$5.00 Approx. 4.25"x5.5"

MIKE LE MERDE - SEATTLE, WA
"I Fridays"

how did you hear about gocco?
Michelle (my wife and other half of Le Merde) gave me one for Xmas 5 years ago. I was like “What?!” Screen printing with this little thing? It sat for like a year before I tried it.

what do you like about gocco versus other mediums you work in?
I love that you can draw a little doodle and color it in without the mess of real screen printing. How does the carbon from your copy burn and make a screen??!! I love how the Gocco is an imperfect medium. My artwork is “rough style” so it’s a perfect match for the Gocco.

do you have any gocco tips/tricks?
The only thing that comes to mind is using multiple screens with the ink blocking foam. We usually use 3 screens for every print. Using 2 to save on screens bites you in the end. Ink starts to bleed to the areas that are to close. The ink blocking foam is a life saver! It totally holds the ink in where you want it.

what does love mean to you?
Love is waking up next to my beautiful wife and my 2 little fart face Yorkies every morning!

what contemporary artists are you inspired by?
Hideshi Hino, Devil Robots, Yukinori Dehara, Yudetamago, James Kochalka, John Porcellino, Perks and Mini, James Jarvis, Peyo, Marc Bell, Ron Rege’ Jr., Tetsuya Saruwatari, Santa Inoue, PaperRad, Tomohiro Yasui, Bigfoot, Bounty Hunter, Mori Chax, the entire Seattle crew and my true inspiration comes from my wife Michelle.

tell the audience what movie, book, album, website, tv show, and magazine you love that most people haven't seen/read/heard?
Movie: Ping Pong, awesome Japanese movie about ping pong.
Book: Ultimate Muscle – This manga is my favourite! It’s nothing like the American version that was on the Foxbox.
Album: Eggs – Bruiser LP. I love this band so much! They were on Teenbeat records (Mark from Unrest’s label). Andrew Beaujon is amazing.
Website: Tomohiro Yasui’s paper wrestlers are beyond cool. He has been making them since childhood.
TV show: everything I watch everyone knows about like Survivor, Project Runway, LOST and The 4400 (because of you and Sarah.Thanks!) But someday I hope Austin Stories gets released on DVD. You can find some bootlegs on EBAY sometimes. Old MTV TV show.
Magazine: I luv EGM, Giant Robot, Dazed and Confused but you guys all know those…hmmm. Garden is an awesome Japanese art/toy magazine that comes out once a year. There have only been 3 issues. The last one came with a Tokyo Tribes figure. The issue was solely focused on Santa Inoue.

favorite place in your town?
Randy’s – the best greasy spoon food! Ask for Karin and get the old #7(chicken fried steak, eggs, hash browns, toast). Yum!

favorite place in the world?
I would like to say Japan but I’ve never been. I love sitting for hours and watching Netflixs with Michelle.

any advice you can pass onto aspiring artists/designers?
Hmmmmmm…… I guess try and find your own voice, but try not to force it. Also have the confidence to show off your stuff and don’t let anyone discourage you from what you are doing because they don’t know shit!