BRAIN DEAD ZINE INTERVIEW

Here’s a little interview I just completed for a zine that the folks at Brain Dead are putting together.

What got you into gaming?

I played AD&D before I could read, i thought the dice were gems you could play with at first. I was drawn to the idea of a game you could play in your head & on paper, imagination with rules. Later I was attracted to miniatures, I really liked that modelling could be done as art.

You had a punk publication called PORK MAGAZINE. How do you find the DIY punk and gaming community intersect?

The worlds of DIY Punk & gaming only sort of intersect. Metalheads are more into gaming in general. When I was a Drunk Punk back in the day, there was a small crew of Warhammer Punks, we were all into Bolt Thrower & we'd play Warhammer occasionally. That was the mid-90s, I'm sure this has only expanded.

The Idea of indie publications has always been a huge part of Brain Dead and the foundation of our brand. Indie game publishing seems even more interesting than that of books/magazines. From your perspective can you give an opinion on how and why indie gaming is growing so much?

The internet allows for every niche to grow, gaming has always been self-driven, home-baked rules are more common than not & then people are just using the official rules as a framework. So, trying different things out, independent things makes sense.

DUNGEON DEGENERATES is a cult gaming phenomenon. Give me your thought process on developing this game?

I initially had the same impetus I did with PORK, to bring gaming back to a more street, underground level. To put the energy & dynamism & flavor into gaming after it had gotten so soulless & smooth. That style is still there & extremely possible, but the alternative is there too.

What were some of your main inspirations?

I was directly inspired by the early D&D stuff then early Games Workshop stuff, this was all from the late 70s to the early 90s. This was before it was understood as saleable outside the cult so it was rawer, more real, more unrefined. Less professional, sure, but more real. But my real inspirations came from playing games like Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay & Call of Cthulhu with my friends & the way we would use the rules to our own ends.

One of my favorite things you make are your metal miniatures. What’s your process for creating something like that and why is it something less common?

I wanted to make miniatures before the game came out! The game was an enabler! I saw the work that Jaycee Fairclough did for my friends in Ghoul for their Dungeon Bastards record, but her up because her sculpts looked like they’d be completely complimentary to my drawings. She’s done all our sculpts since!

Why are miniatures so important?

I think that miniatures really bring out the artistic side of the game. Modeling is something that most people can do & appreciate. Not everyone appreciates drawing or can draw something worth appreciating. Miniatures give form to the things that otherwise just exist in your brain with these games.