Sam has now created posters for a variety of gigs, from local and interstate bands performing in Brisbane, to even roller derby comps. He was so excited to mention that he’s recently completed projects for two of his all time favourite bands….. one being wild Japanese “Jett Rock ‘n Roll” band Guitar Wolf, and the other being legendary Australian degenerate punk band X.

Check out Samsamsamsam.com for more of Sam’s work and latest updates.

How have you got to where you are today?

I’ve always drawn, I drew all through school. My maths teachers were not impressed. It never really occured to me to do anything else! I never saw myself getting a “real” job. This reckless kind of blind faith ended up paying off, to some extent.

I studied animation at uni, but illustration has always been my favourite. I was constantly just drawing for the fun of it (and it’s all I knew how to do, pretty much).

I’ve been doing freelance Illustration work for the last few years. Luckily I managed to start doing it full-time around 18 months ago.

In a few words, describe yourself…

Elegantly dishevelled. Unflinching.

What are you spending your time on at the moment?

I’ve been busy creating gig posters, which is what I love to do. It’s awesome because I get to incorporate typography into my illustration work.

A couple of the posters I’m working on now are for some of my very favourite bands of all time. This is extremely exciting for me! It kind of blows my mind, really. I would not have expected this a year ago.

Do you have a ritual for getting into the creative mindset? Or a creative process?

It varies. Usually I have a rough idea in mind. Then I just scribble around on paper, nothing pretty. Just trying to pour my brain out.

I have a process that has evolved lately. It invloves drawing things, scanning them into photoshop, printing them out, taking them to a lightbox, refining that, scanning etc. Rinse and repeat.

I like listeing to music whilst I work. Looking at the work of other artists is good for getting inspired too.

What or who inspires you?

Plenty of stuff! Good music, bad movies, Comics, Old movie posters, love and hate.

Brisbane has plenty of amazing artists, a lot of which I’m lucky enough to call close friends.

As for artists who aren’t my actual friends I’d say Rockin’ Jellybean, Ippei Gyoubu, Brandon Graham, Jamie Hewlett, Jordi Bernet.

There are plenty more, those are just off the top of my head. The internet contains ridiculous amount of incredible artists, I’m constantly stumbling across amazing websites full of brilliant artwork.

What are you most proud of?

Probably the fact that I’m getting to the point where I can do what I like and make a living off of it.

It’s crazy. I’m extremely grateful for this. I can scarcely believe it most of the time.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

A Paleontologist for a brief period (probably around 8-9 years old). But I realised that there was never a chance of actually seeing a real-life Dinosaur. Before and after that, I’d always wanted to draw for a living.