@TobyMoon - @Aalasteir (Q) - Index

Q: How would you describe living in Scotland? You might say it's mostly just cold and rainy, and you would love to witness more exciting weather phenomena, like a tornado or waterspout, just once.

1) I have mixed feelings. The nature and wildlife is really nice, and even though the weather is boring I like the cold.

Q: Why do you have such an interest in weather? Where does it come from?

2) Not too sure. I think I was gifted a book about whirlwinds when I was tiny.

Q: How did you get interested in tennis, and why other sports that involve hitting things with racquets, like ping pong or badminton? You haven’t had a chance to play in years—why is that?

3) I think I just really enjoyed playing badminton in school and wanted to join the local tennis club with my friend. I've moved away since so I haven't really had the chance.

Q: What was it like being part of a tennis club?

4) I have faint memories as I was little, but I remember it being good fun. The two most prominent memories are getting hit over the head with a tennis racquet, and one of the kids excitedly telling the tennis instructor that his brother was bit by a shark on holiday. He didn't believe him but it really happened. Was an exciting topic of discussion in the playground for a while.

Q: You spent time learning some really strange skills for reasons you say didn’t benefit you today. What would those skills be? For example, you can juggle pretty well and do a kickflip on a tech deck.

5) I taught myself how to do front flips as well for some reason. Was never great at it and knocked the wind out of myself too many times.

Q: Why would you recommend the stories Flowers for Algernon, a short story by Daniel Keyes, and Bog Child, a novel by Siobhan Dowd?

6) They were really enjoyable stories. I don't really choose to read on my own, but I'm glad I was forced to in school. If you like reading you should give them a go, or watch the movies.

Q: Where did you get your 4-track cassette Portastudio?

7) Reverb.com, got a good deal on it.

Q: What was the experience of creating your song I Look Up to You like?

8) It was different from what I usually do. For a while, I was really struggling to get a song written and recorded so I tried to take a different approach this time. The lyrics and chords just sorta fell onto my lap while I was plinking at the piano and I wanted to get it recorded while it was still fresh in my mind. Recording it fully analogue meant there was a lot less to worry about, you kind of have to accept that it'll sound a bit messy. It's easy to nit-pick things too much when you have so many tools at your finger tips, so it was nice to actually have something finished even if it didn't turn out exactly as I expected.

Q: You’ve been making cartoons for as far as you can remember. What is it that you like about animation, and how would you describe the cartoons you make? They often have a funny, comedic premise.

9) Animating anything is such a rewarding process. I would describe my stuff as deadpan, dreamy and a bit cozy. I really enjoy that they feel home-made and unprofessional.

Q: What is it like creating animations that are hand-drawn on paper, where you scan each frame onto your computer, edit them, and assemble everything? You might say you only use computers when absolutely necessary.

10) It's honestly a pretty gruelling process. I haven't found anyone attempting exactly what I'm trying to do, or at least on the same scale, so there's nobody to really ask for help. Every cartoon I make I'll try something different, and things usually go so wrong that when it's all finished I have a big list of what not to do next time. "Aliens stole my cheese doodles" was nearly a years work (granted I was being super lazy) but there's definitely ways to improve my process. It's getting easier each time though and I love it.

Q: Would you consider Liquid Television an inspiration for your work? If so, why?

11) Yeah definitely. It's from a different era of independent animation, so everything has a really intimate hand drawn feel which I love. I'm not a purist and I still love digital animation, but there's a certain magic to things crafted by hand which really resonates with me.

Q: What do you think about King of the Hill?

12) It's a great show and I should probably watch more episodes.

Q: What is your advice for creating animation?

13) Have a lot of fun and try to experiment. There's so much joy in creating things and it's a really special thing. I'm so unbelievably grateful that I get to wake up everyday and try to make stuff. I want other people to feel this joy and I promise you it's worth it. You are benefiting yourself and things you might not even realise by creating art.