Stepping out onto a stage with a ukulele and an overhead projector, Robert Taylor (alias Sparky Deathcap) cut a peculiar figure when opening for Los Campesinos! in 2009. Performing acoustic tracks backed by a stream of hand-drawn illustrations on a screen behind, tying together a cohesive multimedia narrative heavily underpinned by a wry sense of humour, this particular image is one that manages to capture many sides of a multi-faceted artist.
Motivating unusual modes of performance is more natural to Taylor than attempting to categorise his own varied body of work. ‘The main advantage is that people don’t really look at you when you perform, as you have this big screen to distract the audience.’ Labelling his work isn’t quite so straightforward; ‘it’s always a bad idea for an artist of any sort to try and invent labels for themselves (no matter how generic and vague) or categorise what they do too specifically. I prefer to produce the work and then see how everybody else defines it.’
One sense of defining an individual can come from examining how they differ from their peers. Now a full-time member of the band he once supported, Taylor differentiates himself by being able to contribute a wide repertoire of skills, from ‘sex rapping’ (a term faithfully coined by messageboard users to describe the method of delivery of Sparky’s lines in ‘By Your Hand’) to designing artwork for single releases and subscription-only ‘zine Heat Rash. In terms of peers who fulfil a similar role to Sparky as a solo artist, only one springs to mind; ‘Jeffrey Lewis is a genius and I’m a great admirer of his work. I used to fret quite a lot about how I could ever find a place as a singer-songwriter that incorporates drawing when he so completely dominates that role.’
Carving out a niche wasn’t the reason behind the adoption of illustrations into his live sets; ‘it was always something I did from very early on. My dad and grandpas on both sides are very talented artists and so I had a lot of encouragement. My dad used to bring home meters and meters of these concertinas of old green, dot matrix computer printouts from the planning department at Newcastle Council where he worked. I used to just spend all my free time doodling on that.’ In fact, the noble art of student journalism is to thank for reinvigorating Taylor’s enthusiasm for producing artwork later on; ‘I started producing comic strips and satirical cartoons for the student newspaper and that reignited my interest somewhat and upon graduating I just divided my time between music and drawing and working stupid, dead-end jobs.’
Clearly a natural progression for the singer-songwriter to use artwork to illuminate his music, but his comics stand somewhat distinct from his music, insofar as the humour is far more apparent upon first glance. ‘I think humour is quite a difficult thing to get right when you’re inexperienced. If you get it wrong you can turn your entire output into a joke.’ The source of inspiration for humour when used, does strike a chord, feeling more like wry observations than scenarios constructed for comedic effect alone; ‘I spend a lot of time travelling and sitting in airport departure lounges and coffee shops watching the world go by. Then suddenly you start to notice that everything in the world is totally bizarre and weird. Everyone’s just trying their best not to say something really crazy.’
Nonetheless, a dark sense of humour finds its way into the songs produced on the Tear Jerky EP, but is incorporated into a wider commentary, incorporating aspects of melancholia as well as just humour. Despite appearing distinct, both humour in comics and the pathos induced by his songwriting fit together cohesively as an interpretation of the world, where Sparky Deathcap finds his own place alongside his influences. ‘Regardless of medium it’s probably the way artists view and interpret the world around them that interests me. I like art that deals with the here and now, particularly, preferably in a wry, melancholic way. I find it weirdly comforting to be able to trace the same essence through the writing of Lorrie Moore, the poetry of Billy Collins, the art of David Shrigley and the music of David Berman. It’s as if your favourite artists are all sitting down for coffee and get on like a house on fire.’
Rishi Modha 