Andy aka Pixel Kidd aka FEASTBoy of ‘Eerie Skateboards‘ is a young man making serious waves in the pop art and culture spheres.

He paints, releases self made sculptural works and has recently set up his newest venture, ‘Eerie Skateboards’. A company with a desire to ‘dig up thought to be dead ideas and re-animate them into their own Frankenstein’s monster’.

Andy also releases a highly detailed line of hand made art-toys, the Skate Wars series that has gained much praise.

(Picture below of the Deer Man of Dark Woods sculptural work from FEASTBoy’s Skate Wars line)

With his sculptural works gaining major press, and a busy 2014 ahead, now is the perfect time to get up to date on Pixel Kidd and all his projects, by reading the Art Talk below…

Basics/Getting to Know

Name + D.O.B?

My name is FEASTB- err….wait…no actually it’s Andy. I was born on July 8th in 1987.

City, State n Country you’re Repping?

Currently Harvard, Massachusetts, USA. One of the lamest towns on the eastern seaboard.

(Picture below of Andy aka Pixel Kidd aka FEASTBoy)

Describe – a memory from three stages of yr life ….basically trying to piece together Mr. Kidd’s pivotal moments. Concerts, art, action-figures, women, school, college… ANYTHING man.

* age 10 – pre pubes:

I accidentally beat a kid in the face with a PVC pipe. He never came back to my Kindergarten class. I basically ruined his life apparently.

It was a complete accident and not something I’m proud of, but a memory that sticks out like a sore thumb.

* age 15 – pube rage:

Nothing too memorable from this time frame, at least not that I’m aware of.

I just remember hating everything about everything. School was no exception.

* age 20 – acceptance of pubes:

Realizing I wasn’t content with the school of my choosing.

I’m sure your readers are expecting to read something like “AT THIS STAGE, I WENT OFF ON MY OWN TO VANQUISH THREE HEADED HYDRAS AND COMBAT EVIL” and I guess to that extent, I am doing that, but it’s all internal.

Personal motto/quote?

Life is too short to judge others.

(Picture below of a collection of paintings by FEASTBoy)

Favorite band(s)?

Way too many to list, as I’ve fallen deeply in love with music over the past year or so, but I’ll name off a few that really get my pulse pounding:

Melvins, Bad Brains, Descendents, Teenage Bottlerocket, Weedeater, The Ghastly Ones, Sleep and definitely Graves-era Misfits (Yeah, I’m that guy)…

Favorite TV show(s)?

If I’d actually keep up with it, I’m sure I’d write “Game Of Thrones”, but I don’t so I’ll put down “Black Sails” and “Vikings” instead.

Favorite sport(s) + teams?

I don’t really watch sports. The closest thing to it that I’ve been known to binge watch on occasion are classic WWF matches.

RIP Ultimate Warrior.

Favorite movie(s)?

Creepshow, On Stranger Tides (the most recent Pirates flick), Alien, Creature From The Black Lagoon, The Mummy (w/ Brendan Fraser)

(Picture below of a one-off work by FEASTBoy)

Favorite books and comics?

‘Into The Wild’. Read it back in high school and it’s reverberated up to this point.

I’d like to say I read comics on a daily basis, but that would be false. I do love the medium, though. Went to the inaugural summer seminar at the Center For Cartoon Studies up in Vermont back in like 2004/05. Good stuff.

Toy Questions

Is the rise of ‘art’ toys an indication of the changing nature of ‘art’? OR just a bunch of nerds with too much $$$ and time?

The perception of art will constantly ebb and flow.

I can almost guarantee you that this art toy boom will soon dwindle, due to the egotistical nature of most of the individuals who call themselves artists. No hard feelings, guys.

Favorite toy/figure? (I’ll allow self promotion)

Jesus, that’s as hard a question as the band one earlier. You suck.

I guess I’d have to say the original Incredible Crash Dummies. Damn, those things were fun to play with.

(Picture below of one of the many Incredible Crash Test Dummies, Andy’s most loved toy-line)

What are your thoughts of the toy forum scene as a way for fans and artists to communicate? Is it a real ‘community’ or just a virtual locker-room shit talk?

Hahaha, you hit the nail on the head with the latter.

What does your wife/girl/woman/family make of the whole perpetual adolescence/Peter-Pan/man-child aspect of toy art + toy collecting?

I’m still single, so that should say something. Hahah.

I don’t really collect anything, though. The closest thing to a collection that I have are the dirty clothes on my floor and the ambition to make a living from doing what I love, which would be creating.

Skateboarding Questions

Why the decision to set up your skateboard company, ‘Eerie Skateboards’?

Your guess is as good as mine, man. Hahaha, no but seriously, the idea slapped me in the face while I was vacationing down in Florida this past month.

I was actually browsing job listings and submitting applications to skateboard warehouses because how cool of a job would that be? I mean…not THAT cool, but cool enough that I’d be content making a living off of it.

But while I was doing all that it just sort of crept up behind me and bit me on the butt. Why can’t I make my own skateboard brand? I may not be good at skating, but why should that be a factor in making this decision?

Most brands out right now are shadows of their former self, or just weren’t 100% there to begin with. They’re all feasting upon the whole gimmick scene right now and that makes me pissed off. Besides, 8″ popsicle decks are boring as hell. Screw your kickflip-ollie-varial bullshit.

Whatever happened to just being satisfied with carving that concrete wave?

What are your goals for ‘Eerie Skateboards’?

Digging up “thought-to-be-dead” ideas and re-animating them into our own Frankenstein’s monster.

It’s not a gimmick, it’s a brand dedicated to old school horror, black and white monster flicks, and the things that go bump in the night. I was chatting with my team rider, Adrian (who’s turning 39 this month), and came up with the idea to combine a paranormal/cryptozoological expedition with an international skateboarding trip.

If we capture a photograph of a Bigfoot shredding a local bowl, you’ll be the first to know.

(Picture below of an upcoming ‘Eerie Skateboards’ deck, The Pool Creep)

What does skateboarding mean to you?

Fountain of youth. Legit, it’s all about having fun.

Who are your top 3 skaters, and why?

Deerman Of Dark Woods, for sure. The dude slays road barriers up in the great white north of Canada, plus he’s wicked chill and very humble (at least from what I can tell via our email convos).

Definitely gotta add Brad Edwards to the list. I recently re-watched a couple videos of him shredding ditches and pools with a 40″ board like it was nothing. That’s the stuff I love. Pure surf.

Also Darren Navarette. He’s always fun to watch shred vert.

Pixel Kidd Art Questions

Describe the method of making a Pixel Kidd piece? (dot point all o.k.)

– your 2D art…

It’s called tuning out the world around you by blasting old Ramones or Metallica cassettes. That stuff’ll pump you up and psych you out.

Cassettes or DEATH!

(Picture below of some of FEASTBoy’s cassette collection)

– your sculptural work…

^^^ read above

Why the decision to release your ‘Skate Wars’ line of resin bootleg skaters?

A concept I had not seen played out by other artists so I wanted to dive right in and combine two things I love into one package.

A really fun series to work on and hopefully I’ll release some more in the future, who knows.

(Picture below of the Lizard King figure from the ‘Skate Wars’ series)

What was it like taking part in the recent ‘Clutter: (In) Action Figures 2’ show?

Nothing special. I’m still waiting for my pieces to get mailed back to me. Total buzzkill, if you ask me.

(Picture below of one of FEASTBoy’s works as featured in the ‘(In)Action Figures 2’ show)

Making toys is but a small part of your artistic life… What do you get out of making toys that you don’t get through 2D art such as your paintings?

It’s one hell of a conversation starter, that’s for sure.

Are all your works hand made by yourself? If you use collaborators/producers; whom and in what capacity?

No collabs. Just me.

What is it like being a part of the ‘Resin Syndicate’ art gang?

I haven’t been involved with TRS for awhile now, actually.

Don’t ask me why, I just haven’t.

Do you consider what you are making to be ‘art’, ‘design’, re-hashed crap?

It’s all art to me.

If you’re physically making something with your hands or putting the majority of your energy into something, it’s art.

When and why did you first start making ‘art’ (toys, drawings, paintings, anything)?

I was a late bloomer. Really started drawing back maybe sophomore year of highschool?

I’ve always been a right-brained kind of guy.

Why + when did you decide to go in on the art hustle?

Probably not until a year ago, I think. I graduated from art school back in 2010 and the whole experience killed art for me for a couple years.

Then around last year I just dove back into it because why the hell not?

I’d like to say it was because it was something that had always spoken to me and I knew from the beginning that I was always going to be an artist…but that would be an out-right lie.

I’m still combatting personal goals and ambitions. I’m stuck in purgatory and I’m hoping that this skateboard idea is a stepping stone out of it.

(Picture below of a sketch by FEASTBoy – that MAY become an ‘Eerie Skateboards’ graphic)

Any formal art training? Or pivotal moment/influence?

Yes, I have a bachelors degree in illustration.

Company motto?

I hate that word. “Company”. It’s so cold sounding.

Favorite ‘other’ artist(s)?

Andy Warhol. Just kidding, I hate that guy.

Definitely Vernon Johnson, aka VCJ, the original artist for Powell Peralta. The dude who drew the ripper logo and all the rad crap from the 80’s.

Also gotta add Ed Templeton to the list cuz his Toy Machine art was some of the first stuff to really stick with me back in middle school (and I didn’t even skateboard then).

Worst aspect of the contemporary art-hustle?

The pretentious assholes. They spoil all the fun.

Best aspect of the contemporary art-hustle?

The pretentious assholes. They buy all your stuff.

The Future

Any collaborations on the horizon?

I see a few! If there’s one plus to starting a skateboard brand (and there are a lot of plusses) it’s the possibility of working with a lot of really great artists and getting to meet a BUNCH of totally rad people.

That’s one of the reasons I actually decided to push through with this idea. All the awesome folks I’ve met through skateboarding.

(Picture below of a mixed media work by FEASTBoy)

Any major projects you want to hype man?

Eerieskates.com

Links

• ‘Eerie Skateboards’ – site
• ‘Eerie Skateboards’ – online shop
• ‘FEAST Boy’ – facebook
• ‘FEAST Boy’ – online store
• ‘FEAST Boy’ – Instagram
• ‘FEAST Boy’ – Twitter