Three eyed cat

Coffins 

April 2025

Printed images on paper. 

           Finding myself in the offices of AS220 after spending years attending shows in the Main Stage and Black Box, either performing or attending, was not something I would expect. For the past year and some change, I have spent my Wednesdays in the Mathewson St. building that AS220 operates out of with David Dvorchak, who has been my mentor for my stay. Coming into this opportunity, I wasn’t exactly sure what my plan was, but I knew that being at AS220, whatever I was to do had to mean something and something good. So, after a couple of weeks figuring out what my plan would be, we landed on the idea of creating a short video where we’d interview staff members and ask them a simple question, “What is AS220?”. Conducting interviews for the purpose of storytelling was something I was comfortable with from my own work, putting them together in a video was something I was not. But what came from it was nothing to sell short, and the interviews held such a true sense of care for the community that AS220 has built. 

To take a step back, my internship with AS220 was done through school, the Met High School. Before coming here, the internships I held before revolved around screen printing, so now doing a 180 and sitting down to think of questions for artists and breaking down how pieces of art made me feel was something totally different. But doing that work allowed me to find a love for writing that I necessarily didn’t know too well of before, through the summer while I wasn’t at AS220 I found myself reading and writing much more than I have ever before, it sounds silly but I do give AS220 credit for sparking that passion. 

Coming into this final year of high school, I knew that returning to AS220 would be in my best interest, and it certainly was. In the name of celebration, it was my duty to collect interviews of active/past members of AS220 and question them on their experiences while stationed on the stage or in the galleries, and how those moments affected their artistic growth. Our original goal was going to be “Forty for Forty,” where we’d collect forty interviews for each year AS220 has been established. As the idea rose, it fell as quick, but not totally. The end product was a collection of 10-15 interviews highlighting the past, present, and future of the amazingly strong community that has been built up around the three-eyed cat. 

Being at AS220 has taught me a lot about myself as an artist, what does and doesn’t work for me personally, how to set realistic goals in the realm of creation, as well as a newfound respect for myself and what I put into the world. 

AS220 is the gift that keeps on giving. 

Now to speak on the collage presented at the top of the page. That is the base image of the cover for the AS220 zine, which I put together this year. Photos used were from a trip to Louisiana I took with my family in April. There's not much behind the selection besides the middle, rows of shelf coffins, which I believe I haven't seen before and it was something that really amazed me. 

Gabriel Richardson Interview

 (this is a repost from the original IAFUTS blog as well my time working with AS220, Gabe is a dear friend of mine this interview has always been a favorite of mine)

 

We sat down with Gabe on Thursday to talk about his current exhibition at AS220, here's what he had to say.

 How did you find out about AS220?

That's a good question. I think the first thing that I ever went to here was a show when I was in high school that was Drop dead the Body, I think Verse and St Jude.
And for a long time, the only thing that I did was going to shows and then I realized that there was a lot of other stuff going on. Like, there's this whole building, you know, as funny as it wasn't just like a bar and a restaurant and a venue. I've done stuff at the print shop.
I live here now. You know, I’ve had friends that work here. I think I've done a little bit of everything at AS220

What made you follow the path of creating art?

Probably my parents. Both my parents are artists, and I grew up working with my dad, going to his shop, working with furniture and clothes and looking at the work that he was doing. And then also, like all of my parents' friends, everybody that I was spending time with when I was a kid, especially not having siblings, we're all artists. So it didn't seem like such a weird thing to do. And yeah, I just like making stuff. I don't want to just sit still and not do anything.

What do you pursue besides art?

I think what I do besides art, not a whole lot. I think maybe everything that I do has something to do with some kind of art, whether it's, you know, visual art or performance of music and I think that all the people that I know that I talk to, that I spend time with, like do something, whether it's they're in a band or, you know, they're an artist or they're a maker or whatever you want to call it. I think especially now that I'm older, that the more time I spend with people that aren't artists, I feel kind of out of place and uncomfortable.

What is something that you feel makes you and your art unique? 

Wow. I think with the sculptural pieces, I was able to merge the different interests that I had from two to d work with my work with printmaking, and then also my experience with woodworking, that first working in multiples is always really attractive, not necessarily to have copies of things to give out or to sell, but to be able to explore an idea in multiple ways. So instead of working on a painting and having it set, and then, you know, to be able to see all the different permutations of that. So I think that that is the most kind of authentic thing that I've been able to do, and it feels really kind of natural. 

Did you face any hurdles with this exhibition for making the pieces?

Did you face any hurdles with this exhibition / making the pieces for it? 
The only thing that was a hurdle was I wasn't sure that I was going to be here. I was away for a while and I came home, like right before I had to get the work here. But I had all this stuff. You know, A good thing I think about is T20 and the opportunity to show work in a place that you live, especially if you're an artist. I have all my stuff with me. All I had to do was walk around the corner and then, you know, maybe it took me like an hour. So, you know, that is a really kind of advantageous thing about being able to live here, you know, and providence in general. It's just like if I'm downtown anywhere, downtown, it's like I can be there in, like ten or 15 minutes.

What do you see for yourself going forward?

Well, I'm not sure. I have been teaching for the last two years. I'm kind of looking for the next thing. So I don't know if that's here. I don't know if that's somewhere else. I think being an artist and then also being someone who has mostly done like kind of gig jobs, you know, always looking for the next thing, that it can be stressful to not know what you're doing or where your income is coming from. But because I've done not so much and it's always like something comes around. So it's not a totally foreign feeling. So, yeah, so let's see what happens
How can people see the show?
Well, I'm going to be here on Saturday, starting at 12, maybe for a couple of hours, depending on who comes. So you could always call me or send me an email, but I'll have to go find someone that can let me in.

My new friend

 

 

I.L.Y.M. (I Love You Man)

2025

 

           This is a piece I put together when after getting home from work the other night, the first week of April has been full of rain in the day and fog at night. For context- I live on an island in Rhode Island, on the island there is one main road that cuts down the whole mass of land. Road Island. At night I drive for a pizzeria- Checkers (Wed-Sun.Come whack me), I've gotten into some odd situations while handling other peoples food. A couple weeks ago I had to enter a customers apartment, go into their living room and hand over an order of chicken tenders and fries to a grown man probably in his mid-twenties. While I knocked and called for 10 minutes this kid, probably nine, with his two big garbage full of nic-stick cartons and cardboard asked me for a dollar. Told him no, but after I received $4 in coins from the greasy man, I tossed the kid some coins.   

For this painting I had just bought new paint that morning but only ended up using two colors. The scene is centered around two figures, Mx. Green Mx. Pink(red), exchanging a an uncomfortable interaction.

 Over their heads float two orbs of the opposite color which was the well on their creation. 

Sketch paper, acrylic paint, construction paper, white out, India ink, ball point pen, crayon,  sharpie.   

 

Patterns

"New Shoe Salad"

Alexander Barker Simmons

Made by using one of the patterns from the collection.

    Over the winter it was a plan of mine to put together a fanzine including a collection of patterns that I had made with the idea of readers being able to copy and cut out the pages for personal use in their own art. Backgrounds, textures, whatever.  

   Inspiration was taken sheets of legal paper with brick or halftone dots that my father had in his old art supply box,  growing up invested in hardcore punk culture and growing into a love for the harsh cut and paste collage that has been prevalent and consistent in my artistic journey despite changes in my personal interest. The simplicity and human touch each piece has is something that is so true to everyones unique craft, adding another layer into the onion fingerprint snowflake that we each are.

Creating these patterns my hope was not to see them be used on thousand times over, but to possible inspire just one person to create, whether that is creating something alined with prior interest or trying something totally new. Sharing inspiration and a piece of my motivation to create.

Below I've attached a Google Drive containing a collection of patterns that I had put together for the purpose of this zine not zine. 

Google Drive

If you do use any of the patterns from this book please send them my way! 

Erratic Mail

    IAFUTS "Reader's Club" is a mail order list that will come and go but once you join, you're in it till I die or stop writing. Throughout the history of IAFUTS, there have been a handful of mail order lists, physical or digital but both surrounding the idea of regular monthly content from us to you. Unfortunately, that doesn't always work and only leads to unnecessary stress and odd feelings about writing. A major part of IAFUTS is keeping the physical media aspect alive and well, while keeping it available to everyone, anywhere. Moving forward the "Reader's Club" will be the new hot way for out of towners to get their dirty hands on my smut. The way the list will work is simple and painless. You send your address, I send you mail. This high society living will be free of charge, it also will not be a promised monthly package. Sign up, forget you did, then boom! I'm in your mailbox. If anyone was signed up for the original newsletter mailing list a year or two ago it'll be similar to that, but this time some extra things in each parcel. 

To sign up:

E-mail: ialwaysfallupthestairs626@gmail.com with this information 

- Name (to be addressed to)

- Mailing Address

- Additional mailing information (if needed)

- Town, City, zipcode

Each issue will be free of charge.

    Signing up once means you're signed up for good and will receive the newest edition of the reader's club as they roll out. If you have any questions or concerns feel free to email me at that same address.

"In The Zone" an interview with Brody Johnson

This interview was conducted over text through the month of November. If you like what you hear and want to check out more of Brod's work, check out their instagram page where they archive their art @brodyjohnso  

We had a couple wonders for our generations great painter, and boy, did Brody have some answers for us. Here is what Brody Johnson has to say... 

"Before I was a painter, I loved to write. Sometimes I’d be going through something that I felt was a big deal, and I’d feel the need to write about it. But when I was finished fleshing out my frustrations on paper, I’d often notice I’d only filled up a page or so. It’d make me feel better in a roundabout way, realizing how stupid it was letting a page’s worth of thoughts ruin my day. I do the same thing with paintings now. Something will happen, I’ll go make art about it if I feel like it, and occasionally I’ll catch myself trying to adjust the theme to make it more theatrical and dramatic, and laugh at myself for being pretentious like that. 

Art is the most honest part about me so I think it makes sense that my painting process has an ability to call me on my bullshit

                                                                                         

 "Like This?"

For the longest time, I didn’t like the idea of religion or spirituality. After a while of considering why though, I found the reason to be based more in a hatred of authority than an actual apprehension for faith. I’ve since explored my relationship with spirituality more, and have landed on a broad concept of “God”, their relationship to me, and my relationship to the universe. That isn’t really what this piece is about though. It’s more about why I felt the need to loop religion in with the other authorities in my youth, like school or my parents. I think there is something to be said about feeling forced into Christianity, or any religion really, and that’s what this piece explores. The guy in Catholic garb is jamming a cross into the other guys head, as a third figure watches over the scene, visibly uncomfortable. I view this third figure as me. This painting is big. About 4 by 5 feet. Much of the detail gets lost when you take a picture, but everything is made up of globby dabs and smacks of paint.

Religion hasn’t exactly been a big part of my life til recently, I just kinda ignored it in my youth so I don’t have much in the way of other religious commentary in my art. But I’ve had a practice forever of taking something I’m worried about, or something I’m going through that I think is a big deal, and exercising it until I either figure it out, or realize I’m being a dummy. 

"Arts and Crafts"

Often when I’m painting I get really “in the zone”. I don’t wanna call it a “flow stage” cuz that seems pretentious, but there definitely is a meditative aspect to my painting process that I hold dear to me. However, now receiving formal training for the first time, I’m finding it’s a detriment to the vibrancy of my paint. Color saturation means a lot to me in my compositions, but so does that meditative feeling that comes with getting “in the zone”. So with this piece, I kinda tried to do both. 

I took something I’d made that was already partially complete, and mixed a large range of colors beforehand to ensure not much mixing would occur on the actual surface. This keeps the pigment nice and pure. Once it was dry, I went in with some fine acrylic markers to add highlights, and some alcohol brush pens to add accents. This piece was a lot less about concept than it was about process and the actual act of creating it, but I’m immensely proud of the result regardless.

I always call a piece finished once I feel like if I add anything more it’d get worse or detract from the original message of the piece. Since that’s such a subjective definition of a piece being finished tho, it’s always subject to change. I just happened to look at that smaller canvas that I was no longer happy with, knew I didn’t have any other blank ones on me, and decided that was the plan lol. Usually it’s more about the act of painting for me than the finished product, so what I’m actually painting on tends to be inconsequential mostly.

Not this time though, I kept some remnant of the original designs I had in the piece before, but a lot of what I did screamed “I have no ideas so I’m gonna scribble and hope for the best” when looking back at it 2 years later. 

The piece was primarily red. When I first made it I must’ve had some sorta conceptual reason for using so much red, since I even lathered the sides of the canvas in it. There was a nice design in the middle painted in what I think was white paint and a lot of gloss medium, so it had this nice shiny, slightly see-through quality. Like I said though, everything outside of that suckedddd. In the process of covering it all up, the nice design in the middle got caught in the crossfire and lost some of its luster, especially when you look at it in a photo

“Messy” is the best word to describe it. I hate when ppl say “dirty” to describe my workspaces or my paint stained clothes, cuz that’s such a negative word. There’s no dirt in my studio, but it’s far from the textbook definition of “clean”

My preferred method of painting is sitting cris-cross applesauce on the ground in front of my canvas. The spot I sit is usually surrounded by - circle of scraps, books, supplies, etc, so if I need a specific brush or I want to collage from a specific book I can just lean over and grab it without having to get up. This makes The Stu insanely cluttered no matter how often I tidy up, but I think it also helps expedite the process you know?

Whenever I’m painting I always want some sorta background noise, idk I think it’s an ADHD thing. I love all kinds of music, but usually when I’m making art I’ll put on something that doesn’t require me paying rlly close attention, so like shit with really deep lyrics or unique production probably wouldn’t be the go-to for a paint sesh. If I’m just in a music-listening mood, I love the album “By the Time I Get to Phoenix” by Injury Reserve. One of the guys in Injury Reserve, RiTchie, is also doing some cool ass stuff. While I’m painting tho, I fw jazz or some silly cloud rap or something. Something that I wouldn’t normally sit down and listen to for the sake of listening to it, but good to keep my brain happy and sufficiently occupied while I do something else. 

I like youtube video essays for a similar reason. 

You don’t really needa watch them , you can kinda just throw them on and listen like a podcast.

"Togetherness"

While I was watching the 2024 election results come in, I was nervously painting faces so my hands and brain had something to do aside from worry. After wallowing in dismay for a day or so following the outcome, I started to see a lot of people online offering a more hopeful outlook on these results, and that hope they were sharing is what this piece is about. We are all still the same people we were on November 4th, and the fellowship we’ve created amongst ourselves in whatever groups we are apart of will exist in perpetuity. I decided to take the faces I’d made in a panic during the election itself, and paste them together on a canvas, adding other paint to make it more cohesive. Even if a lot of these faces seem rightfully uncomfortable, nervous, or frightened, they can rest in the fact that they are all together still, and nothing can take that away from them.

My first three years worth of work was made with crappy CraftSmart and Artist Loft paint. The downside to acrylic paint in general is that it’s non-archival, so the pigments fade after a while, and that process is obviously sped up when you get your paints at the dollar tree. Some of those paintings already look noticeably muted, with a weird layer of acrylic dust over them. I’ve made several other mistakes that’ll result in the deterioration of my pieces over time, mostly because no one ever told me the “right” way to do things. My canvases will warp, my collages will decay, and my paint will fade. Knowing that has taught me to accept that process as part of the art. The paintings “live” and “die” just like I will. One day, all that will remain of some of my works is a grayish wash of color, and there’s 

something kinda beautiful about that.

It’s taught me a lot about impermanence and not getting too attached to material things, or at least to not get attached to one exclusive view of something. "

IS MOSS BOY REAL SHOEGAZE?

While watching The Moss Boy and The Critters during their set on 11/30/2024 a question crossed my mind; Is Moss Boy and the Critters real shoegaze? 

If you haven’t heard Moss Boy and The Critters before they are an alternative rock band (in layman's terms) from Rhode Island who share members with past features of the IAFUTS blog, Told Not To Worry and Porcelain, that isn’t to say Moss Boy is overshadowed by an extension of those bands. Moss Boy puts a nice spin onto the early 2000 Title Fight, pop-punk adjacent sound that gets the kids movin’ up and down, left to right, while still being able to get you to stop dancing and hang your head low. 

Their new EP “Throw Me a Bone” encapsulates those up and down swings into a well rounded 4 song ep, with the title track being my personal favourite. It reminds me of sitting in a garage loft, pit-pat pit-pat, as the rain falls onto the tin roof above my head. As I write this I have been playing the new songs on repeat and the “dreamo soundscape" is in full effect. Merrit (the Moss Boy) has such an inspiring ability to write catchy riffs and lyrical hooks without reaching, everything about Moss Boy and the Critters feels completely natural and honest. 

To bring it back to our focus question, is Moss Boy and the Critters real shoegaze?

If you google, what makes shoegaze shoegaze it will tell you that some stand out factors are ethereal, swirling vocals with layers of distorted, bent, or flanged guitars. If that’s the definition you’d like to go by, be my guest. As I stood there and watched Moss Boy I counted a rough total of 20 moments of pedal engagement, that was only what I had counted for Merritt and if you told me that Jacob had around the same or more while playing second guitar I’d believe you. But some songs only have 2-3 moments where pedals are stomped, that leaves little time for shoe gazing. For false prophets and in the power bestowed upon myself I sentence Moss Boy and the Critters to the title of indie rock for one million years in the name of stolen shoegaze valor. 

If you want to support Moss Boy, which I highly recommend doing, they have 3 more shows to cap off the year. Friday the 6th with Husk, Buried With Your Word, Commuted, and Passion Play - AS220 Main Stage, Providence, RI; Friday the 13th with Pond View, Bugslam, Blandest, and Sowing The Tank - VFW Post 185, Feeding Hills, MA; Sunday the 22nd with Asphyxia, Porcelain, Two Boys Kissing, Pulse, and Told Not To Worry - Omen Skate Shop,  Middletown, RI.

Baby Breath played their first show as the secret set before Moss Boy went on and I was IMPRESSED! Hearing and seeing a new band, BB is as new as they get, sounding like a band plucked right off of the suggested section of my Youtube feed is nuts. These guys ripped. Something I really appreciated was the back and forths between the two vocalists Carmen and Coco, using the space to talk and belt out some real emotional shit. It may sound dumb but when I hear every band screaming and everyone is screaming and they won't stop screaming and yelling it gets polarizing, so this band was a refresher. Think Lazarus Plot, picky jazz guitar emo, they are for sure a band that will be a recurring character in the IAFUTS chronicles. Happy Belated Coco. 

This would also be a great time to talk about the run of shows that Told Not Two Kiss* just conquered this past weekend. There’s an unusual difficulty that I face when it comes to writing about my own endeavors. 

Freestyling this. 

Aidan and I in Amherst photo by @413_lumix

Over the past weekend the two gayest bands from Rhode Island hit the road in three separate cars to rip open some holes in uncharted land. Chapter one took place in the Amherst Library (Jones Library) with Holder, Buried With Your Words, and I Have No Mouth. We had sushi before the show and I got upset because I thought the staff took away chopsticks after I sat down, it was a great meal but my food came when everyone had already finished theirs. Bradley Holder brought us to get burritos after and it was exactly what I wanted to stuff my hole with after watching a 12yr old fuck up some hard ass drum fills with the most beautiful china. We were lucky enough to stay with our buddies Austin (Red Dot Recording) and Tim (tim) at 550 on Campus, we watched Home Alone 8, cat videos and ate cake. After a U-ie around half way to retrieve Walter’s bag, we took our asses to Troy, NY to play with Blouse and Croquet. They had both released new music the week before but I don’t know how to write about cranky ass screamo type shit, what I can say is it was rad as hell. I started the show off with a Korean Coffee from the restaurant we played (Son Of Egg) and ended it with a chicken sandwich which had me licking more than my fingers after, woo-ieee. That show started at noon and ended by 2:30 which fucked up my fish brain so after getting back in the car to head to NJ we stopped at a Green Apple (?) rest stop and I got garlic hummus and cheddar curds cause I hated everyone who was in the car with me (besides Moth I love you Moth). We were able to see our ol’ friend Malcom who was playing a show in NJ as we were passing through. When we arrived at the Clown House, I took a piss and saw a band called Plaster Head whom I cannot find anything about but let's say it was some quirky type shit with a lot of pedals and only three people. I woke up in Philadelphia and had a chicken Bahmi for breakfast and hoped in the car to head back to NJ. That sandwich  which fueled me up to rock my heart out one last night. This time around I played bass for TNTW and forgot every part. We played in a dance studio that looked identical to the one Aidan grew up dancing at. We finished the night by getting Chinese food and meeting my new bud Pat. Rockin type shit. Vampire Survivor rocks harder than you.

*Told Not Two Kiss is the love child of Told Not To Worry and Two Boys Kissing

Awesome hardcore demo for 2004, Tarpit.While trying to find the otr benefit for the national multiple sclerosis soicety compalation this came up as the first video. Anything with an Infest homage, I'm game.