What follows is the most quintessentially British graphic novel youre ever likely to read.
Well let him explain.
Would you care to add some context to that?
But I just wrote a memoir, and on the front cover of that is me and the hoover.
I mean, its pretty…
He didnt look at it very closely.
I wanted my memoir to be like aJust Williambook.
So I thought whats a funny, stupid thing to put on the front cover?
so yeah, its me playing the vacuum cleaner.
So thats why thats there.
I dont do that any more!
Ive been in Art Brut for like ten years.
My dreams come true.
It was a move to London that did it really.
Yeah, I was always trying to be in bands and stuff.
The Art Goblins is the one I had at school, really.
But Im really bad at letting things go…
The Art Goblins even played in London a few years ago.
That was fun, playing song from our childhood!
We have songs likeI Wanna Be Johnny Dean, whos the lead singer of Menswear.
Like, we wrote that in 1996 or something.
But yeah there wasnt many steps between The Art Goblins and Art Brut.
Jasper from Art Brut was in The Art Goblins.
I moved to London because The Art Goblins kept leaving me behind.
They kept cheating on me with jobs and locations.
So I moved to London to start a band.
And same thing really, I just annoyed people until they agreed to be in a band with me.
Ive been doing a spoken word tour about it.
I could do it for you now, but it takes about an hour!
But I moved to London and found some people to be in a band with.
One of my favourite facts learned from that was that you became a traffic warden between bands.
Simultaneously the best and worst traffic warden.
I was quite embarrassed about that.
Being a traffic warden.
Theres a lot of stupid shit that Ive done, in my book and in my spoken word show.
Quite a lot of stupid things.
But the one that Im most embarrassed about is being a traffic warden.
Because people dont give you enough time to explain it.
I go, oh!
I was a traffic warden because…, but then theyve gone [Laughs].
Theyre not interested in hearing that I needed the money and that I was a nice one.
When was it, for you, when you knew you could make a career from music?
Was it whenEmily Kanewas flirting with the charts, when youposed nude for the NME, or something else?
[Laughs] Have I made a career in music?
Im not sure if I have!
And it should have felt exciting then.
Thats when it should have felt exciting, because everything was happening.
But it was so intense, that I didnt realise until a few years later.
It was like Wowwwww!
Looking back, I think Id missed…
I wasnt living in the moment, my whole life was like the power of hindsight I think.
I couldnt sleep at night because of the things Id already done.
It never really dawned on me.
Yeah, for sure, loads.
I was quite shy, really.
I read a lot.
That was it really.
And then I was in.
And I thought Id have to give them up, you know, as I got older?
But I realised that you dont need to give them up.
Batman is really good.
One day, someone put a load of comics by my front door when I was about ten.
I dont know where they came from, but there were a lot of Batman comics.
And that was it.
I was hooked, really.
I didnt get pocket money, I got different comics.
And then when I got older and had a paper round, I gave him all the money back.
So yeah, Ive always been into them.
I did a song as well, about DC Comics that I like.
I got to go to DC Comics and meet all those people.
I got an issue ofBooster Gold, like, a week early.
Thats one of my highlights of being in Art Brut getting to visit DC Comics.
And later, I got to visit the Marvel office too.
Which was awesome as well.
Id always wanted to write a song about DC Comics, because I love them.
And also, Im a bit cynical.
So I thought, If I write a song about them, maybe theyll get in touch.
That was always in the back of my mind.
And then one day I was Ive always been a bit poor but I was broke.
Living in America at the time with my girlfriend.
I had no money.
But I had just about enough money for, like, a chocolate milkshake and a DC comic.
And was like thats brilliant!
It really made my day better.
All my life has been that.
Whenever Ive been broke or poor: a DC comic, and a chocolate milkshake thats three pounds!
Youve always got that lying around somewhere.
Down the back of the sofa, sometimes.
So I thought ah, its fine, isnt it?
As long as Ive got DC comics and chocolate milkshake, everythings gonna be alright.
Did you get a big fan reaction to that song as well?
Yeah, it was nice.
That whole album, actually,Art Brut Verus Satan, was me in a bit of a grump.
I thought, I wanna make some friends now.
And that kinda worked out.
All thoseArt Brut Verus Satanshows.
People brought me DC comics.
I could talk about the Justice League with some people afterwards, and stuff.
Theres other songs on that album about things I like.
I like Lo-Fi music a lot.
Every gig after that felt like a gathering of friends.
That was the plan.
Maybe I cant be really famous, but I can be this niche guy who has loads of friends!
Where the did the idea forDouble Dfirst sprout from?
Thats from Steven Horry [who illustratedDouble D].
Ive known Steve for years, on and off.
He was in a band called 586 who are really good.
We sort of played together a lot.
I didnt know he could draw.
And then he drew the artwork for our friend Keith Top Of The Pops album.
He did… Its like… the middle of Keiths album, is like The Last Supper.
But its in a Wetherspoons.
And Keith is Jesus.
And everyone around him is from his band.
All my friends are in it and its a really funny picture.
I saw it and said thats amazing!
and Keith said it was Steve Horry.
I was really drunk, and I was trying to convince Steve to make this other comic with me.
And hes just a lot more persuasive.
And he was like Ive got this idea calledDouble D, and he didnt have more than an idea.
Just that it was a fat schoolboy who gets powers somehow.
It turns out, his excess body fat can make him have special powers, he said.
And he had some set-pieces.
I want him to punch a car in the air, at one point he mentioned.
And hes just more persuasive than me, so we did his idea first.
Id say he talked me into it, but I was hooked immediately, actually.
I really like origin stories.
My favourite bit of a comic is, like, where does it all come from?
And he hadnt written that.
So we took his idea, this fat school kid, and made it really interesting I think.
And I like things like American Werewolf In London, too.
When it sort of starts normal and gets more supernatural.
I could really play with this, I thought, as soon as he told me the idea.
It stuck in my head.
And then we spent two years playing around with it.
What was the process of actually getting it made, with Image Comics, like?
Steves actually better at that than me.
I always need a person whos a bit more organised.
Like, I have all these funny ideas and stuff, but Im not very organised.
Steve was really good at pushing it.
Yeah, we wrote the pitch together.
And, every day, he was on at me to do things.
Image have been really nice.
It was going to be a comic book.
The plan was to do it in issues, like, every month.
And then, they said we should do it as a book.
And we were like yeah!
and then we were like oh shit!
Now we need to finish it!
The process was good.
Me and Steve talk every day, on Facebook.
I live in Berlin and he lives in London, so Ive not seen him properly in years.
And every day we talk on Facebook, for hours.
Writing things and planning things.
Its quite scary actually, I never talk to him in real life.
Ill have to stand next to him and Facebook him, or something.
Whats the difference for you between writing a song and writing a comic?
Whats your creative process been like?
I thought I could only write songs.
I love writing songs.
It was my favourite thing really, writing songs, until I started writing comics!
Im like oh, this is brilliant too!
Yeah, I dunno.
It doesnt have to rhyme, which is makes it easier!
Songs are quite short, really.
When I write a song, it takes a while, but then its done.
You know when its finished with a song.
But, with writing the comic, theres just more elements to it.
I can get more carried away with it, you know?
It doesnt have to last three-and-a-half minutes and have a chorus.
I got so carried away with it.
It was like I wasnt writing it anymore.
It was like I was reading it, almost.
It was popping into my head so quick.
And thats quite new for me.
I dont really have that with songs.
Songs can be quite hard work.
And, not thatDouble Dwasnt hard work.
It was hard work.
Theres lots more of it, and its more fun to edit it.
So yeah doesnt rhyme [Laughs].
Yeah, I like that a lot.
Yeah, we thought it would be fun.
But now its a book!
But I like things that jump around in time quite a lot.
For the storytelling, you know?
Sorry to your brother in advance [Laughs].
And I did that!
Going to him, What did you want to be when you grew up?
I didnt run a cross country, though, in a dress.
Did you have a shoe thrown at your head?
Steve had a shoe thrown at his head!
Thats where that came from.
Like, they threw ashoeat you?
Were theycarryingthe shoe around?
We didnt know where the shoe came from.
Then he gets moved down a set… Yeah, that happened to me.
and then, teacher came in, moved me down a set.
He is a bit of a know-it-all, but hes not that bright all the time.
Like, he gets the Bechdel Test wrong.
Hes got more confidence than common sense in some ways, you know?
They dont all talk like each other, which is what I was worried about.
Every character doing the same voice.
I think Ive avoided that, so thats good.
I really like Danny.
Hes loads of fun to write.
Hes not me or Steve.
Just because the same things happen to me and Steve, hes not really like me and Steve.
Were already planning the second one, and Im really enjoying writing for Danny.
When it was going to be a monthly comic, I wrote like 25 issues.
So theres quite a lot of storytelling left.
Its just started, really, hopefully well get to make more.
And is there still a soundtrack album coming out to match up toDouble Dvolume 1?
Were still working on that at the moment.
Its harder than I thought, actually.
I dont want to spoil any of the story in case people hear the music first.
There is a song about Danny passing the Bechdel Test though!
Another thing I like aboutDouble Dis how unashamedly British it is.
Not London, but properly suburban England.
Yeah, I think they kinda liked it!
We pitched it as very English.
Its part of the fun, as well.
All this superhero stuff goes down in a small town in Kent!
If I was fifteen, and I got superpowers, I wouldnt know what to do!
I want to fight crime, but what would I do?
Thats what teenagers do isnt it, just wander around aimlessly?
He finds a crime in the end!
Theres one crime [Laughs].
Which comics besides your own would you recommend to our readers?
My favourite, and I talk about it a lot, isBooster Gold.
Jeff Katz and Geoff Johns did a really good run on that.
Volume 2, the first 24 issues maybe, is really good.
Everyone knowsScott Pilgrims good dont they?
You dont have to recommend that, do you?
Um… Im looking at my bookcase now….Essex Countyby Jeff Lemire is really good.
Very strongly recommend that.
Anything by Jeff Lemire, actually.
Its funny, Jeff Lemire did the artwork forArt Brut Versus Satan, because Id readEssex County.
I thought, this mans going to be massive!
Hes amazing!, and its quite nice now that he is massive.
Its like… wow, he writes everything now.
Also, everything on Image is amazing at the moment.
And whats next on your schedule then, afterDouble Dis out into the world?
Ive got an idea, and its like…The Wicker ManmeetsRed Statemeets Kenickie.
I really like writing comics.
Im really into it.
I hope I can write some more.
And after that its the Art Brut album.
And lots of things.
I had to fill a form in, when I was in hospital recently.
I had to fill a form out that said what my job was.
And I want quite sure what my job is.
So I put Cult Figure [Laughs].
What do you do for a living?
Just finally our traditional Den Of Geek question whats your favourite Jason Statham movie?
I thought hed only ever madeCrank!
I just looked at his IMDB page, and hes got loads of films!
But obviouslyCranks the answer, isnt it?
Thats the correct answer?
CrankorLock Stockare the two most popular answers, I think.
[Pause clearly Googling]
I like his role as… Tybalts voice inGnomeo And Juliet[Laughs].
That might be from his IMDB page.
ItsCrank, isnt it?
Thats the correct answer.
Eddie Argos, thank you very much!
