Today we’d like to introduce you to John Lathrop.
John, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve known from a very early age that I was going to do something creative with my life. I’ve been singing since I could speak, and drawing since I could hold a crayon. My dad was (and is) a drummer, so he always had a drum kit I could jump behind, so I taught myself to play drums at about 13 or 14. Around the same time, my uncle lent me an acoustic guitar and showed me some basic chords and techniques, which got me started on guitar; while I didn’t know much about guitar or music theory, I had listened to music my entire life and was absorbing as much as possible. I started writing my own very simplistic tunes back then, but focused more on drums at the time. I was the drummer in several rock bands from my teens through twenties. But during this time I also taught myself guitar, bass, and keyboards and started writing fully fleshed-out songs, all sort of in secret at home between sessions of drumming my heart out with my bands. The last band I was in broke up quite suddenly, so I took that opportunity to really explore my own songwriting and try my hand at actually recording full songs. My project The Stan Laurels was “born” and I began writing and recording my first album in 2006, a huge undertaking that took three years to complete while working a FT day-job and being a dad and husband. It is now fifteen years later and my fourth album, THERE IS NO LIGHT WITHOUT THE DARK, was released on Big Stir Records this January!
As for art, I have always been a portrait artist and cartoonist, and had a good bit of success in these areas as a teen and in my early twenties, earning jobs like painting posters for businesses and murals for people, and I also had a weekly comic strip running in a local newspaper for a while. But after a while I started focusing heavily on music and didn’t have much time for visual art… in fact, there was a time in which I didn’t do much with art for about ten years(!). But when I realized I was going to need things like a band logo and album covers for The Stan Laurels, I taught myself how to use Photoshop and started dabbling in graphic design. I worked hard on my design skills and realized being an artist really helped with honing my design work. Cut to a few short years later when I started drawing and painting again, but this time I was doing it digitally and utilizing graphic design techniques in conjunction with the hand-drawn and painted digital artwork. At that time I realized I was on to something, creating a new style of artwork that is modern and original, yet also vintage-inspired, heavily influenced by pop artists like Andy Warhol and Peter Max, and the album cover art styles of the ’50s and ’60s. I call it “Mod Pop Art,” and because so many people were asking me to design logos and album covers and things, I opted to start a business in early 2015, which I called Plaid Design. Six years later, I’ve done hundreds of graphic design projects for clients, loads of art commissions, and have created well over 100 original pop art pieces which I have been selling to people all over the world in limited edition signed/numbered fine art prints.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I would say not exactly smooth … I’ve always had to work full-time at a day-job, which hinders creativity in many ways, but mostly due to the simple fact that you have very little time left to create. I am also self-taught in everything I do creatively, so this itself takes quite a bit of time, whether you’re talking about playing instruments, recording and producing music, utilizing applications like Illustrator and Photoshop for digital art and design, or even figuring out how to do things like copyright and publish an album or create and maintain websites. I guess because I have opted to do everything myself, I always have the burden of figuring out HOW to do everything. But in the long run it ends up being a good thing because I answer to no one and have 100% creative control over every aspect. And I am at a point now where I’m finally confident enough in what I do that I no longer have to spend a ton of time figuring out the HOWs, and I can just DO. So this is a good thing!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
With my music, I am known as The Stan Laurels. It’s a “band” name, but it’s really just me recording every vocal and instrumental part and putting it all together. Sort of a modern one-man-band. I have recorded four albums of music as The Stan Laurels, and most would call it indie rock or power-pop, but it’s also a fairly original sound that can’t be described and should be heard to truly understand it. Two of my albums are actually soundtracks to motion pictures, as I have written, recorded, and produced the original score (BG music) and songs for two full-length independent films, one being BILLI & THEODORE, and the other MAYBE SHOWER. As an artist, I am the owner of Plaid Design, an art and graphic design business. As stated on my website, this blurb describes it pretty well: “Award-winning artist John Lathrop’s instantly recognizable Mod Pop Art breathes new life into the classic and current pop culture subjects referenced, putting a fun and original spin on pop surrealism, often by way of humor and absurdist parody. Using a modern approach to mixed media, John combines hand-painted artwork with graphic design techniques to create his unique, colorful clean-line style. The result is visually stunning eye-candy, bold and striking, with a vibe that feels vintage, yet unmistakably modern.” But like my music, it is difficult to describe in words and should be viewed if possible.
Who else deserves credit in your story?
First and foremost, my wife and my two sons have been EXTREMELY supportive every step of the way, and I owe so much to them. They are all about everything I do creatively, and always cheering me on, and my wife really helps me with decisions, big and small. I would say my dad was a big inspiration, being a great drummer himself, and the reason I wanted to be a drummer, which kind of spurred everything musically. My mom and my mother-in-law are big cheerleaders, too, in both my musical and visual art efforts. I should also mention my parents were always playing great music as a kid, which really helped build a strong musical foundation. My uncle John, who lent me that acoustic guitar back in the day, showed me those basic chords and taught me to play two songs, and that played a huge part in my humble beginnings as a budding musician and songwriter. My sisters and sisters-in-law are always very supportive as well. Mike Day, my friend and sound engineer, has been sort of “The 2nd Laurel” from the beginning and helped shape the sound of my recordings. Christina Bulbenko and Rex Broome from Big Stir Records, as well as Ray Gianchetti from Kool Kat Musik, have all helped tremendously by championing my music and getting it out into the world. Really, anyone who has taken a moment to even “like” a post on social media, let alone buy my music or artwork, has helped keep me creating and believing in myself that what I am doing is something people will enjoy.
Contact Info:
- Email: https://www.PlaidDesign.co
- Website: https://TheStanLaurels.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thestanlaurels
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlaidDesign.co
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/PlaidDesign
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheStanLaurels
- Yelp: john.lathrop@thestanlaurels.com
Image Credits
John Lathrop
