who are you and what you do?
Hey there! My name is Max Mahn and I am a screen printer/illustrator based out of Missoula, MT. I work directly with touring bands, creating limited edition screen printed posters for them under the moniker Twin Home.
how do you work and make the great things you make?
Every poster is different but I would say the most important part of every poster is listening to the band hours on end (even if it's not my cup of tea) to get a feel of what the music has in store. After that I will begin to sketch up ideas until I land on something that makes that light bulb click over my head. I then work back and forth constantly from paper to computer and vise versa until I find the appropriate point to stop. Once the image is approved, I take it to print. I take great pride in hand printing all of my posters myself even though it often results in anger and headache. Lastly, the posters get trimmed and signed, then off they go with my fingers crossed that the mail man handles them with care.
How did you get started?
Back in 2013, one of my professors noticed my lack of interest in conceptual art and brought out a huge book full of gig posters for me to rifle through. I have been in love with gig posters ever since. I went to school for printmaking so I had the basic means to print posters on campus at the time. I began printing posters for my friends every chance I got. I typically gave most of those posters away at the end of the night in exchange for a few drinks. As I began to build a portfolio I slowly crept into working with bigger name bands directly, while still sneaking in a couple posters on the side for my buddies.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
Things: Pizza, books from the 70's, graffiti, ovals, beer, Micron pens, Nickelodeon cartoons, worms, stumps, Goodwill, hot dogs, deer, houses, Craigslist, farts, diagrams, Pajama Sam, bad drawings, genitalia, how to manuals, tacos, trash, house plants, and of course music.
People: Margaret Kilgallen, Ronny Hunger, The Bubble Process, Eric Kenney, Munster Studio, Alison Weust, Barry McGee, Johnny Sampson, Good Guy Boris, Leslie Herman, Josh Davis, Rachel Levit, Andy Schmidt, Moon Light Speed, Neal Williams, Joe Tallman, friends, family, and too many more to name...
What are you most proud of as an artist and business person?
Yikes. Probably creating a poster for Modest Mouse, I've listened to them since I was a kid so that was an incredible honor. However, I later got word that the posters had been forgotten in someones car in Seattle before the show so the band never saw them. So you could also call it my lowest moment.
Do you have any tips or suggestions for your fellow artisans and makers?
Work hard and most of all, fake it.
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