MUMBLEBOY

interview with Kinya Hanada (USA)
by E*rock and E*vax (and a guest appearance by Ian Lynam)
12/00
www.mumbleboy.com
www.milkyelephant.com

I first stumbled across one of Kinya's Flash animations over a year ago and his graphic cartoon concoctions immediately stood out among the scads of dreary web fare. I loved his use of friendly characters, bright colors and stream-of-conscious, nonlinear plot lines. The elements were simple yet the outcome was unique and inspired. He transformed Flash, a program I had previously not given much thought, into a new and exciting art form that was perfect for the web. I contacted Kinya shortly thereafter, leading to traded mix tapes and wares before later collaboration. I originally asked Kinya to do an illustration for this issue, but he was later in town, so we thought hey, lets do an interview too!

Alright, let's talk about the history of the site. You said that you started out studying painting at RISD?

Yeah, that was my major. I got kind of sick of painting a little bit, so I started making dolls. I found some fake fur to play with and made a doll. Then I made a whole bunch and sold them at the student sale. I just kept making them, even after I moved to NY.

Did they start out as ìMumble Dollsî?

They didnít have a name really. They were much smaller. People seemed to like themÖ

Did you grow up in Japan?

Yeah, I was in Japan until I was thirteen and then my family moved to California. I went to junior high, high school, and college in California, and then I went to RISD in Rhode Island. I was there just for a couple years.

How did you like RISD?

It was okay. The program itself I donít know about, but I met lots of interesting people who Iím still friends with now.

Did you have Mumble characters in your paintings?

They happened more after I made the dolls. The paintings I was doing were kind of abstractÖ kind of silly. (laughs) I wasnít a very good painter.

When did you start doing Flash?

I had heard a lot about it from different people. I wanted to first get into Director, but it seemed too complicated and really intimidating, but then I heard about Flash and that it was really easy. I downloaded a demo version and it was pretty easy, so I kept making stuff with it.

Did you start the web site before you started with Flash?

Yeah, I was just psyched about doing stuff online. It seemed like a cool thing to do. Lots of people had personal sites, and mine was kind of like that. It just had one image of a doll and I wrote a little diary, and that was about it. I just started from there.

It all started with one imageÖ

(laughs) Yes.

Where did the name come from?

I used to do radio and people told me I really mumbled a lot and they couldnít understand what I was saying. Thatís where it came from. Iíd get phone calls. ìCould you speak a little clearer?î (laughs)

Where did you do the radio show?

It was at Davis, in California. They had a pretty good radio station.

There still seems to be a strong musical interest that comes across on the site.

Yeah, Iíve always had an interest in music. The college radio thing was really great. You could listen to everythingÖ without having to pay for it. (laughs) They had a really good library.

Did you ever make music?

I tried. I like to listen to other peopleís music better than trying to do it on my own. Like when I look at music programs on the computer, Iím not sure what to do. I think Iím more visually oriented.

Do you paint much anymore?

No, I think about it now and then, but I never seem to get to it.

Do you think of Flash as your primary medium now?

Yes. You could be a sloppy painter, but itís okay, you can still make decent images. I like graphic images. If I had a brush I canít put those ideas to images without being messy.

Youíre doing a little bit of print work now too (like the illustration work and calendars for Air Market)?

Yes. Itís cool to see stuff thatís printed and not just on the computers.

[Ian Lynam comes in]

Ian: Hey all, howís it going?

Kinya: You can jump in the interview.

Ian: Okay. (sits on Kinya) Howís this make you feel?

Kinya: Not nowÖ

(everyone laughs)

Ian: Animal, vegetable or mineral?

Kinya: Mineral

Ian: Wrong! Just kidding. I donít want to ask any questions. Wait, alright, have you ever been in a fight?

Kinya: Yeah. It was when I was in second grade.

Ian: Did you win?

Kinya: I did some good damage.

(everyone laughs)

What was the other kidís name?

I canít remember. I think his last name was Miura?

Ian: I think ìdoing some damageî is a really good name for the interview.

Kinya: (laughs) Yeah, maybe. What were we talking about before?

I donít know.

Ian: Okay, I see how it goes. Actually, Iíve got my shit in the laundry. Iím going to run over to Freddyís to pick up some sour cream, make some guacamole, watch some moviesÖ if you guys want to come over.

(everyone agrees on said plan)

Ian: Okay, parting question: Boxers or tightie whities?

Kinya: Boxers.

Ian: Word. Iíll see you in a bit. [Ian leaves]

So, where did the Mumble characters come from? Did they just show up one day?

Theyíre easy shapes to make dolls with. If they had lots of points and complicated shapes itís hard to make into a doll. So they have soft curves. Theyíre like a cross between rabbits, cats, and aliens.

How do you start new animations? Where do the ideas come from?

I just have, like an image or something in mind and I want to try to draw it in Flash. Usually thereís no single idea behind a whole animation. Itís a bunch of different things put together. A different scene is a different idea, but I try to connect it.

Your characters tend to eat a lot of the other characters?

Maybe theyíre a little hungry.

Explain that.

They need their minerals. (laughs)

Did you meet Momus through [MC] Paul Barman?

Yes. When I first heard Paulís stuff another friend and I thought he should listen to Momus because they both have kind of perverted ideas. (laughs) Öin a good way. So Paul knew that I like Momus a lot and he was doing a CMJ panel with him. He asked me if I wanted to come along and check it out, so I met Momus then. The weird thing is that Momus had seen my site just a few days before, so when he met me he said, ìOh youíre the Mumbleboy!î (laughs) That was exciting.

Are you going to do any more projects with him in the future?

Yeah, sure!

If there was any other person that you could collaborate with who would it be? It could be music, art, or whateverÖ

Oh, I donít know. Iíll have to think about that. I donít know if I could work with him, but I like the video director Michel Gondry. I like his stuff a lot. You know, the guy that did a lot of the Bjork videos. He did one for Chemical Brothers too that was really cool. I made ìCrossingî after I saw that. Everything is kind of coordinated. You canít see the influence that much in the animation, but thereís one scene with a whole bunch of dolls moving togetheróI got the idea from that video.

Did you watch a lot of cartoons as a kid in Japan?

No, my parents didnít let me watch that much TV. I watched Space Cruiser Yamato. Itís big starship that travels. It has a different name here, like Star Blazers maybe? Itís really 70ís. They only had a year to go to some star, or some planet in another galaxy, and then had to come back and save the Earth. They had to get this machine, so itís always suspenseful. Every episode ends by saying, ìThereís only 200 days left before Earth is destroyed.î So dramaticÖ I think that because my parents didnít let me watch much TV, maybe thatís why I really wanted to.

Do you watch many cartoons now?

No, I think Iíve since got it out of my system. When I first moved to New York I rented a lot of Japanese videos, but not much now.

What was the deal with David Bowie? [There are a couple different versions of the story from the interviews in Tokion and Dazed and Confused.]

Oh he saw my site I guess. He picks a site every week that he thinks is funny or something and puts it on his site. Itís like a site of the week kind of thing. That was it. Someone that works there sent me an e-mail. You have to be a member to see his site, so I didnít actually see it, but I heard it was there.

You get a ton of hits from all over the world now, donít you?

Yeah, I get a lot of hits from the Jenny Jones site. They have a section called ìamusing linksî or something and Iím on there. When I was on K10k [www.k10k.com] it tripled the normal rate because theyíre so popular. Itís been going up pretty steadily. I get the most hits from the US, then maybe England.

You have a doll outlet in England too?

Yeah, I havenít gotten an order lately, but they sell them at Ambient Soho. Those guys are a bit flaky. Theyíre kind of late on sending me checks and stuff, but they seem like cool people. I also sell dolls at Air Market [NYC] and Plastica [LA] and did a one time deal in Japan. Thereís this big chain store called Beams and they bought about 200 dolls. That was a one-time thing.

How long did it take to make 200 dolls?

I had to do it fast, so maybe two or three weeks.

How many dolls were in the show at Space 1026 in Philly?

Maybe fifty. After a while it gets tiring. If I have to make a lot they get smaller and smaller. I use a sewing machine. I used to do it all by hand, but it took so much time. Itís easy though, anyone can do it if they can sew.

Do you have any mysterious stories?

No, I think maybe my personal life isnít all that interesting.

How did the idea for IFQO Mumble come about?

I donít remember actually. I wanted to do something like the print club stickers. At first I was going to have just a few designs and put peopleís faces in it. Then I found it interesting to make each one different. I do a whole bunch at a time, so it doesnít take that long. I think Iím going to stop it for a while and do other stuff. Iíve been taking a lot of pictures, like if I go see a show or something. Then I can do something similar with the photos, like adding graphics to it like a photo journal, thatís more personal.

Do you mostly work at home doing freelance Flash stuff as a job?

Yes, sometimes I work at companies, but I like to work at home better. Then I can take a break anytime I want. Or if I donít feel like it working until I have no choice, then I can do that.

You donít get up at the crack of dawn then? You work later?

I try to get my sleeping schedule right, but it keeps shifting, and Iíll just stay upÖ It was bad when I used to work at a coffee place, Iíd be so wound up. That was in Davis. We used to sneak in to the art studio late at night. All you needed was a card to break in, so if someone came by weíd just pretend that weíd been there the whole time. Weíd work all night. Most people just hung out and smoked pot, but Iíd be painting.

Even though some of your animations seem to reference video games you said that you never played video games much?

No, Iím pretty bad at it. Last night I tried playing Q-Bert. I kept falling off the edge. I kept thinking I was leading the snake guy off the edge, but always ended jumping of the edge myself. Itís tougher than it looks.

Thereís a part in Pamplemousse that looks like Q-Bert.

Yeah, I didnít think about it until later.

What are some of your favorite CDs right now?

[E*vax whispers: Just talk about Audio Dregs stuffÖ (everyone laughs)] I think Dim Dim is really good. For real, I like his stuff a lot. I like that new Broadcast EP. Itís really good. I canít remember. Iíll look in my CD thing. [grabs his portable CD wallet and flips through it] I guess I like a lot of Bungalow stuff, The Atomium 3003 comp, TipsyÖ I just got that Bertrand Burgalat album. Itís really good.

What about visual artists?

I donít really keep up with that anymore. After I moved to NYC I could go to see a lot of stuff, but I didnít. When I lived in Providence I used to go to galleries a lot more than I do know. Some of the people doing stuff on the web are interesting. That guy Mari-chan [www.marichan.com] is pretty good. He does really weird characters. Heís doing stuff for Yum Pop now. I like people who do graphic art too and not necessarily just fine art. I like Junko Mizuno too.

[http://ts.sod.ne.jp/mizuno/top.html] She's an illustrator / comic artist. Sheís always doing stuff thatís cute and sexy, but also a bit weird and sadistic which appeals to me for some reason.

[end]