French is from Aldershot, but lives in Brixton. He draws pictures all day, whilst sitting in his under pants, listening to death metal, drinking tea. The first band he ever saw was NUCLEAR ASSAULT in 1989 and still wears the tour t-shirt. The last band he saw was FLESHROT in Croydon! He can draw anything he likes or doesn’t like. He loves eating cheap noodles and apples and prefers cold weather.
French joins LTRHDS with the letter X.
Would you describe yourself as a war buff, the kind of guy who’s always flicking over to the History Channel? What fascinates you so much about conflict?
I wouldn’t say I was a war buff. I guess that I’m just super interested in it, from growing up with so many military things surrounding me.
Being from a garrison town, all the streets, pubs, buildings and places are named after battles, leaders, etc in Great British history. At school there was a lot of stuff we were taught about the local area and what happened.
I also suppose that ‘cos I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, who saw the Second World War, it became a massive interest to me. For years when I was a kid I wanted to join the army and I was sure that all Germans were the enemy.
Is it too easy to create artwork and call yourself an ‘artist’ nowadays? It seems like the fine detail you pour into your drawing was once commonplace in commercial art a century ago. Do you think there’s been an erosion of these skills over time?
The really simple answer to that is ‘yes’. I think there’s not enough emphasis on skills these days.
Obviously concept and subject matter are very important, and really make the work. But actual skill for me is so important. There do seem to be a lot of people who fit into the ‘I’m now an artist’ phase… That’s for them to deal with.
If you’re fake and full of shit and just trying to jump on the bandwagon then it shows in the work.
Soon enough they’ll go on to the next thing. Me and some friends were talking about it and those conversations go:
“I used to skate, I’m now a DJ, now I’m a graf artist, now I’m an illustrator, now I’m a graphic designer, now I’m a t-shirt designer, I’m starting this clothing line, now I’m a photographer….. Have you seen my sneaker collection? I just got a fix gear”.
Well that’s great, but those people don’t seem to have anything that’s held your attention longer than six months? It’ll be fine in the end… Let them do what they want. It’s just funny to hear people chat about it all.
You’ve gained a reputation for the grim and grisly. What’s the most out-there thing you’ve ever drawn?
Dunno…. I didn’t really think I had that reputation. I’ve drawn a few things with gutted Nuns. Or there was one of a gutted women with a missile up her cunt?
Do you think the world is becoming more or less permissive of raw honest expression? It seems like everything is becoming more polished and morally palatable. Are we all becoming a bit too bland and nice?
I think commercial culture is, but I think if you look past that there’s a lot of people making some really fucking sick shit. Death metal’s just getting gnarlier and gnarlier.
