Let’s face it. Team Macho is seriously talented – like really fookin’ talented. And having been fans since discovering one of their pieces  in 2007 we thought it was finally time to pick their collective brain. And so it goes….

Updown: How would you describe/define… Lauchie Reid?
Team Macho: Raised in Coldwater Ontario, Lauchie spent most of his youth isolated in the vast country side of Ontario’s snow belt. His parents both immigrated to Canada in the 70′s and met in ESL school. After a whirlwind marriage, they had there first son: Chris, and two years later young Lauchie would emerge from the cradle of oblivion and set the world ablaze. His father Shigeshi worked for Intertan Canada (owners at the time of the Radio Shack chain of stores) and saw to it that Lauchie had all the newest tech. At the early age of 11, he gained access to the Turbo Graphics game console. Influenced by the incoherent nature of early video games’ visual language, Lauchie would pursue a career which allowed him to create his own visual lexicon. He is also a rabid Naruto fan: Sage Mode.

And Chris Buchan?
Someone who spends too much time improving skills that have nothing to do with his role in Team Macho and soon to be axe throwing champion.

And Nicholas Aoki?
Level 85: Heroic Warrior, Single-minded fury ATW.

What about Jacob Whibley?
Jacob dances like a broken slide rule, has a penchant for brown footware, gets lost in interstitial spaces and is planning a trip to Space Jamaica in the near future.

Stephen Appleby-Barr?
We found Stephen by the dumpster, draped from head to toe in stray cat pelts. He was devouring some cats, using one of his many feline carcasses as bait (like an anglerfish, only way more desperate. Well, more like a bad dad really. That kinda of desperation, if you know what I mean) anyways, he was devouring cats, and sitting in his own feces to keep warm. People often ask why we took him in? Cleaned him? Trained him? Dressed him? The answer for us is a resounding: Tax credit.

And finally Team Macho?
Describing Team Macho is akin to retelling a dream. It’s starts off very clear and concise and quickly devolves into three midgets giving you a bowl that is not a bowl; one midget has bright socks and the head of an inverted dragon, the second midget has no socks and sings like a regular dragon (one of the ones from Pern) and the third one doesn’t look like your brother but you understand and know it to be him. The next thing you know you’re late for work and then you wake up and realize that you’re unemployed.

When did you guys begin working together?

We have been together for six years. Six long years.

How did you guys connect?
Long story, Initially I met Bulkhead (not an official member of the group, but a good friend nonetheless), I met the rest in college. We were stealing supplies to construct a Space Bridge. After that we drank contaminated beer provided by Bulkhead (he does that sort of thing, but is a good friend nonetheless), which caused us to lose our collective memories. We moved to Toronto after following a trail of spilled oil that lead to Karl (our future landlord). He made us recite “The Decepticon Oath of Allegiance” (That’s how leases are signed in Toronto, that’s what he said anyways),  He branded us with the Decepticon symbol (it looks like an owl or something. I don’t really know how to explain it). When our studio collapsed, we stayed behind, in an attempt to save our art supplies and were buried by tons of rock. We escaped. Our friend Bulkhead accidentally created another Team Macho member called Dirt Boss (this happened when we returned to the space bridge, for some minor repairs). Dirt Boss got us into some trouble and we ended up on Dinobot Island, we had more problems there and lost two of our members. R.I.P. Dirt Boss and Mixmaster.

Why Toronto?
None of us can legally drive, for reasons we would rather not discuss. Well, I’ll just come out and say it, Michael Bay’s portrayal of the Transformers was terrifying. I will never go within 10 feet of an automobot, never. It’s good a city, other than the automobot thing.

What is the process like when collectively working on a piece?
The process is the collective work, explaining it in detail would contradict another view on the workings of a piece. Everything just sort of falls together, like when you crack an atom open and stuff just starts to come out, and form other stuff. None of which is of any use to reality but functions fine in it’s own universe. to put it simply I would say this:

A through E equal members of the collective,
A + B = AB(artwork)
or
A + B = BA(artwork)
which leads to
A + B + C = ABC(artwork) – D *E(artwork)
and more to the point
AB(artwork) + C(art input) + D(spiteful criticism) + E(active trolling/griefing) = broken dreams
Hope that makes it more clear.

Is There a common-causal variable?
Variables are all common depending on the type of arc or series you are using, and scale plays a huge part. You can connect any variables if you don’t desire a specific result. That’s the way we operate. We don’t change the variables to meet the result, we just change the answer. There is less erasing and more time for video games. All chicken wings and no napkins, I mean that in the non-hereditary sense.

What would you liken your style to?
Have you seen that movie about jackson pollack, that movie sucked I didn’t believe he died, he is probably still alive, being shitty somewhere. Styles are like assholes you gotta eat’m out once in a while… next question. The problem with north america is the tax system, right? I would technically fall under the poverty line, but I eat really expensive cheese. Styles are like expensive cheese you gotta eat’m once and while, and yeah your breath is gonna stink, and yeah it tastes awful, but hey it’s alright ’cause cheese adds personality, and npc’s aren’t any good at anything.

To use a familiar analogy:

A+B = an artwork with a specific style, however A and B now percentages of work and the same follows for C,D,E. So you will get something like A(60%) + B(40%)= AB(100%) and the style formed will be that of the equation in its entirety. Therefore, the style will change with every variation of said equation, and change exponentially with each new variable added to the equation.

Copy and text play an intriguing roll with your work. What influences this dialogue?
Mostly it’s our dialogue, the stuff we say to each other while we are working. The narrative of our collective lives is confusing and complex at the best of times. The textual elements are like chapters of an unbelievably taxing book, that’s made of razor blades, and dogs, and flowers, and razor blades. It provides context for us and maybe hopefully sometimes the viewer.

Which artists are you identifying with at the moment?
We are an opinionated bunch, this question would probably end in us fist-fighting over artistic idealism. Five guys with five vastly different views. Except for Chris; that guy’s brain could barely pump a tire. Just based on the literature we have lying around the computer here, I’ll try to give you a good cross section:

- John Singer Sargent: The Early Portraits
- A Planters Peanuts bag
- Anthony Van Dyke
- 20th Century Boys manga
- The Encyclopedia of Ornament
- Lee Valley catalogs
- The Boy Scout Field Guide
- And some important mail that has yet to be opened or deemed important*

*Authors note: the mail mentioned above was later opened and deemed not to be important.

Long Time Listener or First Time Caller?
Long time caller, first time listener is more accurate.

Why is this  such a great song (video above)?

There are two types of people in the world. Snap manages (in some of the most eloquent prose of the 90′s) to sum them up. They make some persuasive arguments on the topics of “having the power” and “getting the power”, For many “The Power” is the knife that slew philosophy, a truly enthusiastic love letter to Nietzsche’s 1886 book “Beyond Good and Evil”. Keep still and lie down! (@the.ghost.of.Schopenhauer #thedeathofthewilltolive). Snap has arrived. I am more of an Urban Cookie Collective person, the other type. They may have the power, but I have the key, I have the secret, I have the key to another way.

Aside from your parents, who are your biggest fans?
Parents only love you because it’s illegal for them not to. My mom once explained the birds and the bees to me. She took a potato and wrote “your dreams” on it. She then grabbed a hammer inscribed with the words “unprotected sex”, and swung it down. Potato: Smashed.

Mother screamed, “You see! That’s what will happen. That and more!” She tore into the mass of starchy innards and pulled out a tiny porcelain figurine. “This is a baby!” she proclaimed. “This is you! Ca-Kaw” her voice elevated, “You owe me! POTATO!”

“Mother, I am going to art school” I said. “I am going to become an artist, I have had a dream and there was a turnip in it. I smashed it, and a gold figure came out!” I paused to let the suspense build, and then continued, with my most lethal of logic strikes, “Love is for astronauts and coward thoughts! In this life or through my kids, I will be an…ARTIST! and If you stop loving me because of it, then I will see you in court!” The room was silent. I pushed down my shutter shades, got on to my wakeboard and rode into the present day. Also, Jason Priestley has one of our drawings…

Keep Calm and…. Schopenhauer

www.teammacho.com