After going through what he describes as a “life factory reset” (“new lady, new home, new mentality, new business”), Daz – the creative mind behind the art of Hard Work 4 Nothing – is back with a new venture – Kvlt On Canvas. Kvlt means “true” in Norwegian, and it sounds like Daz has found his true calling.
I caught up with him for a little chat about where he’s at now, what came before, and what’s up next.
KG: Hey! So tell me about this life reset. It sounds like you did what you had to do.
KOC: Yeah, dude, totally.
KG: So, I think last time we spoke, you were working at PMT?
KOC: Yeah, I was, man. I used to run the drum department in Birmingham. It sucks, man, what’s happened to them. But, in all fairness, ever since COVID hit, that business just hit the ground like a dart. I think the same as everyone else. I worked there over COVID, so I was travelling between cities – living in Worcester, working in Birmingham – I was doing all the online sales and stuff. It was busy then because there was a boom about it, but when it reopened and all these new rules had come into play, like you could only try out one guitar, it just knocked the business in time.
KG: Yeah, I suppose the business would have lost its appeal, really. The appeal of going into a guitar shop is being able to get your hands on a lot of shit that you might have been potentially fantasising or dreaming about – try it on, see how it fits – but if you can’t, you know…
KOC: That’s it, man. With that store, we had the biggest guitar wall in Europe. So we had people travel to visit. You know what I mean? It was insane. It was a spectacle in a store. So it was a bit depressing towards the end, man. It was a bit sad.
KG: I mean, obviously, the whole boom of people picking up instruments because of lockdown is a positive thing, but there’s obviously a pattern developing with regards to the long-term issues that brick and mortar instrument retailers are having…
KOC: Fuck man, where have they gone? It’s Gear4Music that has taken over the show now, and they’re a warehouse, so it’s taken that element away – the experience of trying to try something out to buy it, like genuine retail used to be. The internet has kind of taken over.
KG: Of course, yeah. I used to work in Virgin Megastore, and we had listening posts where people could scan the barcodes and listen to the music. You didn’t even have to take the CD out. That was pretty cool.
KOC: Yeah, I worked at Tower Records for a little while years ago, and I worked at HMV for a long time.
KG: Same! I spent many years at HMV.
KOC: Yeah, they had listening posts there, and they took them out because people kept defacing them, and they were boring. They were like – This is a waste of time, get rid of them.
KG: Yeah, people will do shit like that, yeah, fair enough. So what is this new thing you’re doing? Obviously, I know you for your work as Hard Work 4 Nothing, and you used to be in the band Mukow, which went on to become Eternal Headache – what’s going on with that now?
KOC: Nothing’s really happening with that now. I kind of, like, I stopped playing. And Jack was in Phon as well, did you ever listen to them?
KG: Yeah, you sent me their stuff, and I listened to a bit of it.
KOC: He’s in a new band now, he’s left Phon, with their drummer, and started a new project around Worcester. The way my life is now, I don’t think it’s going to happen again. We got into a room once in, like, two years, and it was cool – the magic is always there with me and Jack – we have fun, man, we just write stuff that’s really heavy. But yeah, I dunno, man, I think my time as a musician is over. I’m just purely focusing on artwork now. I’m working full-time, working from home and doing digital commissions and hand logos again like I did with Hard Work 4 Nothing.
KG: That’s cool.
KOC: Yeah, and just being a full-time Dad now, d’you know what I mean?
KG: Yeah, of course.
KOC: I’m getting married in January, which is awesome.
KG: Congratulations.
KOC: I never thought it was going to happen again after the divorce.
KG: Yeah, no, I know the feeling!
KOC: D’you know what I mean?! It’s brutal, fuck. It’s so tough. But yeah, I’m a very happy boy now. With this new business, it’s going to be a lot of my work, but then I’m trying to push it to other artists as well, regardless of followers or any of that social media shit. I was talking to someone today, and they were like, “Do you really want to do this with me? Do a collaboration? I haven’t got many followers”, and I was like ‘It’s not really the point with me. Kvlt means true in Norwegian; it’s basically a term from the Norwegian black metal scene. It’s really interesting, man, and that’s been a huge thing for me. My most successful band that I was in was a black metal band, and I never thought I’d say that. Like ever, coz it’s proper abrasive! It’s an acquired taste.
KG: I must say I’m not familiar with the genre. Maybe I should educate myself and find out a bit about it, and find out exactly what it’s about.
KOC: If you listen to post-black metal, there’s a little bit more going on with it. And it doesn’t sound like it was recorded in a shed.
KG: Well, you know what, gimme some recs. Black metal albums that I should listen to. Genre-defining albums. Like if someone said Give me a metal album you might say Metallica’s Black Album or whatever.
KOC: OK. As far as post-black metal goes, listen to Deafheaven. They’ve got an album called Sunbather. It’s absolutely amazing.
KG: I think I might have heard that. Has it got a pink and white cover?
KOC: It’s bright pink.
KG: Yeah, I think I’ve heard it. Anyway, go on, sorry, what was the other one? Not post. But proper.
KOC: If you want to go with proper Norwegian black metal, you just need to listen to Darkthrone.
KG: Dark, throne?
KOC: Yep. I’ll send you some links later. You’ll say fucking hell, he’s gone crazy.
KG: Alright, fine, I’ll do that. I’ll let you know how I get on. So, going back to Kvlt, you gave us the definition, and your intentions are clearly very collaboration-heavy, but what does it mean in practical terms for you?
KOC: I kind of want to just put morals back into art again. Especially when it comes to this social media thing. Not that I’m against it. Like, sometimes I kind of have my doubts about why it’s called social. It’s just all very negative, d’yu know what I mean.
KG: Absolutely. It can be toxic. Toxic is a word that’s chucked around very willingly nowadays, but that is an example of something that really is. Or can be. Conversely, I don’t know if you’ve ever used Threads? But Threads is really, like, comparatively quite wholesome and supportive and community-feeling. It’s like the anti-Twitter. If you go on Twitter, it’s a horror show, I think. Threads is kind of the opposite. I’d recommend it.
KOC: It’s definitely something I’ll have a look at. I’ve been offline for about 7 months. It’s something I need to do my reading up on again. Feels a little bit contradictory of me saying I need to do my homework on it to make it work.
KG: Well, I guess you just want to use it in a way that you feel is healthy. Because you know so much of it is toxic, as discussed, so, you know, I don’t blame you at all.
KOC: Oh, totally. And it is purely collaborative. Got some really cool shit in the pipeline, and I just want people to enjoy it, man, like music. Being in the music scene for such a long time, it’s so bitchy and venomous. And people do it for money and like, you know, it only happens to a handful of people, so I think you’ve just got to enjoy it and have fun, man. Be positive about it.
KG: You mentioned being offline for 7 months. I did feel like you kind of fell off the face of the earth. You used to be quite routine, and then you were just gone. I was like “what happened to him?!”
KOC: Yeah, just disappeared, man. I think it just happened in general as well. So, literally, I moved out of Worcester, quit my job, moved in with my parents for a little bit to kind of sort my head out – and they’re right out in the sticks, just outside Shrewsbury – and it was wicked. And then I met Sophie, whom I’m getting married to in January. I crossed paths with Sophie, like, 15 years ago, and we kind of crossed paths again recently and just hit it off and started up where we left off, and it was wicked.
KG: So, where did you meet her initially, and where did you re-meet her again?
KOC: I met her in Birmingham when I was working at HMV in Solihull, and then from there we did the old Tinder thing and that was it!
KG: Yeah, of course! Don’t knock it. It definitely works! It gets results.
KOC: Oh yeah! Now we’ve moved in together and are living in Stratford, and I’m adopting her son and all sorts.
KG: Amazing. That’s incredible. What a journey. All in a relatively short space of time as well, right? I feel like it’s been quite a whirlwind.
KOC: Yeah, almost a year ago. September last year. It’s gone from a really horrible bullshit ride to a pretty fucking good one now.
KG: Yeah – what’s her son like?
KOC: He’s amazing. He’s 3. 4 next month. He’s such an awesome kid. He’s got autism. So he’s black and white, man. I love his personality. He’s properly turned me around. And the fact that I can put my concentration into him has made me forget about all the other shit I’ve been through and move away from focusing on the negatives, just nothing but putting pure energy into this kid and my relationship has been awesome.
KG: Well, that all sounds very wholesome. What are you gonna do when he goes to school in September?
KOC: Dunno man, time to do some painting innit?!
KG: Well, yeah, so – we collaborated before in the past, which I really enjoyed – loved it – so what’s your style going to be like going forward? It sounds like you’re moving away from certain things you’ve done before.
KOC: I’m moving away from the sort of tattoo flash kind of work, but still using imagery that people know from that, but making it a bit more chaotic, I guess? The reel I posted earlier was an old painting that I’d just had enough of, and I kind of went a bit schiz at it.
KG: Was that the one with like 5 or 6 people in a doorway?
KOC: Oh no, that was kind of a bit of satire coming from me. That’s a family called the Whitakers, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of them? But I watched a documentary series on YouTube called The Soft White Underbelly – it’s incredible. Absolutely amazing. So basically, they’re the most inbred family in America. It’s an interesting watch. And the W13 is the old postcode of where I used to live, and that was just a bit of a blast at how fruity the people are around there.
KG: It sounds like the sort of thing that Louis Theroux should make a documentary on.
KOC: Honestly, man, it’s an eye-opener. It’s well worth a watch. And I agree with that, I reckon Louis should get involved.
KG: I didn’t see the reel then. I feel like I should’ve seen that. I missed out.
KOC: I only posted it about an hour ago.
KG: Alright, I’m gonna look whilst we’re doing this so I can see. Coz I’d like to know.
KOC: I tagged Vans in it as well coz I’ve got my trotters in the video, hahaha. Little shameless plug there.
KG: OK, I see! Yeah, OK, I get it. It’s like an amalgamation or a fusion of styles. That traditional tattoo aesthetic smashed together with abstract expressionism – it’s a bit Pollocky.
KOC: Yeah, yeah, all the splats and that. That’s the kind of stuff I’m doing, but I still enjoy painting tattoo flash, and that’s so there will be the odd one or two. But they’ll be bigger instead of all the slap-on tattoo designs. I’m working on an A2 at the moment – it’s gonna take me a while, but it’s gonna be cool, man.
KG: We need to talk about including your art on the Black Rainbow Collective Black Rain zine postcards. I’d love to have your work represented there.
KOC: Yeah, yeah, I was gonna say that. And I’m gonna do some more prints soon, at some point. Open up a Big Cartel. And I found a local printer which is fucking ace, man. It means I can actually go into the shop and check out what they’re like instead of waiting for them to turn up from an order online.
KG: I know we touched on it earlier with guitar shops, but there really is something to be said for going into a shop, chatting to the person who’s selling the shit who hopefully knows their stuff, picking different things up, assessing them, seeing what they look like in the flesh and then making a decision. I know it’s very old school and not very realistic, I guess these days, but it’s a shame really.
KOC: It’s what I know and love. All my childhood memories. I mean, I worked at PMT before it was PMT. It was called Music Way in Birmingham. I learned how to play drums there. It’s heritage. It’s part of my life, really, and it sucks. But it’s the same with any other kind of shop. There were so many independent record shops around Birmingham and all sorts, and now they’re all kind of gone.
KG: I’ve spent a little bit of time in Birmingham. I don’t mind it. It feels a little bit like London but much smaller.
KOC: Definitely. I haven’t been to Birmingham for a little bit just because it is a bit of a trigger for me, coz I did lose my mind a bit over there. All my family moved to Worcester way and left me to my own devices, and I was not very responsible, basically. Got into all sorts of mad shit. I don’t know if you know Jay, who used to run Coffin Up Blood Records? I did a lot of work with him. He was one of my best friends in the world. And he died like 2 years ago. That was when it all started to go downhill. Like 2 days after he died, my ex-wife was like “I want to leave you”, so it was a whole week of mad, mad shit.
KG: Just a perfect storm of awfulness.
KOC: Yeah, it was a complete shitstorm, man.
KG: What happened to Jay?
KOC: He died in his sleep. Just overnight. Just like that. It was absolutely insane. 36 I think he was. We don’t know why. Brutal times, man.
KG: Fucking hell. That’s insane. That’s horrible, I’m sorry to hear that. What happened to Coffin Up Blood Records afterwards?
KOC: It’s just defunct now.
KG: That’s a shame. I just thought maybe someone might have continued it – you know, for his legacy.
KOC: I’m gonna do an homage for him. He asked me to paint him a portrait of Bowie. I did one and I thought it was absolute dogshit. It was awful. The Thin white Duke era. But he loved it.
KG: OK, well, at least he liked it – that’s what matters, right?!
KOC: Yeah, man, he was supportive of everything. He bought all my prints, like you, and t-shirts, and he was just awesome, man. That was just a crazy, crazy year. I think it was 2022.
KG: Yeah, that sounds like a lot. You mentioned t-shirts there… That white Hard Work 4 Nothing one I used to have was one of my favourites. I had to get rid of it. You know, eventually on a white shirt when the pits start going? I was like “you know what, I’ve gotta let it go”. It was a difficult one to retire, but it was one of my favourites. Is that something you’re going to be looking into again?
KOC: I think so, yeah. I’ve been talking to a couple of graffiti artists – we might do some collaboration shirts, so that would be pretty cool. And then I’m gonna go see my friend in Birmingham who runs a print shop called Dirty Herd – it’s all authentic screen prints, and some of the shit that he does is absolutely insane. So if you ever need anything like that, it’s definitely worth checking them out.
KG: It is something I’ve been thinking about a bit. I did try to do some homemade t-shirts a while ago, but I struggled to get anything I thought was good.
KOC: Yeah, it’s hard, man, coz with that you get one hit. I’ve tried it. I did it with a denim jacket and absolutely fucked it.
KG: As you say, it’s kind of all or nothing. It comes out great, or it’s dogshit. One or the other.
KOC: Yeah, basically. Like tattooing.
KG: Well, that’s also something I’ve been thinking about recently. I don’t know how it happened – and I know what’s gonna come from you in response, it can’t possibly be a good idea – but I came across these like, tattoo starter kits you can get on Amazon…
KOC: Oh yeah…
KG: Hahaha – yeah – and I thought “oooh” – so I put it in my basket. I thought “I can do some art stuff, so maybe I can do some tattoo stuff – I can watch some videos on YouTube and buy the little fake skin and practise” – but it’s probably an awful idea. But I was just intrigued.
KOC: (Silence)
KG: Now’s where you tell me….
KOC: No, I’m not gonna say do it. But if you’re intrigued, the only way to cure that intrigue is to do it, innit. So… I think the reason I don’t work in tattoo shops any more is, kind of part of that really. It’s so saturated now and so easy to get hold of. I mean, as you said, you can buy kits on Amazon now, which is nuts. When I was working in studios, it was all like proper dodgy Taiwanese eBay orders – you’d wait 7 months for it to turn up. But now it’s so easy to get hold of and you don’t need a license for them either… But if you fancy it, man…
KG: Well, I’m definitely thinking about it. I mean, I wouldn’t do anything too ambitious. And I’d start on myself, so if it’s shit, at least it’s only me I’m fucking up and not anyone else.
KOC: Yeah – tops of the legs, man. Easy to get to, and you don’t have to do yoga to tattoo yourself.
KG: That’s a good tip. So you know how you said you consider your time as a musician over, do you still have a drum kit? Like, are you still able to if you want to?
KOC: No, not at all. I mean, there are hourly rehearsal places around here, but I haven’t really got any gear left, to be fair. I moved from a 4-bedroom house to renting a room in Worcester, so I had to drop sticks and sell a load of stuff, so… I had a Starclassic Bubinga kit that I used on the Schytehawks record and on the Mukow stuff, and I sold that for an absolutely obscene amount of money. It was so bad. It was a one-in-a-million drum kit, and I think I sold it for about 400 quid. I just needed it gone.
KG: Yep. I mean, I think we’ve all done it. Got rid of things for prices that we weren’t necessarily happy with.
KOC: I’ve got carpal tunnel in my left hand. I’ve got gnarly varicose veins in my bass drum foot. And I’m 42 now…
KG: Are you?!
KOC: Yeah. Yeah, old as fuck. If I get the opportunity to play again, do some recording, I might do – but it’s just finding the way for me to do it.
KG: I do a lot of stuff over the internet now, but I imagine for drums, that’s much harder.
KOC: You can do it with electronic kits and just record the stems and stuff, but it’s not the same. It’s really not the same. The response is different. It’s just not as aggressive. Especially cymbals. Electronic hi-hats can literally get in the bin. Nobody needs that. Unless you’ve got a one-bedroom flat.
KG: Sometimes it’s not a necessity, isn’t it? So, going back to the Kvlt stuff. It’s called Kvlt on Canvas. And the on canvas part – I don’t suppose you’re just working on canvas – but that’s your focus?
KOC: Yeah, doing canvases. I am gonna try and do a bit of an exhibition when I’ve got enough. And I want to start doing live painting at venues. Just taking a canvas and a bunch of cans and throwing paint. Make it a bit of a spectacle, you know?
KG: Do you see yourself pairing that with something else? As in, like a gig or at a bar or a cafe? How do you envisage that? Or is the painting the show?
KOC: Yeah, I think it might be a way of getting my foot back into the music industry as well – making connections for clients – because a lot of the work I did for Hard Work 4 Nothing was for unsigned bands. It’s good for people to watch, too. I could go paint a wall or something at one of the venues. It’s just a walking trade then.
KG: Absolutely.
KOC: So I’ve got all these little ideas. But then it’s just finding the time to do that kind of stuff coz I’m not gonna have any time to myself after tomorrow because it’s the school summer holidays. There are 2 boys, 2 dogs, 2 cats and me. Whilst Sophie’s at work, I’ll be looking after them during the day and stuff. Acting Dad.
KG: Well, I guess you’re gonna have a lot of time to think about it before September.
KOC: That’s it, man. Definitely
KG: Well, it’s really good to have you back in the land of the living with us, and I’m really excited to hear what comes with this new project, and it’s really exciting to hear about this new lease of life that you’ve got. It sounds like you had to get it really, but it’s exciting that you’re in a position where you’re able to get that all going. It’s exciting.
KOC: Yeah, it’s gonna be fun. I’m gonna have a good time. We’ll have to do another collaboration.
KG: 100%. Definitely. I know you said you’re not a musician any more, but do you do any other music stuff? Or is it just drums for you?
KOC: I do some vocals here and there. It’s not singing but vocals. But it’s predominantly drums.
KG: OK – good to know!
Written by Kinda Grizzly
