Grateful Dead

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We're proud to add acclaimed visual artist Kyle Field to the list of gifted folks who work so hard to carry on the spirit of the Grateful Dead's iconic imagery - not to mention their musical legacy. Get to know the all around multi-talented fellow who designed the original artwork for Hampton '79 in an exclusive video and interview.

Let’s start by taking a look at your history as an artist…when you got started, how you got started, and your influences.

I began drawing at an early age before I could speak if I remember correctly. I started copying other drawings and trying to draw things from life... I drew a profile portrait of my dad in pencil one night in the living room when I was nine and it was exciting...It was a pretty close representation. I liked MC Escher, Shel Silverstein, comic book art and illustrations in school books actually. I drew a see-through shark in elementary school. You could see the insides, intestines, liver, heart, the whole business. The following year my teacher gave me a shark to dissect, the rest of the class got frogs! I really enjoyed looking around at varying styles and imperfections in images were sometimes my favorite parts - the parts where they fell short. I imagine that I began imitating some of these shortcomings, stylistic warpings. I can remember seeing other people's handwriting and imitating it - my handwriting shifted around a bit depending on who I was sitting next to in class. So I think in some sense there is a voyeuristic leaning to many things I do in my pictures. Half of the time I am repeating an image that I have seen in the world in some sense, reacting to an image I was shown, you know? I truly feel like I got to witness great drawings being made in art classes in high school. Everyone's heads were down. We would talk but we were also pushing each other. I studied art throughout school and into college and graduated from UCLA in 1998. I continue to be influenced and still feel young in it.

What elements of the Grateful Dead's artwork and imagery appeal to you? And why?

Skeletons have always been one of my favorite things to draw. I thought that the Grateful Dead had it made when it came to artwork and all that could be done with their imagery. I remember seeing a glass case dedicated to the Grateful Dead in our video store as a kid. It was a video store that also sold records and tapes. The artwork looked adult but more magical. The Steal Your Face logo obviously zapped me immediately. I didn't hear the music until years later but was excited to find out that I liked the music as much as the artwork. It felt friendly and inclusive. I really love how all of the artwork, official and bootleg, has fed off of each other over the years. It's a cultural legacy that I feel lucky to be a part of.

Tell us a little bit about the process of creating the artwork for the Dead's Record Store Day release.

It was totally exciting, the prospect of doing some art work for the Grateful Dead. I submitted about five audition drawings. I would wake up and listen to their music and try and come up with one Grateful Dead drawing a day and send to Rhino. The first one was "Deal," you know with a dealer and a POV skeleton, holding his cards and smoking, the gambler himself. A few more followed including "Dead Man's" which is loosely based on the "Dead Set" artwork which I have always loved so much. The Dead team was really enthusiastic. They seemed to enjoy what I was sending in and let me know it which was helpful. Then the show got picked and I found out where it was recorded and what the Hampton Coliseum looked like. I wanted a skeleton hand holding a ticket on the front and a skeleton face on the back, and they weren't connected so it could either be one or two skeletons involved. They played "I need a miracle" at the show so I thought this was the miracle moment. To me it is either one Dead Head giving another Dead Head a ticket or one Dead Head showing the ticket that they just got, and the idea that it could be a man or a woman as well. We toyed with a few modifications and went back and forth, you know, the way things get made. Before I knew it we were done and all of the sudden I'm here trying to explain it. I really love how it turned out and am thankful for all the help from everyone involved.

You are also a musician, how has the Dead influenced your sound?

The importance of lyrics and storytelling, color and mood; the idea of timeless music and the will of a group of people who all help it grow. The notion of different versions of songs, that the song has unlimited versions of itself and that each one is relevant to every other one, that they help to define each other.

We hear you often perform Dead covers. Which of their songs do you gravitate towards and why?

I played a few of my favorites here, too many to name because I like them all, but these are the ones I got close to figuring out. I like songs that bring out feelings and ring with memories and emotions. It's sort of surreal to be recording these songs in association with this release and then sending it out for all to hear, but I feel a real connection to these songs and am glad to be able to offer a few simple renditions here. There is a sort of nostalgic feeling for the past that I get from "Box Of Rain." "Unbroken Chain"reminds me of a dark blue Renaissance fair. "Eyes Of The World" feels like the word "YES" printed in all caps.