Music as muse

ISSUE: 143

A multi-disciplinary visual artist, Aaron Pinto, also known as Kidsquidy, has had an interesting journey that started with MTV and has him now working on everything from music videos to stage design

How challenging was the transition from full-time job to being an independent artist?

AP: The decision to go independent was always the goal when I realized my calling. When I went independent in 2018, the first year was rough. I was thrown in at the deep end and had to navigate and figure out how to land high profile jobs. Luckily I had done a little networking over the years and it finally picked up and I haven’t looked back ever since. For the first few years I was doing commercial as well as personal projects; my work ranged from channel branding to merchandising. From this year I am transitioning more into developing my style and working on personal projects.

Share your experience of working with MTV.

AP: Working at MTV was an amazing journey for me. It was my one and only job and it was the coolest place to be. I made so many friends who are still my core group of people to this day. There was never a dull moment. When I quit MTV I vowed to never join another company because I feel like no one would be able to top the experiences I had with them. When I joined, I was the definition of a noob – I had no education in any form of art. Though I was completely self taught, they still saw something in me and took a chance on me. I learnt to be a sponge and absorb everything. MTV has so many shows and events happening that each property required a whole new set of skills. I had to learn everything from poster design and typography to photo retouching and animation. Those skills helped me become a chameleon when I went independent and I was able to execute a whole array of diverse projects.

Learning how to deal with upper management, how to put together a team, production, managing talent, and most importantly, how to budget for a project were some key elements that I learned.

How does music influence your art and vice versa?

AP: Music and art feed off each other in my work and life, sort of like a yin yang situation. Album covers always fascinated me growing up, especially rock and metal band covers. I always marveled at these huge cover spreads accompanying this great music and I thought it would be really cool to create them. I always have to have music in my surroundings when I’m working – it helps me focus – and the genre changes with every piece that I work on. I do not limit myself to one form of music; I listen to everything under the sun. Same goes with my art; I try not to limit myself to one style, and always like to keep it fresh and new. The lyrics and arrangements of songs have helped me create some of my favorite pieces over time.

Being a drummer and an illustrator, I have my ear to the ground in both fields and that makes me fresh mentally and helps me notice key trends and industry standards being set in the world.

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