Rob Kidney aka New Stench as Po-Boy (Cube Juice Manager) in the film Cube World

• Name: Rob Kidney (New Stench)
• Created on: 1969
• Record last updated on: 2008-Apr-9
• Homepage: Under construction, email: contactkidney@gmail.com
• Domain: Design
• Location: Saitama, Japan

Tokyo, a city saturated with “influencers” and “decision-makers” of all kinds, is a rough place to survive as a “creator”, let alone a gaijin (foreign) one. I first met Rob Kidney through a mutual friend, Masaru Ishiura, a few years back. Operating under the name New Stench (with Subway Lung), he is one of those people who, minutes after being introduced, feels like an old friend, sharing stories of formidable endurance considering the circumstances. During my recent visit to Tokyo, I ended up catching a VJ set by Ishiura and Rob at SuperDeluxe, followed by a long night of drinking, eating and discussing the importance of Posca markers, Major Force, and following your dream.

Why New Stench?
I love the juxtaposition of the words “New” and “Stench.” “New” in the sense of something just beginning, regarded as better than what went before. “Stench” a word which rubs shoulders with the words, “Reek”, “Whiff” and “Funk” seemed perfect. In our daily lives, in the city, we often come up against bad smells that often linger in our memories, sometimes as clearly as a pleasing aroma.

Another reason was that when we formed New Stench, there seemed to be so many agencies and collectives with single word names, many of these stressing their purity or dynamism. So it’s a kind of parody of those.

You’ve done some work with Basement Jaxx in London before moving to Japan. What brought you to Tokyo?
The last project I worked on in the UK before I came to Tokyo was with Basement Jaxx. I provided illustrations for the album Rooty. It was a great period creatively. This was also the time that New Stench was formed, my creative partner was the London-based artist Subway Lung. Jaxx (Felix and Simon) were very open minded and really gave us a chance to get our teeth into the project – we worked on visuals for their Rooty tour, directed the video for “Jus’ 1 Kiss” and worked on all the 12 inch single releases from the album.

Sleeve design for Basement Jaxx 12″ single Get Me Off

I ended up in Tokyo for a number of reasons. During my teenage years I had developed a passion/obsession for Japanese pop culture, especially packaging and character goods. Later it was Japanese marker pens, the Uraharajuku fashion scene and the record label Major Force. In early 2002 I made my first trip to Tokyo – part holiday and part work. Basement Jaxx were in Japan, so I shot some video of them out and about in the city and at their live show. My first experience of the city far exceeded my “daydream Tokyo.” I ended up staying for three months. The longer I stayed, the more I began to realize that I was falling in love with Tokyo.

The next logical step was to work out if I could make a living in this amazing city. I concentrated on setting up meetings with the creative community in Tokyo, everyone I met was so helpful and encouraging. At a great restaurant/gallery, tucked under the railway tracks in Nakameguro, I met Ishiura of TGB Design. He gave me a lot of advice and information about the scene in Tokyo… then out of the blue he offered New Stench a gallery show in Tokyo! That offer was the first step on the roller coaster life I’ve been living for the past five and a half years

What were your initial professional experiences in Tokyo? Has your image of the Japanese art and fashion scene changed since you’ve been here?
Not long after I arrived in September 2002, I was invited by Ishiura to take part in the Versus Exhibition 02 UK ‘vs’ Japan at Parco in Shibuya in February 2003. The concept behind the show was that artists from the UK and Japan would present their work as pairs and remix each others work, then the general public would vote for the winner. The first six pairs exchanged and remixed the work digitally and the resulting images were printed out as large-scale high gloss prints. We were asked to do a “live remix” on the opening night. Our “opponent” was Katsura Moshino, one of the leading illustrators in Japan. Subway Lung flew over from London for the live painting battle. It was a daunting prospect, the gallery was full of the cream of the Japanese creative world. In the end we overcame our nerves and everything went according to plan. Throughout the run of the exhibition there were “talk shows” organized, where the general public had a chance to question the artists involved, during these events I realized I was sitting on the same stage with many of my heroes of Japanese art/design. It all seemed too good to be true. (Kate Gibb was voted the winner)

New Stench vs. Katsura Moshino from Versus Exhibition at Parco Museum, Tokyo (February 2003)

The next big project was for the fashion brand Ozone Rocks, Hysteric Glamour’s sister company. They produced a range of very high quality garments using my illustrations. I was stunned by the attention to detail and quality of the finished products. It was the first time I got to see my work being used as a repeat print on knitted dresses etc. There was also a collaboration between Ozone and Moog Synthesizers,for which I did three designs. I began to see some of the garments being worn by J-Pop stars on Saturday night variety shows on Japanese TV. Things were starting to feel surreal.

Since the mid-80’s I had scoured the style magazines looking for nuggets of information about life in Tokyo. I also admit to repeated viewings of the movie Bladerunner! The main thing I’ve noticed is that everything here is in a constant state of flux. People have pointed out that most major cities are like this, which is true, but Tokyo moves that little bit quicker, at an often brutally quick pace. Many of my points of reference from those early days have long since disappeared. Tastes seems to change overnight, whether it be fashion labels, magazines, shops or chocolate bars. The message seems to be get it while it’s hot, because tomorrow it’s not! The upside to this mentality is I’m able to find yesterday’s fads at discount prices in secondhand shops.

I was fascinated with the Uraharajuku fashion scene before I arrived, so when I got to Tokyo I spent many hours wandering around people watching, it proved to be the perfect antidote if I happened to run into a creative block in my work, an afternoon wandering the back streets of Harajuku and Aoyama soon recharged my creative batteries. Harajuku looked to New York, London and Paris in the 80’s for ideas, it was sampling the best these places had to offer. Then in the 90’s up till now it is doing it’s own thing, and now the world is looking back to Tokyo for inspiration. The numerous street/fashion blogs dedicated to the constant stream of desirable items produced here is proof of this. These days I’m interested in the way fashion/art scenes here cross-fertilize and produce smaller splinter factions. Almost every day out and about in the city I make a discovery of a new “species” with its own particular style and ethics. As regards radical youth fashion movements, there seems to be lull in creativity at the moment. The Ganguro look is proving a hard act to follow.

Boombox live painting for Turbosonic

You must have some amazing stories about adjusting to Tokyo.
The early days in Tokyo were a mixed bag of emotions with wave after wave of culture shock. I was 33 years old when I arrived at Narita with two suitcases. I foolishly believed that my earlier three month “reconnaissance” mission had prepared me for my life in Nippon! Things were very difficult in those first six months. The complications weren’t in my working life, as they often were back in England, they were in my everyday life. Apartment hunting, using ATM’s, trips to the doctor, became my new challenges. I found an apartment in central Tokyo – the decor was traditional Japanese style with tatami flooring, sliding doors and a miniature bathroom and kitchen. Calling the place cramped would be an understatement. I could sit on the toilet, lean across to the kitchen and fry an egg.

Other features not included on the real estate agent’s details included: cockroach infestation, paper-thin walls and petrifying flexing of the flimsy wooden building during earthquakes! I tried to spend as little time as possible in the apartment (ironically friends visiting from England loved it! So authentic). I started to love the “everything is at your fingertips culture.” Whatever I wanted I could find it, shopping is a pleasure in Tokyo, good service and choice are standard.

Some days it all got a bit much, one memory springs to mind of being lost and breaking down and crying in a packed Ikebukuro station in midsummer, late for an important appointment. Another downside for me, as an illustrator was the often overwhelming visual bombardment at every turn, even a trip to the local supermarket turned into a research mission into color and packaging. Still now I sometimes return from a grocery shopping trip with a bag of well designed boxes, full of things I don’t want.

I definitely feel like I have changed a lot during my time here, one of the major things, which also has a big effect on my illustration, is the respect and celebration connected with seasonal change. The year is clearly divided into four with each season having its own set of festivals, foods and fashions. Currently in my local supermarket there is a Mount Fuji size stack of beer and sake surrounded at the base camp by potato chips and rice crackers with a peak of bright pink plastic cherry blossoms! This display heralds the imminent start of the cherry blossom viewing season. Just don’t ask me about language!

Ishiura, Rob Kidney/New Stench, Sk8thing, Ewok, Jesse Sharer at Unit.

Who are some of the people you’ve met since you’ve moved to Tokyo? How do you feel you fit into the scene?
People have been really kind from day one. The person that really opened the door for me in Japan is Ishiura (TGB Design), without his help things would have been a real struggle. The Versus show was a fantastic start in Tokyo, it gave me a chance to connect with the creative scene in the city. Ishiura also curated shows at Depot in Nakameguro. Depot became a really important place for me, it was a great art space with amazing food and always attracted a good mix of artists and characters. The opening night of a new show was always packed with locals and also attracted a lot of foreign designers/artists passing through. It had a real community feel. It was here I first met Kamiyama (Famouz), Fish (Hys), Sk8thing (Bape), Keiji Ito (UFG), Hiroshi Iguchi (The Bwoy), Jesse J. Sharer and many others.

The work I’ve been involved in since I came to Japan Is very different to the kind of thing I was doing back in the UK. I have been able to experience a lot of different “scenes,” fashion, music, magazines, live painting and acting. The last two in the list have been both challenging and rewarding. I think I’ve tried a lot of new ways of working that weren’t necessarily open to me in England. The main advantage of the last five years has been the sheer variety of projects I’ve been involved in, nothing feels routine, tiring, but never boring

Painting backdrop for Seamo “Cry Baby”

CD cover Seamo “Cry Baby” (2007)

You have a very unique drawing style and personal iconography. What are your influences and inspirations, and whose work do you feel an affinity with?
Thanks for the compliment! I got a late start, I left school at 16 and started an apprenticeship as a Offset Lithographic machine operator, I spent two years at the London College of Printing. I operated 2, 4 and 6 color printing presses until I was 27. The 10 years I spent printing, looking at other peoples work, really helped me to understand line, color and layout. The next step was studying for a BA in illustration at Brighton University. I graduated when I was 30.

I was a voracious consumer of music, art and fashion. Haring, Basquiat and Scharf were early art favorites and traveling to New York City fueled my interest in them. Trips to London in the late 80’s introduced me to the work of Mark Wigan, I always enjoyed his roving report Polaroids in i-D magazine. This was also the time I started skating, so naturally Thrasher magazine became my bible.

I always enjoyed drawing, but it was a very private activity until I was in my twenties. Brighton was a very creative place to live and during the 1990’s I met so many inspirational artists, especially from the world of Graffiti. People like Nylon and Req-One encouraged me to draw as much as possible. Other heroes include Gary Panter, Toshio Nakanishi, Tomoo Gokita, Barry McGee, Keiji Ito, Shinro Ohtake and Terry Johnson. The one thing that is a constant inspiration in my studio is my packaging collection, particularly Asian food cartons and fruit crates.

I watched your VJ set at SuperDeluxe you did recently with Ishiura, you’ve appeared in music videos and I know that you’ve done some live painting as well. You seem to be keeping busy!
Yeah i really enjoy the live events, whether it be a solo event or more often a collaboration. I usually work with Posca markers or paint. The more recent events collaborating with Ishiura have involved “digital VJ painting” with graphics tablets, really good (clean) fun! I formed a live painting unit with Fish called “The Kidiots.” Our live shows were messy affairs, very theatrical, based on the concept of crossing each other’s work out. The maximum length of the painting was 20 minutes.

Still from Tower Records Awards film

The “acting” in music videos and commercials is something that I found really difficult at first, but as a freelance illustrator, sometimes the work dries up, but you still have to pay the rent any way you can! The most memorable role was as “Po-Boy ” the fictional camp hip-hop manager of Japanese pop artist Cube Juice in the film Cube World. I appeared on stage at the RESFEST in Tokyo in character, with Ban Ban the Cube Juice mascot (my creative partner Subway Lung in a white bear costume) we were very drunk at the time. Another even more embarrassing role, was playing a hick opposite a famous Japanese Samurai actor in a Tower Records award ceremony film!

What have you been up to lately?
Last year all my work seemed to move more in the music direction. I was lucky to be asked by Masaru Nakagawa to work with him on a CD Jacket illustration for the J-pop artist Seamo, the brief for the single “Cry Baby” was a dream for me, I was asked to paint and draw directly onto the set (including the sofa) at the shoot, it was also used in the promotional video as a backdrop. Another collaboration with Masaru Nakagawa was for Speedstar Records 15th anniversary, I produced a billboard and T-shirt designs, again the brief was really loose and I had some fun with music related drawings. Recently the VJ “digital painting” with Ishiura have been something really exciting for me, very different to the live events I’ve done in the past. I’ve been working with a screen printer in the UK producing books and prints for an exhibition this year in Tokyo. I am hopefully going to record an album with Tokyo based group Debt Maggot