Words: Brandon Dunlap

REAX:  Where did the name Steak Mtn. originate?
Steak Mtn.:  I like fake names. They seem to garner some sort of second glance when someone is looking over a list of artists, plus I kind of am not all that excited about having my real name totally superimposed over the art I do. Steak Mtn. seems more fitting for what I do than Christopher Norris. If I was painting dense sea scapes or fumbling through five minute portraits on some crummy boardwalk somewhere, Chris Norris sounds like the sort of bland name you would use. But since I'm cooking up stupid imagery of monsters or whatever I do, then Steak Mtn. seems to play right into that kind of abject atmosphere I am at least thinking I am projecting. The name itself is actually a theme I stole from the UK grindcore band Carcass. I read somewhere early early on that all those guys were vegetarian, and that when they were getting their imagery and disgusting lyrics together, they thought it to be acutely ironic to be overtly meat-based and gory as fuck creatively while being vegetarian. Trust me, looking back on it now I wish I would have copyrighted the name Ghostface Killah twenty years ago.

REAX:  You started out playing in bands, then you moved on to doing flyers for local shows, and now you create visuals for some of the biggest names in music. How did you get here?
SM:  Things always steam roll, but it all started in 1996 when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my then (terrible) band's artwork. I was always really stoked on how Carcass handled gory imagery and I really wanted to somehow
cartoonishly recreate their comedically overdriven Grand Guignol cover art. My first real "big" thing was the Atom & His Package records I did, aligning my sloppy slapstick with his humorous pop songs. Then there was a few years of junk until Var at No Idea needed artwork for an Against Me! 7" he was pressing. They are the definitely the raddest band I have worked with. I feel I have produced some of my best commercial junk via that creative exchange, so I am glad Var had the idea to put us together.

REAX:  How would you describe your style? How do you come up with ideas for your work?
SM:  I would describe my style as primitive, maybe even pretentiously primitive. The lineage of the simplest image can be exhausting.  A good example is the recent cover I did for Against Me!'s "Thrash Unreal" single. That blown-out, floating head was drawn and designed about twenty-five times before I even got it to a level I was interested in. And that is before it was submitted to the band and stripped down even more.

REAX:  Your obsession with films (especially cult films) plays a huge role in your artistic vision, as well.
SM:  I guess film's main influence on me and the Steak Mtn. work is its basic narrative. I realized early on I didn't really have the drive to make films where I had to deal with actors or try to make 45 crew people do what the fuck I wanted, so the next best thing would be to stage what I would possibly do with a film in a one man, 2D, stalled and stilted form. I began to really translate things in some sort of narrative form with the illustration and design I was doing, always feeling like I just lifted a still from somewhere inside some imaginary epic film that I was like ten minutes into.

REAX:  Talk about how moving to NYC from Tampa has affected your outlook and style.
SM:  It wasn't the move to NYC that changed my style and outlook on art. It happened at a time when I was heavily playing into that acutely American mid-20's crisis of wondering exactly what I was doing with my stupid life. I basically realized I was in a good enough position to get more commercial work to make Steak Mtn. at least sort of happen. I immediately started to treat it as a job, rather than a turbulent past time, consciously transforming myself and the brand into a vaguely multi-styled "design house," paying severe attention to what was going on in art and studying as much commercial and termite design as I could get my hands on.

REAX:  You've maintained a close relationship with Florida, more specifically the Tampa Bay area. Talk about No Idea and the bands/artists you still work with, and where you see the Florida scene heading.
SM:  My relationship with Florida is getting more and more vacant as the months and years pass. That's not to say that nothing is valid there musically or creatively, it's just that the more that I am not soiled into its daily fabric translates to the more I don't care about what is going on in Florida. I do still plan on doing minor work here and there for Var at No Idea. Overall I am not really into the punk genre I get associated with or any of the bands I do work with, minus Against Me! who I think is a totally rad band. I really like being a part of that and will continue to be on board with them until they fire me.

REAX:  Who would you love to work with?
SM:  I wish I could get transmissions from the past for work, like The Shangri-La's in 1965 or The Ronettes in 1964. I would completely have melted to work with The Misfits for those first five years or so; The Germs, early Slayer, early Black Sabbath. I would have loved to do Jerry Lewis' only vocal record "Just Sings." It would have blown my mind to have done Burzum's first three records. But, as far as current, active and possibly interesting bands go...I wish Aesop Rock would call. I actually wish no one would call me, because dealing with bands is ALMOST predominantly goofy in transaction, communication & mood.

www.steakmtn.com