Portland artist, illustrator, and musician James Mitchell creates visual art under the name Nas Chompas, and plays percussion in the band Nurses. He recently answered some of my questions fresh off a tour from another country. You can see the full interview below, and follow the links for more.
Where does the name Nas Chompas come from?
My brain tends to accidentally blend words and phrases into new nonsensical words or phrases. The other day for example, rather than ordering a "whiskey ginger" I ordered a "gingey whisker". "Nas Chompas" is just a phrase that kept popping in my head for a while and had nothing to do with a moniker. If anything, it was a strange blend of Nag Champa and Natas Kaupas. I really like the idea of treating anything I do as a project of indefinite duration, so I thought that having a moniker would help me think more freely in those terms with less pressure on myself. Nas Chompas seemed like a rad choice, and I like the skateboarding reference. It’s way more fun.
Your audio and visual art have found an overlap in illustrating for bands and festivals. How related are these two fields for you both creatively and professionally?
They are both closely tied in a lot of ways, especially because one tends to naturally call for the assistance of the other. Being involved in both definitely has me thinking in multiple ways and each draws influence from the other. But in the end, I always make better work if I can concentrate on one at a time for a while. Cycles of spending a few solid weeks on art and then a few weeks on music work really well. Trying to do both can really keep me from having any worthwhile creativity.
How did you get into music?
I've been playing music on and off since I was a kid. Some friends and I would always start a project of some sort, and we'd pick up whatever instruments we could get our hands on even if we couldn't play them well. Sometimes we were terrible. Sometimes it worked out well and we had a blast. Lately with Nurses it’s definitely been working out better than any of us could have hoped.
Was there a particular illustration project that you feel launched you into the field?
Definitely. In 2007, my friend Adam Baz invited me down to Breeze Block Gallery in Portland. He was always really supportive of me drawing more. Paige, who owns the gallery, saw my sketchbook and was super supportive as well. I made my first few acrylic paintings ever for two shows there. Later I starting illustrating with gouache as a recommendation from my friend Aidan Koch, and after the folks from Together Gallery asked me to put up artwork in a handful of shows there, I began to take it a lot more seriously. Since then I've been working really hard on artwork.
Who and/or what are some of your influences?
I think that firstly, skateboarding, comic books, street art, and anime are the main reasons I was drawing in the first place. Even though my taste has shifted towards a more folky aesthetic, I think those will always be big influences. Brendan Monroe has always been a favorite of mine as well. I love how imaginative his work is and I love the interaction of things with their environments. I really love the stuff that my buddy Adam Baz has been making. Sometimes I won't see him for like a month or two, and then I'll see all this stuff that he's been making that just completely blows me away. Some others whose art I've always loved are Thomas Campbell, Michael Sieben, and Barry McGee.
You have a unique style in your characters, color, and line. How would you describe it?
Hmmmm. Well it’s hard to say, especially because I'm just starting to feel like I'm figuring things out. My line work definitely has a lot of that street art and comic book influence in it, which is something that I probably couldn't shake off if I wanted to. But there's more and more of a natural feel making its way into my illustrations lately which I think is usually shown in the earthy colors and strange subjects.
Do you sketch a lot?
On and off. I haven't sketched in months because of tour, but I usually sketch tons. I used to "draw" a lot more, where as now I mostly just sketch out really rough forms and then ink them or turn them into color illustrations. I'd really like to brush up on my sketching skills a lot though.
What other talent would most like to have?
I would love to be able to sing really well for sure. It’s definitely not my forte but would make me ultimately stoked.
Tell us a bit about The Watchers.
The Watchers are these characters that kept popping up in my sketchbook ideas for a while, mostly because I really like things that are half submerged or are emerging out of the earth. I kept drawing these giant heads popping out of the forest ground that seemed like these big, benevolent guardians or something. Eventually I created a story about them being watchers of the land and they come and go in different forms, but in the end I just think they look friendly and awesome.
What’s on deck for Nas Chompas?
I've got some shows being planned for the near future which I am really stoked on. The first is a group show at White Walls Gallery in SF in December, and the second is just upstairs from there at Gallery Three in January with two friends from home. I've definitely got a lot of ideas for new work that are going to hopefully "step it up a notch" for these shows and I can't wait. I am looking forward to working on a bigger scale and with much more detail involved. I've got a brain full of ideas for an animation short and some zines I'd really like to start on as well.
december 2009 - winter group show @ white walls gallery, san francisco.
january 2010 - tba group show at gallery three, san francisco, ca.
Nurses on Myspace
Nas Chompas on Myspace
Nas Chompas on Flickr
Brendan Monroe
Adam Baz
Thomas Campbell
Michael Sieben
Barry McGee
Comments