Stephen M. Levinson's Blog

Although I am/have no longer been blogging/interviewing for Channel Frederator, I interviewed a very talented guy and am posting the interview on my personal blog! Nathan Malone is his name. Interesting name to, sounds like an undercover cop name..hmm, didn’t ask him though. You know how undercover cops are…

Nathan is an incredible artist and animator. His blog is full of tons of really interesting and incredibly created work. I’m boggled he is not working in the industry. Hopefully this interview helps him get out there to employers who read these fred blogs! You can watch a short of his called Squaresville by clicking on that.
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1) Tell everyone alittle about yourself.
I once was running down a hill late at night and nearly stepped on a live alligator. I enjoy spicy food. Really spicy food. Habanero Peppers bring me joy. I have a neurotic bald lovebird named Draco

2) Who are some of the artists that inspire you?
Tex Avery, Theodore Geisel, H.R. Geiger, Edward Gorey, Bob Clampett, Zdzislaw Beksinski, Mark Ryden, Dan Krall

3) What got you into animation?
When I was a baby, my mother and father recorded all sorts of cartoons onto VHS. Loony Toons, world war 2 disney cartoons, winnie the pooh. My mother had VHS of nearly every Disney feature, and my father was a big Loony Toons fan. My uncle was a fan of Ralph Bakshi.

So I’ve always loved these things.

4) Have you worked on your own short films?
Yes. Quite alot of them.

5) What are they about?
They range from “short terrible and offensive” to “long and respectable”Alot of my more serious ones are based off of things I’ve dreamt or scribbled out of boredom. Usually if I do anything “comedic” is based off an idea one of my friends have come up with, as they are all pretty unhinged. But in a good way!

5) How long did it take you to make them?
It used to be where I’d stay up all day and night for a couple of weeks working nearly nonstop on a short. Not I’m more laid back about it, trying to take my time to ensure the cartoon does not suck.

6) Your film Squaresville seems to be very abstract. What inspired that?
I think the original idea was to make a grid, and give each grid a face, and then have them talk to each other, even though they couldnt move or shift around the grid. And I started doodling ideas on paper and eventually came up with the concept of the actual cartoon. I have a friend named Waldemar whom him and I liked to insult each other via MSN voice chat, and he has a hilarious voice, so eventually I asked him to just record some nonsense, and that turned into Squaresville.

7) Many of your drawings are very interesting, like the one above. What were you aiming for in that drawing?
It’s actually a screenshot of my next cartoon. I’m trying to do as much traditional animation as possible in it.

As an artist/animator, what are your goals?
I’d just like to be able to have time to do what I enjoy as a career. When I was a kid, I’d dream of turning some of the ideas in my head into series or films, and while I have done a few, there are still a bunch I havent touched on yet and would like to do. As of yet, animation still remains but a hobby for me. Really, I just want to share some of the stories that are in my head, and I think I am slowly reaching that point where I’m ready to tell them.

9) I really like this drawing (above)! Is music a big part of your life? Do you feel inspired by music?
Oh definitely. I always try to make my cartoons move with some sort of catchy music or have musical cues. I am forever thankful to MentallyDetached who provides the music for most everything I do these days.

10) Can you tell us a little bit about Polypeptide?
Polypeptide is my next…thingie. It’s hard to describe. It’s not complex or anything, but I am trying to do some sort of plot to it that will make sense to people other than myself. I’m doing my best to make it as nicely animated as possible.

11) Do you have anything to add that our viewers may be interested in hearing?
Yes. The last 10 percent of any soda you drink is almost entirely saliva backwash. Have fun thinking about that.

12) Thanks for your time!
Thanks for your kidney. It will work well in my kidney-powered robot.

Feel free to head over to Nathan’s blog for more awesome works of art!

Best,
Steve