UK based illustrator Russell Taysom’s art is like starring into the nightmare of a schizophrenic TV addict; Russell re-imagines the trash culture of his youth as surreal, ultra-violent, neon colored hallucinations, think David Lynch’s Mad magazine, or a Hanna-Barbara directed splatter film.
Just one look at Russell’s work and you can tell he was a child of the late ’80s/early ’90s and grew up on a steady diet of VHS tapes, Madballs, pro-wrestling, Garbage Pail Kids, Ren & Stimpy, Double Dare, Z-grade action films, Punk Rock, Heavy Metal, Troma, comic books, and Saturday morning cartoons.
Russell Taysom’s work has appeared in issues of London based Eyeball Comix and Art Rocker magazine, as well on fliers, t-shirts, and 7″s for a whole slew of bands from his neck of the woods.
If you’re into Johnny Ryan, Mike Diana, Superjail!, Wonder Showzen, or are just a fan of having your mind blown, check out Russell’s art on his Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or personal website where you can buy posters and prints. 
Where are you from?
I’m from Hereford, which is a small farming town in the middle of England, but I live in London now.
How would you describe your artwork?
Bright and gory cartoons with a lot of severed heads and bulging eyeballs.
Who are some of your major influences?
“..As a kid, listening to Iron maiden was like entering a whole new world full of magic and danger.”
John Kricfalusi who did Ren and Stimpy, Mike Diana, Joe Coleman, Derrick Riggs who did all the Iron Maiden Covers up until Fear of the Dark.
Growing up, I was a massive Garfield fan and later Lobo, so maybe a bit of Jim Davis and Simon Bisley. I also love kid’s drawings in general.
Who are some of the bands you’ve had a chance to work with?
Recently, I’ve been doing lots of artwork for a band called Love Buzzard. I’ve also done posters for Kill Yourself, Slaves, God Damn, Mean Bikini, Skaters, Bo Ningen, Slaves, Fever Fever, and The Vichy Government .
I loved the GG Allin pieces you did. Which one of GG Allin’s tattoos is your favorite and why?
I like the scum fuck one because of the way the last bit of the m from scum is extra long to form the k from fuck. GG is the best to draw ‘cus he was such a great character. I’m doing a GG Chrsitmas card today with his shit spelling out Merry Christmas.
“..I’m doing a GG Chrsitmas card today with his shit spelling out “Merry Christmas”…”
Could you tell us about your love of Iron Maiden, when did you first get into them, and where did you first hear them?
I got into Iron Maiden when I was 11, I bought Seventh Son of a Seventh Son for the cover, but loved the music, and especially the lyrics. As a kid, listening to Iron maiden was like entering a whole new world full of magic and danger. 
Next, I got Number of the Beast for Christmas, and “Hallowed be thy Name” is still one of my all time favorite songs.
After that, I spent the next ten years spending pretty much all my money on Iron Maiden stuff, even trying to like the two Blaze Bayley albums.
After Bruce came back, I was disappointed in Brave New World even though I loved his last solo album, A Chemical Wedding. So I kinda gave up on the stuff that came after that. I still listen to the old stuff and even listened to Steve Harris’ British Lion album, but I wasn’t that impressed.
Bastion Booger
You made this awesome poster of wrestlers from the ’80s and ’90s, and even included our childhood favorite, Batstion Booger! Do you remember his theme song–it was just a bunch of burp and fart noises, or what about the time he took that kid’s ice cream bar, how awesome was that?
The Berzerker never seemed to win a match…even though he looked amazing!
Who were some of your favorite wrestlers growing up?
There were so many awesome characters when I was a kid. I really think they should get back to giving wrestlers cool gimmicks, but I guess so does everyone our age.
My favorites in WWF were Demolition, The Undertaker, and The Nasty Boys.
Later on I liked The Hardy Boys and The Dudley Boyz. I really liked managers and Bobby the Brain was my favorite, and Jesse Ventura is my all time favorite commentator. In WCW, I was really into Harlem Heat.
So many artists of our generation blend imagery from pop culture into their work, do you think it’s possible that our generation has just consumed so much television that it’s seeped it’s way into our subconscious and this is how it’s poured out?
Yeah, that’s great point. Coming from a small town with no art galleries, all my culture came out of the TV. I think we were the first generation to have TVs in our bedrooms, and a lot of how we talk about our own lives is by relating it to TV or old computer games.
You might explain a journey to work as being like Paperboy 2, or an awkward meal being like Eraserhead. I especially like it when people liken a difficult situation to being like an end of level boss.
I think it’s fun to put that imagery into artwork, and I like to see how other people use pop culture to talk about their own lives.
