Artist Luke Thomas’ journey started with comic books. “As a young kid I was obsessed with Batman and to a lesser extent, other superhero comics,” he tells us. “My dad also had a huge collection of underground comics that he let me look at sometimes. They blew me away. Every one was its own jam-packed world of exploding colours and dripping inks. I had to figure out how to make something that exciting!”

With his brother Kyle, musician King Tuff, he immersed himself in punk as a teenager – and it was the aesthetic of zines and record covers that made their impact. “All those thick, crusty, decomposing photocopies hiding the toxic and fluorescent sounds within! I still love that.”

Thomas’ counterculture stance and its raw push-pull between art and music also cameoed in Hedi Slimane’s SS14 Saint Laurent collection. The creative’s Blood Luster, a lippy pout of freshly-fed fangs was realised as an intricately beaded couture embroidery on the back of a silk blouson.

The artist’s secretly eccentric hometown of Vermont is entwined in his identity – and he’ll take that spirit to California where he’s planning to move in the near future. We caught up to talk punk, dreams, “high brow, low brow or no brow.” Buckle up for a wild ride.

Dean Mayo Davies: Imagine weʼre aliens from another planet. Our minds are blank. What’s the number one thing we should know about you?
Luke Thomas: You should know that I believe that the point of life is to create. You should also ignore the fact that I’m peeing my pants, because I’m scared to death of aliens!

DMD: Music is inseparable from your work – King Tuff is your brother and youʼve done a lot of his artwork. Can you tell us about your relationship with music, bands and your co-conspirators?
LT: My brother and I have been collaborating since we were little kids, so that’s a solid, easy creative relationship. We’ve always been into the same stuff and roam similar creative territory in our respective fields. I’m a long time record collector and still get a thrill when I see my art in a record store. I love meeting bands or labels that I’m excited about, collaborating with them and seeing them get excited about my work. It can be extremely difficult as well, but seeing my art on a record shelf in some random store or person’s house makes it all worth it.

DMD: How has punk inspired your work? Your visuals are pretty raw, dark and tripped-out, thereʼs usually an element of destruction or disaster…
LT: As a teenager, I lived and breathed punk. It was the only kind of music or art that I paid attention to. I loved the immediacy and the electricity. The music grabs you by the nuts and the accompanying art pokes you in the eye. Real punk is totally weird and it cannot be ignored. I strive to make art that like that.

DMD: Do dreams – or nightmares – ever create pieces?
LT: Oh for sure! It’s usually not a literal translation from dream to artwork, though. My dreams often involve weird, mixed up landscapes and buildings, and mysterious bodies of water. These things have a way of creeping into my work. The last piece that was directly inspired by a dream was a drawing of a bunch of rickety, rainbow coloured exercise bikes that were in a labyrinthine Indian imports shop I dreamt of. I also did a drawing based on a dream I had where I was driving around the country looking for a road called ‘Dual Wallpaper Drive’. Haha.

DMD: Your piece Blood Luster is pretty loaded. Tell us the story behind it… 
LT: I originally came up with that concept while working on a flier for a halloween show. With stuff like that, I don’t really think about meanings or connotations until afterward. I just sort of come up with things through doodling and letting my mind wander on the page. Of course, all sorts of things could be read into it, regarding love and relationships…

DMD: Youʼre pretty hidden on the web. Do you prefer to speak to your own tribe rather than put it all out there?
LT: I’ve viewed the past six or seven years in Vermont as a sort of incubation period. I’ve worked with a lot of underground bands and art venues while honing my skills and vision. Of course my work has been seeping out into the world and as my work has grown, so have the stature and scope of the projects I’ve been involved with. I’ve reached a point where I’m ready to step more squarely into the spotlight, so the coming months will bring a move out to LA, a new website and a handful of new projects. It’s time!

DMD: What are your favourite mediums? Your visuals have been on record sleeves, t-shirts, posters and youʼve created your own comics. Do you prefer these somehow more tactile or ‘human’ ways, as opposed to gallery shows, in putting stuff out?
LT: I’d say my primary medium is ink. I also love printmaking and painting. I am drawn to accessible and “human” formats. That may be the lingering influence of punk. However I also show work in galleries from time to time. I embrace all avenues of expression. High brow, low brow or no brow, I want my work out in the world!

DMD: Feed us more Luke Thomas awesomeness. Recommend us five of your favourite works…
Buttcountry, a rarely seen masterpiece. I drew this in an airport at 3 a.m.
Goon & Chics, I’m working on a comic about these chics.
Rock Hard, a recent t-shirt design (concept by my brother).
Unusual World, a surrealist landscape experiment.
Nirvana, this is a Burger Records reissue of the original band called Nirvana from the 60s.