St Pauli.

The Art Brut song St Pauli which you can hear HERE has a chorus that sounds a bit like a Football Chant.

'Punk Rock Ist Nicht Tot'

The first time Art Brut came to Germany those were the only German words I knew. I had learnt them from a Billy Childish record.

I think it was our first long tour and I wasn't used to touring yet. I was having a great time, but I felt a bit detached and lonely and was going for long walks everyday by myself.

It all sort of came to a head in Hamburg. I was on one of my long walks and noticed that almost every other person I saw was wearing a St Pauli T-Shirt. All sorts of people Punks, old ladies, babies in push-chairs, teenagers. I'd never had any interest in football before but all of a sudden it seemed like I had finally found the answer to my loneliness.I realised that if I could get hold of a St Pauli T-Shirt I could be part of this gang and no longer feel completely by myself, I'd feel like I'd belonged to something.

I had no money to buy a T-Shirt though, I couldn't even afford a scarf. I had to come up with a different plan. So I tried to make friends with the St Pauli fans using the only German that I knew.

"Punk Rock Ist Nicht Tot!"

I said smiling to the punks in St Pauli T-Shirts, the old ladies , the babies in pushchairs, the teenagers. To be honest with you I was probably still a bit drunk from the night before but it felt great to making new friends. Without exception everybody smiled back at me nodding and agreeing, maybe they were scared of the strange disheveled englishman that smelt of booze telling them that punk rock wasn't dead and were humoring me. It didn't feel like that though it really did feel like I was making a lot of new friends and since the song it feels like I've made a lot more. It was even played at the stadium a few times.

This painting was commissioned by some awesome St Pauli fans from New York

They gave me a scarf too, so next time I'm in Hamburg I can properly join in.

The painting is huge. 50" x 40" and is made of acrylic paint on canvas.

If you would like to commission a painting of one of our songs from me I can be contacted at eddie.argos.resource@gmail and we can discuss it.

Or I have a shop HERE

If those buttons in my (admittedly quite DIY) shop dont work just email me.

The Replacements.

The Replacements is a song from Art Brut VS Satan.

I still find it hard to believe I only discovered The Replacements in the last couple of years. It's even harder to believe when you consider that Art Brut did a month long tour with The Hold Steady and the Replacements didn't come up in conversation once.

It depends on my level of sobriety, but the Replacements are pretty much my favourite band. They're definitely my number one band to play when I'm drunk and they are definitely always in my top three. I think I've listened to them every day since I discovered them

I found out about the Replacements by reading a review of one of their reissues online and clicking on a link to youtube for Talent Show.

That was it I was hooked. I spent the remainder of the day and most of the night watching absolutely everything involving them or about them on youtube and the rest of the internet. Before heading out bleary eyed and sleep deprived as soon as the shops opened the next day, to buy as many of their records as I could afford.

I wasn't disappointed. Every record I bought was brilliant. The Replacements are everything I like about music. They are sincere and intelligent as well as being stupid, bloody minded and contrary. Every single one of their songs sounds heartfelt and passionate wether they're singing about how hard is to be growing up (Sixteen Blue) or just reading from the personal section of the Minneapolis newspaper City Pages (Lovelines)

I wasn't sure what to paint for 'The Replacements'. My favourite album by them is Hootenanny. I am pretty much always listening to that album. So I thought about painting it in all the different ways that I listen to it. I was going to paint the sleeve for when I listen to the vinyl in my room, paint a picture of my ipod for when I listen to it on a plane, the spotify playlist for when I listen to it drunk in hotel rooms and I was going to make a painting of the CD reissue for when I've forced it on to people at parties.

The cover of Hootenanny is so beautiful though it seemed stupid to dick about doing that. So I've just painted the cover four times on to square canvases 10" x 10"

If you would like to buy one of the four they are £55 each plus postage.

I can be contacted at eddie.argos.resource@gmail

SKIN FLICK / CHARITY SHOP BY FUTURE AND THE BOY.

Future And The Boy was a sort-of-electro band I started with my friend Nicky Biscuit who also played in a band called the Art Goblins with me and who is now in a band called The Owls Are Not What They Seem.

We last played live about ten years ago. We dressed like Kraftwerk and one of us played the Keytar. Him I'd imagine. I read from a book of spells and opened an umbrella inside whilst talking about how our luck couldn't get any worse. Lots of it was improvised. We used to rehearse using the CD player in his car. Matt Biscuit from the Art Goblins was in the "band" briefly too. Although I cant imagine what he did. Maybe he played the guitar, maybe he just danced. To explain the relevance of this painting to the Future And The Boy songs though I need to tell you the story of the Art Goblins.

The Art Goblins were my first band, well the first one that played live. I'd had one previously called The Fantastic Folk Devils R.F.C. That had songs about alcoholic cheese. Luckily that one never saw the light of day.

The Art Goblins began as a semi-serious three piece. Me and another singer called Dave and our friend Steve on guitar. We didn't have a drummer and we took it in turns to shout our lyrics. I remember Dave had a particularly good song called Beware Of The Skies Because Penguins Can't Fly. Mine were mainly half remembered Pulp B-sides. The first show went all right. So we thought we'd add two or three bass players to our already unusual line up. The second show was terrible and we sort of split up. One of the bass players we had added though was a guy I'd just met called Jasper who was obsessed with Brit-pop and some how he convinced me, or maybe I convinced him that we should carry on as a sort of arty-britpop band.

For a long time we were one of those pretend bands that doesn't play live, rehearses occasionally and talks about itself all of the time.

Then one day we got a stable line up. And played a gig. I was a lot more worried about my terrible singing voice then than I am now and to distract from it I used to do stunts on stage. I'd hold up signs, escape from a sack, play a vacum cleaner as an instrument. That sort of thing. People seemed to like it (well our friends). Then everyone went to university and we had to start again.

It didn't take long to start again though. We found three people in a club and became best friends with them because one of them was wearing a Half Man Half Biscuit T shirt. I was so delighted that we finally had a proper line up I went around telling everybody how brilliant we were. All the time. Everybody. Even the people who were drinking in the pub in Westbourne where I worked. I think that is how The Art Goblins got added to the bill of the Westbourne Traders Association Fete

Westbourne is quite an affluent area of Bournemouth and for the day of the fete they'd booked a proper PA and lots of tribute bands. There was a tribute to Phil Collins playing, a tribute to ABBA and loads more bands of that ilk. We were all playing on the forecourt of the pub. We were the only non-tribute band playing and we were on first. As it was a summer fete on first meant at about mid-day. Which is quite a busy time for a summer fete. We went down really really badly.

The set began with me making a joke by pretending I thought we were playing a fundraiser for the trade unions and singing a little bit of There Is Power In A Union by Billy Bragg. If anything that was the bit of the set that went down the best. By the time we'd got to the part of the set where I'm handcuffed and climb into a sack with a hoover (with the intention of escaping before the air gets sucked out) whilst growling and muttering

"Are you afraid of the art?.....ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE ART?"

The organisers were trying to turn the PA off. They were definitely afraid of the art. I think I saw some children crying

Luckily (or maybe not) I'd made really good friends with a guy called Derek who was sort of in charge of the fete and he refused to let them turn us off till we'd finished our set.

The set ended with me having a row with a gentleman who had covered his ears and was screaming

'THAT IS NOT MUSIC"

at me.

My argument was that it was Clever Clever Jazz and that he was too stupid to understand.

I imagine we must have been quite an unusual sight bickering like that at 12.30pm on a Sunday in Westbourne surrounded by crying children.

Anyway after the horror of playing the only Westbourne traders fete that was ever held. Whenever any of the Art Goblins did anything a bit unusual just for fun we used to describe it as 'Clever Clever Jazz' especially if nobody else liked it.

Future And The Boy was often described by Nicky and I as 'clever clever jazz'.

Now that does not sound like a ringing endorsement for a single. But I am actually quite proud of some of the songs Nicky and I recorded later on as Future And The Boy when we lived together in London.

Leaving Home Records are releasing two of those songs as part of a split single.

Skin Flick/Charity Shop by Future And The Boy is out on April 5th as a split single with a band called Micropenis

And can be bought from HERE for four pounds on vinyl. They also still have a few of the Art Goblins Fuck The MSP record that was single of the week in the NME and comes on glow in the dark green vinyl.

"Clever Clever Jazz" Paintings are made of Cotton Canvas (16" x 20") and Acrylic paint. They are £117.50 including postage.

I can be contacted at eddie.argos.resource@gmail.com

MODERN ART

Modern Art was Art Brut's second single, our first on Fierce Panda.

Modern Art is a song about getting so excited about Art you want to run around in Art Galleries shouting about how amazing everything is.

It is also a song about Paris.

I went to Paris for the weekend of my Twenty Second birthday.It was my third time abroad.I'd previously been to Ibiza (as a tiny baby, so no raving) and on a school exchange to a place called St Lo, in France.I cant really remember those trips though so going to Paris was really my first time abroad.

I know its a bit of a cliche but I fell in love with Paris immediately and visited all the tourist attractions.

I climbed to the top of  Monmartre and the Eiffel Tower, I quietly and intently looked around the Sacre Couer and Notre Dame and I really did jump up and down and run around in both the Pompidou and  The Louvre.

I also chose the name for the band I am in Art Brut.On my birthday at Halle Saint Piere and scrawled "Art Brut Top Of The Pops" in their guest book.

When I got back to England I was unbearable.I could steer any topic of conversation towards how amazing Paris was and about how I wanted to live there. I had filled my mobile phone with lyrics and was intent on writing a song about my experience.Although it turned out Jonathan Richman had beaten me to it by about twenty years with his song "Give Paris One More Chance" I was gutted

Since I'd got back from Paris I'd been arguing with anyone that would listen to me that the Pompidou was much better than the Tate.

I had been told off in the Tate about a month before for excitedly jabbering about the paintings too loudly.I am definitely the sort of person that bares a grudge and couldnt let it go.In the Pompidou in Paris there had been children running about and people having fun.No one would have told me off there.

So because one old man had given me a telling off in the Tate.I decided I would leave the UK forever and live in Paris never to return.Well at least in my imagination.I cant actually speak French  so if I'd really attempted to do that I'd have come undone pretty quick.

 I wrote the words to Modern Art whilst I was making this huge postcard.Both the song and the painting are for the same stupid old man that told me of for enjoying art.

I addressed the Post Card to the house where I grew up though as I'd had similar running away fantasies when I lived there.I also didnt know the stupid old mans address and doubt that he'd care wether I moved to Paris or not

You can hear the Art Brut song Modern Art HERE

This postcard is made of acrylic paint and ink on canvas and is huge

FORMED A BAND

"Formed a band" was Art Brut's first single released on Rough Trade about four years ago.

This painting was the front cover of Art Brut's first single.

I love demo tapes of bands.I used to find them in charity shops when I was growing up in Poole.I'd always buy them and take them home to listen too.

There is something very exciting about an unknown demo tape especially if your presuming that its a bands first time in the studio as that makes it the sound of high hopes and massive expectations mixed with an intense nervousness,pregnant with possibilty.I always found something to enjoy on the Demo tapes of the long forgotten bands that I'd find in charity shops,even if the music was terrible.

Although I admit I'm probably projecting quite a lot of romantisicism onto the Demo tapes of unsuccessful bands from the Poole area of Dorset.

By the time I had my first band (The Art Goblins) Demo tapes were already non existent with studios putting everything straight on to CD for you.The only tapes I have of any music I've made are songs that were recorded into friends cassette players in our bedrooms from when I was growing up.

I made my formed a band painting before Art Brut went into the studio for the first time.It was definitely before I'd written the words for the song.The painting was supposed to represent the demo tapes I'd listened to growing up not anything we were going to record.

Art Bruts first ever recordings, our demos that were intended to be free on our website, became our first single.

I've always been proud of the fact the front cover was of a fictional demo tape that I had imagined was in a charity shop in Poole waiting to be picked up by somebody like me.

I have made some replica's of the Formed A Band painting they are made of car spray paint and acyrlic paint and are on 24 x 30 cm canvas.

They are £107.50 including postage.

If you are interested I can be contacted at eddie.argos.resource@gmail.com

You can hear the song Formed A Band HERE.

MOVED TO LA

Moved to LA is a new Art Brut song that will probably be on our next Album.

On Art Brut's first album we have a song called "Considering A Move To LA" I wrote the words to that song when I was working in a pub on a cold rainy day and was trying to imagine the best possible place I could be.

My girlfriend lives in LA so I'm there quite a lot now.I do pretty much live there although when I started writing "Moved To LA" I didn't realise I was writing it about Los Angeles.

I wrote it about something Archis Tiku from Maximo Park once said.

He had claimed "I could live here, Man" about Seattle when he was on tour with the Blood Arm they quote him quite a lot and the phrase got stuck in my head.

It made me think about how amazing it would be to run away and start your life over again surrounded by people who didnt know you.Which I'm almost certain wasn't what Archis was thinking about when he said it.

There have been many times in my life when I've fantasised about running away from any problems I have had, although I've always known that I'm too well behaved and dependable to actually go through with it.

If I ever were to attempt a "Reggie Perrin" I would ruin it immediately by sending a postcard back to my friends and family after I'm supposed to be missing at sea.Telling everybody exactly what I'd done.

This is a painting of that Postcard.

It is on canvass and in acrylic. Its about 50cm x 35cm

Its hard to see in the photo but the postcard has been written on and then tipexed over.

If I were to run away I would definitely write something in haste on a postcard that I was sending back,regret it immediately, change my mind and then tipex over it and write something a little more polite.

I've addressed it to my house as I presume thats where people would be looking for me.

I've not added a stamp yet as I'd probably carry it around in my pocket for about a fortnight before I got round to sending it.I will paint a stamp and add it in the next couple of weeks.

The best thing about Archis saying "I could live here,man" about Seattle is that when he said it he hadn't even been outside the venue yet.

IGNORANCE IS BLISS

"Ignorance Is Bliss" is an Art Brut song.It was the B-side to our single Direct Hit.

I had to write the words and record the vocal at the very last minute so ended up doing both in the back of a van, in the underground car park of the Birmingham Academy.

We were on tour with Maximo Park.They were selling T-Shirts with "Ignorance Isn't Bliss" written on them.

I disagree Ignorance is definitely bliss.I would still be smoking forty cigarettes a day if I didn't know that it killed me, I still enjoy drinking, but I would enjoy it a lot more if I didn't know about the damage it was doing to my body and I'm sure my day would start a lot better if I didnt fill my head with worry reading terrifying newspaper stories every morning as I eat my breakfast.

I sometimes cant sleep because I am so full of concern.I would definitely sleep easier if I had nothing to worry about.That is why I wrote the lyrics to the Art Brut song as a lullaby,wishing you some sweet dreams as the song ends.

I've been selling replica's of this painting for £35 including postage They are in acrylic on a 12cm x 18cm canvas.

They are all handmade by me.I feel prints are impersonal and I like the fact that even though I'm re-painting the same picture again and again they can never be exactly the same.

If your interested in buying one you can contact me at eddie.argos.resource@gmail.com

You can buy a download of the Art Brut song HERE

I really miss smoking.