Austinist Interviews: Jason Munn of The Small Stakes
We first ran into The Small Stakes at The Flatstock Poster Show during SXSW 2006. The three-day concert poster convention features works by today's premiere screenprinters and artists. Sifting through the field of amazing choices, we kept finding ourselves returning to The Small Stakes before making our final purchases. We grabbed up a number of their posters that day; now, their business card is the only one we still have.
Behind The Small Stakes is Jason Munn. Working out of his studio in Oakland, California, Munn has consistently produced gorgeous posters for clients that include Asthmatic Kitty, Barsuk, Polyvinyl, and bands such as American Analog Set, Nada Surf, Death Cab and Wilco. As digital designs grow and pop art eagerly catches up with it, artists are producing busier graphics that tend to ruin the art. Jason Munn's designs—on t-shirts, books and album covers—are affirmation that less is most definitely more.
We recently got the chance to ask Munn a few questions about poster design, working with musicians and the current state of art in music. At this year's Flatstock, be sure to swing by The Small Stakes booth—Munn's art only gets better in real life. His website has most of the prints available for purchase (if they aren't already sold out).
With the current state of music—digital music and CD burning, where some of today's kids will grow up never having touched cover art or liner notes—where do you think concert art or pop art and music stands?
Obviously to me the art and music go hand in hand. I think posters are helping to fill that void because of so much downloading of music going on. I also think a lot of labels are doing great packaging and stepping it up a bit as of late to create packaging that you want to hold onto and accompanies the albums very well.
A lot of people in Austin are concerned with the industry's role and place at SXSW and within music in general. Often they are concerned that it jeopardizes a musician's creativity. Is poster art in music separate from this? Do you ever feel any industry pressures, be it directly or indirectly through the musicians?
There's always a bit of pressure when you're hired for a job. I've had some really great working relationships with bands where there seems to be a good amount of respect for everyone and have made some new friends through the projects. That's not every project, but those are the ones that stand out in my mind.
A lot of your posters to carry similar themes (hearts, feathers, socio-political undertones). How much creative control are you given in designing a poster? Do you have much interaction with the artist's themselves? Ever any special requests?
I get quite a bit of creative freedom with the posters, but at the same time I want it to fit the band and be a good introduction to their music. The creative freedom is part of the appeal of the poster, but their would be no poster if it wasn't for the band so it needs to work.
Our favorite poster is The Katrina Relief poster, a Death Cab benefit concert. What were your thoughts on creating that poster? Did you have any influences in creating it or with the design itself?
That poster is all about the fact that it was a benefit for victims of the Katrina Hurricane, so it needed to reflect that. The umbrella basically represents people (including the bands) helping out and trying to protect the people of Louisiana.
What do you have currently in the works? Anything special for your upcoming appearance at Flatstock?
Well, it's always plenty busy around here - at the moment I'm working on a few new posters and a few CD and LP packages. I also teach a design class at California College of the Arts. No big surprises for me this Flatstock—just happy to come down and hang out for a few days.
If you have time to catch any acts, who are you looking forward to seeing?
It's always hard for me to get out and see shows as I'm usually at Flatstock, but I'm hoping to see a few friends and bands. Asthmatic Kitty's showcase on the 15th will be great. Hoping to catch Blonde Redhead and Against Me! as well.
