MysteryMeat
- Text by Alex King
- Photography by MysteryMeat
“MysteryMeat began after a gin-fuelled punch-up between two best mates in Golden Square, Soho,” say the elusive London-based illustrators. “In the midst of their hangover the following day, they decided to team up and settle their differences by drawing pictures and listening to hip hop. The product of this collaboration was a colourful mix of black humour and wobbly shapes.”
MysteryMeat are one of the three emerging artists taking their illustration skills to work on a series of limited edition prints, t-shirts and one-off longboards to celebrate the bonds between art and skate culture in It’s Just A Ride, a collaboration between A Public Nuisance and Gather.ly.
Sign up here for the It’s Just A Ride exhibition and premiere event in Shoreditch on Thursday, August 21, where you can catch MysteryMeat’s work alongside Harry Tennant and Pedro Oyarbide.
Things That Inspire Me
Arguments
They have heated debates about stuff they don’t know that much about – the conflict in the Middle East, the economy and conspiracy theories.
Breakfast
Their mums told them that it is the most important meal of the day.
Fear of Failure
One of the main things that keeps MysteryMeat going/awake at night is the fear of failing. They think working in McDonald’s would fucking suck. (They apologise if you work in Mcdonalds)
Finding New Music
MysteryMeat spend many hours one-upping each other on music, saying things like, “Have you heard ‘Straight From The Heart’ by Loose Change?” just so the other will reluctantly have to admit they have not.
Getting Drunk
When MysteryMeat get drunk they become evangelical about how good MysteryMeat really is. To each other.
Mark E Smith’s don’t-give-a-fuck attitude
When people proclaim that they like The Fall, they usually don’t actually like the music beyond “Mr Pharmacist”. MysteryMeat believes that what people are actually drawn to is the anarchic, Zippy-from-Rainbow stream of consciousness that comes from his mouth.
Find out more about MysteryMeat’s work and sign up for the It’s Just a Ride exhibition and premiere event in Shoreditch on Thursday, August 21 at 6pm.
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