It's no secret we're big fans of Methane Studios. After all, they are the fellas that created Hank Pine, our trenchcoated little illustrated omsbudman who you've probably seen all over Atlanta and Birmingham, or at least on this Web site. But professional affection aside, these guys are the full-on embodiment of creativity harnassed for nothing but a bunch of fun and, quite often, complete rock and roll.

Click here to see a small portfolio of their work, or go to their Web site at methanestudios.com. Read below to find out more about Methane.

Pine Magazine: You both attended art school together in Ohio... How did you both end up in Atlanta designing posters for shows?

Robert Lee, one-half of Methane Studios: I was always in some sort of band playing music around the city. I always dug designing the flyers for the bands I was in, (it) was a good chance to do what ever I wanted and experiment a little. Mark had some silk screening classes in college and asked if he could create/print a poster for us. I said of course! We started to think about doing more of them as we could afford it. A friend introduced me to Janet Ridgeway who had moved from Seattle and was opening her own club in Atlanta (the Echo Lounge). Silkscreen gig posters were big in Seattle and she wanted them to be a part of her aesthetic in her club. She commissioned us to do posters for bands in her club. That’s pretty much how we got our start with silk screened gig posters.
 
 
PM: How'd the name Methane happen?

RL: The ink used on the posters has a very strong scent as does methane. Kinda started out as a fart joke. The smell is still lingering. We are the "official scent of genius.”
 
 
PM: Ideally what would you have happen with Methane?

RL: We are currently trying to brand Methane. We are working on our own tee-shirt line right now. We want Methane to be seen on all sorts of merchandise -- from snowboards to sneakers to toilet brushes.


PM: What external forces or factors affect what you draw?

RL: As far as our posters -- the band and their music have a huge influence on the content. As far as our style -- we take some old ideas and put a contemporary twist on them.

We're big fans of pop culture old and new as well as vintage records and posters and package designs. We are illustrators at heart and have learned to design around our illustrations to make them more effective.
Bottom line -- we love to draw. We don't use much photography at all. It's hard to find the right photo and by drawing what we want we tend to be more original I believe and we love to draw -- did I say that already?
 
 
PM:  What about Methane are you most proud?

RL: That we have been able to stay fresh and creative through the years, to stay on top of our game. It feels great to have our art seen around the world. Oh-- and Gene Simmons' freakishly tall son is wearing our tee shirt in Gene Simmons new realty TV show -- ha! I was huge KISS fan as a kid. Sean (Lennon) also bought one of our posters for Yoko (Ono), which is cool.

 
PM: What is your favorite part of the process of illustrating?

RL: Me personally -- the hardest part leads to my favorite part.
It's the "EUREEKA" instance when the concept appears! Working through frustration to an idea or drawing that just clicks. If an idea comes to easy someone else probably already came up with it. Not that we are always successful in originality but we have a pretty good batting average.
 
 
PM: How do you feel music and art intertwine?

RL: We are like the indie rock bands that we do posters for. We do what we love and hope that people dig it but the most important part is doing a piece of work we are proud of. In it for the art -- then the money. Not that we don't love financial reward but it's important to do art that we would buy ourselves. So I would say art and music are the same in the fact that they both start from the smallest of places and can end up making the greatest of impacts.
 
 
PM: Any other questions I should've asked but haven't?

RL: How much beer can Methane drink?

PM: How much beer can Methane drink?

RL: More than you!