HOODED FANG at the Drake (1150 Queen West) tonight (Thursday, December 9), doors 8 pm. $10. 416-531-5042. See listing
Look closely at the cover of the Hooded Fang album. Recognize that font from anywhere?
Anyone who’s ever got lost in Honest Ed’s, the everything-on-sale department store at Bathurst and Bloor, will know it as the store’s unique typeface. It’s hand painted by Toronto sign artist Dougie Kerr.
Bassist April Aliermo explains how the band first managed to recruit Kerr:
“That crazy old Scottish bloke is obsessed with Hooded Fang. Just kidding – our drummer Daniel Lee and I have always appreciated and admired good hand painted signs and fonts. Daniel especially. One day last summer, Daniel, me and keyboardist Nicholas Hune-Brown were walking by Honest Ed’s. Daniel was convinced that it was the same one person painting all the signs by hand. He was convinced that it was the same person doing it for years. Me and Nicholas thought, “Nooo, they must have a team of people painting the signs.”
Well, Daniel was right. I said to Daniel, “Hey! Why don’t we get him to do our album cover?” Daniel, naturally, was ALL OVER THIS IDEA. The two of them made a visit to Honest Ed’s where a lovely, lively, Jamaican cashier made a phone call from the store, to the sign shop. An Honest Ed’s SIGN SHOP! They found out from her that there were actually two of them making all the store signs every week. Both painters were out for the day so the nice, jovial lady gave us the sign shop’s phone number and a name, Dougie. She said, “Don’t tell them I gave you their number! They don’t like to be bothered!”
A few days later, Daniel phoned Dougie and set-up a date to meet on Markham Street! They sat on the steps by the comic book store, The Beguiling. They talked about art, bicycles and vodka.
Dougie painted zillions of signs and millions of ice cream trucks. He had never done a record cover before so was stoked about doing ours. Our series of meetings with Dougie have included these places: at his house (where we met his family) over some beer and wine, on a Markham patio over beer, in his Honest Ed’s paint shop studio and on the same Markham Street steps. More recently, at local graffiti artist Elicser’s home studio.
In some ways we were paying tribute to the iconic Toronto store and in other ways, we just love good ol’ hand painted signs. And crazy Scottish cyclists.”
Read more about Hooded Fang and watch a video of them performing across the street from Honest Ed’s here.
