Earlier this week I caught up with owner of weird, bizarro press blog ‘The Aither‘ and fellow Aussie, Fizzies Partridge, to discuss a various assortment of art, influences and what gets Partridge’s creative juices flowing. Below you’ll find the full interview.
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Interview with Fizzies Partridge – The Aither Owner/Editor
: Hi Fizzies, how are you going right now? How is this chaotic world treating you?
Fizzies Patridge: I’m good man! It’s Friday night. I’m answering this whilst listening to some Ariel Pink. I got a job I love. A girl I love even more. I’m healthy. My family is healthy. I engage in creative stuff to keep my soul a chuggin. All good things man.
And yeah – The world is definitely chaotic. Ain’t that always the truth. So I’m happy and lucky to be where I’m at.
: What projects are you currently working on?
Fizzies Partridge: I’m going to limit this to purely creative stuff. Mainly so I don’t bore your readers with the ins and outs of my day job, or some deep dive into my personal growth project…
Because who wants to hear about that, right?!
So… Creative wise, right now my major project is ‘The Aither’ – An art & culture website n’ company I founded back in 2019. ‘The Aither’ exists to shine a light on the international art and culture underground. Covering topics such as art, comics, toys, music, films, fashion, video games, pop culture and history.
It’s inspired by fellow magazines and media companies such as ‘Bizarrism’, ‘Purple’, ‘Collectors Weekly’, ‘The Idler’, early ‘Vice’… as well as that eccentric person in your neighbourhood who has been self-releasing zines for over 30 years.
I am the editor, contribute to it myself and there are also contributors from all over the world who are involved too.
In addition to ‘The Aither’ I also help my girl Allie with a designer toy project too – called ‘FLODS!’
You can check ‘FLODS’ out here.
Aside from those – I do engage in a few other creative endeavours generally: Writing, journalism & editing, Curating, Product design & development (apparel, toys, murals etc.), Urban exploring (drains, abandoned buildings etc), making art such as photography, collage, drawing and graffiti, collecting, buying and selling art, toys n’ other vintage/antique items.
Some other creative things I have done:
– Used to run the art & culture site n’ brand ‘Art Whore’ which is ‘The Aither’ is basically ‘Art Whore’ re-branded, re-launched & re-birthed!
– Played drums in a band who I also semi managed, called ‘Brain Zaps’, for a few years.
– I’ve even done stand-up comedy!
: How did you first get started?
Fizzies Partridge: Well one day back in early 1985 two people who loved each other very much wanted to create a child as an expression of their love. So they did some unmentionable things with each other…
About 9 months later… I first got started!
: What’s your favourite era of creative work by other artists?
Fizzies Partridge: I’m going to answer that 2 ways. First – my favourite general era / time period of art. That would be the 1960s. As it was a decade that had pretty much everything: remnants of early rock and roll culture, development of early punk/proto-punk, great films, the drugs, the spirituality, the hippies, the Fugs!, the weirdness (insert MKUltra, the CIA, Manson etc.), cults, pop art, early heavy metal, etc.
Second – My favourite general era / time of life for artists to create. That would be early in life and then late in life. So the early works of an artist and their later work. Mainly because I think most artists do their best work at those times. That’s because someone’s early creative works are usually full of that unbridled passion. Then, someone’s later works are usually embedded with a lifetime of knowledge – so passion & knowledge. With passion also being linked to raw creativity & knowledge to a developed skillset.
: Are you more of a horror or sci-fi nerd? What are your go to films to check out?
Fizzies Partridge: Probably Sci-Fi… But I do also dig humour horror / splatter horror. Some examples being: Star Wars, Star Trek (Deep Space Nine being my favourite), Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky, Evil Dead, Basket Case, etc.
Though to be honest, I’m more of a melodrama, teen film and documentary kind of guy when it comes to movies and tv. So stuff like: Fast Times at Ridgemont High, The Source Family, Punch Drunk Love, Gilmore Girls (yeah, I go there!), High Maintenance, Dawsons Creek (though to me it should be more Pacey’s Creek, because that guy was the true big daddy of Capeside).
: Who are your main creative influences and what aspects of your creative work can we find them in?
Fizzies Partridge: My major influences generally are Punk, DIY culture, Religion and the occult, and anything a bit weird & outre. I’ve listed some specific examples already – but here’s a few more: Preacher (the comic by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon), Beat Happening (the band), Big Love (TV Show), William Seabrook (writer and occultist), David Cassidy aka God and The Partridge Family Temple aka The Gateway to God.
: Who are your go to musical jams to put on while you’re working?
Fizzies Partridge: When I’m working – writing, editing, project managing etc – I usually don’t like music with any lyrics as I find it distracting. As a result I listen to stuff like: Dub music, Classical and Electronica.
: What strengths in previous jobs have helped strengthen your creativity?
Fizzies Partridge: I think just existing in life and getting as many experiences as you can helps with creativity – Which is why I’ve tried quite a few things so far job wise. Namely having worked in:
– The service industry
– The property industry
– The legal industry
– The community / not for profit sector
I’ve also done lots of volunteering as well which I find fun. All of that’s done under my government name though. Fizzes Partridge is what I use when I am doing my creative stuff as it’s more aligned with God.
: What weaknesses have you identified in your current projects that you’re going to work on in the future?
Fizzies Partridge: I want to upgrade ‘The Aither’ website and also set up a proper mailing list for it too.
With the main changes I want to make to the site being stuff like:
– An easy way to sign up to a mailing list.
I’ll then also have to create and maintain the mailing list too, with monthly or so email updates about anything ‘The Aither’ related.
– A heading / section that clearly displays all the site’s contributors.
With sections for each contributor, noting their bio, social media & links to their content.
– A way to click to donate money to the site.
– Look into placing ads on the site, but only with companies / artists who I love & meet our general standards.
The last two are because, at the moment, ‘The Aither’ generates no income/money at all, and we do it all out of love. But I’d really like to be able to expand & get more commercial. So I can properly pay the site’s contributors and also look into other things like publishing, apparel, events etc.
With ‘FLODS’ Allie and I want to:
– Get proper tags made up we can sew into the FLODS
– Set up a proper website
– Complete and publish the ‘FLODS’ backstory
– Start selling at doll and toy fairs etc.
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: Let’s talk about some memories that you had when you first started getting creative? How has this changed from childhood to adolescence to creating as an adult?
Fizzies Partridge: I had a family – especially my father – who really encouraged my creativity when I was younger. He used to do pottery himself. We had a room out the back of our house, that for a while was set up as a potter’s studio; wheel and all. We even had a kiln outside and my dad encouraged me a lot to do pottery early on. So some if not the earliest creative memories I have are of making houses out of clay for my troll doll collection when I was very young – Maybe 5 or so?
As I grew up, say in my tweens, my main creativity was… Uhhh… Fire. Because I was a major pyro. Then in my teens I started writing a bit more – such as for my school magazine.
In my 20s I was still writing, only now for mags/zines and I also began playing drums with ‘Brain Zaps’ in my late 20s too.
Now, aged 36, my creative stuff is a lot more focused and also self-directed. Which is great – but also brings its challenges. As they say, whenever you do something yourself – “The worker is always a slacker & the boss is always a dickhead.” So, I’m constantly grappling with that dichotomy.
: What’s the worst nightmare you’ve ever had?
Fizzies Partridge: I used to have this recurring nightmare when I was a kid of an old lady running up to me, stabbing me with a needle, and then cackling, “Now you have AIDS!” I think that came about due to growing up at the height of the AIDS pandemic in the early 1990s, along with my parents always warning me to be careful about stray needles on the ground.
Don’t really know where the old lady fits in though. Hmmm…
: Do you have a favourite soft drink?
Fizzies Partridge: Yes! A Greek soda brand – Loux. Their Sour Cherry is so damn good. Track it down and get a drinkin’!
: Who’s your favourite telepath or gifted character in pop culture?
Fizzies Partridge: God. That’s because there are so many different versions of him / her / them.
… and they are all magical. My personal favourite though is our lord and saviour Keith Partridge aka David Cassidy! Because Fun is the Law! 24/7. Right UN!
: Which creative work would you most like to be remembered for?
Fizzies Partridge: Hmm… Probably creating connections between people to be honest. What can I say?
I’m just a hippie at heart really. (Though my ego also likes the idea of leaving behind things – objects, written pieces, music etc. – that are well remembered for being interesting and / or informative.)
Check out Fizzies Patridge’s work online
The Aither website
The Aither on Twitter
The Aither on Facebook
The Aither on Instagram
Fizzies Partridge on Instagram
Fizzies Partridge on Facebook
Thanks for having me! 😊
