Morbid Visions : Interview With Jasper "Infested Art" Swerts

What sort of arts did you work on during your formative period?

I mostly did line drawings and coloured those in photoshop sometimes. At least, that’s what I did during my short visit to college. There was a lot of experimentation with photoshop back there. The professors weren’t that much into traditional techniques and media. I haven’t made an awful lot of drawings that way.

 I have always been drawing kind of “grim” stuff though. Especially skulls have always intrigued me, for some reason, ever since I was a kid.

When and how did you begin doing artworks for bands? Do you still remember the very first art that you have published?

I used to play in some bands and we played a lot of shows all over Belgium, so I met a lot of other people in bands. I did the artwork for our demo’s and shirts and that’s how word got out, so to speak. Soon I was doing covers and shirts for other local bands and zines. The whole myspace thing helped too. It was a good way to get your stuff “out there” in a more global sense. Things only grew from there.  I honestly can’t recall the first artwork that got published, besides the stuff I did for my band back then.

Your style is primarily stippling technique. What made you fall in love with this style? Aside from it do you do some other style too?

I have always loved the effect of the stippling technique. The first Pushead design I saw as a little kid always stuck with me. It was a Metallica poster they were selling at a local store. I had no idea who Metallica was, and I don’t really care for them now, but I remember saving up for weeks  and weeks to buy that poster.

I don’t really do other styles. Only tattoo designs are done solely with pencil. Other than that I just combine some techniques, for example my coloured pieces are done with watercolour and pens. I’d love to try and do some oil painting, but I haven’t had the time yet.

What sort of medium do you normally work on?

 I work on regular drawing paper. Nothing special in any way. I bought this drawing block once that was supposed to be specifically for pen/ink, but that was the worst paper I ever had to work on. The only thing I have worked on which wasn’t paper, was an old skateboard of mine.

At which point do you go digital?

When the inking is done. I try to keep the digital stuff to a minimum. It’s handy to save time colouring backgrounds, contouring or adding splatter. Sometimes I ink the backgrounds and do the contours directly on paper. It depends on what I think is best at the moment. I mostly just use photoshop to add band logo’s to the designs and to adjust the colours, for example to make sure the black is 100% black. Usually, I don’t put more than 20 minutes in the digital part, unless it’s for record layouts.

How do you go about when doing arts for bands? Do you always ask for idea from the band?

I automatically ask if the band has an idea I should work with. It’s their design, so I think it’s only natural they have the first say. Usually I have enough freedom to come up with my own ideas and details. Most ‘clients’ know what they’re in for when they ask me to make them something.

Since most of the bands you’re working with are independent, I’m sure you’re not getting enough in terms of financial benefits.

Not at all. But I absolutely love what I do. It’s my greatest passion, so it’s all good. There’s is no feeling like finishing a drawing you’ve spend countless hours working on. Personally, it gives me a great deal of satisfaction, especially when it makes the people you made it for happy. If I had to give up drawing I’d delete myself. It’s one of the few things keeping me moderately sane, haha.

Majority of the bands you’ve been working with are in the grind, powerviolence, d-beat and the likes. Any bands that you would like to work with in the future that’s outside this realm?

Ha, that’s a good question. Definitely The Darkness. Andrew W.K. too. I practically don’t listen to anything besides grind, crust, fastcore and some death metal.

Who are the other artists that inspire you?

As I mentioned earlier, Pushead, but M.C. Escher and Salvador Dali had an impact on me when I was in my teens, as did a lot of manga/anime artists. Right now inspiring may not be a completely accurate description, but other artists which I think are really great and definitely worth checking out are Daniel Shaw, Santos, Alisha Chainsawguts, Shunsuke, Stiv and Arif.

What about bands, who are your favorite and found to be truly inspiring?

That’s kind of a hard question. I like lots of bands and I’m sure they influence me one way or another. In my teens I was really into old-school hardcore like D.R.I., Toxic Reasons, Black Flag, 7 seconds, Reagan Youth, BGK, Minor Threat,... Bands whose records I still play regularly right now are: Ictus, Cop on Fire, Kill the Client, Toxic Narcotic, Passiv Dödshjälp, Tragedy, World Burns to Death, Noisear, Swallowing Shit, Entrails Massacre, Livstid, Fuck the Facts, Pig Destroyer, Running for Cover, Insect Warfare, Bloody Phoenix, Rehashed, Nice View, Real Reggae, Look Back and Laugh and Melt Banana.

There’s a distinct combination of beauty and sickness in some of your pieces. What message are you trying to point out in those themes?

It’s a metaphor for the duality of life/people/reality. There’s a beautiful and an ugly side to almost everything and everyone. Not a single person in their right mind can get passed the fact that horrible and unspeakable things take place on this planet every single day. I don’t think I need to give examples. Just pick up a newspaper or watch the news. On the other hand you shouldn’t ignore all the positive things around you either, though I know sometimes that’s easier said than done.

Do you have a certain inspiration in female arts? It’s noticeable that they all have the full lips.

Haha, I thought you were going to say big breasts... I’ve had people say that to me before. This is the first time someone says “full lips”. The thing is, I just like drawing women. For me it’s a little more challenging  and interesting to get right than something like skulls and it’s a nice change every now and then. None of the women I’ve drawn portray what might be considered an ideal look or what I think any woman should look like. I want them to be well drawn first and foremost. Of course I have my preferences when it comes to the opposite sex and without a doubt some of that reflects in my drawings. However, I don’t go “hey, let’s draw some big ol’ titties and ass now.” Women are beautiful to me. Only their mind can make them ugly.

Tell us about your love of guns, bullets and other weapons. They are almost always a part of your arts.

They are the tools that bring death and destruction. Used to enforce and maintain control or to change and overthrow, for better or worse. They can symbolise resistance and rebellion. Personally, I truly don’t believe a revolution can come to pass without the use of some form of weapons. Whether  or not that’s a good thing is debatable. Therefore weapons are an extension of our nature and what humans are capable of doing to each other. And that can be with or, as it more often seems, without the best of intentions.

How much of your time do you spend on a particular artwork? What’s the typical working environment do you prefer when working?

It depends mainly on the size of the piece. Usually it takes from around 20 up to 60 hours. The only preference I have when working is to be left alone, but that’s not a necessity. Pretty much anywhere will do. I can just as easily work in crowded spaces. As long as people don’t act too annoying, because I might get the urge to stab them in the eye with one of my pens, haha.

Tell us about the art book you have recently published.

An art book to me is like a record to a band/recording artist. I had one a bunch of years ago, which was more like a zine, being printed in black and white  on photocopy paper at a local store. So all these years and whole bunch of designs later I figured it was time to do another one, but I wanted it to be/look a little more professional. Zines are great and all, but I wanted to have some coloured images and a thicker cover too. Looked around for a while and found a great printing company online. The result is a full colour, 40 paged, A4 sized paperback.

You also play guitar and vocals for Days of Desolation. How did the band get together?

We started out as a three-piece somewhere back in 2007. Back then it was just me, Owen and a guy called Gert. We were (and still are) heavily influenced by bands like Cop on Fire,  Ekkaia, Ictus, End of All, Ambulance and wanted to try something like it, but with more blastbeats. We just wrote some songs, not really planning on ever playing live. Gert was supposed to play bass and do the vocals. That didn’t work out like we intended and we wanted to have two guitars to do some melodic stuff, so Gert traded the bass for the guitar and we asked Olke to come and sing. We couldn’t find a bassplayer and played our first couple shows without one. 
Gert also played in a German metal band called Deadlock. He used to travel between Leipzig and here all the time, but he became more and more involved with life in Germany, so it didn’t take long before he just didn’t have time for Days of Desolation anymore. He lives in Berlin now. In 2009 Strouven joined on bass. He’s not in the band anymore. That’s about all there is to tell about him. 
Then another couple years later Frank ‘the tank’ Rogiers joined on bass. Sometimes we do play shows as a 2 piece or 3 piece when Olke, Frank or both have other priorities.

How do you define DOD’s music?

To me it’s all just hardcore, nothing more and nothing less. I’ve seen a lot of descriptions like grind, crust, metallic-crust, grinding crust, stenchcore, ... So a combination of all the aforementioned would be a pretty good description, I guess. I can’t say I really care.  If people enjoy it, that’s really great. If they don’t then that’s great too.

DOD's lyrics are very political and to the point, it fits right to the harshness of your music but the question is do you think the listener cares about the lyrics at all?

Honestly, it’s really not my concern if anyone cares for the lyrics or not. It’s how we (or at least the people who wrote them) view certain things a certain way. No one’s forced to care or agree. We’re not out to please anyone or spread a message. If we were out to do that we’d be better off making pop music. We play for us and because we have fun with it, not for anyone or anything else. The day I stop liking the music we play, is the day I’ll quit. That said, I do not care at all for anything racist, homophobic or misogynistic.

DOD’s drummer, Owen is also an accomplished graphic artist. Does having two graphic artist in a band affect your stature in any way?

I wouldn’t call either of us accomplished artists, but thanks! To answer your question, no, it doesn’t have an effect on me at all. I treat my own band like any other band I do artwork for, so we discuss everything properly beforehand. It happens that we don’t agree on things, but then compromises are usually easily made. Owen and I get along pretty well in general.

The album was recorded at the span of over one year. What took it so long to be done?

One of the reasons is that we re-recorded the whole thing, because we bought better recording equipment. The other thing is that this band is just not a priority for any of us. Everyone was/is busy with getting/keeping their lives together. I’m drawing all the time and busy with other projects as well, with Owen it’s pretty much the same thing and now he’s studying again too and our singer has his wife, kids, work, ...  Frank is actually doing a winter stop right now, because he has too much stuff going on. Something always comes up when stuff needs to get done, though I’m sure that’s part laziness too sometimes. But that’s just the way it is with us and I’m sure we’re not the only ones. Of all the bands I’m in this is the one I invest the most in though. It’s also the only band we actually play shows with every now and then.

The album is available in both CD and free download. What’s the deal with that?

We have the cd for when we play shows or people who want a physical copy. There’s not much more to it. It’s just a hobby, so why wouldn’t we offer it for free. A lot of people around the world can’t afford to buy records, so in case they have an internet connection or know somebody who has they can get it for free.

You’re also gearing up for a split EP with Controlled Existence (CZ). Are the songs for this EP all new? How would you compare the new songs to your older materials?

Yes, we are quite excited about that split. It should be out in March on Power-It-Up records from Germany. All the songs on there will be new. I’d say it’s more of the same. A little bit more straightforward perhaps. It’s kind of hard for me to tell, because I write most of the songs and I don’t think about it that much. It’s like drawing. When I look at a drawing from years back I can tell how much I’ve progressed and how recent work is different. It’s kind of like that with the music too, so I’ll be able to properly answer the comparison question in a few years, haha.

You and DOD drummer also have a band called China Syndrome. What makes this band different from DOD?

China Syndrome is faster, a lot more gindy, straightforward and less “technical” than DOD. Owen does drums and I play the guitar like in DOD, but we both do the vocals. The vocal style is different from DOD with less high screams and more low “grunts” if you will.

What other bands/projects are you involved in? What can we expect from you and your projects in the near future?

Owen, myself and Frank also play in a band called ShakenBaby with me on drums, Owen on the guitar/vocals and Frank on bass. We just put our songs from the split with Mental Waste on our bandcamp. You can download that stuff for free. As far as shows go, I have no idea. Shaken Baby hasn’t played one in a while and I don’t see us playing one soon. Same goes for China Syndrome. There are plans for a tour with DOD, but nothing’s set in stone yet. We’ll see how everybody’s schedules work out. I’m working on another grind project too right now. A bunch of songs are ready. They just need to be recorded. It’ll end up as a free download on bandcamp for sure though.

Artwork is taking up most of my time nowadays. I’ll be working on some very cool projects this year I can’t say much about it right now. Keep checking out my facebook page if you want to be up to date.

Infested Arts
Days of Desolation
China Syndrome
Shaken Baby
Horse's Silhoutte (Owen's one man Grindcore project)