Mondays suck. Especially if you hate your job. But the day doesn’t have to be a total waste. You can now look forward to reading about ReadyMakers who have worked their way into f*&%ing awesome jobs—and maybe find a little inspiration to jumpstart your own career in the process—right here, every Monday.

 

Esteban Rey is a tour manager for the band Explosions in the Sky; he makes art, designs album covers, travels to foreign countries with his friends for work, and has met kids with his artwork tattooed onto their bodies. We have just one question. Esteban, HDYGTFAJ?

 

 

VITAL STATS

Occupation: The art and the tour

Location: Austin, TX

Age: 33

First Job: Baseball card shop

Best Job: (Tie) Finishing and seeing “The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place” by Explosions in the Sky artwork in LP format (the first pressing was a gatefold!), and wrapping up a four-month European tour with Explosions in the Sky in 2004 (we had a three-week holiday in Europe between the first and second leg of that tour, it was killer).

Greatest Professional Challenge: Making sure the art I make translates to the vision/ narrative the musicians have for their music and making sure the merch shows up on time before tour.

Salary During 20s: A pittance.

 

1. Hi, Esteban Rey. How did you get that f*&%ing awesome job? I pretty much owe anything I’ve ever done to my friends in Explosions in the Sky: Mark Smith, Munaf Rayani, Chris Hrasky, and Michael James. They gave me my first shot.

 

2. Did you even have any idea that the kind of work you do existed? Was it a long-time goal or did you kind of fall into it? I knew it existed; I never really gave it much thought though. When I was a kid, I would spend hours poring over heavy metal album covers or skateboard art in the mail-order catalogs, then I would pull out my pencil and try to re-create what I saw. I must have drawn Eddie (the “mascot” from the Iron Maiden albums) and the Powell-Peralta Ripper graphic thousands of times. I guess you could say I fell into it. I wasn’t a fine arts major in school. I received my BA in History and English, but I did take numerous art classes for studio time and to be around other people who were drawing and painting and creating visual art. That was always inspiring.

 

3. How did you get started working with music and art? I found myself back home in Midland, TX in 1999 recovering from my latest bout of depression, when my friends in Explosions in the Sky eventually made the move back from Austin as well. They were writing their third album and trying to save money to record it. The cost of living in Midland is pretty cheap. I was staying with my parents, and they were basically nurturing me back to health. Eventually I got an apartment and was living with Chris Hrasky. The other boys were living in the same complex and they would meet up after working and go write the songs for “The Earth Is Not a Cold Dead Place.” They came to me and said, hey we’re making this album, you make drawings, we want you to make some for the artwork. They were also playing some shows at the time and needed some merch designs so I made some of those as well. They also convinced me to move back to Austin and reclaim my life and tour with them. After “The Earth…” was released, other friends who played music wanted me to help create their album art. I’ve done the last three MONO albums, a Lazarus album, and an album for Zykos.

 

4. Did you have any role models along the way? Visually, pretty much all skateboard stuff from the late 80s and 90s: Powell stuff, Santa Cruz, Blind, Girl, Toy Machine, Stereo, etc. Derek Riggs, Raymond Pettibon, Jean Michel Basquiat, Egon Schiele--their works have an amazing impact on how I see things. Not necessarily how I create my drawings or mixed media stuff, or my style, but my god, it makes me want to keep doing what I’m doing. I had so much inspiration from actual skating, to the videos (the combination of the skating and music was crucial), all the music I listened to, my friends, my life, it all impacts my sense of style and aesthetic.

 

5. I hear you get to travel a lot on the job. Have you discovered any favorite places? Yeah, aside from the art, I sell the merch as well, so that means touring.  We’ve crisscrossed the states so many times, Europe too. Last time out we went to Russia, Greece, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur was otherworldly. There are a few places I hold dear because of friends we’ve made or amazing experiences we’ve had--Malaga, Prague, Glasgow, Tokyo, San Francisco, Toronto.

 

6. What is your typical day like? It varies so much. Right now I’m touring so we wake up on the bus, have coffee, play Scrabble, watch tennis, a lot of hang time. On work days we wake up, have coffee, load in, set up, I meet with venue people, talk merch stuff, help the boys with whatever else they need. Sometimes the venue provides a merch seller, so I get to be an extra set of eyes and ears during the set. The workday is very atypical and anyone who works in music or something similar can relate. The days are long and disjointed, but it comes with the territory. The end result is pretty amazing though. Watching the boys put on a banger of a show is priceless, kids are stoked, I’m floored. At home, I’m working part-time at a vintage clothing shop called New Bohemia. I’m also starting a design company with two friends, Sarah Meraz and Shannon Pflugrath, who are both super-talented and I’m stoked to work with them. It’s going to be called tête-à-tête (coming soon!). I’ve gotten away a bit from making art for myself. Working with bands is AMAZING, but I’ve been struck with the urge to create my own works again. I want to learn how to screen-print stuff.

 

7. What are the biggest pleasures of the job? What could you do without? Wow, so many…being intertwined with what my friends do, being the visual for this amazing music, being in places like Moscow or Tokyo, watching live performances every night, and no… it never gets old. When a kid comes up to me and shows me this amazing tattoo of an album cover I did on their arm or chest or neck… that blows my mind. It’s nice to hear that you have somehow contributed to someone being inspired to make art and design. I could do without needing sleep and being stung by the procrastination bug from time to time.

 

8. What advice would you give to someone who wanted to do something similar to what you've done? Hopefully you can be as fortunate as I was and collaborate with your friends. The scale doesn’t matter. Be open to their art direction and do what you know how to do. Live in the daydream.

 

Photo: Munaf Rayani