We had a blast on this Monday (Cyber Monday), as we brought out selected artwork for an online auction to raise money for the Red Cross. Big thanks to Matt Sorum, Frankie “Kash” Waddy and Stephen Perkins for the opportunity to have their work showcased in this event. It was blast, and we’re proud to see a portion of the artwork go directly to relief efforts for Hurricane Sandy through the Red Cross.
Category Archives: Matt Sorum
Matt Sorum and Guns N’ Roses Reunites Minus Axl Rose for Hall of Fame Induction
Axl Rose kept his promise to boycott Saturday’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland, but his former bandmates decided the Guns N’ Roses show must go on without him, gratefully accepting their statuettes before playing several vintage GNR songs with singer Myles Kennedy handling the vocals.
Kennedy, the singer in guitarist Slash’s current solo project and lead vocalist for Alter Bridge, stepped in to round out the lineup that also included bassist Duff McKagan, drummers Steven Adler and Matt Sorum, and guitarist Gilby Clarke in three songs from GNR’s 1987 debut album “Appetite for Destruction.”
Rose’s name drew choruses of boos and catcalls from the audience of about 7,400 at Cleveland’s Public Auditorium, where the ceremony took place. But Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong, who delivered the GNR introduction speech, shot back: “Shut up. He was the greatest frontman to ever step in front of a microphone.” He paused, then added: “But he is … crazy. And I can vouch for that.”
SceneFour would like to congratulate Matt and members of Guns N’ Roses for their long overdue induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Check out www.mattsorumart.com, a few pieces are still available while they last.
KUSH MAGAZINE: When Music Meets Canvas: Fine Art By Rock Stars
It’s not every day that you get to mingle with half a dozen world famous rock stars. And it’s a very rare occasion indeed when the reason those rock stars have Come Together is to open an exhibition of their artwork at a gallery in Beverly Hills normally reserved for the 20th century Masters.
In fact, the Andrew Weiss gallery displays more pieces by Picasso, Dali and Chagall than most museums, which seemed to leave even these world-renowned rockers a little star-struck – several of them describing how humbled and honored they were to have their pieces displayed alongside such icons. As Page Hamilton of Helmet put it, “It’s like sharing the stage with Beethoven or Mozart.”
COME TOGETHER: THE SCENEFOUR L.A. EXHIBITION
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Andrew Weiss Gallery presents an exclusive exhibition of SceneFour’s Collaborative Artwork with music visionaries. The exhibition runs from September 15 to November 1, 2011.
WIRED MAGAZINE: Drummer Royalty Get Their Moves Immortalized on Canvas
The Art of Drums is the latest offering from Los Angeles art collective SceneFour, which is working with the likes of Guns ‘N Roses’ Matt Sorum, Def Leppard’s Rick Allen and Stephen Perkins from Jane’s Addiction to make images from the drummers’ legendary beat skills.
SceneFour has used long-exposure photography and magic glowing drumsticks to create the work. While the final artwork comes in canvas form — all the better for that celeb-style signing, of course — there isn’t a hint of paint in how the drumming movement is captured. Cory Danziger, the collective’s creative director, explains to Wired.co.uk: “We were inspired to go outside of the confines of oil or acrylic. We wanted to create a new, basically untapped medium that a visual artist could work with.”
SceneFour chose light to answer such a conundrum. Or rather, a lack of it, as the big-shot drummers are placed in pitch-dark rooms in non-reflective clothing (although one would assume black the only option for rock royalty) before doing what they do best with a range of lighted drumsticks in different colors and sizes. A camera captures the whole lot on a long-exposure shot, allowing a 30-second performance to be captured in one frame.
Following some artistic input from the drummer and post-production back in SceneFour’s studios, the drum movements are transformed from the digital negative into a solid work.
Cory told Wired.co.uk about the motivations behind the project: “The Art of Drums project began with the longing to bottle up rhythm and project it on canvas. Drum performance is inherently visual and is something that involves manipulating and working with time.”
MODERN DRUMMER: Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction Discusses His Forthcoming Art Collection, Time
On November 15, Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins will present his first foray into the world of visual art with Time, the second collection in the Art of Drums series. Drums is the brainchild of SceneFour, a Los Angeles–based creativity house that has worked with RZA of Wu-Tang Clan, Chuck D of Public Enemy, and Bootsy Collins. Guns N’ Roses/Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum was responsible for the first collection, and Def Leppard’s Rick Allen and P-Funk’s Frankie “Kash” Waddy are among the other drummers slated. Learn more about Time at TheArtOfStephenPerkins.com.
THE STRANGER: Janes Addiction Drummer (Firestarter) on the Art of Drums Project
For the third installment of the Art of Drums series, Jane’s Addiction’s Stephen Perkins spoke. Perkins’ drumming spreads a spectrum with senses. His beats are a choreographed, primal torrent, running poised Arabian cycles of mortar that dive down to the cosmic pelvis of urges. For Jane’s Addiction, he perfectly drives the cadence of their erogeny. Very LA, very frenetic, very ravenous, but always holding it down. Perkins hoists the canopy well behind the erotic, psychedelic hyena brain of Perry Farrell.
What makes a great drummer?
Perkins: When great drummers play, they’re doing yoga, and killing a lion at the same time. You gotta have a quick Sugar Ray Leonard jab. But at the same time you gotta be a ballerina up there.
Looking at these Art of Drum images, it’s like a Rorschach test. Frankie “Kash” Waddy sees a man walking through a door, Matt Sorum sees Jesus in a sailboat. What do you see?
I see jellyfish rising. A face laughing. If I look deeper, I see goblins, and angels. Wings. You’re right, it’s interpretive. Some people might see a missile coming from China. I don’t see that, but someone might.
HUFFINGTON POST: LA Boys Bring Beat To Canvas
I went to an art show in September at The Andrew Weiss Gallery which showcased a limited collection of collaborative art pieces by LA based creative house SceneFour (www.scenefour.com) with legendary musicians such as The RZA, Chuck D, and Bootsy Collins (just to name a few!). The pieces were all totally unique and carried the energy, personality, and attitude of each artist involved. But what really struck me were the abstract drum pieces by Matt Sorum (of Guns N Roses and Velvet Revolver). The SceneFour guys were able to actually capture, on canvas, the oneness of the drummer with his drum beat in the exact moment of its creation and execution. Through the canvas, it’s like you’re one with the drummer … it’s like you’re one with the beat … in fact, it’s almost like you ARE the beat. This is artwork created by rhythm. How has no one thought of this before!?
ANTI MUSIC: Guns N Roses, Def Leppard, Janes Addiction and The Art of Drums Project
What would a picture of your favorite song look like? The Art Of Drums, a historic collection of fine art spearheaded by Los Angeles creativity house SceneFour in collaboration with ten of the world’s greatest drummers, can finally answer that question.
On August 5, the flagship “Art Of Drums” collection featuring former Guns ‘N Roses/Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum (to be revealed exclusively at mattsorumart.com) will premiere a groundbreaking method of capturing music on canvas. Hundreds of drum bursts are recorded, reduced to light impulses, digitized, evaluated by several photographers, graphic artists and all under the direction of the music artist.
NOISECREEP: Velvet Revolver’s Matt Sorum Launches Art Collection
Velvet Revolver drummer Matt Sorum recently unveiled an art collection, using drumsticks as his muse.
Sorum used his drumsticks to create a series on canvas. The pieces study both the rhythm of light and performance.
“I never considered myself an artist in that form until it was brought to my attention that it could be done,” Sorum said in a recent interview. “You know the sticks relate to brush strokes… Great artists have a different feel from each other, nobody is similar, everyone has a different take on things and it comes through in the movement.”
There are a total of five different visual pieces in the collection to choose from. Of these, there will be 130 drafts for sale and those will be signed and numbered.