Freddy Carrasco: Mastering The Art Of Cool On Planet Tokyo
There’s are many ways to describe the works of Freddy Carrasco.
Upon inspection and admiration of his illustrations, you can visibly see his juxtaposition of cultural influences, and how they dictate his work, however, even though his pieces may seem familiar they are distinctively different to what you’ve been exposed too before.
Freddy Carrasco is the epitome of sci-fi meeting low-fi hip hop, Dominican Republic heritage and Toronto roots meet Japanese farm life and the Tokyo concrete jungle; when Tekkonkinkret meets Ghost in the Shell and Jackie Brown.
Freddy Carrasco is the epitome of when art meets ‘cool’. A word so simple and forbidden from the galleries and elaborated art circles around the world, they would never dream to use it and instead they always lose us all with their word-heavy descriptions when talking about art. A word so important, so full of power and relevance for our generation that the old, white, art establishment will most likely never come close to knowing or understanding what being cool truly means.
Just as you would describe a Tarantino movie, in only a few words, expressing the deep levels of excitement, aesthetics and visual art, every piece of art can and should be allowed to fulfil the essential need and very hard to undertake task: of being (fucking) cool.
Freddy Carrasco masters this art and transfers it into drawings and music. Originating from Toronto and now living in Japan, Freddy developed a style that combines his childhood memories, the culture he’s exposed to on a daily basis and his imagination, ultimately channelling this through the humble tools of paper and pens, creating his very own distinct world.
The drawings and character designs run deep. Every face, every detail you see through the marks he makes tells a story without the need of seeing a second screen, without the need of turning a page. The world he draws is full of references from his past, looking forward into another future and bright world.
His latest release, in the form of a book called, Gleem, is a very strong example of his craft and skills, showcasing his strong talent of storytelling. Gleem is a collection of short stories that connect and align with his own experiences and past.
We met up with Freddy, to talk about his work, his process and his recent releases such as Gleem and the vinyl toy, Osiris.
Could you please introduce yourself to the SABUKARU network?
I’m just a guy that makes things. Usually visual, sometimes music. I’m most comfortable working with ink and paper in my Muji notebook.
What kind of music are you producing?
Beats, very simple stuff. You ever been on Youtube and seen ‘LoFi-Beats-to-study-to’? That kind of stuff. I wanted to make music that I could draw to.
So you are always listening to music while drawing?
Yes.
Always low-fi beats?
Not always, but it’s the easiest to draw too. Your mind can go places. Without lyrics your brain has room to fill in the blanks.
You are originally from Toronto, Canada. What made you move to Japan and start working on fields?
My wife is Japanese. We met in Toronto ages ago and used to come here once, twice a year to visit. She’s from a rural area way outside of Tokyo so there are fields everywhere. Two years ago, I said to her, “Hey, I want to work on one of these fields. My Japanese is bad so can you knock on some doors and see if they need any help?”
A few days later I started working on the fields three days a week. I was cultivating cucumber, cabbage and beans. It was exactly what I needed at the time, because I was working on my iPad everyday. Looking at the screen was driving me nuts. I needed to feel dirt in my hands. I would go there for three hours, put on my headphones and almost meditate.
How did you feel entering the “real” world again after coming from the fields?
It bled into my work. I started to think about cabbage a lot. The cover of my third tape is actually a cabbage. The last song, Omi, is titled after my son. I had found this spoken word sample of a woman talking about peeling away the layers. It was fitting that I found this kind of poetry while working on the fields, raising cabbage. You peel away the layers before you can sell to the supermarkets. Make it pretty, neat. Then I started to think about people. You peel away the layers of their personality, begin to figure out who they are over time with enough patience and care.
Do you still spend time in the countryside/inaka?
Not so much.
What would you tell people to see when they come to Tokyo? Where would you send them, who are coming to the city?
I don’t want to blow up my favourite spots. (haha) Outside of Tokyo I really enjoyed Hiroshima. It's a really beautiful city. Yokohama is nice too. It's a good balance for someone like me, who was living in the countryside. It has bodies of water. The best of both worlds.
I recently went to Hakone with some friends. It was amazing. They have a Picasso museum up there. My friend’s needed to get out of Tokyo for a bit. I think a lot of Tokyo residents feel that way. For me it’s bit different though, since I spent so many years in the countryside, I’m excited to be in the chaos of Tokyo. I started to miss the energy of a city like Toronto, being surrounded by other creative people. People who’re also sharing in this energy, sharing experiences. On the fields the only people I interacted with were elderly farmers. I love talking to them, but they don’t understand my references. They don’t know who Black Kray is.
How was the country life for you as a tall black guy?
They stare at you a lot. Especially kids. I remember sitting at an outdoor festival one time and I felt someone tugging at my locks. It was a little five year old girl who just couldn’t believe my hair. But adults in Tokyo do that too, now that I think about it. I don’t really care though. There are people who get really upset about that, because they feel like zoo animals. But to me it's not that serious. I have other things to worry about.
Let’s talk about your book. Tell us a little bit about GLEEM
Gleem is just my life, essentially. Not to give too much away, but the first story is about my experience growing up in a church. I remember showing it to someone and he was asking ‘is it a concert or a church?’.
Yes, I’m glad you're confused about that. That’s by design. If you look at what Kanye is doing right now and the way we idolise musicians. It’s very similar to the stage presence pastors have. It’s all cults.
There was a period where I was going three to four days a week to chruch. I never believed any of it though. I just went because I was kind of supposed to.
Is the book exclusively available at Breakfast Club in Tokyo?
In Tokyo, yes. People sometimes ask if they can sell it in their shops or cafes or whatever, but I like that it’s only available at BC, because they’ve been so supportive. Everyone there has been extremely welcoming. I don’t really see it as a place of business.
On the back cover of your book, you state ‘The loneliness of the masses’. Is this connected to Tokyo life?
Yes, and also Toronto was like that too. Any major city, really. You’re surrounded by people but not connected to them. I think people are inherently lonely. Everyone one of us craves some sort of connection with another human being.
My friend Gyimah wrote that part actually. He is probably my favourite living artist and also happens to be my best friend.
What comes to your mind, when you say “The steely coolness of humanity”?
Part of it is a play on words because of the robots involved in some of the stories.
Almost like Ghost in The Shell – what does it mean to be human? Something along those lines - Deus ex machina.
… and the “comfort found in solitude. “
Yeah, sometimes you want to be alone in your bed, man. In your own thoughts. It can drive some people crazy, but this goes back to farming. You’re just alone out there – in a huge field of cabbage. You and the dirt. It’s necessary.
Where else can we get the book?
Online at Peow Studio. I don’t really know off the top of my head what the stockists are, but there’s a list on my website as well as Peow’s.
Is there a way to buy prints online as well?
Yeah, prints and other things are all on my website.
Could you imagine dropping a storyboard every month, like a manga?
No, I can’t do this. I’m a slow writer. If you work in Manga in Japan, you’re dropping 19,20 pages every week. You nuts? I can’t even draw 20 pages a week, let alone write the story too. It’s too much. I don’t know how they do it. If you’re an actual manga artist, you have my utmost respect.
Are you going to go back to farming, when spring arrives?
I don’t know when I am going back to do this. I’ve been busy lately with work.
What would you say does Japan mean for you and your visual, creative worlds?
I think Japan for me is less about a physical thing and more mental. So much of what I grew up on and inspired me is from Japan. The video games and the anime. I feel a whole generation, people our age, feel that way. Akira, Dragon Ball. I make manga sort of, but I don’t read a lot of it. The weekly stuff. I read short stories. Horror manga - Ito Junji, that’s my shit.
When we talk about your imaginative world. What world are the characters living in?
Whenever I read Sci-Fi, it’s always some dystopian robots or computers that are going to kill us. You’re still going to have kids that just want to dress cool and go to parties. That’s who I’m focused on. The last story in GLEEM is really just based on experiences I had in Toronto, going to weird parties with my friend’s playing crazy music. It’s not all that deep. Of course there’s still a lot of subtext, real world problems, but there is so much Sci-Fi that’s about a dystopian future and black mirror stuff.
“It can’t all be bad. The future’s also going to be fun.”
Who are the artists that inspire you. Who are the people we should have look at?
The guy who did the animated trailers for my book. His name is Jonathan Djob Nkondo. An actual genius. I like Guido Crepax too. There are a million artists I love but I was reading a lot of Crepax when I was writing GLEEM.
What music are you listening to right now?
I love R&B. Lately newer stuff. I was listening to something weird yesterday.. I forget what it was. I don’t know, I listen to a lot of music.
You listen to Drake, since you’re from Canada?
I do not.
Tell us something about you latest project “Osiris”?
That is a dream come true. I always wanted to make a toy. I just wish he was life-sized. Again he is just another kid that likes to dress fly. I don’t think everything has to have some sort of artist statement. They asked me to write a bio on him and I was like ‘I don’t know guys, he's just a guy. Make something up.’
Where can we get Osiris?
It sold out almost instantly so we’re working on a new color variant right now.
Art sometimes uses so many heavy words, it seems that people sometimes just can't appreciate something cool.
I saw this post on tumblr a few years ago. They were asking this director: ‘Talk about your film, tell me about your film’. And he says, “The film is the thing, I’ve done the talking – in the film. The film is the thing that can’t be described through language.”
“If I could describe it with words, I would’ve written a book. But I drew it, because the thing can’t be described simply in words. ”
When I was working in animation, I was feeling awful, depressed, sitting at a desk 9 to 5. Because even though I was making cartoons, technically it’s still a 9 to 5 job like any other. You’re still in an office in front of a computer, office politics, microwave drama, whatever. So I started making beats, because I had lost the ability to express the way that I felt through drawing as it had become a job. I needed another outlet to express myself and the feelings I had at the time. That’s where making beats, making music came from. And it saved me.
What would be your advice for young artists, that try to manage the balancing act between creativity and financial stability?
Better finished than perfect. Finish things. Consistency is more important than talent.
What's next on your dream list?
Definitely a life-size sculpture. Just large scale artwork in general. I’d like to get back into painting, but I need to find a way to still retain the energy that’s found in my tiny sketches, just on a larger scale. I’m trying to find the medium to do it in. I’ve been experimenting with a lot of different pens, paints and inks, looking for the tool with the least amount of resistance between my mind and my hands.
Thank you a lot For your time!
Alright. Thanks. Good questions.
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