Interview by Rachel Gottesman

Hi Daniel, I'm pleased to be speaking with you in relation to the launch of your second Threadless tee! It must feel nice to know that people all over the world can begin to assemble their Aphte shirt collections.

Hi ! I'm pleased too ! Before saying anything, I'd like to say that because I'm some French guy without any strong knowledge of English it will be a little hard to write fluently, so please, forgive me !

And for your words, yeah, it feels awfully nice to know that some guys over the world are starting to wear things I've made, but that's some usual stuff to say I guess. By the way I'll also add here that Threadless is such a great place, it's my home of t-shirt-things !

Aww, how sweet! You know, Threadless is my home of t-shirt things as well!



But something people must know, is that having all my t-shirts give you awesome powers, like, I don't know, the ability of spitting wool, whatever.

Shh! You're not supposed to tell people that!

To me your work is a little bit Japanese video game, a little bit Friends With You, maybe even a little bit Alex Pardee... and more than a little awesome! I think you've struck a nice balance between sweet, childlike wonder and insanity. Have you always worked this way? Do you prefer the lighter or darker side of art?

It's a good description ! And no, I haven't always worked this way ! Before starting to think of making illustration my job, I was just drawing some dark teenager stuff. It was kind of ugly (I guess !).

Then, I was like, "Hey, let's make happy and stupid little creatures, because it's easy to draw !", nothing more I think. It's kind of sad. I don't really know. Sigh!

And I don't have any preferences, happy things could be gloomy, etc. Arh! Another interesting fact, it's that I'm eating a child every day to keep my work childish. I don't know
if it's really working, but I like to think so...



Most of what you've designed for Threadless so far is a mash-up of many different characters. Do all of your works begin with a goal in mind, or do you start with one creature or character and just keep doodling from there until you've decided that the piece is complete?

Yes, sometimes I've got a little goal, like for the Mt. Sato thing. I was like "Let's draw some kind of map, and let's make a big mountain". Then I've started drawing from the bottom of some paper, and I've finished the thing in the upper part of a second sheet. It was somehow my favorite drawing time since a long time.

But most of the time I'm just drawing stuff, and when I'm tired I conclude that the thing is done. Like for Marshmallow Mayhem, it was made very quickly!

Did you have any art training, or did your super skills come naturally? Did you think growing up "I want to be an artist when I'm an adult"?

I've got some "art training" from my school (yeah, I'm still a student, but that's hopefully my last year), but I think the super skills you're talking about are here mostly because I'm always unhappy with my stuff, and I keep drawing things, trying to be happy with it. Damn, I'm sounding like I'm some grouchy guy.

No, not grouchy at all! Many artists are perfectionists, and not feeling completely satisfied with their work is what drives many people to become better!



What cartoons did you watch as a child? Do you think they affected the way you work today? What else is out there in this great big world that you think made you the artist you are?

Hmm, I've always watched an awful lot of cartoons, and I still do. I watched Cartoon Network a lot, and I've always liked things like Dexter's Laboratory or Samurai Jack... It's strange, I don't have any favorite cartoon in mind... But they have certainly affected my work, in a way or another.

For the second part of the question, it's obvious that comics made me make the things I make (wow). Things like Chris Ware, Jim Woodring, Seth, Lewis Trondheim, Winshluss, Daniel Clowes, Nekojiru, Ben Catmull, Marc Bell, David B., Rupert & Mulot, etc. etc. etc. I would love to make some comic someday, but I'm trying to be at ease with my drawing
abilities before doing something like that.



Also, globulo-people are totally helping me doing my drawings. The globulo-people are wearing little pants made of swiss cheese, and they can kill a thousand children using some strange device oddly looking like a badger in a cardboard. Yeah !

If you say so... All hail globulo-people!

Are monsters (globulo-people, perhaps) and creatures better than humans? If you think so, why do you suppose that is? I guess I'd say that anything with super powers (like the ability to turn regular milk into strawberry milk just by looking at it) is better than a normal person, but everyone has their own reasons...

Monsters and creatures are definitely better than humans, because they know how to make bread out of thin air, and create mustard with a single dolphin's mustache. Something like that I guess.



But some humans are totally cool, 'cause they can eat bicycles and throw laser beams through the incredible power of the mighty paper gloves created by
Henry Poupy Jr., some kind of bald scientist with a strong knowledge of extreme bakery.

Well I have yet to eat a bicycle. But I guess knowing that I can now, that might change...

So, who is the better monster; Cookie Monster or Big Mean Carl from "Muppets Tonight"? You might have to do some research...

Cookie Monster, definitely. He's making me feel good.

Anything else you'd like to add before we wrap things up?

I'd like, but it's very hard to say interesting things with my sadly bad English !

I think your English is just fine! Thanks so much for talking with me today!

Interview by Rachel Gottesman


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