Erin: What are you curious about?
Jeremy: All of it.
Erin: Describe your art and describe your process.
Jeremy: I try to keep myself and anyone who takes the time to look entertained. I think the act of creation should be one of discovery so I am always trying new ideas and techniques in the studio. You have to be open to new input or you stagnate.
It's hard to get Jeremy to stop smiling. Not that we tried.
Erin: How long have you been living in Brooklyn and what’s keeping you here?
Jeremy: 12 years. A combination of artistic ambition and a lack of other compelling options…? After you have fought hard for your little corner of this city, it’s hard to even think about giving it up.
Erin: What advice do you have for aspiring artists?
Jeremy: You better fucking mean it.
Erin: If you could speak to someone who is no longer alive, who would it be and what would you say?
Jeremy: Hmmmm….I’d take Sam Cooke or Martin Kippenberger, or Albert Ayler. I would ask them all the same question, “How did you do that?” They probably wouldn't be able to tell me. So then we would get a sandwich and talk about something else.
Erin: What do you secretly obsess about?
Jeremy: Triscuits, The movie Twins.
Erin: Tell us one mind-blowing experience you’ve had.
Jeremy: I ate peyote with the dudes from Foghat, Tuesday Weld, and Alan Arkin once. We tore a hole in the fabric of space and time that allowed us to have a wicked keg party inside of Stalin’s inner ear. We ate way too much pizza and played congas in there all night long. I was so hung over!!!!!
Erin: What’s your greatest skill that no one knows about?
Jeremy: I am an excellent swaddler.
Erin: What currently inspires you— what are you reading, listening to or looking at that drives your work?
Jeremy: I read a lot of fiction. I was nuts about The Patrick Melrose Novels by Edward St Aubyn. I also really liked The Ask by Sam Lipsyte, Friday Was the Bomb ny Nathan Deuel, and Everything Lovely Effortless, Safe by Jenny Hollowell. I listen to music constantly while I paint. As loud as humanly possible. Lately I have been liking Jimmy “Preacher” Ellis, Fidlar,a compilation called Personal Space, Danny Brown, The Flatlanders, The Frogs, The Kendalls, Kitchen and The Plastic Spoons, and Bill Fox.
Erin: Did you ever feel like giving up? Why didn’t you?
Jeremy: I’ve felt like it, or wished I could before but it’s never seemed like a real option. Even when financial and personal circumstances have made it clear to me that life would be simpler if I could just let art go…..I am a compulsive art/music maker and I can’t stop. Also, I would never want to.
Erin: What is your dream project?
Jeremy: Trying to figure out how to have a family and be a full time artist in this overpriced town. It’s a lot more challenging than it should be.
Erin: We heard you sing and play guitar in a band and have just released a record…tell us more about it!
Jeremy: Yep. I am in a band called
Cathy. We have been together for 5 years now. It’s a ton of fun and we’ve gotten to play some pretty amazing shows. I have great collaborators in the band and I feel very lucky to have found them. We have put out two albums and just released a single on
White Iris Records. We have another full length almost done as well. Very excited about the new music we are making.
