G.A.R.P.

EC: You had been doing the Park Walk line a number of years ago, then were involved in Answer with Emmet Keane and now your new line The Trilogy Tapes. Can you explain the evolution a bit and the different ideas behind each range?

WB: As far as the ideas behind the different ranges, they’ve all had a similar approach – make clothes we would wear. Park Walk was a short lived project that I did in Japan, unfortunately communication failed due to my Japanese and their English! So it didn’t last. Answer is an ongoing line that I do with Emmet. The new ones, including artwork from Skatething, Fergadelic & Paul Simonon, are looking great. The Trilogy Tapes is my personal project that will involve more record releases etc. The idea is to make very short runs so we can keep making stuff all the time and keep it fresh.

EC: How have you been deciding who to bring into The Trilogy Tapes fold? I assume Ben Drury and Fergadelic are friends, but what about your connection to John Olson and Wolf Eyes?

WB: Ben and Ferg are good friends and their vaults of great/original work are bottomless. I’m just a fan of Olson’s vast output of cassettes, records, tapes, zines and artwork (his American Tapes label has more than 700 releases!!), along with artists like Aaron Dilloway, Sick Llama etc the underground noise scene is a real inspiration, particularly the DO IT YOURSELF aspect. It’s a very creative scene, musically (or non-musically) and visually.

EC: You’ve recently done a fair amount of design for Honest Jon’s Records as well as photography for Wiley and Dizzee Rascal releases. Are there any other outside projects you’ve been working on?

WB: All sorts of things in the pipeline…I’m working with Paul Simonon on some new Clash merchandise, doing a South Rakkas Crew mix cd/t-shirt package for Goodlife in Glasgow, more stuff for Surrender…Honest Jon’s is keeping me really busy on the whole, it’s one of the most interesting record labels around and working with them is amazing.They’re about to release a series of great compilations that dig deep into the EMI 78s archive.

Give Me Love – Songs Of The Brokenhearted — Baghdad, 1925-1929.

Living Is Hard – West African Music In Britain, 1927-1929 (it’s not easy listening!).

Sprigs Of Time – 78s from the EMI archive.

All killer. Get ‘em!

EC: Experimental/noise music seems to be a substantial influence on The Trilogy Tapes as well as a lot of found images like those you’ve posted on the blog. What’s the appeal for you of these kind of obscure, somewhat subterranean references?

WB: I’m a fan of all sorts of music – techno, house, garage, reggae, dancehall, r&b, hip hop, folk, death metal, black metal, noise, experimental music – blah. All the imagery associated with all these things as well as skateboarding, graphics and art in general inspire the range of images you’ll see with The Trilogy Tapes. The rise of this crap they call ‘street art’ is a big disappointment. I like anything that has nothing to do with it.

EC: Can you tell us what else is in the works for The Trilogy Tapes?

WB: Lots of vinyl, cassettes, t-shirts, sweats, zines & books by all sorts of artists/designers/musicians/skaters.