Five Easy Questions: MITCH O'CONNELL

Written By Will Viharo






Chicago artist MITCH O'CONNELL has always been one of my personal favorites, right up there with Shag, Coop and The Pizz. His incredible body of work includes incredible bodies, monsters, tikis, robots, zombies, superheros - a virtual potpourri of pop culture. Recently I was put in touch with Mitch by our mutual friend Marty Baumann, The Astounding B Monster....




Thrill: I don't know how to subscribe your unique and instantly identifiable work except as "Surrealist Pop." How do you describe it?
MO: The greatest art ever created by human hands (or alien appendages) for now and forever in the future until the end of time and beyond.



Thrill: What are some of your influences - both from the art world, and other media?
MO: Besides B Movie Nation? Hmmmmm. Going to museums as a kid and being exposed to great art was a great early eye opener. The pop art drew my attention the strongest because it was so relatable. Growing up, thangs like Wacky Packs, Creepy, Eerie, Famous Monsters, Playboy (wink), Peanuts, Funny Cars, TV Horror Hosts, Carnivals, etc. Nowadays, anything weird, wild, wacky, kitsch, tasteless and strange floats my boat. Check out the Myspace link to see pics of my pad where I'm knee deep in "inspiration"!


Thrill: What's your favorite B Movie/TV Show/Album? (OK that's 3 rolled into one, but your pop cultural knowledge and enthusiasm is obviously vast)
MO: Off the top of my ample head.... as for movies, Plan 9, Anything Jack Lemmon, Clint Eastwood and Jerry Lewis, Destroy All Monsters, House That Screamed, Astro-Zombies, Corpse Grinders, Kingdom of the Spiders, Skidoo, Phantasm, Robot Monster (could add 100 more easily, well maybe not that easily, the brain has slowed down over the years). TV Shows (I'm going to play along that someone is interested), Night Gallery, The Wire, I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Brady Bunch, Horror Host The Ghoul, Deadwood, Mad Men, Judge Judy, The Office, 30 Rock, Pink Lady, blah, blah, blah. Music? The Beatles, Cheap Trick, Badfinger, Elton John, Kiss, Lounge, Ramones, Gene Krupa and a million more!


Thrill: There is both retro-resonance and vivacious vividness in your art- do you listen to music when you work, and if not, what inspires you to create (besides the bottom line)?
MO: The children of the world. How can I deny future generations as many M.O'C illustrations of bouncy breasts as I'm capable of? Truthfully, doing better art is what inspires me. I want to keep going because the next piece is always going to be the best one!


Thrill: With this enormously cool body of work already accomplished, what is the main aspiration for your future career?
MO: Since I all ready covered improving, we're right back to money. I have no other skills up my sleeve! It's either hacking out a living doing this or sleeping on your couch. And frankly, your couch is not very comfortable!
Thrill: As long as my wife doesn't make me sleep there...


Will Viharo

WILL "THE THRILL" VIHARO is a freelance writer and the author of several "gonzo pulp" novels including "A Mermaid Drowns in the Midnight Lounge," "Freaks That Carry Your Luggage up to the Room," "Chumpy Walnut," "Lavender Blonde," "Down a Dark Alley," and the “Vic Valentine, Private Eye” series, the first of which, "Love Stories Are Too Violent For Me," has been optioned for a film by Christian Slater, reissued in 2013 by Gutter Books, which also published the new Vic Valentine novel "Hard-boiled Heart" in December, 2015.

Two science fiction novels, "It Came from Hangar 18" and "The Space Needler's Intergalactic Bar Guide," were written in collaboration with Scott Fulks, who added real science to Will's pulp.

Will's own imprint, Thrillville Press, has issued a three volume anthology series featuring all of his standalone novels called "The Thrillville Pulp Fiction Collection," along with another omnibus called "The Vic Valentine Classic Case Files," which include four novels from the 1990s, "Fate Is My Pimp," "Romance Takes a Rain Check," "I Lost My Heart in Hollywood," and "Diary of a Dick," plus a recent short story, "Brain Mistrust."

More recently published books include the Vic Valentine "Mental Case Files" trilogy comprised of "Vic Valentine: International Man of Misery," "Vic Valentine: Lounge Lizard For Hire," and "Vic Valentine: Space Cadet"; the original story collection "Vic Valentine, Private Eye: 14 Vignettes"; the erotic horror noir novella "Things I Do When I'm Awake"; and a collection of erotic horror noir stories, "VIHORROR! Cocktales of Sex and Death."

Additionally Will has had stories included in a variety of anthologies including "Fast Women and Neon Lights: Eighties-Inspired Neon Noir"; "Mixed Up!"; "Long Distance Drunks: A Tribute to Charles Bukowski"; "Deadlines: A Tribute to William Wallace"; "Dark Yonder: Tales and Tabs"; "Knucklehead Noir" and "Weird Winter Wonderland" (both Coffin Hop Press); and "Pop the Clutch: Thrilling Tales of Rockabilly, Monsters, and Hot Rod Horror."

Viharo's unique brand of "gonzo pulp fiction" combines elements of eroticism, noir, fantasy, and horror. For many years he has also been a professional film programmer/impresario and live music booker. He now lives in Seattle, WA with his wife and cats

https://www.thrillville.net
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