20 Questions With Gary Pullin (Rue Morgue)

Gary Pullin, former art director of Rue Morgue, and one of the founding members of the Rue Morgue empire (Magazine, Festival of Fear etc) was nice enough to take our 20Qs on this all Hallows Eve. His schedule tonight will include: I’ll be checking out TIFF’s Living Dread: The Cinema of George A. Romero film series, which opens with his awesome anthology Creepshow tonight and runs until November 4, at TIFF Bell Lightbox. Romero is curating and introducing many of his films including Martin, Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead and Michael Powell’s cult classic Peeping Tom. Gary even did the silk-screened poster, which is available at the event tonight.

1. What is your dream of happiness?
I’m making a living drawing monsters, I have a beautiful bride by my side… what more can a ghoul ask for?

2. Blonde or Brunette?

How about jet black!

3. What is the quality you like most in a person?
Sincerity

4. What do you fear most?
Sharks are terrifying but thankfully I stay out of their hood.

5. 808s or 909s?
Huh? I prefer the basics.

6. What’s your biggest regret?
Not investing in more original art.

7. What’s your fav bar or club

Le Foufounes Electronique in Montreal

8. What’s the one thing you can’t live without?
My horror dvd collection. I mean, my wife. I meant to say that first.

9. What are the 3 musicians dead or alive you’d like to see perform?
Nirvana. Never got to see them before Cobain died.
I’d love to see Quicksand, I hear they are doing reunion shows.
I wish I could have seen Johnny Cash perform.

10. What is your favorite decade in music?

I like music from all decades, I can’t really pick one era. I love 50s rockabilly. I love Roky Erickson, who’s credited as the inventor of psychedelic music. I love a lot of stuff from the 70s, stuff like Black Sabbath, Kiss, Alice Cooper, Neil Young, The Ramones and the Misfits. I love metal from the 80s like Metallica, Iron Maiden and early Ozzy. I also love a lot a lot of stuff from the 90s like The Cult, NIN, Ministry, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden. Indie stuff like Pavement, Jon Spencer and Guided By Voices I really got into. I’m more into older bands than new bands generally.

11. If you had to choose, would you rather go blind or deaf and why?
If I had the unfortunate choice, I would choose the loss of hearing. However, a good song is just as important to me as a good piece of visual art, so loosing my hearing would be almost as tragic.

12. How old is too old?
Never too old, right?

13. Where do you see yourself in 15 years?
Hopefully happy, healthy and still making a living doing what I love – drawing monsters.

14. Who’s your hero?
My parents.

15. What’s your favourite colour?
Monster green

16. What song could you live without ever hearing again?
Losing My Religion by R.E.M.

17. Metallica or Madonna?
Metallica. I don’t really think I need to elaborate on that.

18. What’s your most hated vice?
Doritos

19. Who is the most tragic figure in history?
For me, it was Kurt Cobain. I was a massive Nirvana fan back then and I still am. I know he wasn’t exactly Mother Teresa while he was alive, but he was a gifted song writer and highly influential.

20. What are the top three live shows you’ve seen in your life?

Rammstein two years ago in Toronto. I was a casual fan until I saw them live. Their stage show was nothing short of incredible.
Danzig with Doyle in Detroit performing original Misfits songs, the way they were meant to be played and sang, gave me goosebumps.
Ministry during the second Lollapalooza tour, they blew everybody away on that tour.

-Photo by: Jason Edmiston