Art Chantry played pool with Ted Bundy. "He was a terrible pool player", says Art,"a real sore loser." At the time,of course, Art was oblivious to the curly-haired Republican's habit of secretly mutilating women. "He was just some pretty-boy jerk who hung around the pool hall. We didn't exactly socialize." This is just one of a million true-life Art Chantry anecdotes and he will tell you each and every goddamn one if you let him. He truly has the gift of gabola. He is a walkin' talkin' historian of all things grand and trivial. The undergroundman's Alex Trebek. He's been around. You could learn something. Chantry is an artist-anti-establishment to the core, bitter, slightly scarred and rumpled, yet wise around the edges with plenty of downtown swagger to back it all up. He don't wear no beret. He's a Tacoma boy. Tacoma, home of murder, suicide, gang-related violence, The Sonics, The Wailers. In Tacoma,says Art,one does not merely shoot another in the head. In Tacoma, they find your decapitated skull in a paper bag tossed behind some bushes with "Do not open till X-mas" scrawled on the side with a magic marker. I suppose this may explain, to some degree, Mr. Chantry's chosen field of endeavor, that of the American underground's premiere graphic artist-designer. His name graces the back of literally hundreds of LPs, CDs and singles. His much imitated poster work is famous among both rock n' roll and artsy-fartsy circles, fetching big bucks for those in the poster racket. He is known worldwide for his consistently dynamic, high-quality design work. His services are sought out by everyone from multi-million dollar tennis shoe corporations to shoe-string independent record labels. He is frequently the honored guest of hoity-toity art gatherings, confounding all with his utter lack of pretentious art-boy posturing, not to mention his sour disposition and perpetual state of shabbiness. When I hooked up with Art for this interview, he was smoking a pricey cigar and listening to James Brown's Famous Flames...

L: Art Chantry you are a leisurely man.
A: Thank you.
L: You've created thousands of mostly ANGRY images for us to behold and I know you're aware of that, so my question is: What is pissing you off?
A: What pisses me off? Well,you,for starters(laughing). What pisses me off (reflective), well, I had a misspent youth that left me feeling betrayed and forlorn. Forlorn is a good word. Spell that right,would you? I don't know, maybe it was because I grew up poor. I mean isn't that your excuse?
L: I guess.
A: I mean, I grew up REALLY poor. We were so poor that people on welfare used to give us their extra food. We lived in a house that was once a chicken coop.
L: Are you saying you were raised in a chicken coop?
A: No, it used to be a chicken coop. I actually started off in a really wealthy family. My dad was actually a Harvard lawyer...
L: Art, hate to interrupt you, but I found a better question: You've described yourself as "a complete asshole, like some guy you'd want to punch out if you met him on the street." Barbara Walters would ask: Does Art Chantry like himself?
A: That's all show biz. Actually, if you create an air of pretense around yourself you perform nicely when meeting people you don't know. They expect an asshole, but end up meeting a nice guy. They're confused. And thats nice.
L: How has punk rock, death and Tacoma influenced your work?
A: Utterly. Completely. Good interview(sarcastic).
L: This sucks .
A: Yeh.
L: You are not into computers. Why is that?
A: Because I prefer to work with my hands. I like what I do. If I had to sit in front of a screen all day I'd go nuts. I like to move around little pieces of paper and I also don't understand technology very well. For instance, I don't understand how push-button phones work. I use a rotary-dial around the office.
L: Do design students nowadays know how to work without computers as you have done?
A: Absolutely not. N-O-T. This modern technology and graphic design is only a few years old but still I'm always meeting designers who are shocked and confused by the idea of doing graphic design without a computer.
L: In which ways, stylistically, does it restrict them as artists?
A: Well, it's a tool. If you have a solid gold hammer you can pound nails, but it's still just pounding nails. It's the idea that counts. If you're doing design, you can succeed with a stick in the dirt, just as easily as with a computer.
L: Mr. Chantry, you are a lover of frauds and hoaxes. Are you perpetrating a fraud here?
A: Yes. My name isn't even Art Chantry. The real Art Chantry is 60 years old and he still lives in Tacoma where he used to hang out with The Sonics. It's in the history books,look it up.
L: During your lean, alcoholic years when you were doing punk rock posters for peanuts, did you ever think you'd make a living doing this?
A: No, and I still don't. I mean, I'm not capable of flipping burgers.
L: You've turned down offers from Coca-Cola, IBM...
A: Not IBM, but Microsoft several times and Nike...
L: Are you a principled independent thinker or are you a fool?
A: No, I just don't like getting screwed. The one thing I've learned about the corporate world is they don't get rich by giving money away. Once you get through this enormous butt-fuck process you end up earning the same as you would from a small outfit that won't fuck you.
L: Isn't it true Mr. Chantry that you once considered doing ads for a South American gun runner?
A: Yes ,and proud of it. I have alot of friends in alot of weird places. I used to have friends and clients who were right-wing fanatics. They were fun people to be with, great senses of humor and you could tease each other about politics. Give these people a gun and they'd stand up for everything they believe in. In '82, my entire income was about $2000, and I knew this crazy guy who offered to pay me $10,000 dollars to do a small, b&w ad. It was for this thick, glossy magazine only available in the Pentagon. It was amazing, filled with kill ratios, body parts and tanks. I said yes. I needed the money. Luckily, it fell through before I did anything. They needed an ad to sell helicopter parts and bullets to Venezuela. I've also worked for pimps,pornographers, drug dealers,and corporate executives. They're all the same people. They're all sociopaths. ALL businessmen are sociopaths. America rewards that behavior. Men without conscience.
L: What do you like about your way of working? Your style?
A: Lo-budget execution and a pretty good idea behind it. My style jumps around tremendously depending on my client's needs. Alot of those styles I've done for projects then tossed aside, are now mainstream underground styles.
L: You're timing is bad. You'll never be hip.
A: I ain't bitter.
L: I already said you were bitter in the intro.
A: Bitter, vicious, antagonistic...
L: Of your many clients, how do you rank Dave at Estrus?
A: Best I ever had. Period. No doubt. What can I say? He's a God! An Adonis! And listen girls, he's hung!
L: I think we've learned alot today, Art. Thanks!