The Xcentrikz - Interactive Comic

Interview with the creator of Mantooth Soundsystem... Johnny Gonken, musician and cartoonist!
June 14, 2009

Hey guys, here's a wild comic about a robot music DJ named Mantooth and his friends. Mantooth even has real music that you can download! Its creator, Johnny Gonken, is an interesting guy with a variety of talents. Strong viewer discretion advised for the content, it is inappropriate for kids. Here's an amusing sample page of his comic. Have a fun read!!

--- Kirk

June 14, 2009

Kirk from The Xcentrikz Team: Hey, thanks for doing this interview with us. I hope your fans think it’s a fun read. First off, tell everybody a bit about your work? (So they’re sure to go check it out!)

Johnny Gonken: Mantooth Soundsystem is a web comic about an "evil" robot DJ and his "stoner" panda roommate, Peter. Mantooth is a systematic machine who is driven to make a name for himself in the music industry. He hates any human DJs who produce or spin electronic music because he feels that the human touch destroys the purity of electronic music.

Peter is your stereotypical slacker whose only drive or ambition is to figure out where he's going to find money to buy more drugs. Put them together, and they're both pretty much just a couple of ####oles.

Mantooth Soundsystem is more than a web comic, it's a multimedia project. It's about taking a character that I've dreamt up and making him real, by involving the character in real world applications. Mantooth has recorded his own electronic music album, "Dance Dance Devolution", which is available for purchase from his myspace page. You can also follow Mantooth on Twitter to get the latest updates on what's going on in his digital world and extra information on the current comic posted.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Ahhh, so you consider yourself to be pretty multitalented I see! So when did your webcomic get started and how did you decide to do it?

Johnny Gonken: I originally came up with the idea at the beginning of 2005. I recorded a handfull of music demos in the spring, but eventually released the first couple of songs and published the first comic strip on myspace in October of that year. After that I became more focused on the musical aspect of Mantooth Soudsystem and the web comic got pushed aside, while I finished up recording/producing Mantooth Soundsystem's debut album, "Dance Dance Devolution". I began drawing more comics at the end of 2008 and finally relaunched the comic on comicgenesis in April of 2009.

THE XCENTRIKZ: What typically gives you ideas, inspires your sense of humor?

Johnny Gonken: I get ideas from people or situations I've encountered in my own life as a performing musician/entertainer. A lot of ideas come from conversations with friends and family about things that come up in our own lives and my responses to those situations. My sense of humor is influenced by just about every style of comedy, from cartoons to stand up.

THE XCENTRIKZ: What do you like most about creating your work?

Johnny Gonken: I think the thing I like the most about creating my work is the complete and total control I have over these characters. I don't have to worry about someone telling me what these characters can and cannot do. These characters are free to evolve as I evolve in my writing and character representation. Anything can happen.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Is there anything that challenges you in particular? If so, what do you do about it?

Johnny Gonken: I find that drawing "normal" looking people to be somewhat of a challenge. Occasionally positions that I want to put my characters in don't work out exactly as seen in my head. But I make do with what I've got and hope that my readers forgive my mediocre artistic talents when they read the full context of the comic.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Random fun stuff: What’s your best… Comic page? Talent? Friend? Vacation?

Johnny Gonken: My favorite comic page that I've done so far... "1st Gig Pt. 3" because I got to be a little more creative artistically. My best talent would have to be writing/recording music. Vacation for me usually means going on tour to promote my current project. But to take a relaxing vacation... I would have to say going to Europe or camping with my girlfriend and her son.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Do you have tips to share with newbie cartoonists?

Johnny Gonken: Well being that I'm pretty much a newbie myself, all I've gotta say is this: Just do what you do. If you think the art s###, just keep at it. The art will eventually become consistently better. The same goes for writing. Practice makes perfect! (or so they say...)

THE XCENTRIKZ: What other comics and entertainers do you admire the most?

Johnny Gonken: Back when I was REALLY into comic books my favorite was always the X-Men's "Age of Apocalypse" storyline and the artwork that went with it. And I always admired the guys at Image Comics, who started out so they could have control of their creations.

Musically I'd have to say Beck and Trent Reznor because they both do pretty much whatever they want sonically and it works out well for them. And I personally love everything they've released so far.

THE XCENTRIKZ: Would you like to tell everybody anything else about yourself?

Johnny Gonken: I'm planning a West Coast Tour at the end of August to promote the Mantooth Soundsystem web comic as well as my recent Gonken album, "Robot vs. Zombie" available from Automation Records. I'm planning to play both club shows and in-stores at local comic shops (which is something that I've never heard of anyone else doing), so if you know of places where I can perform hit me up at gonken@gmail.com It will be a mixture of laptop djing and live pa stage antics a la musical comedy! So please come out and see us live. For more information please visit http://www.gonken.com

THE XCENTRIKZ: Hey thanks again for the little chat. Everybody, go check out Mantooth Soundsystem.

Johnny Gonken: Thank you for this interview and for listening to me ramble on. And thanks to everybody who's been reading my web comic.

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