Most people will have a certain picture or sound in their head when the name David Yow comes up. Some will think of the shock of short dreads and an outfit that could include a fur coat with ski boots while singing for Scratch Acid during the Eighties. Some will think of a man in jeans, cowboy boots either with shirt on or off singing for The Jesus Lizard in the Nineties. There have been other bands such as Qui, his solo record "Tonight You Look Like a Spider" or guest spots with various bands such as when he sang with The Dicks at a benefit for Gary Floyd in 2014. Now when you think of David Yow you would think of the artist at home working on various projects such as his Get Faced portraits, Kitties and portraits of friends who are no longer with us. You may have seen him in a movie or on his one television appearance as a background detective on the show Killer Kids. However you may think of him; singing, drawing, writing, acting or pissing (we'll get to that part later) I would dare say it's an image that sticks. I don't know exactly how he would explain himself to someone; I just call him my friend. I consider myself extremely lucky to do so.

In a Skype/phone conversation the other day we spoke about his current movie role, for which he has grown quite the lustrous beard. He most current art book titled "Copycat: and a Litter of Other Cats" and the previous book "The Jesus Lizard Book" are both currently for sale. Enough of my chatter though, let's hear about it from the man himself.


Hey there, you're topless!

Of course, I promised I would keep my pants on.

It's good to keep promises. So the beard, for a movie part?

I'm playing a hit man from New York forced to hide out in Manchester England. You like it?

It's wonderful, what's the deal with the comb? (he is constantly combing his beard with a small two sided comb)

Well the cat had fleas so we got some flea treatment and this comb came with it. It seemed to be more useful this way.


So what is the name of the Movie?

A New York Story directed by Ben Dyson http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3397250/combined

So the name of your character is?

Eddie Baker, it's a drama there was more love story but that got toned down. I get to beat a twenty year old to death though.

That is awesome; I have a couple of twenty year olds that I would love to be able to do that to. You will be spending several months in England you got your thermals packed?

Yeah it's grey and wet there, like my butt. (He offers to give me visual proof, I decline...politely)


The previous film "High and Outside" was shot in New York or Los Angeles?

Shot here in Los Angeles we're still working on that one. I play David.

I remember as a kid that I thought when people played a part that where the character shared the same name it was because they couldn't think fast enough on their feet to remember a different one.

I think it's funny when an animal is in a movie and it's Skippy played by Fido. Hey you need to watch my acting reel.

Ok I got the link; I'll watch it after we are done.

No you should watch it now. http://davidyow.org/act/reel.html


Geez ok, so what is this first one with the lady with the A branded on her head?

It's called Al's Beef (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0950379/)

Ok you look pretty ornery, wait... You are gonna shoot that bitch in the back, David!

It's pretty funny. (we spend some time watching the reel which is comprised of clips from several of the movies David has been in chatting about how he looks nice in vests)

You know you are a really good character actor, you have really found your niche.

Well thank you.

Everyone thinks it's great to be the leading man or woman, screw that if I was a film actor that is exactly what I would want to be. You have a much longer career that way.

Exactly, every story needs a character.


I was just watching American Horror Story and thinking about what a great character actor Kathy Bates is.

Yeah I met her in an elevator in Chicago one time and thanked her. I like to thank the celebrities who I want to say thank you too, I got to thank Gary Oldman too at a deli here in Cali. I went up to him and said "Thank you mister Oldman" and he patted me on the shoulder and said "Thank You!"

So beyond acting you are doing all kinds of art, the latest being the cat book called " Copycat: and a Litter of Other Cats" how long did you work on that?

I worked on that one for about a year. (For those of you who don't know David is a Cat Man, not a crazy cat man but give it time. There is a story about being on tour in Europe and walking around looking for cats to pet during a day off)

You can purchase it where.

I would think Amazon would be the best place.

Before that you did "Jesus Lizard the Book." That was like a 3 year process?

Something like that, getting the photos together and interviews and stuff it took some time.


You also did the layout for that as well, right?

I did the initial and then Henry Owings from Chunklet Magazine finished it and put it together.

It's our favorite coffee table book. You were saying there was a list recently that named Scratch Acid as one of the top twenty bands of all time to come out of Austin?

Yeah but the Dicks weren't on that list so its complete bullshit.

You have been doing commercial work as well for In the Attic Records and some other things.

I worked on touching up the cover for a Sly and the Family Stone reissue and PIL Public Image reissue, I did a cover for Kevin from the Cows new project and also a poster for American Horror Story since we were on the subject.
http://davidyow.net/a/AHS.html

That is really amazing; do you do that from scratch?

I get the images and then work them into high resolution. I recently also did some work with Alexander Hacke's girlfriend Daniel de Picciotto on her graphic diary called "Now We Are Gypsies" which is about how they put all of their stuff into storage and started traveling and have been doing that for five years now.

So, the question you hate, you think you are done with music?

I did it for 30 some odd years and now I am doing something else. People ask and last night I recorded some vocals for a friend Adam Harding and his band the Dumb Numbers, but I think about it and the thing that comes to mind is there is a reason I don't do this shit anymore. I'm just really into acting right now. (I will give a short preamble to this question: David is a man who loves to pull piss tricks. The stories are things of legend. He is also a man who likes to be naked, fully naked and partially. So this seemed only appropriate to end the interview with.)

What is your favorite thing, person or placed that you pissed or pissed on?

It was at an Elvis Costello show in Austin at the Austin Opera House 1979 the Armed Forces Tour. I was right up against the stage, which was about chest height, with Elvis Costello's shoes right in my face. At one point I shouted out "Mystery Dance" and he said "you want Mystery Dance mate, you got it." They even mentioned in the paper the next day that he took requests. It was packed, I was full of liquid, and I had to pee really bad and I knew if I moved I would never get back to that spot. So I just whipped it out and peed while Elvis Costello sang to me and no one was the wiser.

Thank you for your time David and for your favorite piss story.

And here is another link to all things David Yow
http://davidyow.net/a/ALIN.html