The Nosuch Disco is a Stoke-on-Trent based artist called David Burgess who loves to create colourful characters. Most famously, David is known for his Waldo the Worm character, something that strives to tackle bullying amongst young people. And something that we have proudly displayed on the walls of Creative Boom's offices.
Aside from that David is your average 16 year old boy trapped in the body of a 30 year old man. Just to clarify, David is actually 31. He loves Queen, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and The Smiths. He's always wanted to be the lead singer in a band, but 'can't actually sing for toffee', so he has decided instead to just look like one, and if anyone asks he just tells them that he IS a singer in a band. We spent five minutes chatting to David, who also happens to be one of our oldest and dearest friends here at Creative Boom.
Tell us about yourself – who are you and what do you do?
Hello there, I am The Nosuch Disco, aka David Burgess, aka that guy that made Waldo the Worm. I am an artist/illustrator from Stoke on Trent. I like to make colourful pictures that I hope other people will like.
What are you currently up to? Are there any exciting projects ongoing?
It's all go at the moment, I recently set up Etsy and Folksy shops for my artwork, there are a few things in there at the moment, but I’m hoping to expand over the next couple of months. I have just launched my own website (with the help of my friends at Mushroom Digital). It's quite exciting as I’ve had the domain for about 4 years and not done anything with it.
Who or what inspires you?
I really like Airside, when I first saw their video for Lemon Jelly’s Nice Weather for Ducks, I knew that there was validity in the illustrative style that I had. I also like Friends With You, their vector illustrations and simplicity are something that I really admire.
What’s your best project/work to date?
Overall, its probably Waldo The Worm, but I recently turned one of my illustrations into a canvas. It was sold to someone in America, which was pretty cool. To think that people all over the world are willing to pay for my work is pretty humbling. Sometimes I think ‘eeeeek no one's going to want this’. So when that happens, it's really really nice.
Anything new going on? Or in the pipeline?
I have two new bits of artwork going on at the min. I’ve just finished one, its going to be called “So… Did We Survive That?” It’s a sequel to the last one and features the cats in a ship!
When you’re not working, what do you like to do?
I really like to relax, it sounds quite boring, but my day job seems to take a lot out of me, so I don’t really do anything when I get home… I like playing Call of Duty mind you.
Finally, what tips or advice could you give to other creatives, just starting out?
I think when you start out it's easy to doubt yourself. Worse still there will be plenty of people out there that will support that doubt. The most important thing is to just do it. It's not like anything bad can come of it.
