Today we make a small adjustment to the regularly scheduled program and speak to someone who I regard as a contemporary. Finger on the pulse, eye in the lens and creativity always sparking in the mind - Minutes After Death takes a moment in between projects to talk about the creative process behind zines, what inspires him and offers his insight and opinion on a range of subjects. C: First of all, as usual, thank you for taking the time to speak to me. I know from our talks your schedule is usually pretty packed with machinations. So, in the last few years you have (at least in my opinion) spearheaded a new burst of graff zines in Brisbane. Minutes After Dead, 35MM and A problem to your Answer. What is pushing you to create zines and why now? M: Cheers mate, I reckon that as far as what's pushing me, my motivation is to show another view of the world we live in, spots that not many people get to see and showcase styles of design and graffiti/art that appeal to me personally. I create what I want to at that certain point. Right now is a busy time for the graffiti scene in Brisbane and Australia wide too. There’s so many more people getting into graffiti especially kids, social media is definitely playing a big part influencing the new generation and keeping the panels hot. It’s my hope that my work may have also influenced a few others to make their own physical documentation of the world around them. The “idea” of minutes after death can hopefully have a positive influence in the way all people go about their daily lives. C: Is M.A.D inspired by any one thing in particular or was it born out of the primordial soup of raw material you see around you every day? M: M.A.D was firstly inspired by my obsessions as a kid with scribbling and making hand drawn zines/art. As I got older discovering spirituality and graffiti mixed with certain mind altering substances has allowed my thoughts to manifest into something meaningful for the “brand” - or whatever you want to call it. The whole process came about naturally. I have also been influenced by my father's photography growing up which led to my own interest in photos at a young age. More specifically in terms of print - magazines such as Dirty Deeds, Artillery magazine, Subway Art, 3102skcul zine. Videos like River City, Dayz of our lives, Another Day at the Office, 70k and Jisoe to name a few. Oh and also books by Vimala Thakar and Jiddu Krishnamurti for their philosophical and life aspects. C: Speaking of which I’ve noticed you take a pretty strong interest in philosophy and spirituality - does this impact your take on graffiti and vandalism? M: I don’t think so, to me doing vandalism doesn’t affect karmic energy. As a wise man once said there’s no private space on stolen land. I think graff gives you good morals as a byproduct. For example when it comes to snitching, talking about people, meeting people, morals are very important and if you can’t stick by a good set of morals then don’t play the game. If you are respectful you will learn good lessons for not only graffiti but for life. C: You've put out five ( Editors note: wrong!) zines now, what's your creative process like - and what has been the biggest challenge to overcome? M: Five published and about four more in the making at the moment. My creative process consists of absorbing life experiences that help to get me into the flow of creative thinking, painting, writing, making zines. Anything I do that is creative helps me to think more about how I can make the next thing I want to. In terms of zines it’s more about waiting until I have enough photos to put something together as well as reading a lot so I can get my mind into the zone for writing. The biggest challenge I guess would have been figuring out the whole zine making process at the start of things. With many printing services out there’s a lot to get to grips with so knowing how a range of things operate is important. Really, you just have to learn the hard way sometimes but that’s all part of the journey. You can’t be shown everything about your craft because then there would be nothing organic about it. Same goes with any art form, learn by yourself if you can even if it’s more effort or harder because the results in the long run will be in your favour. C: Going back a bit to authors - who's on your bookshelf and who should readers check out? M: At the moment I’m looking at lots of graff mags and zines but for non graff related shit I’m reading a lot of books by Vimala Thakar (Yoga Beyond Meditation, The Mystery of Silence, The Eloquence of Living, The Path of Nirvana, etc) The five tibetans by Christopher S Kilham, DMT the spirit molecule by Rick Strassman, Hundertwasser by Harry Rand, Karma (a yogi’s guide to crafting your destiny) by Sadhguru to name a few. I haven’t really gotten into much fiction yet, I try to always be getting new knowledge and learning about culture and art, yoga and Buddhism. If anyone wants to recommend some good fiction feel free C: As someone in the middle of it. What do you think will define this current era of brisbane Graffiti? M: I think primarily just how much is getting done and the new wave of graff coming in. I’m seeing a lot more art around and creativity online, hopefully some good artworks and more books and videos will be made to inspire the future generation of writers and artists in bris. C: Do you have future plans to expand your work into other forms of media? M: Yeah for sure, I’m always thinking of the next thing. I will always do zines but I’m keen to get into making t-shirts and other attire in a more alternative way of design to add some creativity and art - not just selling a brand. I’m also planning on a bigger publication/book that will take me a while to put together but will feature a lot of documentation and flicks no one’s seen but me. Hoping for some more interviews and collaborations in art and zine making for the future. C: Zooming out a bit, what do you think of the state of the world at the moment? M: Lots of shits happening I guess. I try not to think about it too much and I never really watch the news because no matter where you view content - although it is good to know about. The news and other media sources use their platform to scare viewers in the chase for views. For example with the “youth crime wave” phrase I’ve seen in papers and whatever. They’re making it a big deal when the statistics are at a low since 2013. I think the world is going to shit with AI and whatever else being made these days. Strange to think about where we’ll be in 10 years and how everything will have changed in the same way it did from the early 2000’s to the 10’s. C: Do you have any advice for people trying to start their own zine in an increasingly crowded market? M: Bring something original and fresh to the table! People want to see shit that you can’t really find anywhere else on the internet, especially if you’re documenting local shit. Everyone sees panels these days on instagram so if you can try to spice it up by getting more interesting flicks. If you do want to document panels or something similar. I’d say just be yourself and be humble, don't share too much personal information and just work your way to where you want to be. There’s no rush in creating whether that’s making books or doing art, I think the more time and effort you put into getting content for your zine the more you’ll be proud of it and the more it will sell. Create what you want to and don’t try to follow the crowd because there’s always someone who’s done what you're doing before you. C: Any last words, shout outs? M: Shout out to my boys in Sydney C: Thank you for your time!