou can get involved to support
(49:32):
this amazing nonprofit organization.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.