Q.01: Please tell us how you started creating art.
I think it's something that I always did. Before I thought of it as art I just enjoyed making things, building, anything. I grew up in a rural area and I spend a lot of time alone. I guess daydreaming and creating was something that helped me pass the time. When I started skateboarding I was exposed to a different kind of expression through magazines, the personalities, and the activity itself. I suppose this is what brought me to organize ideas enough to express them through zines, painting, video, music, t-shirts, etc.

Q.02: You are no longer living in LA. Is your current environment good for your creativity?
Portland is perfect for us right now. We live in an area surrounded by trees, very similar to where I grew up. I can ride my bike to work and I work with a lot of talented designers. The pace is quite a bit slower than LA which suits us.

Q.03: You are the founder of the brand 'Stacks', what did you aim when you start the brand?
At the time, January 2000, there were not a lot of individuals doing the type of work that 2K and Stacks do. I had a lot of ideas that were never going to see the light of day unless I produced them myself. Around the same time I met Yoshi from 2K and all of a sudden there was a little community of people making tees that acted as canvases for some kind of...I don't know what to call it...it was just an extention of their artwork. Not the usually brand carrier but just t-shirts for t-shirts sake. We called ours 'Commonwealth Stacks Conversation Editions'.

Q.04: How did you come up with the name? Was it something to do with book shelving?
Ha! Yeah it was. Commonwealth was the name of the street we lived on in the Los Feliz neighborhood of LA. Stacks is a collection of volumes or ideas, like in a library...bookshelves.

Q.05: Most of the design for Stacks are created by you and your wife, Laura, how do you guys get inspired and develop ideas?
For the last few seasons, the themes and designs are inspired by the world of graphic design we grew up in, then they are twisted to create something new. The 'Expo' theme was inspired by The World's Fair, something that intrigued me when I was younger. Mr. Stacks was inspired by Roger Hargreaves 'Mr. Man' books. The Stacks graphic identity is pretty clear so it allows us to spin these in a unique way. We work with a few designers who share a certain sensibility. They understand the brand and are able to interpret the direction in fresh ways each season.

Q.06: How is Stacks different from your own works?
I suppose an exhibition of my work will inherently feel something like Stacks, so they are linked, but there are bits of my own work that are darker than Stacks. Stacks is design, not art, so there is always the problem to solve...in the end, someone has got to want to wear the shirt.

Q.07: You designed so many T-shirts over the years, how do you approach toT-shirts design?
I'm not really sitting down to design t-shirts the way I used to. I guess I'm producing graphic works that end up serving different purposes depending on where they fit in. I've done this long enough to become fairly efficient with my outputand the t-shirt is just a medium that I'm cosmically aligned with somehow.

Q.08: What means to you to design T-shirts? Are you trying to make updated, trendy stuff or long lasting one?
I don't think there's anything wrong with creating a graphic that serves a purpose in the short term and looks dated soon after. A t-shirt can be a souvenir for a particular moment. These are the ones that tend to have the biggest impact and then resurface to have a new life later. You can't really plan to do a classic design.

Q.09: When you choose body color, do you tend to choose something unusual, or you like more basic?
Usually we will offer more than one color in a graphic so you can have both. It depends on the graphic and the seasonal direction.

Q.10: You've been working with 2KbyGingham for quite some time, what makes you to keep involved in us?
Well, firstly and most importantly, we consider the people that run the company to be our friends and we respect the work they have done supporting artists and inspiring young designers. Also, they have unselfishly assisted Stacks with our business since the time when we had no idea what we were doing, and through times when we may not have been the flavor of the day. They have taken chances on some designs that I know may not have served them financially, but they offered them because they believe in the vision of the artists they work with.

Q.11: What kind of T-shirts makes you happy?
I like t-shirts that convey some kind of unassuming authentic message for the wearer. For instance a t-shirt created by your favorite local taco shop. Not worn with any sort of irony, but because you really love the tacos and you need people to know about it.

Q.12: What do you always keep in mind when you design or make art?
Usually by the time I sit down to design I've already got an idea of the image I want to achieve. I'm not very spontaneous but I'm also hoping to surprise myself with some sort of happy accident.

Q.13: Who are your influencers?
I'm not really sure where inspiration comes from. Right now I'm trying to be inspired by my own work if that makes any sense. Slow down, build and slowly evolve. I think that's where the most original ideas come from.

Q.14: Which musician do you want to wear your T-shirts on stage? Do you have any specific shirts in mind?
Maybe I'd pick Iggy Pop because eventually he's going to need to put a shirt on.We've seen quite a few musicians wearing our shirts. I know they are dressed by stylists but it makes you realize the divide between who you think you are creating for and who your audience really is.

Q.15: If you could choose someone to collaborate for your dream project, who would it be and what would you do?
I think I would work with the same people I've been working with and inspired by for the last ten years. Some of the original designers to work with 2K and some of the ones that you still represent.