Interview with Ryan "Humanburger" Jones

by joseangeles@muchomail.com

The underground art scene is always emerging with new innovative artists that the shitty mainstream just can't imagine existed. For every ten bazillion photoshopping hack "artists", there's one original son-of-a-gun pumping out something extraordinary. Up in Canada, Ryan Jones aka the "Humanburger" is one of these damn fine artists that creates mindblowing work both in the metal and underground comic/art community. I had the honor of having my own comics published along side his work on two occasions (Counter Culture Comics #1 and Goreshitdeath #1) and as of now I had the pleasure to interview this extreme gore-art genius. Now lets all take a look inside the morbid yet brilliant world of the "Humanburger":

-Your style is real unique and I haven't seen much like it. Who are your artistic influences? How did you develop your style and was it something that came natural or took years to master? And how long have you've been drawing by the way?

thanks man, my artistic influences are very cartoon based actually, i grew up idolizing chuck jones(looney toons), doug tennapel(earthworm jim), then later finding metal album art, and being influence by giger, simon bisley, stevo of impetigo, and lusima of haemorrhage... i respect the classic character design of the masters, and love the intesity of the crazy underground artists... i just try to give every picture 'hell' really, make it as crazy as i can then try to out do myself... i guess the style came naturally, but i've worked at it very hard for many years, as long as i can remember anyway... i just draw all the time...

-What's your weapons of choice? For your art...and for your murders?

well, as much as its over done, you just cant beat that chainsaw... big gigantic impractical powertools that are far too heavy are really cool... for artwise... i use micron pens and sharpie markers...

Gwar fanart, damn that's badass

- A lot of your work is riddled with excruciating detail, how long does it take for you to get a piece of art done? Is there a particular project that was an extreme challenge?

too long, for a standard 14"x17" sheet, i'd say at least 40, 50hours... its a lot of work, i wont lie, this comic project, being my first, has proven to be quite a challenge... but its good for you, always keep pushing yourself and you'd be surprised what you can accomplish...

Paedophile Scoutmaster album cover, one of his more darker pieces, pretty sick stuff eh?!

-A lot of your work is also riddled with ridiculous amounts of gore, have you gotten anybody offended yet (if so, let us in on the juicy details haha)? Does your family support your efforts in creating grotesque material? And was gore always the subject matter of your art even when you were a kid?

noticed that eh? yeah, darker subjects have always been at the tip of my pen, i dont give it much thought really, its a little known fact that my school in grade 3 tried to send me off to therapy for drawing awful things... its been a constant battle to draw what i want, most folks think theres no need for horror art... my highschool art teacher hated my guts... so i keep all those folks in mind as i come up with more twisted and horrible art as i go... my family is very supportive, i couldnt ask for a better one, cant say they're into the gore art, but they support my art regarless... i dont think i've offended too many people since i've been out of high school, the reaction to my art is more possitive than negative i find... apparently people are just as awful as i am... hahaha

- So far I've seen bands use your work, the underground legends Gut being one of them, how do you go about choosing who to work with? Do millions of bands approach you all the time? Ever get annoyed by them and say something hilarious?

well, things kind of just work out i guess... the internet is a wonderful thing for hooking up gigs like that... i get a few requests, but i've had to turn most down these days as im busy with my comic... i'll be back doing horrible commissions soon enough thou...

Debut issue that has his 8pg comic "Thrashroom Massacre"

-Counter Culture Comics issue 1 was your first appearance in a comic I think and you've shown up at conventions with the CCC team. So how did you first meet and team up with CCC? Also were there any other publishers knocking at your door?

yup, good ol' CCC1, i had a blast doing that 8page up, it was a great ice breaker... doing the whole convention thing, really gettin my feet wet, the 8page is not my best stuff, and its really just pulp fluff... as i want to deal with more horror related topics instead of dope smokin madness(although that has its perks)... i met up with rhett and the CCC crew on the wonderus internet, or i should say myspace... i saw he was another fine lad, who wanted to start doing comics as much as me, and already had his own label to boot', i hope right on board and we really have some good titles comin out for 2006, this should be a great year for us... i havent had experiance with publishers yet, but i think they want nothing to do with me... as i need full creative reign of all my art, i dont want any kind of censering to be happening to my comics... uncut, nasty horror... the way it was ment to be, and thats the only way ill serve it up...

-I see your comic, "The Wretched" is coming out soon. It looks to be a promising comic full of the sick stuff gore freaks like me can't get enough of. What was your inspiration to start this comic series, how gory will it be, when will it be out, and uhh..I want it soon! haha

well, i just felt it was my time to bust out onto the comic scene... the last Small Press Expo i attended finally was the kicker that set all the gears turning... i'm just trying to put out a comic i would want to read myself, my comic inspiration was always old EC titles, and heavy metal magazines... i just think the horror comics are lacking these days... you know, "dear uncle creepy how can it be!?"...i realy dont want to give you an exact release date on the comic, but be rest asured i've bundled myself deep away from the world, and am working 50hours + a week to try and get it done... to be honest i keep revamping the damn stories... but its all for the better...

-What comics as a kid did you read and what comics do you read these days? Ever get your hands on any of those old school EC horror, Tales from the Crypt, or Gore Shriek comics? They just don't make horror comics like those these days do they? What do you think about the new horror stuff in comic shops these days like "30 Days of Night" or whatever it's called?

as i was saying, old EC titles, heavy metal magazine, kitchin sink comix... i got everything i could get my mits on as kid, these days, i've gone threw several moves and have no room for more comics, plus im not all that interested with what i see in comic stores these days... which is sad, too much photoshop art if you ask me... im clueless as far as new titles are concerned, which is really weird considering i write and draw comics, but im usually in my art room, so its hard to get out and keep your ear low to the ground... i recently picked up one comic called, "my friend dahmer" which is a true account of an artist whom went to school with jeffery dahmer and tells 3 tales of his chilling time spent with a man on the brink of sanity... great stuff, worth getting...(editor's note: I got that comic too, definatley a fine read, get it over at derfcity.com)

-The name "Humanburger" is a fascinating one that elicits images of cannibalism and carnage in one's mind. If you were to make a real life "humanburger", who would you throw into the meatgrinder and who would you feed those "humanburgers" to?

you know, with the majority of the crap people throw in their bodies these days, i dont know how healthy your present day cannibal would be...he'd have to set up some free range vegan farm or something, makes much more sense than eatin someone livin on a diet of mcshits, microwave dinners and sugery cola...

-Speaking of humanburgers and cannibalism, I stumbled upon a new product called Hufu (eathufu.com) and it's advertised as tasting like human (yummy..?). If you haven't already, would you ever munch on some of that stuff for shits n giggles?

nah, go big or go home, i remember some website a while back called 'manmeat' or something, supposedly you could order real human meat from cadavers that gave up their bodies willingly to this company... i just figured, if it wasn't some gag, your email and information probably goes on some fbi red flag list somewhere...

-Seeing as how you're a huge metal and horror freak, what albums and movies would you say impacted your life the most?

hmmm, good question, yeah horror movies and metal albums go hand in hand... for horror, i'd go with the origonal texas chainsaw massacre, that movie is just plain terrifying, the characters are brilliant and the story is fairly believable, its the perfect balance of gore and creepy atmosphere, i could watch it over and over again... another great horror flick that changed my life was Evil Dead 2, its like the 3 stooges for horror gore nuts, best demonic possession movie by far, and thats a-Ok... what else could you ask for?... for albums, probably "Hell Awaits" by slayer, the raw energy of that recording and the classic thrash sound that slayer pretty much came up with make it the be all and end all in my eyes, every song is exactly what i want to hear... its euphoric

-So what's in store for the future, any other big projects coming up or masterpieces being worked on? You should totally do a huge drawing thing, it'll definatley be a monument that must be worshipped by all.

right now, im just taking things one day at a time and finishing this comic... hopefully, if they go over well, more will be on the way... it'd sure be nice...

-All right, that's it for the interview, you could get back to feeding your pet fishes or working on your comic, any last words though, they could be totally random and silly?! hehehe

well, if im not doing one thing im doing the other... cheers jose, thanks for the oppertunity and for coming up with all these neato questions... you can expect lots more awfulness in the future and be rest assured my filthy pictures are not ending anytime soon... so Hail the glorrious and ghastly horror, from the venomous pits and cold caverns of blacken'd hell... and eat your vegetables...

cheers
jones

Official Pages:
http://humanburger.com/
http://www.myspace.com/humanburger