UNDRGRND ARTIST: MEKAZOO
DECEMBER 5TH, 2023
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I’ve been waiting two years for this.
A wise woman and friend (name drop: Angie Taylor) reminded me that “punk” was just a term that meant “weirdo” or “freak”. It encapsulates the outcasts from the mainstream and puts us all in a group. Underground has become a ubiquitous term that transcends culture and language because of our shared, now global, experience.
When I began planning the first UNDRGRND DIGS article, I knew the five first artists I chose would need to set the tone for what I wanted UNDRGRND to represent. As much as I want to make UNDRGRND for everyone and to have a fluidity to what it means to be “underground”, I can’t help but imprint my vision all over this.
Mekazoo was one of the first five artists I chose. Along with the others, his work resonated with me and everything I grew up on: bright vibrant colors that pop, stop-motion-styled animations, street art, video games, cartoons, and action figures. I gravitated towards Mekazoo’s art because I recognized a part of myself in his work; the part I’m inevitably building UNDRGRND around.
So it was no surprise that I found a kindred spirit in Mekazoo, especially music.
“In the early 2000s, I was the singer of a hardcore/metalcore band. [Music] helped me get over my problems and disappointments. Some of my favourite bands are Deftones, Bad Religion, Defeater, Thursday and Alkaline Trio.”
No doubt Mekazoo and I would have run in the same circles and gone to the same shows. Self-described as an “Illustrator and designer ruined by 80's cartoons, video games, cheap plastic toys and moderate drinking,” Mekazoo captures a nostalgia that resonates with me and other now uncool dads of a certain age, down to even our comfort zones.
The influences were clear throughout his work: The Simpsons, Adventure Time, Game Boy, and mechanical department store rides. Even though I can surmise why Mekazoo uses Death as a main character throughout his work, it’s the only subject/influence where the logic is not apparent.
“I’m not a religious person but death is certain. When you come to a certain age, you start to experience death more often and from your closer circle. It's my way of handling the concept of death.”
It may explain his defacement of pop-culture icons like Mickey Mouse.
“I really love old cartoon characters as I grew up watching them. I have nothing against it. It's more like my take on those characters, in a more grim/dark and down-to-earth way.”
That word choice, “down-to-earth” gives his work a new context. Many of us who feel drawn to underground scenes (be it music, art, or film) do so because the mainstream, filled with bubbly marketing tropes and positive vibe-only influencers, does not represent the deeper, darker, non-small talk topics of conversation. Too many harsh life experiences and brushes with reality push us away from cookie-cutter, mass-produced, cliche word art and discussions about the weather. This coded phrase “down-to-earth” becomes a signal to people like us who understand loss.
Just like his art, something darker lurks deeper within Mekazoo. He pairs childhood fantasies, characters, and memories alongside the reality of losing that childlike view of the world when faced with the certain reality that everything we love will one day tarnish like our cheap plastic toys discarded in the landfill.
This sounds bleak but there still is hope. Even death manages to find a way to enjoy the park. Maybe only outcasts can understand that to see the darker side of reality means to be free from the fear of it as well.
Someday I’ll pry and find out what that inner demon is, in person, over a beer. For now, fans of Mekazoo’s work, myself included, will have to settle for the message he sends us through his art.
