WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 649 - Aaron Draplin

Episode Date: October 25, 2015

It’s likely that Aaron Draplin has more passion about graphic design than you have about anything. Marc visits Aaron at the seat of the empire he created in Portland and finds out how a skater kid from the Midwest worked his way up through Snowboarder Magazine to build his own independent design business from scratch and become the go-to guy for some of the country’s most prominent brands. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated

category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative. It's a night for the whole family. Be a part of Kids Night when the Toronto Rock take on the Colorado Mammoth at a special 5 p.m. start time on Saturday, March 9th at First Ontario Centre in Hamilton.

The first 5,000 fans in attendance will get a Dan Dawson bobblehead courtesy of Backley Construction. Punch your ticket to Kids Night on Saturday, March 9th at 5 p.m. in Rock City at torontorock.com. all right let's do this how are you what the fuckers what the fuck buddies what the fucksters what the fuckadelics what's happening this is mark maron this is wtf this is my podcast thank you for being here today on the show. Aaron Draplin from Draplin Design Company. This is a guy. How do I explain this? I'm not even sure how we came together. I think someone said I should talk to him. And then I did a little research on him. He seemed like an interesting character. He is the overseer of draplin design company mr aaron james draplin he's a self-made

man he's an obsessed man he's obsessed with logos and design i don't know much about design but he speaks to people about this he's he's a charismatic man he happened upon something in his design practice uh these field notes, blank books became very popular and he designed them. And now he's got this whole racket going. And I wanted to learn a little bit about design. I've been a little fascinated with design here and there. I read a book about this guy who invented planned obsolescence. I was sort of obsessed from that point on. What was this guy's name was it Brooks Stevens yes Brooks Stevens I became sort of obsessed with the idea of planned obsolescence and I believe he was the guy that figured that out he was an industrial designer

now I don't know if Draplin is an industrial designer he's uh he could be but anyways there was things about design that I was fascinated about and I knew nothing about. And, uh, I called this, uh, I emailed her, tweeted at her, somehow got in touch with, uh, Aaron Draplin. And we talked and,

uh, I found him to be a compelling individual. And, uh, when I was up in Portland a while back, him and I sat at the headquarters of Draplin design company, and we talked it out. And,

uh, and that's, what's on the show today. You can go to draplin.com and see the stuff. He did my poster. We did a poster for the show. He's an all-around design guy. He's got patches and posters and these field notebooks and combs.

Yeah, you got to go. It's hard to explain. He's got a little design empire, and you'll hear him talk about it in just a few minutes. What else is going on? There's a couple of things going on, actually. Was looking at an empty deck with a few sad Ikea chairs that were in tremendous disrepair. Just because the finish was off.

And they just looked old. And I expressed some interest in getting new patio furniture then you go look at new patio furniture and there's all these sets and things and umbrellas and then i thought why don't we just why don't i just put a picnic table out there just like a classic picnic table like a cheap fucking just regular old standard picnic table out on my deck. And my girl, Sarah, the painter for my birthday, bought me a pine assembled unfinished picnic table. Just a fucking, you know, the kind that you're like, hey, is that a place to eat on the side of the road? Yeah, there's a picnic table there. Well, now when I walk out of my house, I'm like, is there a place

to eat on my deck? Oh, shit. Look, there's just a picnic table there. So now I have a picnic table. We painted it red, stained it red. Cause that's what picnic tables are in my, in my mind. So now it's just like, it's like camping at one of those places where you don't have to, you don't have to eat on the ground. My deck is now a campground where I don't have to sit on the floor in my tent. I can just sit at my picnic table. I know it's not really camping, but it's all I can handle. So here's the deal. We're still checking out some of the old Lorne discussions that I've had on the show. Hopefully these will give some context to my upcoming interview with the Buddha, the Lorne, the devil, whatever you want to call him, whatever, I've thought all those things.

Now, the thing about this clip, this is me and Jason Sudeikis. This is from episode 205 back in 2011. And I think it's around the first time I felt like it was becoming necessary to have Lorne Michaels on the show. All right, so this is me and Sudeikis. And I'm tentative.

You can hear in the clip. But obsessed. Always obsessed. So this is me and Jason Sudeikis from episode 205 in 2011. You know, like, I keep feeling like the more people I talk to from that show, on this show, I feel like I'm circling Lorne.

Like, there's part of me... Oh, to be on here? Yeah. I mean, I'll definitely say something. Dude, because, like, I just wrote Jimmy. Yeah. Because, like, I've had this weird story with him. With Jimmy or with Lorne?

With Lorne. Yeah, yeah, I know. I've heard it. Yeah, of course. You know, and I feel like he brought me in there to teach me a lesson. And now, like, you know, I want him to do it again. Yeah. Like, I want him to... I would like him to feel that like would you go to him sure yeah i'd like him

to feel that he would never come to this fucking no i know no i'd like him to feel that whatever i'm doing that whatever recognition i have there's no room in here for the throne i mean i know i know that no no like i in my mind i believe he would think like you know like well maren's back and he's doing a thing. But it's really nothing. I want him, there's part of me that wants him to have that attitude and let me sit with him for an hour. I mean, I would...

You don't have to coach him on the attitude, but if you can put it in his ear, that'd be amazing. I would absolutely encourage him to do so. I think he's fascinating. I think there's part of me that thinks he would want to. Because I know he's pretty private. He doesn't talk to many people.

And I know that I've had a lot of people from the show on. Certainly from your generation. I've had Hader. I've had Armisen. I've had Seth. I've had you. I've had Mulaney. And Amy. Amy and Fallon. And I know a lot of people listen to it over there.

Yeah. I just like- That's highly regarded throughout all circles, stand-up, improv. I mean, it's- God, if we could pull that off. I don't know if he would even remember me, but I know that because I did Conan so much and that- I bet he does.

Because I auditioned for the show. He's remarkably sharp. That guy gives a damn. Oh, what that's that's one that's one of the things like he's there yeah he i mean it's not like it's not a it's not a emeritus executive producer emeritus whatsoever that i mean that dude is it's his show like you you you know that going in that's why yeah yeah that's why if you get mad you're mad about something that you're doing probably not something he's doing because you're only there because of him. Every Saturday. Well, let me know what happens. I'll remind you.

Yeah, yeah, please. You won't have to. I mean, when I see him, I'll go, I'm supposed to do something I don't want to do. Oh, right, ask him if he wants to do the podcast. I don't know how you would ask him. No, me, I have a very, like me i just i i i ask him things i like i mean i think you tell him i did it and you know do you have you listened to it like you know start off

like that yeah please get help me help me yeah no i know what to do okay i'm the one that works there you know so that was more than four years ago crazy and it's finally happened and i'm sorry to say i guess you'll have to wait and find out out if he really did put me in my place or he didn't. Or if he even remembered our meeting. All questions will be answered. For me, maybe. But it's coming. It's definitely coming. So here's what I want to talk about. I had sort of a shitty experience last night watching the Amy Schumer special that was recorded. I believe they broadcast it live from the Apollo on October 17th. Now, I generally don't watch other comics, unless they're good friends. Mine and I love Amy, but I just don't make it a habit because I want to keep my head clean.

And as you know, I just taped an hour plus special in Chicago at the Vic Theater. That was back on June 6th. I taped it. I'd been working that material for about a year. I've been working that material for about a year. My special will be released on Epix in December. I'm very proud of this special. I was very excited about it. I thought I did a good job. I planned.

I prepared. There's callbacks in it. It's a theater hour, an honest-to-God theater hour after my last special, Thinky Paint, which was a club hour, a loose club hour. I wanted to do a tight theater hour. my last special thinky paint uh which was a club hour a loose club hour i wanted to do a tight theater hour i came pretty close and i'm excited for you to see it but i'm i turned on schumer special and i love schumer but i wanted to see what the you know what the stand-up's looking like and how she's doing because i you know i talked to her years ago in here before she was uh you know the big comedy star that she is now. And I'm watching the special.

And I'm liking it. I'm having a good time. I like her. I like Dirty. I like her shamelessness. And then she sets up a bit. She does a little bit. And it's a lot like one of my bits.

And the thing is, I didn't even think that she took it and i knew i didn't take it from her it's just one of these things we deal with as comedians it's like well that premise is a lot like the premise i got and the fucked up thing about it was that the premise i do that's similar to schumer's i mean you would never think that amy schumer and me would be similar but it was actually a part of my uh my hour that was a little bit of a departure for me I was going to get a little dirty again and I did because I wanted to flex those muscles but there was a similarity there and it just it just hit me in the gut because because the day and age we live in now all of a sudden it's sort of like oh no too similar and it's really literally like maybe 30 seconds it's just a premise but it is a a

defined premise it's not that unusual it's not like it was necessarily an inventive thing it's an observational piece of comedy but it's a little crass but as i said didn't think either of us stole the joke or the premise but i thought well what if people think that and then that sort of weird fear comes in and you're like what am i gonna have to manage what kind of shit's coming gonna come at me for that and amy just went through some shit herself over stuff that was not true and it's just a garbage culture we live in of talentless policing of people who do things as a means to sort of get traction and cause trouble the troll culture and it's diminishing and it's frightening and it like i had this moment where i'm like i'm not gonna fucking even record comedy anymore i don't have to i just do the podcast i go perform my comedy

but i'll have to put it on tape to be scrutinized fuck it it's not worth it anymore in troll garbage culture where people that do nothing but troll can hurt other people or try to destroy them. But that was the fear. That was the feeling. The way we used to handle it is the way I handled it. I watched her special. I texted her. I said, Amy, great special.

It's really funny. But, you know, I got a bit that's a lot like one of your bits. And I just, you know, now i'm all panicky and she texted back hey it's you know parallel thinking happens sometimes they'll probably blame me and i'm like it's not about blame i just feel shitty and these things happen but she's like well it's cool we can talk about it next time i come on the show because i'd asked her to come back because she's one of these guests that had this tremendous success since i've talked to her and i think i don't repeat guests but i i asked her to come back a couple weeks ago and i go great okay well fun special

and then uh and that was that so it was just never a thought and you know i mean the fact is is that it is what it is her special came. But in that moment, because of the world we live in now, it was like, oh, fuck. What are the odds? What are the fucking odds? It's just what happens. We're all drawn from the same fucking reality. But it's not a good feeling. And it's sort of sad to me that my thought, my first thought was, was you know not she stole it or i stole it which

did not happen but like what's the point of putting comedy out there in the world in a recorded fashion for idiots to disassemble it was just it was yeah and i and i believed it but again if you're a little dirty, you talk a little dirty, you're probably going to talk dirty like somebody else who talks dirty. It's all funny. So right now, people, I'm excited for you to hear this.

This is sort of an offbeat conversation for me. It's a little out of my wheelhouse, but I, but I love this guy. I love the Aaron Draplin from Draplin design company. And, and he's a sweet guy and we had a nice chat. So let's,

let's do this now. This is, I did this in Portland a little while. It's hockey season and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So, no, you can't get an ice rink on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those.

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See app for details. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means.

I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative. We'll go. We're walking and talking. So this is, what is the title? What is the name of this operation? The Draplin Design Company, Portland, Oregon.

Draplin Design Company, Portland, Oregon. Draplin Design Company, Portland, Oregon. This is the corner where the guitars are. Right. This is my cockpit where I work in books and treasures and guitars and computers and things. Look at those guitars, dude. You're a guitar player. Well, that's a bit of a stretch. I learn a song.

I forget a song. Pretty simple. But can you jam when necessary? It's pretty much kind of by my lonesome, but every now and again. That's how I roll. And that's a little Fender amp. A little 54 Champ amp. That's a real 54 Champ? Yeah.

When I made it, that's one of the first things I bought. Was it real 54 Tweed Champ? Yeah, it was a lot of money. You know, I splurged. And you can buy those reissues but i went and bought i got it no i just got a 65 i saw it and now we move over here and this is where you have uh merch all the shipping this is where we do all the shipping everything's done from here well not field notes field notes is done out of chicago but here all the draplin design stuff

pencils trinkets uh coin purses beanies hats that's all shipped out of here and you don't live here no no no you live in a house I spend a lot of time sure I live in a home yeah let's walk over here you got an anvil I have an anvil just a restored that's a what been restored really a restored anvil and these are all the field notes and that oh look here's some uh some logos for things for you little cards to say thank you to people when we fill the orders. Patches. Patches. Yeah.

Field notes, buttons, trinkets, combs. You've got a good head of hair. Why don't you take a comb? Yeah. We call this the hair organizer. I like it. It's a little comb. I don't know if it's going to work for me.

Got the space shuttle. Got T-shirts. Come over here. I'll show you where everything's uh we keep all the all the stock where well okay this is my so i have two partners here yeah we have john femister yeah david nakamoto and this is how we look out over portland here yeah we've been here about six seven years right i i work with these guys we watch over each other but we don't really like this me and this guy in the corner yeah we made sure that we are as far apart diagonally as possible but he worked for you no no they work on their own projects we just

watch over each other sort of financially oh okay they have their projects they work on a bunch of gyro helmets and shit and then they have their side of the so i have my side and i move an inch a month yeah right into their space right slowly and then one day you're gonna be like fellas that the time has come. Oh my God, if I hit it big, I'm going to forget those guys first. Oh yeah, they're at the top of the list. How did you choose them to work with you? Well, we all worked together at a little space in town here called Cinco Design.

And we all jumped out, worked on our own, out of our basements. And that got a little, I didn't have space. So we all came together to kind of watch, because there's strength in numbers. You know, the idea that we're sort of watching over each other's invoices and things. And then it's better to have eyes on all of our projects. So whatever I'm working on, Dave comes over and checks out. So you trust these guys? Oh, they're brothers of mine.

Right. We've been together now seven years in this shop. I've been buddies since I got to Portland in, what, 2002? Uh-huh. Yeah. So they're your guys. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. All right. Well, this is all very exciting. A lot of boxes, a lot of merch, but this part of your operation, there's no reason for you to outsource the merch operation because that's part of what you do. Well, someone else gets the cut then. Let's go sit down.

Where are we going to sit down and do this? In your corner? Am I supposed to? Where's a spot where I say to you, why are you here? What is going on? Why am I freaked out? Here's the thing, Aaron. I'll tell you why I'm here and why you're here and why we're both here.

You come very well recommended by people that love you. You do a thing that is uniquely your own. You seem to be a character. You made a poster for me. I didn't know who you were, even though you accosted me at an airport in a very polite way. And you were a fan. And I remember that. But at that time, I had no no idea and i think you actually tweeted that you you met me and then people were like you guys gotta and i'm like i don't know who that guy is right right and

then uh i did a little research i thought you were just one of these poster artist fellas who i've come in contact with but no you you you run this small self-made empire of design and manufacturing and people have a lot of respect for you and and I did a little research and you seem to be an obsessive character that that gets a lot of like when I watched that video of you going through your drawers when you held up certain logos yeah yeah it was as if you just took a hit of crack like that you would say you would take a logo and you went oh yeah like you you you had a thrill that it did something to your mind and heart yeah that there was it does that's why i'm here okay and and i and i'm just i'm just a little

freaked out man because i listen i listen to this stuff i've been sure a number of years well don't don't judge yourself against any of the other interviews they're all different there's some big ones but this is where the the podcast takes a slump and might need that after what you've been going through there's no slump okay i have i'm just setting it up man i don't want to let anyone down what you're doing is you're you're you're telling people to lower their expectations you are an artist and you are a man that's made something of himself in in a very specific world you're wearing a hat that that has your logo on it oh yeah that's not nothing i don't see it gets bigger

yeah it's it this what's so fun about this is when people you know say that and how many people work for you and it's it's me you know i i do all the design, you know, from landing the job all the way up to, you know, settling all the invoices and, you know, making the client happy. Now, in other situations, there's a lot of bureaucracy and hierarchy and things. That's any little design shop. I did that for a couple of years. It wasn't necessarily it was bad. It just wasn't for me. But let's go back yeah yeah yeah let's go back to like so where people how do people know you well probably through field notes now these are the books yeah

these are little memo books that i make now now let's we make a whole staff makes these things out of chicago but this caught on yeah how did that happen okay well i mean i'm from michigan right i'm from michigan and going all the way you know from michigan to portland uh and going junking right antique malls flea markets you know my dad there that's uh uh uh you know he trained me this is jim draplin still around no no no no sorry about as dead as it gets oh but still with us and every one of your molecules right now, Jim Drappa. This is the fucking, we can swear all we want on this thing, right? Sure, yeah, of course.

Sure, I know your deal, right, right, right. That was the blue light special champion of participating in Kmart stores in northern Michigan. Right there, that's the guy, Jim Drappa, my dad, right? So growing up, we became a Polish pack rat. His joke was he always wanted one of everything yeah right right okay and and he taught us how to pull the vines back in detroit and we'd find these old signs yeah now those old signs are worth two and three thousand so he's a junker oh yeah yeah oh yeah so that that quality of uh he sold the stuff no no no he was a he was industrial tool salesman but he just loved stuff he loved the. But he just collected. He just loved stuff. He loved the tactile quality.

He loved the little logo. He loved the charm. All of our furniture and stuff, that was stuff that he found dead in antique stores. What was his prize piece? A roll-top desk was one of the big ones. Some Coca-Cola stuff, maybe his children. He had three kids, one of each. That's what he'd say.

Right. Yeah. He was funny as shit yeah so you so you're driving with your pop going and he's showing you how to do stuff well you know you'd see a you'd see a garage sale sign yeah and he'd start in on you and say hey this could be the one was it's 1987 i'm into skateboards yeah he'd say this is the one with a box of skateboards i said no no he'd say you never know yeah and then we had to go i never found shit yeah all those years but we went to all these things he dragged my grandma all of us and i

have all these funny stories but that's that was planted in me and then when i would drive out west as a youngster yeah i'd go junk you know because what people do for fun on the road i don't know you know and i would make the time i'd find these little memo books i mean we're talking have you ever been to a farm sale no oh it's the saddest thing in the world people are rifling through things you're doing a in a state sale yeah yeah i think so okay well when you go to like a little old lady who's selling off the farm and you're digging through her drawers and you find a stack from her husband of these memo books that he lived and died in there's a lot of ghosts there and that's where these little books came from i would i would collect those things hoard those things i've got about a

thousand of them filled filled with people's handwriting and stuff i mean what were they doing on the memo books was it just a coincidence that you found all these or was this specific farm sale yeah it's sort of the currency of the agrarian landscape okay and these old timers always had this shit in their pockets right so they would write what in it lore farm notes uh seed stuff you know these were giveaways so all my life growing up i always had something in my pocket and i'd build my own books i would make my own i would uh you know how old are we talking oh god when i was i mean since i can remember i mean i was i got a book deal right so i've been going through all my stuff. I have journals going back until I was about 12.

Really? Yeah, yeah. And then I reread all this shit from when I left out west. Crying when you leave your mom and dad. I was 19 years old. And I documented all that shit. I don't know what that was in me that was fearful of not wanting to capture. I caught a lot of it right yeah so

that idea of always having something to draw on at all times i get fidgety when it's not right here right you know because not only uh uh is it about like um you know collecting a little last night your show i your ticket stub dean's little ticket stub was in there you know his little uh bohemex the sticker he gave me it's's a way to, you know, protect things. But any idea I have, that's where it goes. That's how the old-timers did it for the last hundred years. Well, that's how I used to do it. Like, I always had a notebook or a napkin.

Like, right now, I'm like, what if he says something and I got to bring it back around and I don't have a piece of paper with me? Can I have a field book? Let me just, I'm going to put this down. Yeah. I'm going to change your life, okay? Now everything is post, pre, post. now it's time to get some feeling okay okay what we're gonna do is i'm gonna give you a wood one a wood

look oh see that that's a piece of wood that's an actual piece of wood all right so now northern wisconsin they soak it overnight yeah it gets sheared off yeah they adhere it to basically brown paper bag. Right. That gets off, you know, stamped on and then you can print on the stuff. So this is like, I've seen these around and this is you. Yeah. So this was inspired.

You with the big asterisk. Mm-hmm. Me and Jim Cudall, my mentor, my older brother, who, you know, I made a big stack of them here in town because i couldn't find ones i liked everything you'd go see in some okay like a moleskin no i don't use the m word around the shop okay sorry yeah i'm but i saw those fuckers over in italy my first time i went there was for a client with a little band around and i bought like 500 bucks worth because i never thought i'd go back to italy right but you loved them they were great i used you know i used them for a

couple years yeah and then I made my own. It's just as simple as that. Right here in Portland. And then that first making, I hand screen printed them, like your posters and shit. I handed them. You put staples and you cut the corners and all the stuff. I owned every little piece of it. Gave those to buddies.

They ate them up a couple hundred. And then I made 2,000. Gave a stack to Jim Cudall out in Chicago. What's he do? What doesn't he do? I mean, he's just this incredible sort of entrepreneur. But sort of design, a little bit of web, an incredible website going 15 years now, just incredible links and weird things. These are guys that figured out how to take your, remember your old Macintosh keyboards?

They washed it in a dishwasher to get all the hair and shit. Because I'll tell you right now, if you go scrape that that keyboard you will get a wild assortment of shit you could populate a whole city block with some of the primordial i don't want to get into it but uh remember how much hair and shit would be in those things they washed it so they're just these really creative weird what they do with them once they wash them they just want to go test it but they'd make these wonderful videos and have beautiful type beautiful ideas and you it wasn't, you didn't have to sign up for this shit. So I was a fan of these little sort of like, you know, skits and things. And then they have clients, but they've never really talked about really what they do. Jim's whole mantra was basically, if a client doesn't teach us something, why are we going to be involved?

It doesn't matter how much money you make. He's a design firm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, you know, Kudal Partners is what it's called. so i gave a stack to this guy who i was looking up to right and he knew my shit this is about 2005 2004 and then next thing i know you know we have a website we have people interested he's got all these tech people that he knows because he you know he's a keynote speaker at south by southwest all the tech side of things and it it explodes and before you know it you know it's a real company you know, it's a real company.

Draplin Design. It's a real deal. You can find them in men's stores. And when I go in those fucking men's stores, first thing I say with some numb nut behind the counter, I go, which way to the big and tall section?

And you got this guy, who the fuck's got a 28 inch waist? I mean, really? Yeah. And I freak them all out and I'll just walk out. But they carry our field notes.

Yeah. Places that sell $500 pairs of jeans. Yeah. That's bullshit. I get my jeans at a little place in the US, I don't start for 35 bucks. Sure. Like farmers. But they carry your field notes yeah places that hate so 500 pairs of jeans yeah that's bullshit i get my jeans at a little place in the u.s i don't start for 35 bucks sure like farmers but they carry a field now they carry our field notes yeah we fill a lot of holes i like to say yeah in between all the expensive shit right yeah so when did you like i understand your dad's it was

a junker and he was a pack rat and he had an appreciation for uh for, it seems like there's a nostalgia to design. Not to design, but to your interest. Yeah. That it represents something that has integrity and that has staying power. Simpler, simpler ways of making things happen. Right, but it feels to me that when you see a logo, you're like, this stands the test of time.

Yeah. Even if you don't remember what it was, you can take just the shell of it. Well, yeah. When did that start? Well, I think since I was a little kid. You know, this idea of like, you know, when you get the first taste of California through BMX skateboarding, you get to see things get like cool. You get to see things be manufactured somewhere and then sold to a bunch of peckerheads in Michigan.

Everyone's got Ocean Pacific up and down. You remember all this? Sure, I remember OP, yeah. Of course. I had the shorts. I had the shorts. I had the shirt. I had maybe the shoes.

Some kind of a hat or something. Not a big hat guy, but yeah, maybe. But I remember OP was a big deal. This idea that the first time you really start to recognize the power of a logo on a T-shirt, and then you step back and you see how that's used around us in northern michigan which is basically on feeding seeds like good old boys you know representing i don't know arty cat snowmobiles and shit you know or representing wherever they go by their feed and seed right now those all those promotional items those are things that were just giveaways

to keep guys buying you know seed and shit sure but it was like it's really a, it is a context of the reality. Completely lacking all sort of pretension. It was just to say, here's our stuff. So, okay, now I see skateboarding and art and culture and all the cool stuff, but I'm tempered around my dad, who sells industrial tooling, where it is completely no bullshit. I mean, you talk about the tool, here's the graphic, and it works. And the package is probably still in my dad's garage, right, all these years later.

Now, that kind of functionality, that's not what existed when I finally got my shot to go learn how to be a graphic designer. It was about fashion. It was about what's the latest, hottest, bullshit-est thing, you know, right? No integrity. Well, no, no, no, noshittest thing. You know, right? No integrity. Well, no, no, no, no, no, no. It just, because I wouldn't throw all those guys when you call under the bus. No, it's more like I just like things that my dad could enjoy.

Yeah. And I was into. Because there's always a leap from us to like your parents. And they didn't understand all this highfalutin postmodern bullshit, right? Right. But there's something about their generation. There's something about even the idea of an industrial tool where it's sort of like you're going to buy one of these. Yeah.

And it's going to last you. You have to save for it. Yeah, and you can pass that on to your kid. So what you got passed down was this this this compulsive fascination and belief in in in the the the long-lasting nature of of something that that that is built to work perhaps yeah well and then and you know and what you see is you just see this beauty to it because listen okay when i have to think about it then it's designed yeah now these guys they weren't designing to be ironic right cool to sell shit to sell jeans to sell this to sell records any of this kind of stuff it was just meant to

work that is what i try to mine from my work this beautiful quality of undesignedness i don't know what you even wait what are some of your favorites like do you like the levi's tag oh yeah yeah yeah it goes back 115, 120 years. Love that, right? I just like things that are iconic and didn't get fucked with, right? What was the first one when you were a kid where you were like, that's fucking... Bicentennial logo. I can remember.

I was telling you last night. I can remember that all the way back because there was this geometry. You have it tattooed on your calf. Yeah. Oh, you should have seen me laying there. Yeah. Not good. Yeah.

You a tattoo guy? No. I got a couple. Yeah. But, you know, it's all very... You have no i got a couple yeah but you know it's all very bicentennial it's very out of well that's my favorite logo you know and i remember you know my dad explained to me you know 10 rings 20 years a ring 200 years worth of 200 i was i was tiny then you see it on the space shuttle and then it goes away and it's gone gone gone

but what i think what fascinated you was there was a whole code to it that had to be demystified. Everything had a reason that behind the design. We used to celebrate America. Yeah. We used to celebrate it. Sure. I mean, 1776. Yeah.

What is it? Carter? You know, they're coming off of Nixon. Everyone's cynical. I was three. I don't know. I don't know. But it was like, here's this 200-year thing.

And it was a big nationwide party. Like, here's this 200-year thing, and it was a big nationwide party. And one designer, Bruce Blackburn, with these Chermayov guys and our guys, whatever, out of New York City, they build this mark that represents America. Like, what do we have when we go across wherever? When you go to Canada, their flag is incredible. I mean, I love our American flag, but this logo signified for me growing up, America, but it was gone, you know, all through the, you know, I don't know. It was after I saw it in the space shuttle. The next time I saw it was on the guitar of one of the Mercury Rev guys,

you know, it was like, what the hell was that? And then, you know, yeah. You remember those guys? Yeah. Fucking, I got all, I got all the records, but I saw it there. I went and started looking because that's when I was really getting into, well, design about 91, 92, and found it. And then found Paul Rand and saw Bass. These are the fucking pillars of logo design. But like Lowry Salt, Bell Telephone, AT&T, the classics from 1960s and shit. And that thing still works in 2015.

So this is, what, 25 years ago, my first sort of inkling of this stuff was like, wow, these are things that you find at garage sales. They're junk. But that logo's great. It still works. See what I'm saying? I do. And then I was being dipped in the wildness of the 90s.

Ray Gunn. When you were growing up, you mean? Yeah, yeah. Like, you know, all the cool things. You know, guys setting fucking, remember Ray Gunn Magazine? Yeah, sure. Damage this and David Carson and stuff, this stuff. Was that Gary Panther?

I don't know. No, no. He was an artist. It's a cool name, though, right? He was in the Raw, I think. They used to have a dog named Gary. Right, yeah. You remember that dog named Gary?

No, I meet less and less Garys now. Gary's out. That name's gone its way out, man. Yeah, it didn't hold up like the AT&T logo. I have theories about that shit. Gary, Barry, Larry. These names just kind of make you shudder. Sure.

Harry. I don't think there's a lot of Jims around anymore. There's not a lot of Jims. Yeah, it's just like... I just met a kid named Frank on my tour. Good. Thank God there's a few Franks. Frank, he was about 25 years old.

Like, now everyone's named cute names. Yeah, Jesse. Ethan, smart names. And other, like, Buffalo, maybe. Twig and shit. Yeah, yeah. All right, so young Aaron James Draplin is starting to realize, like,

these logos represent things that are bigger than us. There's almost a mystical, spiritual element to them. Well think what i come on no no no no was that it was corporate and there's a big word because remember you know in america though that represents spiritual mystical i sure fucking hate well there you know in those 90s where you know you have a nirvana come and just shake everything. Yeah. That's the year I got out of high school. So that's starting that fall. I'm starting college.

Yeah. Nevermind hits. So what did we have just a year before that? Hair metal. Yeah. Right? Right. And we didn't have that.

We were raised on punk rock. You were. Oh, yeah. You know, my mom raised us on, well, Joni Mitchell's, Neil Young's. But she had the MC5 record with the motherfucker on the inside. With no irony to it. She got it when it came out. My mom went and saw the Stooges. She went and saw the MC5, Bobby Seeger.

This is what we come from. You grew up in Detroit. I was born in Detroit. But she grew up in Detroit. Yeah, Mom and Dad were Detroit kids. Mom was Livonia, and and dad was was uh you know detroit yeah you're born and my polish grandmother you know it's just these are incredible people my my irish grandmother you know out in uh wixom and all this bullshit you know away from detroit

and then my my grandma who was one of the last holdouts in her little neighborhood this whole polish lady and uh we my dad would go down every other week so he would he would be down there for a week and work and then we would go down for summers so we spent a lot of time oh yeah come on put a hurt on that polish kitchen down in hamtramck sure yeah that's where that's what you brought up on i'm i'm half polish it's debatable what parts sure but half and uh uh you know we had that you know i don't know i don't know it's like uh i have a weird talk about mysticism like i have a weird quality about detroit because that's where i'm from you know going back and born there well yeah you know but it's like

then four years old we go up to northern michigan middle of nowhere because mom dad couldn't take it because it was rough you know my mom my dad my dad would tell stories about painting and looking across the city and seeing the smoke burning from the riots that's what they grew up around that's four miles or five miles down woodward or whatever right yeah you know imagine growing up and having that shit going down just a couple miles away right you know these weird dividing lines they got out of there so we were four we moved to northern michigan so i grew up in a town where i had 30 kids in my class. Small. Tiny.

But your mom had Neil Young. Yeah. MC5. So the MC5 blew your five-year-old mind, six-year-old mind. No, no, no. I wouldn't have heard that. I would have been hearing a lot of Jackson Brown and shit during those years. But the idea that I would...

I heard it when I was about 15 because I found punk rock. And she went and dug this thing out and she explained to me, there's this motherfucker on the inside, you know? Yeah. So, you know, I just have to say it,

you know, my parents are cool. I had cool, listen, I listened to your shit. Yeah. Last summer, you know, after we lost Pops,

you know, and listened to you, we were driving home. Yeah. I lost my shit. Listen, you lose your shit with your dad. I know that people come up to you and tell you this stuff.

So I'm, I'm kind of freaking out right now because that's how I know you. Yeah. These weird connections, you know? And I, you know, I talk about my dad, I kind of lose it, but I'm not going to, I'm going to be a fucking professional for this, but I was raised, we didn't have any beefs, you know? Yeah. Like maybe we used to fight.

He used to want me to to mow the fucking lawn diagonally yeah and then you do the other way like tiger stadium we'd fight over that shit not horizontal i wasn't gonna do it like that not horizontal that's that's the height of our brawls so i had this mom and dad who were liberal and cool and it was never ever about don't drink and don't fight and don't whatever yeah they told us they guided us yeah but you know i'm a teetotaler yeah to this day pretty much every now and again i lose my shit right but i was i was raised around that you know they were cool you know everything that we had we sort of uh you know my dad would find like all the molding in our house yeah he dug that shit out of like old crack houses in detroit and stuff that's what i was raised around seeing piece by

piece because i never really knew that they didn't have a lot. There's some rough winters there. Yeah. I just never really knew because we had, you know, love and Legos. Yeah. Art shit and mom and dad around. What'd your mom do? Raised us.

Uh-huh. But she would, for a couple years there, she was doing some sort of like, I mean, she raised us. You know? It was in a small town. You know, me and my sister. But no painters or painters or no you know a little bit of basket weaving oh yeah but creative yeah these are creative people right and then also um you know like like collectors so all this you know we had all this cool stuff like they had an eye for these things before us that's what our house was outfitted with, old stained glass and all sorts of little figurines and shit that's, you know, what, 30, 40 years later is worth a lot of cash.

And my parents, that's what they did for fun before us. See, they waited to have us until they were 30. That was kind of unheard of back then. You know, you're supposed to be 20 when you have a kid, right? Back in 1970 or whatever. But they waited. And then my dad used to get himself fired from his steel worker job so he can go skiing in Vail

Jim Drappin my dad claimed that for one quarter he could get his arm up in the fucking vending machine and empty the whole goddamn thing and feed all the dudes

right until he got his arm caught one time that was one of his great stories so I was raised around this like fight for the little guy

before you take the big hook deal with all the little hooks don't buy anything you can't afford this kind of shit yeah that's what we were raised around you know so i had great examples of that stuff and then my dad going ape shit you know and just kind of going let's just get one you want it let's buy it don't tell your mom skateboard decks records things yeah and then i'm you know with my mom great memories i'm you know making the book and i i'm finding little things that i have and i found a receipt for my mom taking me to this little town and buying me pads for my bmx bike right

i remember this i was like eight or nine i'll never get rid of that so there's that nostalgic or do i even need that paper fuck it i got room yeah i'm gonna keep it you know what i mean i just found it why do i even have that yeah so we were because now when we lost dad yeah you know my dad used to call me he'd say aaron i'm in the garage guess what i finally said what's that dad he'd say i found a wall a wall yeah i get it you're the guy who writes comedy it's fucking funny he found a. So we're tearing apart my dad's empire, you know, and one by one, all these pieces. There's stuff that has value. There's things that he just, he collected toucans.

What do you call them? Like a parrot? Yeah. You know, or something. He just liked stuffed parrots. Yeah. He had 40 of the fucking things. But he just loved ephemera and things and bric-a-brac.

So you see how I, you know, this is where I come from. Remember how some dads were like, hmm. Is that a Deluxe? No, no, no. That's a new bass amp, a new Fender bass amp. Okay. I saw Meat Puppets play last summer, and that's what he was playing. You got one.

I got one. I couldn't take it. So, you know, I made it, man. I can buy what I want when I want. It's a new tweed, new tweed. Yeah. All right, so your dad, so this is how this influenced your life? Yeah, yeah,'t take it. So, you know, I made it, man. I can buy what I want. It's a new tweed, new tweed. Yeah. All right, so your dad, so this is how this influenced your life?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, just this idea of like having an appreciation for all the little tiny stuff. Now we can't get rid of it because we have this big house full of it. Yeah. You know, when someone goes, when someone goes, you know.

Your dad's stuff. Yeah, yeah. My mom. See, this is a very interesting thing growing up. Yeah. That, you know, that which comes from the sea eventually goes back to it, right? So my dad would be smuggling shit in, and then my mom would just go cherry pick shit every week and go take it back. And here's this idea of my dad at some junk store.

He had a whole network in northern Michigan. He had some junk store going, this is pretty cool. He already bought it, and she gave it back, and it's just back in the cycle. That must have happened. This is what we grew up around. So, you know. So when does design start to happen? So, I mean, you sound like you were involved in the BMX thing and skateboarding.

You did pools and stuff? No, no, no, no, no. That's a little bit before us. You know, this is out in front of our house in a little shitty, you know. But you weren't like that guy. No, no, no, no. Skating the bowls. No, no, no.

I did a couple out west when I was of age when I finally got out there. But, you know, you're't like that guy no no no no no no no we i i did a couple out west when i was of age when i finally got out there but you know you're in the middle of nowhere yeah and you're seeing the magazines from all these cool californias and that shit's on your wall yeah and you start thinking and saving yeah and getting the hell out like you know right out of high school i was 17 i got out a little early you know so i'm a senior whatever i went through the whole deal but i'm an october kid so i was a little young for it and i got out and i started college i did two years to placate my mom and dad because i'm one of the first draplins who actually went to school you know i remember just them saying go this is community college just go because we

didn't get a chance to so i did all my buddies were moving out west and i had to do what snowboard okay i didn't because there's no mountains you know so we're going to go out there to be So I did. All my buddies were moving out west. And I had the itch. To do what? Snowboard. Okay. Because there's no mountains. So we're going to go out there to be skateboarders and snowboarders and animals. Yeah. That was the future. Yeah. Well, this is what we did growing up on really limited sort of conditions and height and whatever.

Tiny little mole hills. It's Michigan. You know how you make a hill in Michigan? You dig a hole and then you put it like this and that makes a nice hill. Right? I hills. It's Michigan. You know how you make a hill in Michigan? You dig a hole, and then you put it like this, and that makes a nice hill, right? I mean, that's Michigan. So we've been watching, we're watching, and then we get the hell out of there.

So I was 19 when I moved out west, and I would have been 93. After college, what did you study at community college? Just a tiny little two-year associate degree. And what? I learned design. I learned how to open the machine, open the programs, play with them, make stuff, draw, paint. Just a nice overview in northern Michigan.

So I got that little bit out of the way. And then I had their blessing. And as soon as I turned 19, two years done, that's when we took off. We saved all our money washing dishes. Who's we? Me and my buddies. Yeah. Bri and Derek and Chad and Johnny.

About six, seven of us. All with Eric Campbell. We all went out west together. Yeah. we me and my buddies yeah bry and derek and chad and johnny about six seven of us all eric campbell we all went out west together yeah you know my my crowning achievement from my youth is leaving sucked tears it's freaky but the moment you get away from your mom and dad your life explodes you know and you go all the way out west all the way to oregon we kind of we kind of we kind of you know jumped over leapffrogged over fucking Colorado because all of our buddies were already there. Because, you know, this shit shifts.

You know, one year it's Jackson Hole where all the kids are going. For snowboarding. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you have to ski and all this kind of bullshit. Skiing sucks. I know you do a little skiing. There's still time for you. I tried snowboarding.

It's hard to... Oh, come on, man. We invented it. Yeah. I'm so proud of that. You that you invented it well we just got fucked with because what was cool at the time assholes testing each other and like getting times and medals and shit and like expensive ski gear yeah and suddenly see this is what skateboarding snowboarding taught me like it was okay to be with your buddies yeah and to be big or weird or buddies with drug problems, buddies. But it also got me into punk rock and art and thinking for yourself.

That fucking rescued me because in my small town. And that comes from snowboarding. It just came from, yeah, it just came from sort of being kind of punk rock. Yeah, fuck the old paradigm. Well, just in that small town, if you're not in sports, you're not nothing. I tried. Yeah. But fuck all that.

It took a lot of guts to say no to it yeah because i had guys messing with me i had a big dead kenny's in the back of my cut off jean jacket yeah because i mean i did that and i got messed with for it yeah but it teaches you to be your own person so y'all so thankful for that sure that's where i discovered indie rock yeah sabados and shit right 92 right red house painters i brought my 20 best records today i'm gonna pull them out you brought them with you i don't even know if i want you even touching them i won't touch them you can hold them up mint mint a little bit of ring wear in there sure this is okay kill creek proving winner cruel don't even know what that record is okay you know okay this got me through

a whole summer up in alaska this one kill. Kill Creek. Okay, this is a very rare record. Okay. Sticky fingers. My favorite Stones record. Just because. Okay, my favorite Bob Seger record, Brand New Morning. This is the one that he says is always buried in people's backyards because you can't fucking find it. I don't know this record. This is when he was on Capitol.

This is before he exploded. See, it's not cool to like Bob Seger where I'm from, right? Michigan. He doesn't come from there, though. Right. But then you realize your uncle's around to something, man. It's Bob because bob seeker you can't find that i've never seen that record very hard to find okay paw drag line as grunge was exploding this was they were putting their big money on this one this is a great fucking i've never seen it before my life okay you're not even allowed to

touch this don't even like even fucking looking at it. It's still sealed. It's mint. O-O-P. The classic Flamin' Lips fucking transmissions from the satellite heart. Yeah. I don't even like, don't even look at it. God damn it. Okay, fine. Here is that MC5. I got that one. A couple of those.

Okay, okay. Sure. It's got the motherfucker on the inside. Just so you know, for the listeners here, my very, very famous, favorite, favorite, favorite, Red House Painters record, the Jesus Lizard. You didn't get into the Jesus. No, dude. I'm going to make you a list while you're here. I'm going to rescue you. I should go through all your records and just edit out the shit. No, it's all right. I'm Painters record. The Jesus Lizard. You didn't get into the Jesus Lizard. No, dude. I'm going to make you a list while you're here.

I'm going to rescue you. I should go through all your records and just edit out the shit. I'm taking it in. Every time that you have someone on talking about vinyl, I always want to hear, what are their favorite records, man? What's their favorite shit? But you guys are talking about everything else. I'll make note of that, Aaron.

I'll make note of that. All right. All right. Thank you for the note. But all right. So, okay. So you go out. out you got your two years of design and you're gonna snowboard and skateboard your way to freedom yeah yeah and uh colorado was

done so you end up in portland all the way to oregon yeah bend oregon about three hours from here right and that first day you're there you know it's a hill but it's always gonna open up in two two months but we have all our cash yeah Yeah. We locked down a place, you know, and then that first night we went up to Portland. Now listen, growing up in Detroit, you get your car stolen, right? Right. It's like dangerous and shit. Or there's this sort of like shit hanging over you from like your uncles.

Be careful where you're going downtown or whatever, right? So we'd go see all these, you know, bands growing up, and that was kind of sketchy. Right. You come to Portland, you can park. You can walk. You can walk across town. You can hang out.

The first night we get here, we see this band called Paw. It's an old band from Kansas, right? And we'd listen to their record all the way across the nation, okay? Now, it could have been any other record, but that first night we come to Portland, it was just like, fuck, man, my life is starting. Two months from now, we're going to be up one of the greatest mountains in the world, Mount Bachelor. You know, being animals, being with my buddies. We're young.

We're wild. And Portland is like, I don't know. It's like approachable. So we start coming up here every other weekend to see bands and stuff at La Luna. So that would have been 93, the fall of 93. And then as soon as the snow hit, you know, we were up there every single day being snowboarders. You know? Yeah. It was every single day being snowboarders. You know, it was incredible. And you get this orbit, you know, and you're at the height of sort of your physicality too.

You're jumping off pretty big shit because what we were doing back home was just smaller. Right. And you get out west and I had buddies who were becoming pros. I was never really concerned about any of that. I just got to hang with those guys. Yeah. And we realized all of our dreams over the course of about five winters. But I worked at a snowboard camp up here.

One summer, I was the only kid that was like a teetotaler. So I drove the hospital van. Kids would fuck themselves up, and I'd drive them down to Portland. I'd drop them off at this little urgent care. I'd go to the record store. Because that's all. So I started doing that. I started going to Alaska to wash dishes.

What were you doing for a job? Well, for those first couple years, I had pizza jobs. Yeah. And then I was doing freelance art. So it was all analog. I was painting, drawing stuff, making logos, snowboard graphics for like local, local, small, small change things. And bend. But really whatever it took.

But then I started going to Alaska because I needed needed a computer so that was the summer of 96 i go up there and i wash dishes for like 100 hours a week where for five months anchorage yeah sightseeing train a couple couple years in anchorage i spent really sure my dad my dad was stationed up there so small yeah 69 through 71 70 71 what an incredible place i don't have my my recollections are limited to tone right and a few weird in you know moments well i mean i but i love it it planted a seed in me like i'm still compelled by the pacific northwest because of the expanse my first summer up there listen i wasn't you know listen there's nothing worse than happy hikers okay you know, listen, there's nothing worse than happy hikers.

Okay, you know what I'm talking about. Nalgene bottles, like those stupid pants that you zip down to shorts and all this kind of shit. There was one little record store in town that was my only splurge.

That summer I saved 10 grand. In Anchorage. Yeah, that's how I got a computer, right? That's how I got access to design. Yeah. But you're up there

and everyone's partying down and going apeshit. And, you know, it just wasn't very, like, I remember one of the guys, one of the cooks saying, I know you want to go home. You're excited to go start your fall. You know, get my computer at the end of the summer. Right, right. He said, but just so you know, Alaska's in you now.

It was real poetic. And I kind of freaked out. I'm like, oh, man, this is just a summer job. Because that's really all it was. Yeah. But I got to tell you, man, I got the itch next spring just to be around that place and mainly because it didn't get hot it was beautiful there's a good record store and i worked a ton you know so that started basically being my way to pay for college pay off credit cards get ready for you know snowboard passes whatever to come back for you know and then when

i got myself in the school in minneapolis that's how i kind of got myself in was with that cash so you're doing some local illustrating you're making a little money what they pay you for the art yeah and they what it goes on the sign or it goes on an ad i was i was lettering futon covers you know i was painting futon covers for a local place there i was lettering a chalkboard i would go and they give me a menu and i could you know i was painting futon covers for a local place there i was lettering a chalkboard i would go and they give me a menu and i could you know put their shit daily once a week and i'd take as much bread as i wanted back to the house and we'd live off this shit me and all my guys right you know right and i made i mean you don't need a lot i was there was six of us in a house or something

and your share is 117 dollars a month so you can make that in a cup whatever you know and you know you got to pass up at the hill. So really, what do you need? We hitchhike up to the hill. You know, we're all sort of eating communally, you know, or whatever. It was just, I don't know, five winners that were really, really cool. Well, at what point did you think like, well, maybe I need to make a life for myself? Well, I think it was just seeing other guys do it, make these leaps, other guys that were

allowed to go to school and get big degrees and stuff. Like who? Well, guys that would come up and work for snowboard companies. We started going to all these big trade shows. Right. So you make this leap. Just to see the shit. Well, you get to see the shit and see all the pros.

Yeah. And then you also realize how small it is. Right. The moment that you find out how small your favorite band is or the politic, you grow up. And I don't even want to know anymore because at 41 years old, it hurts to hear these things. So we'd go down and we'd see all the companies. I was 19, 20 years old. Talk about pool skating.

You ever heard of the nude bowl out in California? No. Okay, well, this is one of the classics. Skateboarders listening to this shit would understand. And listen, I caught one grind that day in the nude bowl. Scared the shit out of me. This is the real deal. What does it mean, caught a grind?

You just caught it. I just went up, I was just carving, and come down, right? And as a man of size, I was with guys that knew what the fuck they were doing. But I caught one grind in the nude bowl, and that's where I was like, I've reached my sort of the pinnacle of doing this stuff. I mean, I grew up doing it. But until you slam in a ditch in Las Vegas going fast in these little banks, my elbow still hurts to this day. That's where you sort of realize I was kind of done.

I was about 97. So it was basically, it wasn't really fun to snowboard anymore. Why? Well well because it just became an orbit yeah i learned the hill right and i saw buddies becoming professionals great yeah but i was drawing i had my computer from alaska and i'm working but in that small town you're seeing there's like a couple guys that have it yeah i don't want to go and like you know fight those guys you know i mean like you know being a pecking order i knew i was at the very very bottom they let you know right so i just kind of tried to go a little bit

above it went to a couple more summers in alaska a couple more winners kept laid low i worked a ton on my own it was all just for my buddies you know for you know freelance fun lance just really just learning yeah right but i i started looking we doing posters? Just for a couple buddies. Yeah. No, I just didn't know bands. Right. We'd come up and see all the shit here in Portland. Right. You know, now we'd come up here, and groups of guys would go see some goddamn fucking offspring or something.

Yeah. I'd be going to see the Jesus Lizard. Right. You know, I mean, the good stuff. Yeah. I'm so thankful, man, because you got to make a choice. Yeah. You know, are we going to see goddamn Girls Against Boys?

We are. We're going to see them at a crusty little place, or are we going to see the Lemonheads? I kind of saw that saw that stuff too but we knew how to find the weird shit right yeah and portland offered it so uh i'm told you got to go to school so i go back to the midwest because i gotta i gotta get i gotta get out of the west because you love the midwest i love it yeah but i didn't i loved leaving it right and you go back there and you see all this shit going on and i went to little schools and and so i didn't i loved leaving it right and you go back there and you see all this shit going on and i went to little schools and and so i didn't know what i had i had a portfolio but it was all just from a very like organic just ship made i made shit for my buddies yeah so i show all this work

and i'm thinking they're gonna say get the hell out of here and the first school said we can't have you here because we want you to go up the food chain a little bit so i just was like so then i went to some other school and i made my way up to this incredible school in minneapolis and they were the nicest people and minneapolis was the home of the replacements right and the hoosker do's yeah and then chuck anderson's you know charles spence my favorite graphic designer of all time from the csa empire charles spencer anderson what's his thing it's big archive incredible detail my dad could enjoy their work you know the french paper company was one of those out of niles michigan six generations of paper french paper company yeah incredible people niles michigan

uh what was their logos it's so i mean there's so much i'm not gonna show you books about books but what chuck did was he would go find all that dead like sort of like um advertising art and stuff and we clean that stuff up yeah and rescue it and you know then you could go buy it from an archive so someone could buy that old stock stuff because some old guy would die and then you know his work would die with it like what do you how do you use it what do you mean what are you rescuing so he would rescue sort of like like something you might find on like a matchbook cover

or something. So then Chuck would go hunt down the old illustrator and find a wealth of this stuff, buy the collection, clean it all up. Clean it up how?

Computers and stuff. Scan it, clean it, but put it into a nice little book. I could show you the books. I got the whole mess. As a resource? Yeah.

Okay. So I'm seeing this guy. Now what was cool in 1995 96 97 it was all that skittery scratchery sort of sorry about the train it's okay man okay uh all that you know post post post-modern very highfalutin graphic design yeah i was trying to emulate it too until i found these guys in minneapolis that were like i don't know it was sort of like like i said my dad could enjoy it i could look at it yeah because it looked like sometimes it looked just like something that you found out of an old popular mechanic sure

like your poster love the poster because that was just meant to be just sort of an homage to that you find in a dumpster that's it there's no design it's just meant to be stupid and then make funny copy for it so that's what these guys did and i discovered these guys at a delaware called house industries that you might might be familiar with those guys you should be house industries but they did all sorts of typefaces but what they did house industries and chuck did for me they made design look fun yeah right right and somehow those guys made a living all these 20 years later i've been able to meet them and shit. Chuck's a bit of a mentor.

I know the guys at the house. We fuck with each other on Twitters and things. I send them stuff. They send me stuff. And I went and knocked on the door because I was doing fall tours just by myself, driving around. Because, see, I'd go home. I was in a minivan road tripping back and forth.

Is that after college? After minivan? Just a couple times a year. I'd drive back and forth is after college after many all just every couple times a year and i drive back and forth and i go junk but then when i leave the west i went and hit like i went to delaware i've never been to delaware and i knocked on the doors of house industries and i have i have them built up in my mind there's this big fucking thing sure and the guy answers the door and he's kind of surprised and we're still buddies buddies to this day. They let me in. But see. Well, what was it like?

Was it disappointing? Were you surprised? No, it was like six or seven guys. But it was the best work in the world. It was the power of design. Right. Right. What I knew of it as a fan attracted me all the way to this little place in Delaware.

Right. And then they were cool on top of that. Okay. Yeah. Because listen, I'm not going to name any fucking names. But I did that with other guys I was into and they weren't cool right does that make sense yeah yeah so when you start to stack up the dicks from the good guys there was a certain design sense to the good guys yeah and that's what really changed me yeah and because it wasn't about who was the most fashionable

it was about the guys that were it wasn't necessarily just about being fun it was just there was a certain charm uh- charm and they still did the job you know and you like the work I gotta assume there's not a lot of kids that show up going like I love you guys

well they freaked out because it's somewhere in their fucking you know some of the materials that said show up so I did you know

and that's what happens to me now man oh they come yeah yeah yeah and I make sure I'm sure it happens to you right you know yeah

they come to my house axe murderers or whatever it's hard to tell sometimes. But we're okay. I've had a couple guys come in here that were a little off. But I was real gentle and just had to kind of say, hey, you've got to go, man. That scared me too. Yeah.

Because those guys let me in, and I try to make the same thing now. But you felt that they were dangerous or just a little too much? Those guys that came to my shop here, they were just a little off. Yeah. You could tell them it's time to go. What are they looking for? Why are they coming? Well, they're fans for my website or whatever or the way I write or the way I talk or the way that I would write them back.

I've written all the kids back, man. Man, it happens. I know people always say there's no time for that shit. Right. But I made the time all these years. Okay. So you go to the college in Minneapolis. Yeah. And now you college in Minneapolis. Yeah.

And now, you know, you got more confidence. Yeah. You find maybe you got a little style happening of your own. Yeah, yeah. And there's also a reaction against what was cool at the time, too. Yeah. See, I go back to Minneapolis, and it was a lot. Talk about style.

Man, kids were getting jobs with, I mean, dripping whatever the latest bullshit was. Yeah. But I wasn't really into that skittery, scratchy. Remember the movie Seven? Yeah. And the start of the movie, it's like, whatever. That's what was in hot fashion. Right, right, right.

Not your thing. Not your thing. Well, they were learning how to do it. I couldn't learn how to do it. I liked the grid. I liked logos. I liked old maps. Yeah.

That still worked. I liked things that worked 40 years ago and still worked. And that might be the roll of toilet paper. So see, you've got to tell you what diameter it is and how many more rolls are left. That's called being a tradesman, right? Right. So I wasn't trying to go be the hottest shit in town. I wanted to get a job.

I got made fun of by a teacher. At Minneapolis? Yeah, when we were doing one of your reviews and it was like, well, what do you want to do with what you got going? And I said, I want to go make a living. And that wasn't a big enough answer. And it was total bullshit. I was scared. I had loans.

I had things. I had stuff. I paid for myself to go. I got a big scholarship somehow from these guys, which was incredible. But it was very pragmatic. I'm learning a skill set and I'm going to go get a job wherever i land i'm gonna be good with it because it beats fucking washing dishes in alaska right right that's not what they train you for they train you to go to the everyone's you know measuring dicks trying to get

to the coolest place in town which was called the walker art center which is incredible i got to do my my talk at the walker art center right That's the coolest thing in all of Minnesota. But one or two kids got to go there, you know, and work and get the big job. 98 or 99 of the 100, they went and had jobs at 3M and Cabela's and just regular things. And now? Whatever you want to get, just regular jobs. I was okay with that. You like the 3M logo?

Oh, yeah. It's a classic. I mean, I got made fun of that. I got made fun of for like the 3M logo? Oh yeah It's a classic I mean I got I got made fun of that I got made fun of for that shit Yeah You know Cause it wasn't You're supposed to go work in LA

Or New York Be part of the What's happening now I was just I was excited to stay in Minneapolis And then I threw it all away And went to fucking Southern California Well how'd that go?

You were going for a job? Yeah Snowboarding magazine You got hired I got hired To do what? A bunch of guys i met from camp yeah summer 95 yeah this is about 2000 right getting done with school and i got courted to go

have like a real job and then and then and then i get this little hook oh fuck it san clemente orange county's yeah worse sure but it was the mag i read growing up and i couldn't say no so i've got i took this job i go all the way down to california throw my life away in the midwest and i'm immersed back in snowboarding right what are you doing what's your job art director for a snowboard magazine laying out magazines yeah you know so i got a stack over there about 25 mags from that two years i was there and i got to work with all my buddies at snowboarding it was you get there and it's supposed to be this big professional job but you realize it's just seven or eight of us, like a group, like a little gang. Because in that hierarchy of even the building we're in, surfing's the hot shit.

I don't step in the ocean. I'm from Lake Michigan. I don't do very well on a beach. They're the cool guys, and we're the scumbags, snowboarders. So there's like a chip on your shoulder. And you get to come in, and you learn how to make a magazine which is about a month long did you learn how to do that you didn't have any idea well i had a little bit of idea like just sort of publication design but then you get there and it's page by page so i learned how to

churn out a lot of stuff and fast and be efficient work well with all my buddies still be the dark cloud that i was and you know uh you know constantly challenging myself or freaking out or not liking living in california man i tried to go to la and go see that shit i went saw well saw mercury rev one time i'm gonna see something you know mascus all these years i've been a dinosaur yeah yeah i remember one time leaving fucking orange county and you know five and you try to get up to what trocadero or something whatever yeah troubadour on sunset four hours yeah of bullshit four hours to get up there 80 miles because there's an accident there's something you got to get rerouted that's where i just knew this isn't i don't care what this what what what uh riches are here no that's what i'll do it to you it's

the same with me it's like this is never gonna never going to end. It broke my heart. The traffic. I just didn't get to see my band, you know, Maskus or whatever, you know, whatever it was. Because of bullshit. Because it was just like fast and faster and fastest. And everyone's like, there's a hierarchy. Who's the good looking ones? I'm with a bunch of surfers, man. I get that, but you didn't get to see your band because there was a traffic problem.

I know, but what I'm getting at is you get this awesome job with a great group of guys, and then you're in a place where it's 90 fucking degrees every day, and I'm near tears pulling up to my job every morning because it was just like, I want to be back in Minneapolis where it was gritty. But I did the mag, but you get down there, and as a Midwesterner, I didn't quit the job. I got offered a job within two weeks at another place. Didn't take it. Did my two-year stint with my guys, and then I got rescued back to Portland.

But see, that's my first job job. And it was like I was an art director for a snowboard mag. And we got to see the mag in supermarkets in my hometown. And you did it. I did it. One of my greatest stories. I just went home for the summer yeah a couple weeks you know i got picked on as a kid who right yeah i remember one of the guys that got one on me you know he got he was good looking he had hair on his back i remember that yeah i was i was young i was 12 when i started high school or whatever i was 13 and he he got a couple on me. I mean, one time,

I went back for my 10-year anniversary. Yeah. Reunion? Yeah, reunion. Yeah. And, you know, I got to bring back a whole pallet of magazines.

So I go to somewhere, I don't know, I went to some sporting goods store to get something. And I'm going through the line and he's the guy ringing up. Now, listen, I have nothing against guys

in sporting goods stores for a living. Right. But I look and I go, well, hey, and he's the guy ringing up. Now, listen, I have nothing against guys in sporting goods stores for a living. Right. But I look, and I go, well, hey, what's going on? He's, well, look at you. You know, it's something to me. Yeah. Now, fine. And he goes, well, what are you doing?

And I go, there's my mag in a rack. I go, I'm the art director of a snowboarding mag. I just fucking walked out. Anyway, fuck that guy, but I got to say that. You know what I mean? Yeah. And that was just, like, poignant because I went out. I had lived out west.

I snowboarded with my buddies. And then I did it pretty gross along the way. Got my school done. It was that moment where I realized I kind of did it. Yeah. And I was making $37,000 a year and not having a cent left over. Yeah. But still, I could make it down to California.

Yeah. Pay my rent and shit. That's a good feeling to pursue something that you love and you believe in. And then you nail it. And then you got something to show for yourself. You just don't really know if you're ever even going to make it. And you're okay with that. Right.

Somewhere in Alaska, Washington, I could always go back to that. Sure. You could go back now probably. I would love to go up there just to quit. I have these fantasies about it. Just to fucking leave them high and dry, because I wanted to quit every day, Mark. Every day. In the middle of it? Yeah, man, in the middle of a run. Yeah. You fucking stop the train,

and you're like, oh, and we're like, the guy died. That McCandless guy died out in the woods, you know, in the wild or whatever, you know, that kind of shit. We used to drive by that, like, two or three miles. And I always had these fantasies, like, just fucking stop the train. You have to stop to let trains pass, and I'd be like, two or three miles. And I always had these fantasies, like, just fucking stop the train. You have to stop to let trains pass. And I'd be, like, grabbing my Walkman.

I'm just going to fucking hike out to the Fairbanks Highway or whatever, you know. That was every meal shift because it just was hard to be up to. Where were you doing this dishwashing? On a train. I was on a train washing dishes. We'd pick up all these old people, and they would, you know, on these big boats, Princess Tours, on the big cruise ships, Love yeah we get them on the love train we pick them up five in the fucking morning we feed them a couple meals and we work our way up to fairbanks yeah i'd work what 16 hours that day anything past eight hours is overtime right so you're making good money

and then everyone's stealing and shit it was real real fun, you know? And you come back the next day. So that's two days, 32 hours or something. And man, you got a whole work, you know, four days worth in those two days, take a day off,

do it again. Now I would work extra shifts. I'd work six of eight days, you know, seven of eight days. And I did that for five, fucking five or four summers. So you come up here to Portland after you go back home victoriously

and teach that guy at the sporting group for a lesson. And what brought you back up here? He was a dick. Well, I got a job. Now, I was telling my buddy John over here. He actually goes by Goo. But Goo called me and said, hey, we're called Cinco Design. We're looking for guys.

You're in the industry of snowboarding. Do you know someone who would want to come up to Portland? Do you know a young kid? And I said, fucking me get me out of here so they flew me up yeah i got to see portland yeah i don't care i didn't care you know how much money it was just like i got back to portland yeah and they were it was called single designs to this day there was about 16 when i went there yeah there's probably 70 people there now. It's an incredible place in town. But, you know, you get there.

I'm instantly, you know, I get into this place, I instantly have to get on the plane to go back to California. You know, like a couple weeks later. You know,

and it was like, fuck. We worked for Nixon Watches. So, you know, you ever heard of Nixon Watches? No. Okay, well, this is the...

Oh, I know. Yeah, I remember. Yeah, this is out in Encinitas. Yeah. So, this little brand... They were an account. Yeah. Yeah. So, you, this is the... Oh, I remember. Yeah, I remember. Yeah, this is Encinitas. Yeah. So this little brand... They were an account. Yeah. Yeah.

So you got this Cinco Design, and you go in, and they are inventing these little brands. Gravis Shoes, Nixon Watches. These guys are coming up with these great ideas and saying, go. They make the logo. They make the whole look. We're making shoe boxes. We're making watches. So I got to work on the Nixon account right away.

I mean, this is one of the cool today you know still is one of the greatest action sport brands they're way bigger than that now yeah but back then they they were the pinnacle and i get to work for the place that makes the stuff it was incredible you know but you know i did that two years and i also got to see you know like meetings about meetings and emails about emails. We played ping pong all day and shit, and it freaked me out. But you did some work that you're proud of. I worked my ass off there.

I'd stay late. Were you getting recognized for your work? Not really. It was never really about. No, I was making a good living. I was making great money there. I think I made $65,000, man. That was a lot for

i was 30 you know and i had my school out of the way and i had already snowboarded so i had some credibility to that shit i'd lived it you know because you meet some rat fuck kid and you're like he's gonna size me up for being big or being out of it and i'll say i lived in the mountains for five years and i did that shit and then they'll be like whoa you know whatever what's the what's the alliance between like what you do and the advertising industry? It's a little bit different deal. Because they come to you with, I wouldn't know,

man. I've been so lucky. My gross little path, we worked on small brands. But we'd make advertisements. But that's a little bit different. So that means that sometimes you're working for a company and you might have to deal with the advertising company they hire. Sure, sure, sure. I mean, there's all kinds of elements.

Right, right. But for the most part, here's this job making a good living working with your friends. But, you know, that kid gives you the job from, you know, Burton Snowboards or whatever the hell we're working for. Sure. It's still cool stuff. Now, okay, so you hit the wall after two years? Two years. And what did you do?

I quit. To do what? Get free. Yeah. That's where I got free. That was 2004. And what did you do? I quit. To do what? Get free. Yeah. That's where I got free. That was 2004. And what did you do then? I went out on my own.

I saved a bunch of cash. I bought a little house. I tricked out my basement. I had two little clients that were starting. Coal Headwear and Union Binding Company. So these are two little, so snowboard bindings. And then headwear, like hats and beanies and shit. And these are friends that are starting these things out of seattle right i'm gonna do the graphics so here i

am at the single design where i'm watching these guys invent these nixons and stuff and i get to do this very small scale right so that's enough for me to put my month in over there jump out my mom and dad freaked out because i bought a house they're like why are you quitting your job well right yeah because that's just what it's not what you do in the midwest you work forever until you know whatever right till you break so i i jump out you know it's 2004 yeah and uh uh you know start this uh uh draplin design company right whatever that meant i can't even have a i got a business license three years ago that's a little secret for everybody who's listening but i didn't even know you had to have one right i just started working on my own and that first year that started to make money i saved the fuck out of it that

little house i bought took me five and a half years i paid it off with graphic fucking design and working there's been some big ones but there were a lot of crusty ones because see that little union buying company a little coal headwear you get a nice little what retainer yeah the next year you get a little more yeah like five percent how how long is what's the longest you've been with one client 10 years and 10 years union and coal these are my brothers yeah yeah yeah now have you been like uh like i imagine in your industry that it's like any other industry they're they're like recognition and like you know you have these mentors of yours have they sort of like uh have you been like uh aaron draplin's the made guy he's well i think because of the tour you know a bit of an entertainer these days mark uh-huh i have gone fucking everywhere how many shows did you do last

year a lot i did 41 that's great well what do you do out there what are you doing so listen i worked on clients for at least five or six years right when i told you how i moved in here yeah that's when we we kind of we started you know i brought all my clients in here and i mean i go back and look at those folders there's 50 folders a year that means there's 50 different jobs a year right yeah of which two are big retainers a snowboard mag called snowboard mag that my buddies and i started yeah and what you know started to like compete with the old mags we worked for we started that thing here in my fucking basement yeah sold it and shit when we were done with it i mean just basically just to pay everyone back but these are small crusty little brands these are indie bands if you will yeah that that started to become real

you know so i did that for a number of years and then I got my first invite to go and talk. So I'm coasting along. I'm saving money. I'm working on stuff. I can't blur the line between whether or not I even like it because they're my friends, and it's making logos, and it's making good work, and you're getting paid well. Everything was incredible.

And this guy, David Carson, who has a big, big fucking name in graphic design, like has books written about him and shit, he dropped out of a gig, and these guys said, come and tell your story to us. That was 2009. So I did. And I went to Savannah, and I told my story,

and I was scared shitless getting up there, you know, holding the mic and all weird and sweaty and the whole bit. Right. But that's where it started, and they liked to talk then. And we're five years in now, so it's been 192 shows. That's great. I've great gone everywhere and you're talking to design students design students conferences right nerd conferences coders going to big agencies and just kind of riling them up you know and i got you know i've got

some stories i've got some tall tales you know that I call it, tall tales from a large man. Because they look at me as this big animal, and I am, but then there's a couple stories that really freak them out. And I can't talk about them on here because you've got to go see the live show. But it's just kind of like they're expecting action sports things and stuff and all the bullshit I've been talking about for years, and then I hit them with these things and they flip out. So it's meant to be fun but i've gone everywhere talking tell me about you know your dad before he passed and your mom is she uh around yeah my mom's around

oh great i just saw her two weeks ago so was he able to enjoy all this stuff you put he put inside your head yeah yeah see okay i would take so my funny, right? So when we stubbed our toe when we were kids, the first thing he'd say is, should I call a tow truck? Uh-huh. Now listen. Yeah.

I mean, bad jokes. Yeah. But also he was known for putting his hands on some lady and saying, how many more months till the baby's done? And then she wasn't pregnant.

Sure. She was 48 years old and my mom would get all pissed off. But he played Santa Claus for like poor kids. Uh-huh. So he was gregarious and funny as shit. And he got to open up a couple of my shows.

What did you call Dean last night? What did he call it? He's the opener? Yeah, yeah. The feature actor. Okay. My dad was my feature actor. Featuring for you.

And he told jokes. Here's one of his jokes. He said, what's the difference? He goes, this is a joke for, you guys are into color theory and graphic design. And he says, what's the difference between pink and this is a joke for you guys are into color theory and graphic design and he says what's the difference between pink and purple what the grip get it you're the guy who writes jokes the grip if you fucking squeeze that thing it's pink okay okay okay this is in front of 200 people how did they kind of gasped but my dad was telling jokes yeah and he was looking at me i said yeah he wrote his stuff

out because we grew up oh man we have so many jokes i mean you know that's that's what i remember from my dad is like all the bad jokes growing up yeah it's just the idea that my this is what we grew up around and my dad entertaining our whole family us it's very quiet in our house now because my dad you know he just you know i don't know anytime you're working on math you'd say have you learned your gazintas they'd say gazintas you say yeah two gazinta four two times where does he get the shit you know i mean these mean, these are old. They're like, because he's a salesman. And he went to tool shops with tough, Harley-looking guys. Yeah.

In town here, the kids play that kind of thing. Right. And motherfuckers make websites during the day. They got the look. My dad, we were raised around those guys. When you go into a tool shop, you break the ice, and he knew all the jokes. So remember, like, when the shuttle blew up and shit? My dad knew all the Chris McAuliffe.

You know, it's a currency these guys would know. And he would be on kind of stage with these guys. So, you know, that's what I remember. You know, I've got his last joke he told me, the best one. You want it, Aaron? Yeah, go ahead. Fuck it, let's do it. Okay.

He says, hey, Aaron, you hear about the two mountain men walking in the woods? Yeah. And I says, yeah, yeah. He says, hey, man, how you been? The guy goes, oh, I've been hunting, fishing, and trapping. and you hear about the two mountain men walking in the woods yeah this is yeah he says he says hey man how you been the guy goes oh i've been hunting fishing and trapping he says uh he says uh uh hey i'm having a party at my cabin tonight yeah it goes you're having a party your cabin what's going on the guy says oh it's gonna be great there's gonna be dancing there's gonna be fighting sucking eating playing cards guy sounds like a good time.

Who's all going? He goes, oh, it's just me and you. That's my dad's last joke. He told me that the day before he died. Now, I never heard that joke. So to bring him in here, he would dig and he would see all my dead shit, go through my drawers and just say, did you steal this from me? I'd say, yeah.

And we'd have this full circle. He taught me that. He taught me how to clean things up when you're done with it. That's the an yeah. And we'd have this full circle. He taught me that. He taught me how to clean things up when you're done with it. That's the anvil. You pound out all the metal pieces. All these little things. My dad taught me how to change brakes and change my oil and stuff that dads teach kids. If I need it, I've got a Volvo now.

It's beautiful. I don't need to have to even do that shit anymore. But that's what he was from. But more importantly, he just taught us how to laugh sounds a little kind of almost kind of corny but it's like i'm so thankful that my dad when buddies would come over my dad would like pull him aside and like how you doing like hug him you want a beer you want a sandwich you know whatever my dad had a my dad had a frit a fridge with 100 beers in it because you never knew when Wisconsin was going to invade. Pizza, you never know.

100 beers. And he wasn't a big drinker. Right. But it's like those little things. It's funny. Yeah. You know, and like some of the dads I go meet, you know, they'd be like pissed off that you parked in their driveway. Your dad just had a good spirit.

I had them for 40 years. So, you know, I was afraid that you'd be like, go look at my shit and say, what about your dad? But, man, I had them for 40 years. And, you know, I was all afraid that you'd be like, go look at my shit and say, what about your dad? But, man, I had them for 40 years. And, man, we are saving so much on groceries. So things are good, man. Oh, good. You know, I mean, what do you do after someone dies? Where does he go?

Is he just on the other plane or, you know, or just on the other, what, planetary, you know, like cosmic? I, after my dad died, I don't really care what any of the superstitions are i started to go read about the cosmos because if you go in one direction forever that's real you know i liked how crazy you go on the thing and you talk about what you're into and how weird you are and all the neurotic this shit i've had no time for that because i've just been out 14 rig of miles away, wondering, where's my dad? Did he go to a higher plane? When you died, does he go?

Because we were on a plane when he died. We were there on a plane. And he died, and I got to say goodbye to him in front of 350 fucking people. And it was like a Viking kind of thing or something. What do you mean in front of 350 people? He died on a plane. We were flying back from Minneapolis and we get taken off and my dad kind of started to get...

So, just so you know who you're fucking with, I'm a Delta Diamond flyer these days. Yeah. Just so you know. Okay. You a Delta Diamond? No, American Platinum.

Someday you'll get there. Okay. But, I get all these first class upgrades not because of how much I've been going on the gigs and that day, I got an upgrade to first class. So so lee and my mom and my dad are in

the back seats and i get upgraded so so i said dad you're not feeling good go take the front seat and he does you know and the plane takes off and he just kind of you know before it took off he said i'm just not feeling good i'm a little queasy i just want to get back to portland because what it was we were back i was doing my biggest show I've ever done for this AIGA show in Minneapolis. 2,500 people. Like a fucking symphony hall, man. And I did my talk. I had 30 minutes.

I did 45 minutes. Went over. I guess it's called killed. I got a standing O. And my mom and dad, they were in the crowd and they got to see it. So, all right, because they tell you at the moment, they say, you know, when you see the light, we're going to take your picture for the DVD. All right.

So you're supposed to do this. Put your hands together like the girl from Facebook did. You know, these smart people. From my moment, I just went, Dad, I told you. Right? Because I was fucking with my dad. He drove a Ford Tempo station wagon. I showed a picture of him with this piece of shit station wagon,

making fun of him he loved it and the next day he fucking dies right on this plane so we're we're coming back from minneapolis to portland because they were out here visiting us here in portland i'd bring him out every three four months yeah and the plane takes off and he just kind of slumped and my mom was there and he slumped and then they're checking pulses and what do you call stewardesses and the whole deal. This woman freaked out kind of, and they're all medical or whatever, but it's like he died on the plane. They were doing the whole deal, and I was ready to help him get off. He was a big man. I helped him get off the seat onto the ground.

There's all the people behind us praying and shit. I don't really remember all of it, but I got to— Was there a doctor on the plane? Some kind of veterinarian or something. But she knew the basics of the vitals and they were like counting and you know here's the worst moment of your whole life with your dad but it's oddly okay because i had you know what i mean it sucks because i wish my sisters would have been there if that's the way it's got to go we had to call them when we got off. They had to land the plane somewhere in Montana. Because it's an emergency.

And I'm thinking, you know, there's going to be like a fucking ambulance that comes and picks him up. And he's going to be on life support or something. Because they're doing that stuff. He pressed it on his chest. And they got him sort of stabilized. He had a heart attack. Well, he died in the air. And they do that so we don't flip out, I guess.

Right. They land the plane. A fireman came up to me and just said, I'm sorry, son. We lost your dad. And I went, you know, I didn't lose it. I just went and lay with him and kind of said, hey. You know. I got to be with my dad when he fucking died and say goodbye.

And then he dies. And they put him in a fucking ambulance. And you guard him. Because, you know, it with my dad when he fucking died and say goodbye. And then he dies and they put him in a fucking ambulance and you guard him because you're not, it's my dad. He was so fucking cool to Northern Michigan. And there were 500 people at his fucking funeral. Yeah. And Carol from the fucking UPS was there. And she'd say,

your dad would come in every Friday. He'd say, he'd make sure there was a line. He'd fill out the paperwork and he'd say, Carol are there two j's of marijuana that's a joke right and she was crying so they had a good sound send off you had that moment is it awkward but you're beautiful very weird but you know i i talked to him every day people send photos and paintings and things of my dad because i celebrated him on my website yeah i celebrated on my arm that's my dad yeah you know he was incredible my mom lauren draplin is just as incredible in a different quiet way you know my dad he hogged the limelight sure but you

know when your mom when when your dad goes like that it really made me think just how wonderful my mom is sure you know yeah because then you know it's just weird we go home now and it's just it's just real quiet sure my dad always had a tiger game going yeah making soup he would cut each bean twice for two farts for each bean yeah yeah nothing on my comedy podcast i'm trying to talk you know because he was fucking funny yeah well it's beautiful man i mean it sounds like you fully integrated the spirit of your old man with respect and reverence. I got to show him. Sure.

He saw me. The hell of a night that last night. He saw them in these things. He would freak out. My mom would print things off of the websites and see. So for those years, I mean, it's been a year and a half. And I'm not counting days, but I got to share this shit with him. And on top of that, I'd go home.

I've done well. I've saved it all. If he was watching his entire game on a small television, I'd go to Best Buy, buy him a big fucking 58-inch whatever, and freak him out. Because it flipped. My dad took care of us so well, and now I took care of them. I still do. Beautiful. I think it's beautiful the whole thing just really fucking amazing and you're doing amazing

stuff well thanks man appreciate you coming in here i gotta thank lee mccullough okay yes i gotta thank my little sister leah and jacob and oliver i gotta thank my mom lauren draplin yeah i think david and goo and everybody else in my life thank Thank you, guys. Lee McCullough, everybody. Big fan of WTF. Lee McCullough, she's going to go nuts. Okay, the show is done. Good talking to you. Thanks, man.

Compelling guy, that Aaron James Draplin. Cool stuff, too. I love those notebooks. But it was fucking touching, man. He's a good dude, self-made dude, and interesting guy. I hope you dug it. What do we got here at the end? I don't know. Maybe go to WTFpod.com.

Get some JustCoffee.coop. What else? Get on the mailing list. Get the Howl Premium. Check out the shit. Huh? Do what you got to do guitar maybe you want to do a little guitar do i have a pick i've been playing with going straight into these amps this is the uh the black beauty into the little beast it's a 65 champ that's what that is that That's what you're going to hear. Thank you. Boomer lives! We'll be right back. almost, almost anything. Order now. Product availability may vary by region. See app for details. It's a night for the whole family. Be a part of Kids Night when the Toronto Rock take on the Colorado Mammoth at a special

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