New Gear in the Shop!

June 27, 2016 by Tim Granda

Damn! Check out the killer new tees that just hit the shop (and a trucker too)! This time out, the exclusive designs are from artists Richard Minino, Davey Gant, Gorgeous George, and Simon Berndt.

All of our shirts use a discharge base to keep the prints nice and thin so ya won’t sweat while rippin’ up the hot summer streets. They’re 100% cotton black Alstyle tees, and they feature an all-new custom printed DC shirt tag so you’re neck won’t get the itch.

Grab one here at the shop while supplies last!

Crazy Chopper movie: The Planet of DOOM!

April 20, 2016 by Tim Granda

BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE!

The Planet of Doom Kickstarter is now live! CLICK HERE

We invite you all to witness the NEW TRAILER and become one with the HELPING HANDS OF DOOM!

Through this budget raising campaign, you can show your support by helping get this badass film underway, and score a fistful of EXCLUSIVE Kickstarter goodies in the process: everything from the official HHOD shirt from Heavy Clothing, to having yourself featured in the film as an animated “extra”! How cool is that?

Please help SPREAD THE WORD about The Planet of DOOM’s Kickstarter to all your friends and enemies! If we all join together we can make this happen, and we have only 21 days to do it!

The Planet of DOOM – trailer 1 from Riff Lodge Animation on Vimeo.

Art by Vance Kelly

Art by Brian Profilio

Interview with Matt Wilkins – Show Class Mag

December 1, 2015 by Tim Granda

If ya haven’t heard, Doom Cycle has teamed up with the awesome folks at Show Class Magazine to interview their cover artist for each issue. It’s somethin’ I’m really stoked about, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of you who’ve been hangin’ around this joint. I’ve been a a big fan of the mag for years now, so having this opportunity to work with Tim and the gang has been a blast.

Hey, and welcome to all those who just couldn’t get enough of artist Matt Wilkins from issue 27! Space is tight in a physical magazine, so the artist interviews there are often presented in a condensed form. Here on Doom Cycle, we don’t face those same restrictions. So if you’re interested in hearin’ more, ya found the right place. Did I mention the big fuckin’ pictures too? Gotcha covered!

So here’s my interview with the awesome Matt Wilkins!

Hey Matt! So at what point in your life did you develop an interest in art?

For as long as I can remember I’ve had some sort of interest in art. It was always the subject at school I was into the most, probably down to having quite a creative family and mostly the influence of my grandfather. He was a really talented pen and ink artist with an amazing eye for detail and I remember sitting and sketching with him at a young age.

Who were some of your favorite artists growing up?

I’m only 19 so I feel like I’m still growing up in terms of finding out more about the art world, however I’ve been skateboarding for a while. Deck graphics always caught my eye and played at big role in wanting to do more art myself. Especially the legendary Santa Cruz artist Jim Phillips.

Are there any artists workin’ today that blow your mind?

There’s so many artists that blow my mind on a daily basis with most of them being on instagram, hard to name a few but I’d have to say I’m really diggin the work of Gorgeous George, Harley&J, Maarten Donders, Rob Gnista, Alex Matus, Simon Berndt, Alan Forbes, David Paul Seymour, Sami Graystone, Jesse Schaller, Branca Studio and Donny Gillies.

A lot of your work has been for rad bands like The Picture Books, Slow Season, and Kadavar. How did you get involved in the music scene?

It pretty much started with posting up some sketches on Instagram, then I did some gig posters for a band that are close friends of mine. One thing led to another and I’m now doing art for bands across the world. It’s really crazy to me as I am a huge fan of rock music, so being asked to do art for bands that I’ve genuinely been a big fan of is such a privilege.

So who are some of the bands that you’re diggin’ these days, and who would ya love to do some work for?

There are a load of new bands that I’m into these days, such as Sweat Lodge, Ruby The Hatchet, The Shrine, All Them Witches, Kadavar, Fuzz, Sacri Monti, Mondo Drag, Electric Citizen, The Heavy Eyes, Le Betre, Horisont, Siena Root and again that list could go on and on, I’ve always got records spinning.

Some bands I’d love to work for apart from Black Sabbath, of course, because that won’t happen… has got to be Graveyard, Pentagram, Earthless, Radio Moscow, Windhand, The Black Angels, Witch, Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats, Sleep, Blood Ceremony, Orchid and Dead Meadow.

In addition to doing so much work for bands, you’ve also done quite a lot of stuff for the chopper scene. Folks like Heavy Clothing, Triple Six Crew Death Co., Lucky Mutha Cycles, and myself have all hit ya up for designs. When did your interest in choppers begin?

I’ve loved the American classic car and motorcycle culture for ages, especially those built in the ’70s, so its really cool to do art for brands in that scene. But living in London they’re rare to see, although I’ve been going to classic car shows since I was really young with my dad.

Are there any cool bikes or muscle cars out there that you’d love to take home with ya?

Well, in an ideal world, I’d have a few vehicles parked on the driveway, first off with an old Chevy van fully decked out with a 70’s style interior and custom airbrushed paint job. Also I’d gladly take a ’77-’78 Pontiac Trans Am Firebird home with me. Then how about that insane chopper that JP Rodman built for this years Born Free, that thing rules!

I was stoked to see you finally put up a web site featuring your work. What kinds of stuff do you

have planned for your shop?

Thanks. I never imagined that I’d get to the point where I’d make my own website for my artwork. In the future I plan to sell screen printed gig posters that I’ve produced, as well as design some original artwork to put out some limited edition shirt designs and patches. Even considering building a screen printing set up in my workshop to print the shirts and posters myself.

So whatcha workin’ on next? Any cool projects we should keep our eyes peeled for?

I’ve got more shirts and gig posters to design for bands, including Mothership, so that should be pretty rad. Also a skateboard deck for Frantic Skateboards out of Belgium. So things to look out for would probably be some of the album covers I’ve worked on recently, some I can’t announce, but one is for the heavy rock band Them Evils, which has already been released. All the albums will be getting pressed on vinyl, so that’s a treat for a collector like myself. As well as a guitar fuzz pedal that I collaborated with Red Sun FX on, really exited about that, they’re all handmade and limited edition.

Now for the question I ask everybody: If you could travel through time, where would you go?

I’m sure I won’t be the first to say this but, it would have to be California in the late ’60s-’70s, so I can experience what inspires me the most about that era. The music scene, skating backyard pools and the car/chopper culture. I’ve been told that I was born in the wrong era many times.

Thanks a bunch for your time, Matt, and congrats on landing this issue’s cover of Show Class Magazine! So awesome!

It’s such an honor to have my artwork on the cover of the best chopper mag out. Thanks a lot to all the guys at Show Class and thanks for the interview, Tim!

Show All
Matt Wilkins

The Planet of DOOM

September 21, 2015 by Tim Granda

“Seeking vengeance aboard a witch-born chopper, Halvar must journey across a psychedelic landscape on a quest to defeat the deadly beast Mordvel.”

If ya haven’t heard, artist David Paul Seymour and I are neck deep in making a sick animated movie! It’s called The Planet of DOOM, and it features some of the coolest artists in the chopper, fantasy, and sci-fi scenes, teamed up with some of the raddest bands around today. Check out the insane list of folks below!

Announced artists:
Skinner, Nicholas Coleman, Tony Papesh, Jason Cruz, Brian Profillio, Chris Burney, Simon Berndt, Zachary ‘EZ’ Nelson, Alexis Ziritt, Vance Kelly, David Paul Seymour, Maarten Donders, Scott Trerrotola, Jesse Schaller, Gorgeous George, and Adam Burke.

Announced bands:
Spirit Caravan, Orchid, Summoner, Mother Crone, The Well, Order of the Owl, Goya, Mothership, Wo Fat, Destroyer of Light, Mos Generator, Monolord, Conan, Ironweed, Scorpion Child, Slow Season, and NAAM.

Keep your eyes peeled for more big The Planet of DOOM announcements in the upcoming weeks!

DOOM teaser 1 from Doom Cycle on Vimeo.

Interview with Sam Turner – Show Class Mag

August 25, 2015 by Tim Granda

Hey, and welcome to all those who just couldn’t get enough of artist Samuel Lee Turner from issue 26! Space is tight in a physical magazine, so the artist interviews there are often presented in a condensed form. Here on Doom Cycle, we don’t face those same restrictions. So if you’re interested in hearin’ more, ya found the right place. Did I mention the big fuckin’ pictures too? Gotcha covered!

So here’s my interview with the uber-talented Samuel Lee Turner!

Hey Samuel! So where do you call home these days, and how long have you been livin’ there?

Denver, Colorado. Been living here since ’95. I am originally from El Paso, Texas.

Your work often delves into fantasy and the occult. From wizards and mages, to warriors and beasts… plus all those super-hot sword-wielding chicks! Who were some of your influences early on?

There’s a number of influences: Frank Frazetta obviously, Moebius, Bernie Wrightson, and many others.

I’ve seen you mention Italian artist Milo Manara quite a few times on Instagram. What brought his work to your attention?

Milo Manara was brought to my attention through the Heavy Metal illustrated magazines. My oldest brother had a bunch of those things! He always let me look through his stash of adult comics and such when I was a kid. I was like in the 7th grade or something.

You’re a big fan of metal, so having the opportunity to create art for bands like Black Breath, Khemmis, and In the Company of Serpents must be rad as hell! How did you get into workin’ with bands?

I always seemed to draw for friends who were in bands here and there. A lot of local stuff. I would say one of the first bigger known bands was 3 Inches of Blood. I did a tour poster for them after meeting and hanging out, partying here in Denver, then was asked to do their album cover for Fire Up the Blades along with some random merchandise and shirts. From that you tend to get some recognition from other bands or individuals in a band asking you about doing something for them. I did some stuff for Zeke before – it’s great to get to create or work on ideas for bands you’re really into. Some others are Speedwolf, Early Man, Holy Grail, Power Trip, and Iron Reagan, to name a few

What albums are ya really diggin’ at the moment? Anything we should be checkin’ out?

The new Khemmis is really good; I know you mentioned it already. I seem to have been listening to a lot of old favorites lately. I’m all over the place: Judas Priest, Brats (pre-Mercyful Fate) ZZ Top… a lot of fun drawing music. Waiting for a lot of new stuff that’s coming out from some favorites.

While we’re talkin’ ’bout bringin’ passions together, as a dude who rides, you must be stoked to have landed covers for both Show Class and DiCE in the same year. Any cool stories about how those came together?

Getting to draw for Show Class is great. I dig the mag and liked seeing what they were about at some of the earlier Born Free shows. I am good friends with Dave Barker of SpeedMetal Cycles, and I’ve done some of his branding and merch. Pretty much anything he asks for I’ll do. I would go to shows with Dave when he would build a show bike, and help him on the road trips to party and take in the whole experience. I went to a couple of Born Free shows, met some people, and got to check out all the great bikes. Born Free 2 is where I met Matt Davis from DiCE magazine. We talked about doing a cover but years passed, and when we saw each other at the Mama Tried show in Milwaukee this past year we realized I never got a cover for him. So after talking, decided to do issue 61 which was going to have Dave’s Diamond Rio build he did for his good friend Reuben McChancey. It was a fun piece but a short quick deadline.

I have friend through Instagram, Zach Kolodziejski, who I did some art for his Zine PUTT. He’s a great dude and turned me onto doing the cover for Show Class with a drawing I did that they liked but hadn’t been used for anything yet. So I was more than pleased to get it finished and sent to them.

So when did ya get into motorcycles, and what’re ya ridin’ these days?

I got into the motorcycle thing through SpeedMetal but to be honest I have nothing to ride at the moment. I have had a ’72 ironhead that has been waiting to get finished over at Dave’s shop, but we’re both so busy that we haven’t got it done. He’s really busy all the time and all the while has been doing the rust removal/fabrication of my ’73 Chevy G-10 short box van. When the van’s done we can get back to my ironhead. I am a bike messenger in downtown Denver so I ride my bicycle a lot! Haha! I’m alright with it, but I am planning on getting a Harley to make a street tracker out of just so I have something for the time being . I have been super busy doing art so I now have some money saved up that I can use to pick something up.

Your work for SpeedMetal Cycles has been awesome. How did that relationship come about?

I actually met Dave of SpeedMetal because of mutual friends, but more so because of my blue Chevy van. He and some other guys saw it parked in front of a show and were talking about it, I walked up saying it was kinda alright and then laughing and telling them it was mine. We seemed to hang out a lot after that. I started figuring out what I wanted to do with the ironhead. The frame is an old Jammer and we realized it was a bit off/bent in the rear so we gotta get that situated then keep going. It’s cool to get to do stuff in his shop and help on little things with show bikes, a friends build, doing some art, paint, engraving… whatever I can get into or try my hand at.

You must’ve been thrilled when the Buell-based Ronin bike you created the paint for placed second at Pike’s Peak. How did you get involved in that project?

The Ronin bike involvement came through a childhood friend of Dave Barker’s: Dusty Terry. I met him when he lived at the old shop with Dave, fucking Wyoming boys haha . So when he started work with Ronin Motorworks he talked to me about being one of several artists doing an “art bike” that was to be one of a select few bikes made to have a custom paint scheme illustrated by different artists. Once I was on board I got to do some more concepts, one being the race bike paint scheme for the Pike’s Peak race bike. And then getting to do some vintage racer color schemes and designs. It’s been really fun to do something on a totally different unique motorcycle, and once again for a great bunch of guys!

Lately, your name’s been comin’ up a lot when I speak to other artists about folks they’re diggin’. Are there any artists out there who’s stuff knocks ya out?

Glad to hear I have some other artists digging my stuff. Guys like Burney, Burrito Breath, Jason Cruz, Alex Matus, and Sarah Sadler, are a few off the top of my head that fit into the motorcycle scene.
Others are Marald, Vania Zouravliov, Jef Kopp, Putrid, Nathan Cabrera, and Aaron Horkey, just to name a few.

Do you have any cool projects in the wings ya wanna tell us about, or some stuff we should keep our eyes peeled for?

Going to be getting my Ronin art bike painted up in the coming weeks. Doing some shirt designs for a band who did the soundtrack for a movie coming out in August called Turbo Kid. Some merch and posters for the NACCCS here in Denver (bike courier race), and more fun killer shit for TRVE Brewing here in Denver. It’s a metal brewery that I do all the branding for and is always a blast to do. Hopefully some good shit keeps coming my way!

I’ve made it a habit or wrapping up an interview with this question (ya never know what you’re gonna get): If you could travel through time, where would you go?

If I could travel through time? I’m already headed into the future, so I would have to say back to anytime before 1974 to see my mom who I lost when I was five. Too few memories of her, would love to go back and have more.

Thanks a ton for your time, Sam! Can’t wait to see all the rad stuff you’ll be up to in the future!