"Do the things you need to do today well, and tomorrow will work itself out." Jared Davidson is clearly a man who takes his own advice: since starting a screen-printing business in his parents' garage last year, he's built up an impressive list of local and international clients, including Wilco, The Evens and Trans Am. The Garage Collective combines Davidson's interests in music and design, as well as allowing him to "do what I want, when I want, on the condition I get the work done"."Do the things you need to do today well, and tomorrow will work itself out." Jared Davidson is clearly a man who takes his own advice: since starting a screen-printing business in his parents' garage last year, he's built up an impressive list of local and international clients, including Wilco, The Evens and Trans Am. The Garage Collective combines Davidson's interests in music and design, as well as allowing him to "do what I want, when I want, on the condition I get the work done".During what hours of the day do you feel most inspired?
It really depends on what the inspiration is needed for. Morning is the best time to get stuck into the physical, mucky side of my practice, whereas I prefer the evenings for designing, writing etc. However, I do have great ideas in the shower from time to time.

How would a good friend describe your aesthetic or style?
"Jared's design style is one of utmost skill and sincerity, unmatched by anyone in Hei Hei. His striking aesthetic is a healthy dose of punk ideology, lo-fi imagery and a DIY approach loosely filtered through a university lens." Yep, that's exactly what they would say.

What aspect of your work gives you the biggest thrill?
I'm lucky enough in my work to see a super cool process from start to finish, that being the medium of screenprinting. To hold the end product - a poster that you can touch and feel the ink, its grooves, its mistakes, its textures, and know that you engineered that from an initial whim - is something pretty special. And then to hear that the very same poster is later cut from bollards using craftknives in Hamilton or Dunedin, well, there you go.

What made you decide to start your own screenprinting business?
Basically, to avoid in any way possible the design and advertising industry. Not that this was my only reason, but it was definitely the driving force. I have no desire whatsoever to exist within that framework; it goes against everything I believe in, both as a poster artist and as a human being. There are enough people out there trying to convince you to buy something, to be something, or to ignore something that they didn't need to have my skills to aid their hegemony. Like Jello Biafra said, "why advertise useless products for The Man when you can flaunt tasty ways to destroy capitalism instead?". So I guess Garage Collective is my political act, however small or meaningless. Plus screenprinting as a medium is just damn cool.

What's the biggest challenge you've faced so far running The Garage Collective?
I've recently had some real issues with inks, which sucks because it's taken me the better part of the year to sort out all my variables into a manageable process. Sourcing materials for the initial set-up was hard enough, so it's quite upsetting knowing that external factors
such as the discontinuation of a certain ink could leave me broke and without work, or at best, a shitty product. I had a period of three weeks when I couldn't print because the supplier had no idea what the problem was. Clueless! But I've managed to find alternatives, which I'm working through at the moment and are looking good.

Also, just letting bands know that good posters are beneficial, regardless of the small increase they might have to spend to screenprint rather than to photocopy, has been something I've had to work against. I guess NZ's gig poster scene is still catching up with other scenes overseas, where it's the norm. Trust me, good posters work!

What's the best thing about owning your own business?
No co-workers! Ha ha. No, seriously, that cliche about being your own boss is pretty refreshing. I can skate whenever I want, I don't need to clock out for lunch, I don't need a suit or a uniform. Basically I pretty much do what I want, when I want, on the condition I get the work done.

If you had to pick a favourite from all the posters you've printed, which would it be and why?
I designed and printed a tour poster for Payola, which was one of my first designs to be printed at such a large size (A1). The inks fucked out, it was a bitch to print, and I thought as I was printing it that the end result was going to be terrible, but in the end it looked great. I really like my design for them: it managed to fit the band's brief perfectly and still stay true to my aesthetic, which was the perfect result. Plus they told me they loved it, which is always nice to hear. Also, to design a poster for Ian Mackaye of Evens / Fugazi and have him personally tell me that he thought it was beautiful - I can retire a happy poster boy.

What's your vision for The Garage Collective over the next few years?