• DMB Fan History
• Jon's academic background
• Sharing his work with Dave

"Monkey See / Monkey Do" image © Jon Marro 2005. Firehydrant-Red Unauthorized use prohibited. Dave Matthews Band®, is a registered trademark of Bama Rags, Inc.

JM: Back in High School my friend who gave me a ride to school was way into them. This was '94ish right after UTTAD came out. He would always play that album in the car, and had several bootlegs so it just became the natural ambiance, and literal soundtrack to what "going to high school" was for me. As a graduation gift, I bought him a ticket to a show (this would have been June '96-just after Crash) and got myself one as well. It was not only my first DMB show but it was my first ever concert, and needless to say it was nothing short of a religious experience. I left stigmatized and devoted for life.

WDS.com: Could you tell me a little bit about how you got into graphic design? What kind of academic background set you up for your work today?

JM: I went to the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. (fantastic school by the way, can't sing it's praises loud enough). I received a BFA in Illustration, and in Illustration you are taught to translate text into imagery. I'm also a lover of music, the singer-songwriter types specifically, so working with musicians appealed to me because I could take their lyrics (their "text") and filter it through my imagination, my interpretive imagery.
I really didn't do much Graphic Design in school, after graduation I just started playing with Photoshop in my spare time and out it came.

WDS.com: As a graphic designer myself and a huge fan of DMB I would like to know how Jon was presented the opportunity to work on projects for them. (Question submitted Jeff Zielinski)

JM: It's kinda a strange set of circumstances, we'll call it an Atypical Situation, and sadly, or at least in my case a "all in who you know"
affair. I knew a guy who was working as event staff at the Boston and Providence Dave and Friends shows, he had told me he had all access to roam around and got to meet Dave and Trey etc, so I overnighted him a portfolio of sorts so he could hand it off to Dave the next night. I don't think it ever made it to Dave, but instead Alex Stultz who is head of merchandising, and he contacted me and Viola!

  WDS.com: Tell me a little bit about your experience showing your work to Dave.

JM: Well in a surreality of all surreality, I got to meet Dave at the Gorge at sunset. I'm good friends with Jason Mraz who was opening, and Jason too is a huge Dave fan, so he was delighted to introduce us. I knew the opportunity would probably present itself so I made sure I was prepared.
In the days prior to the show, I literally poured 80 hours into this drawing in 4 days. I knew I wanted to make an impact, I knew I wanted to let him know how much his music meant to me in the way I best expressed
myself- my art.

I also knew that anything I wanted to say to him (mostly thanks) would be invisibly wrapped up in the image. In the layers of pigment, subtleties of a line, the hue and value. It was all there, and there was no way I could say all I wanted to in a brief meeting, so I infused the drawing with my intent. He was very very appreciative. Very humble and thanked me for my time, told me he'd have to find a place for it on his wall, and then gave me a huge hug and put the drawing on his bus. It was all I could of asked for.

"Satellite"

This image was intended for ...

Comment from Jon: "Again, turning the lyrics and elements of the song into imagery. This one I quite liked and was sure would get picked. It just goes to show you..."

"Satellite" image © Jon Marro 2005. Firehydrant-Red Unauthorized use prohibited.
Dave Matthews Band®, is a registered trademark of Bama Rags, Inc.

Continue to part two of the Jon Marro Interview

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