Hello! This is a mini interview with my friend Pacolli, she is an artist from Sao Paulo who is about to go on a tour  in Europe and the US showing her work and painting, for more about Pacollis work check humanpyramids.net or  her myspace.

STEPHAN-  Please tell a bit about yourself, were did you grow up, where do you live and what’s your day like, where do you spend most of your time?
PACOLLI- I grew up in Sao Paulo and i live in Pinheiros, my neighbourhood is sweet there's a lot of music and art going on everywhere. I try not to wake up too late, but there's no rule.. then i put some music, make coffee, feed my cats, check email and the rest depends on what i have to do. i work at my apartment so here's where i spend most of the time. i like hanging out in the hood, there's a small cafe nearby i go there all the time to draw, see people and of course drink coffee. i am more productive at night, it's easy to procrastinate during the day 'cause there's so much stuff to do. at night everything seems easier.

STEPHAN-  When I was younger, there used to be a lot of punk and DIY gigs and people making and selling zines and stuff in Sao Paulo, today its really rare, nowadays every event, publication or venue has a major brand behind it. How do you manage to organize Vendinha/Bendgy and how does it work?
PACOLLI- It's all about doing it whatever it takes, when i didn't have space to sell the tee's i was making i started doing this kind of parties at my apartment and asked bands to come over and play. There was no budget at all, the bands bring their own equipment, i used to cook vegan sandwiches and sell my stuff while having fun at home with friends and nice people that used to come to see what was going on. The entry was free, i payed the bands with t-shirts and ask friends to manage the beer. One time i organized a mini festival at my place and so many people came it was insane! The music was fucking loud, there was a huge party going on! I thought i was going to get kicked out of the building or get arrested, i don't know it was crazy! The funny thing is that neighbour’s didn't complained about it. After this time i decided to try to organized it in my friend's houses, empty apartments, garages wherever i thought it would be nice to hang out and make noise. Now it's been going on at this empty house, it's awesome to have concerts there 'cause the bands can be louder than ever and besides selling my stuff there's art, zines, tee's and posters from many artists from around the globe. It's still making sense to work hard to make it happen, and until it does I’m still going to do it.

STEPHAN-  I really liked your latest zine, Mad for Sadness, are those stories personal?
PACOLLI- Everything is kind of personal because it's my point of view of the world. Some stuff really happened and some are just songs that fitted perfectly with the moment and i made drawings of it.
STEPHAN-  I know you are influenced a lot by music, what bands are you listening to these days?
PACOLLI- I've been listening a lot to the afghan whigs, raveonettes, tupac, arab strap, operation ivy, beans, blonde redhead, get up kids, the nonce and brazilian indie rock bands and rap such as polara, rzo, elma, pullovers, repentina, boom boom kid, thaide e dj hum... my taste for music is kinda weird, it's all about the mood i'm in.

STEPHAN-  What band ( or combination of bands ) would best translate your work into music, if that was possible.
PACOLLI- Stephin Merritt (The Magnetic Fields, The 6th's, Gothic Archies, Future Bible Heroes) is my major inspiration, he's one of the most brilliant minds of our time. I made my first zine after i travelled to NY to see The Magnetic Fields concerts. It's actually the nicest thing i've ever done to myself, it was very inspiring.
STEPHAN-  Half of the bands that I most love I cant actually listen to anymore because it brings me sad memories or just weird feelings. Do you feel that as well?
PACOLLI- Sure i do, but i like to go deep into my feelings and memories and bring it to the moment, so I’m always listening to the songs that makes me emotional. Specially for drawing this is something i do all the time. For my new zine i made a playlist on my computer with songs related to the phase I’m going through, so i create a mood and soundtrack before start drawing.
STEPHAN-  What are you working on at the moment?
PACOLLI- I'm working on stuff for two art shows, Art Trek in Antwerp (Belgium) and Human Pyramids International Artist Collective Show in LA. I'm going to Belgium in one week, i have most of things done by now but i always work till the last moment i have. Then i'm going to Rome, London and San Francisco i have friends there and work to do so it's going to be great, I’m pretty excited about it!
I have worked on art shows and zines with some of the artists that are in Art Trek 6, but we never really met in person. They have supported my work since the beginning, i have much respect for all of them and I’m very proud to be in this show. The Human Pyramids show is in September so i'll go to LA and meet my art collective mates and work together on a big mural at the Ghetto Gloss Gallery and probably make some zines and cool other stuff together. We're going to have a booth at APE, we're all zine and comics lovers we're thrilled!

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