Last year local heroes Dappled Cities did a bit more than just play a little gig to launch their new ARIA-nominated album ‘Zounds’, choosing to bring the to life by inviting 12 of their favourite visual artists to each interpret a different track from the album. Media, friends and family were invited to a massive Kennards Storage facility in Alexandria to view the installations, which were set up in various storage units throughout the warehouse and such was its success that the band have decided to reinstall some of the works for wider public viewing, as well as give a sneak peak into the band’s forthcoming DVD.

We caught up with Little Gonzales – an illustrator, printmaker, animator, photographer and art director who is known for his quirky characters and city scenes that you can find on albums, clothing, posters and murals everywhere – to find out a bit more about how his particular installation came together:

What track from ‘Zounds’ were you asked to interpret and what were your immediate impressions?

The track I interpreted is ‘Kid’ – I think I may have asked for this one specifically, the name alone really appealed to me and allowed a lot of possibility in creating the artwork – plus I felt it was a great fit in terms of my style and usual subject matter perhaps just my nature… I really liked the whimsical feel of the song and the way it conjured up strong imagery in my head.

How did you go about putting the vibes you were getting from the track into a physical installation?

Playing the song on repeat while I brainstormed, I think, really let the imagery and themes soak in – innocence, optimism, wonder. I thought a lot about what it really meant to be a kid, what was special about being a kid and what seems to happen to most of us between that stage of life and ‘growing up’.

What do you want your audience to take from the work?

I want them to question what it means to be a ‘kid’, to be young. I think a lot of things we take for granted are lost as people grow up and become adults – things which I think are important and I felt need to be protected in a sense – innocence, wonder and joy for life, optimism. I love that when you are a kid, you believe that anything could happen, you can do anything and the world is your oyster. Many things I loved about my childhood are all about using your imagination – dressups, drawing, colouring in. I tried to let the audience indulge in these things a little when interacting with my work. Reconnect with some of the fun things from being a kid that they may have left behind.