Tag Archives: glam punk

In Berlin, even charity benefits are punk as fuck.

Baron Anastis and Rah Hell of The Erinyes by Suzanne Forbes Jan 12 2019I was invited to draw The Erinyes at a WOŚP Berlin charity fundraiser at Werkstatt der Kulturen (Workshop of Cultures).

The Werkstatt is an amazing castle-like building near Hermannplatz. It focuses on transculturality and diversity and showcases Berlin’s migrant forms of culture, art and action. Amazing right?!? There is a big concert auditorium and for this event there was a delicious Polish food pop-up. I ate the most scrumptious vegetarian pierogi, the best I’ve had since those middle of the night feasts at the Kiev in the 80s.

My friends and muses Rah Hell and Baron Anastis were performing, with Antony Buzz who flew in from Greece that morning. I had had some trouble controlling my line the night before at the Schwules Museum, as my hands are a bit shaky from various medication adjustments.

So I decided to take a break from pencil and ink and do some ballpoint drawings. 
The Erinyes by Suzanne Forbes Jan 12 2019The Erinyes by Suzanne Forbes Jan 12 2019

Ballpoint is so great for gigs!

It’s so fluid, I just let my hand move with the music, swirling and slashing. It feels incredibly good to draw with a ballpoint, but in general it is other artists who really like the drawings rather than the larger audience, so I tend to avoid it. Still, some of my favorite musician drawings I’ve ever done are in ballpoint or rollerball.

It was so rad to see The Erinyes rocking out, howling their signature raw sexypunk, at an event to raise money for medical care for kids. So gloriously Berlin. I love this city so much.

Band practise with Baron Anastis and the Erinyes in a secret space!

Rah Hell at the Catacombs Dec 6 2017 by Suzanne ForbesMy wonderful drummer muse Rah Hell is in a second band, besides Donut Heart, now.

The band is called Baron Anastis and the Erinyes and consists of Baron, Joe Dochtermann and Rah. They are a sexy-punk glam-punk triad! They rehearse at an undisclosed (and remarkable) location, in a space called (with reason) The Catacombs.

Baron Anastis and the Erinyes by Kim Hven of Kimera Photography

Baron Anastis and the Erinyes by Kim Hven of Kimera Photography

The band came and had a photo shoot in my studio last month, it was lovely to help them get all funky and be photographed! I was flinging props and wardrobe at them like a maniac, my secret fantasy career has always been set dresser or costume designer.

Here’s frontman Baron at The Catacombs, growling and crooning over his handsome polished wood bass.

Baron Anastis catacombs Dec5 2017 by Suzanne Forbes

Drawing Joe, below, is such fun. He is a classic rocker.

The guys were coming in on one of the songs a little Hendrix-y, as I drew these, and arguing about a pedal. I was loving being in a rehearsal space for the first time in a long time, really enjoying the way you can hear the music when you are an audience of one. It sounds different when there’s only a couple meatsuits for it to bounce through. The band already has a real sound, too.

Joe Dochtermann at the Catacombs by Suzanne Forbes Dec 5 2017I did four drawings of Rah behind the drum kit, in front of the space mural with its flaming asteroid.

I think you can see the progress in them. I did a pencil sketch of the drum kit for the first, to get a handle on how it takes up space in the space. You can see the ghosts of innumerable corrections for scale and perspective. With the second I opted to use just a stick of compressed charcoal on the smooth paper, for crude power and speed.

Rah Hell drumming in the catacombs Dec 5 2017 by Suzanne Forbes 1 and 2I am getting used to drawing the physicality of a drum kit, and the struggle to find an angle where you can actually see the drummer’s movements.

I’ve been drawing accordionist and guitarist musicians for decades, and made a great long-term study of a cellist with Unwoman over eight years in the Bay Area, but this is the first time I’ve worked on getting a drummer’s energy and movements down.

On the third drawing I sketched in a rough outline with charcoal, wiped it out and drew over it with my PITT “B” pen. And the fourth was pure charcoal again.

Rah Hell drumming in the catacombs by Suzanne Forbes Dec 5 2017 3 and 4

Next time I go to the secret space I’m gonna take my Windsor and Newton Series 7 Sable, some Sumi Ink and a big newsprint pad.

Gonna get SERIOUSLY loose and kick out the jams!

You can see dozens more musician drawings here on flickr. As always, I am so grateful to my beautiful Patrons on Patreon for providing the monthly sponsorship that allows me to document Queer, Indy, Punk as Fuck Berlin!