ANDRAUS show w/JERKAGRAM, HEPA.TITUS, PLANESWALKER

Here's a show poster I did for a show I am playing with ANDRAUS:


Los Globos Locals presents.....

ANDRAUS 
Heavy, experimental brotherly duo.
http://andraus.bandcamp.com/

JERKAGRAM (CD release show!!) 
Psychedelic rock's sexiest fraternal twin brothers celebrate the release of their new full length, Outer Limbs.
https://soundcloud.com/jerkagram

HEPA.TITUS 
Loud. Noisy. Rock. Roll. Great.
http://hepa-titus.bandcamp.com/

PlanesWalker
Heavy experimental math-rock.
https://planeswalker.bandcamp.com/


TUESDAY, JANUARY 26th, 2016
8pm / $5
LOS GLOBOS
3040 W SUNSET BLVD, LOS ANGELES, CA 90026

Tickets here: https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1047973?_ga=1.204521043.271124345.1452322155

AXED CROWN - Amnesty

Axed Crown - Amnesty comes out January 29th, 2016 on Asunder Records!
Cassette, CD, Digital

Pre-order now!

Axed Crown's first record Amnesty builds on layers of loss and beauty. The buzzing distortions and fading echoes reflect the transience of memory. Bittersweet melodies are woven with electronics smooth and rough, and swell from delicate washes to heavy waves. The sounds are as much about texture as they are tones. There are moments of clarity and obfuscation as instruments fade in and out, like trying to remember details of days long past.

In the case of Andrew Cox those days were spent in California on a dilapidated resort full of haunted buildings, one of which graces the cover of Amnesty. The property was owned by the Unification Church, a waning seventies cult of acid casualties and ex-flower children turned conservatives who worshipped a Korean messiah. After a strange upbringing, Andrew Cox went on to graduate from Calarts, and has worked for Hydra Head Records since 2007. He's directed videos for Old Man Gloom, Torche, and Helms Alee, created live projections for Prurient and Vatican Shadow, and worked with many others including Jesu and Sigur Rós. He also plays drums in Andraus. In Axed Crown he does nearly everything himself: recording, production, artwork. He plays and programs all of the instruments, with occasional help ("Solless" features his brother and Andraus guitarist Austin Cox). Perhaps that solitude is why these songs feel haunted. The ghosts of those empty buildings from his past, and the cassette-taped voices of religious leaders leak into the tracks.

Amnesty drifts through a haze of sub-genres, with impressions of shoegaze, noisy electronics, ambient experimentalism, and even twinges of industrial and black metal. It's post-something. The cohesion of it's precursors and influences becomes something more, as a person is more than the sum of their experiences. Like broken pottery repaired with gold, the beauty of Amnesty is in the rough spaces between it's parts.

Tracklist:
1. Overturn
2. Dial Tone
3. Eyespace
4. Grey Sea
5. Phantomatic
6. Small Knives
7. Solless
8. Ave Cavern
9. Cloudbreak
10. Deign

Pre-order Cassette, CD, Digital, and T-Shirt on Bandcamp!

AXED CROWN - Buster T-Shirt

OLD MAN GLOOM - The Lash (official video)

The music video I directed for Old Man Gloom is out now!

Premiered by Decibel Magazine.

I dragged Akina and Austin out to the desert to film, then sculpted a bunch of stuff that I lit on fire. I'll post some behind the scenes photos when I have time.

Thanks to Akina, Austin, my mom, Aaron, Caleb, Nate, Santos, Chris Bruni, Profound Lore Records, Faith, Sige Records

Nontendo

Nontendo

Spreadsheet laser print, matte board 

11"x14" 

Part of Reticulating Splines 
A group show curated by @johnniejungleguts at Chin's Push gallery in Highland Park. 
Opening today 1pm-9pm 
4917 York Blvd, Los Angeles 
Along with the Great Summer Pokémon Festival and tournament.

Current Projects

I have been busy with a bunch of stuff lately, and tend to forget how many things I am actually undertaking at any given time. So, I figured I would list them out here to help wrap my head around and let you know what I am up to.
Also, because I am bad at regular updates, this is my semi-regular info purge.

- POCKET BOOK V
Pocket Book V is finished. We just completed printing and binding them. Akina hand-stitched every single one.
http://andrewjamescox.bigcartel.com/product/pocket-book-v

- ANDRAUS
New band with my brother Austin. Thrash/doom/ambient/psych/electronic/metal
We've started recording. It's the first time I have been satisfied with the sound quality of drums I've recorded myself.

We also printed shirts:
andraus.bigcartel.com

- Helms Alee / Young Widows split
I did the cover art for the forthcoming split from my pals Helms Alee and Young Widows, to be released by Sargent House.
http://hellomerch.com/products/helms-alee-young-widows-split-lp-12-vinyl

- AXED CROWN
Axed Crown is my solo musical project. I've had a debut LP languishing in near-completion for a couple years now. I finally recorded drums for one song, "Overturn," that's been almost done for a while, and I think it is finally complete. Just need to tweak and add a few bits, and the record will be good to go. It's tentatively titled "Amnesty."
axedcrown.bandcamp.com

Here is the rough demo for "Overturn"


- HENRY & GLENN FOREVER & EVER
I have a short comic in the upcoming Henry & Glenn Forever & Ever TPB. It's basically Henry as Hellboy, and they fall through the floor of their house into a forgotten practice space. I'll post a preview soon. Also, the book's foreword is written by Rob Halford. ROB HALFORD. of JUDAS PRIEST.
Pre-Order It Here

- CHEAP EATS
I'm also working on Cheap Eats, a short cooking show featuring delicious recipes for the broke and lazy. It's for KCHUNG TV, KCHUNG's entry in the Hammer Museum's Made in LA 2014 Biennial.

- HEAVY DUTY
Oh yeah, I also have a monthly show called Heavy Duty on KCHUNG radio. It focuses on hevay music for lightweights, and airs the fourth Sunday of every month.
kchungradio.org

- I'm in the middle of writing a short script about a metal band putting on a show at their parents' house. Hopefully I'll finish it this month and have it shot and edited before summer is over.

- I already wrote a feature length script for a post-apocalyptic ghost movie called Mountain Ghost that's influenced by The Road, Princess Mononoke, Red Dawn, and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Intending to but not really working on pre-production (designs, storyboards, etc). Might produce it as a comic first.

- On the far back burner is a short zine/riso book called Black Days. Black metal days of the week. Sunday is a burning church, Monday is black coffee, etc.

- Probably some other stuff I am forgetting/procrastinating on. For some reason I still feel unproductive a lot of the time. Let me know if you need a video, or a drawing, or music. Because I am not busy enough.

I blame the internet.

Hydra Head Poster + T-shirt

I designed this poster/t-shirt for Hydra Head Records.
The poster is a 4 Color screen printed 18"x24" poster on 100# "Berrylicious" Pop Tone Paper. Hand-numbered and limited to 50.
Buy it here

The shirt is limited edition pre-order only, so order it now if you want one ever!
Buy it here


They are part of a series of prints for Hydra Head by a bunch of awesome artists that I helped curate, including:
- Faith Coloccia
- Michael DeForge
- Julia Gfrörer
- Tom Neely
- Sophie Penrose
- Aaron Turner
and more!

Blob monsters

Working on a poster for Hydra Head Records. 

POCKET BOOK V, coming soon

POCKET BOOK V, coming soon.

The Adventures of Akinkin

I drew this as a belated birthday / Valentine's Day present for my wife Akina. She likes Tintin (me, too). I finished it two days ago. I'm busy, okay.

Lost Claus

Lost Claus

2013

7" x 4 1/4"

pencil on paper

Floor Puncher

Floor Puncher
2013
7" x 4 1/4"
ink on paper

Untitled

Untitled

2013

12"x9"

ink and pencil on paper

Little Scribble

Little Scribble

2013

7"x4"

pencil on paper

My First Tattoo

Well, not on myself (I swear it's not me, despite the similar body type and apparel), but the first tattoo of my art on someone else's hide.

Tebbles emailed me out of the blue with only the words "Keep up the good work sir!" and these two photos:

He is sporting permanent ink of a modified version of my design for the limited Hydra Head poster (see previous post). This is still blowing my mind a bit.

In other news, I am 75 pages deep into writing a post-apocalyptic ghost movie. Influences include Cormac McCarthy's The Road, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Pink Floyd's The Wall, Stanley Kubrick, Red Dawn, Beasts of the Southern Wild, and probably a lot of other things floating around in my mind.

Hydra Head Records poster

I designed this poster for Hydra Head Records.

Limited edition
18"x24" 
hand screen printed on a matte offset background 
100# white paper 
Signed and numbered 

Pre-Order here

It's being sold as part of the larger Hydra Head Rehabilitation Project HYDRA HEALTH

I've been working at Hydra Head for over 5 years now. I started as an intern (technically Isis' intern, but I quickly rolled over to HH duties). There has never been a time when I didn't believe in the projects we were involved in, or the way we have approached them. We probably could have pressed fewer quantities of certain CDs, but we also could not have predicted such a precipitous drop in CD sales. This endeavor was never about making money, though. If it was, there would have been a lot more corporate sponsorship and licenses, shittier touring bands, and pandering advertisements. Everyone who does and has worked here has foregone any delusions of luxury (or even healthcare). I don't remember anyone besides Aaron having a car made within the last 10 years. 

People occasionally complain that our records are expensive, but if you are going to make a physical artifact of the music, you should make it well. Heavy vinyl, sturdy jacket, and quality printing. We have compromised very little on that. Maybe we should have made flimsier LPs and required our bands to tour relentlessly. Maybe we could have been rich. Except that it hasn't just been our choices that have led to our current financial peril. We only control our ship, not the entire sea.

The music industry has changed drastically over the past decade, and especially over the past few years. For better or worse, the internet has destroyed the old model of music distribution. Once it's released, artists and labels don't really have control over the dissemination of their own content. The new streaming services pay pennies, and even through proper channels, music is used as content to drive services and advertisements that benefit those providers vastly more than the artists themselves. Even if a band is the type to tour, gas has gotten expensive. I don't have any scientific data to back it up, but it feels like there are less touring bands coming through than there used to be. I think because the overhead of being on the road has become prohibitive for acts that don't have a large following.

Maybe Hydra Head is dying. I still don't believe it. Maybe it will be saved by the generosity of those that appreciate earnest, challenging music and aesthetics. Maybe the whole world really is ending and the rumble of the earth falling will match the rumble of the records we have released.

I am humbled and honored to have been directly involved with a lot of groundbreaking records, and a few masterpieces. I am grateful for all of the friends I have met, to know that there are other people that care about things like I do. I am proud to be part of this family.

Cut one head off...

OLD MAN GLOOM - 9/3/2012 poster

I designed a poster for OLD MAN GLOOM's upcoming show at the Echo. It will be available as an 18"x24" signed and numbered screen print at the show. I will probably have a few available online.

If you haven't given OLD MAN GLOOM's new album NO a listen, you should. It will put hair on your chest. And your face. And your arms, legs, back, and everywhere.

pencils

inked

color mock-up

Torche - "Kicking" music video

I directed a new music video for my pals Torche. The song is "Kicking," from their new album Harmonicraft. It premiered today on Stereogum. Here's a quote:

"Director Andrew James Cox manages to hit all the inspirational sports-movie beats while making fun of them at the same time, and that hallucination sequence is a thing to behold." - Stereogum


Torche - "Kicking" (Stereogum Premiere) from stereogum on Vimeo.


Thanks to everyone who helped out, and to Volcom for making it happen.


Also, congratulations to my best friend Jesse Rueter (that's him adjusting his hat in the preview image above) and Caroline Chen on their wedding on Sunday. This has been the best week of my life. I'm working on making it the best year.

MINI COMIC CON

After you drop by your local comic shop for Free Comic Book Day (this Saturday), come on over to Eagle Rock:

Saturday, May 5th 2012 11:00am-6:00pm
FREE ADMISSION


Gallery Exhibition: May 5 - June 7, 2012

Center for the Arts Eagle Rock
2225 Colorado Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90041

Mini Comic-Con narrows the focus of the monolithic pop-culture event of Comic Con to its humble origins: the overshadowed vanguard of small press and independent comics. The exhibition highlights work that experiments with visual storytelling, both in content and form. Through selective appropriation of narrative devices and the invention of new ones, creators explore new ways to craft stories.

Mini Comic-Con exhibits recent work by emerging and established independent comic artists, a diverse group that is connected by shared influences: traditional comics, literature, film, experimental visual disciplines, DIY and small press culture, and a desire to project a singular voice. These works do more than tell a story with pictures; they blur high art, fantasy, and mundane experience to create something else entirely. Sometimes funny, sometimes fearlessly earnest, the artists use accessible yet refined drawing techniques to simultaneously connect with the viewer and generate a narrative structure that draws us further into their created worlds.

Curated by Andrew Cox and Laura Marchetti

Participating Artists:
Chuck BB
Akina Cox
Andrew James Cox
Marcos De La Siref
Shannon Freshwater
Andy Gohlich
Rebecca Inducil
Keenan Keller
Matt Macfarland
Laura Marchetti
John Martin
Jed McGowan
Kwanchai Moriya
Tom Neely
Never Press
Impossible Moon
Winona Regan
Anthony Rodriquez
Yumi Sakugawa
Britt Sanders
Sar Shahar

Adrian Tenney

Jesse Tise
Mark Todd
Dave Van Patten
Esther Pearl Watson
Megan Whitmarsh
Adriana Yugovich

Open Network

The video I directed for Helms Alee is in this art show at Cirrus Gallery, opening tonight (like right this moment, as I am typing this. Sorry for the late notice.) Thanks to Aaron Wrinkle for including me.

ONCE EMERGING, NOW EMERGING: OPEN NETWORK  

March 10- May 5, 2012
  
Opening Reception
Sat. March 10th  7-10pm 

     

Hinged to the website oncenowexhibiton.com, the exhibition presents itself with gestures on technology, community, innovation and performance. A comment on networking, the exhibition and website highlight important examples of artists bringing ideas of collaboration and presentation to the forefront of contemporary art. Artists and groups include: Artists and groups include: Artobjectculture.net (Lucy Chinen and Emilie Gervais), Chris Burden, Andrew Cox, Alan Dunn, Michael Decker, Eternal Telethon, Corey Fogel, Jack Goldstein, Peregrine Honig (Bravo's Work of Art), Mariah Garnett of Human Resources and Geoff Tuck (Notes on Looking), Actual Size artists: Ali Bailey, Scott Benzel, Guy de Cointet, Larry Bell, Doug Edge, Cayetano Ferrer, Katie Herzog, Laura Owens, Ed Ruscha and Barbara T. Smith plus artist submissions from oncenowexhibition.com

Cirrus Gallery

542 S. Alameda St.
Los Angeles, CA 90013

Tuesday- Saturday 10am- 5pm

(213) 680-3473

cirrus@cirrusgallery.com
www.cirrusgallery.com

HELMS ALEE - "8/16" music video premiere on VEVO

So, the video I directed for HELMS ALEE's "8/16" is finally out. Not only that, but on the front page of VEVO, which means it is getting millions more impressions than I ever would have imagined.

I had a lot of fun making it, especially going up to Seattle and shooting with the band (total DIY friend-fest. We owe a bunch of people hugs and favors.) It was stressful at times, but I was always sure we were working on something awesome. I am extremely proud of how it came out.

Ben told me about the idea for the video when the band was on tour with Boris around the time my video for Torche's "UFO" came out. Which means this was waaay before any of us knew that Beavis and Butthead was going to be back on TV.

So months go by, the band records Weatherhead and we pick up discussion of the video. At one point I proposed shooting them as live action versions of Beavis and Butthead, mostly because I was nervous about animating. We settled on the concept of the video pretty much as it came out, and I suggested trying out Kickstarter to get a decent budget to make the video (when I made the Torche video, what little money we spent came out of my own pocket). I'd do some things differently in hindsight, but mostly it went really well, and we got enough money to do the video.

Shooting the video and editing were smooth, and animating was too, but it is always a pretty slow process. I did all the drawings by hand then scanned, colored, and arranged them digitally. It took longer than I anticipated (as usual). When I gave the band an ETA I doubled how long I thought it would take and ended up being right on the money. It could have been done more quickly, but making videos isn't my full-time job (yet?).

So in the time it took to make the video, Beavis and Butthead returned to MTV, grunge returned to the fashion world, and at Trader Joe's I've started hearing the songs whose videos we re-created. 

Excellent timing.

video link: http://youtu.be/GmcX97Y3vE4

"8/16" comes from Helms Alee's second full length album Weatherhead.  Produced by Matt Bayles in the winter of 2011, and released the following July, Weatherhead finds the band expanding on what AVClub calls 'impossibly catchy heaviness'.  Tours with Torche, Big Business, Boris and Minus the Bear have helped the band, and now Weatherhead, put grunge right back on the map.  

The girls and boy of Helms Alee will be on tour this March with fellow Northwest resident, Thrones:

03/03 Bellingham, WA @ Jinx Art Space w/ Sloths, Tearamanapart

03/31 Seattle, WA @ Comet Tavern w/ Thrones

04/01 Vancouver, BC @ Iron Roads Studio w/ Thrones

04/03 Bellingham, WA @ Shakedown w/ Thrones

04/05 Arcata, CA @ Alibi w/ Thrones

04/06 San Francisco, CA @ Hemlock Tavern w/ Thrones


Buy HELMS ALEE stuff in the Hydra Head Shop