Ehquestionmark Mysterious British design collective ehquestionmark is best known for their record sleeves for UK avant-hip-hop label Lex Records: the black-andgold crystals littering the cover of DM & Jemini’s Ghetto Pop Life, the coffee-cup stains and Age of Aquarius handstyles of Boom Bip’s Seed to Sun, the neuron-tickling yellowgreen waves of Dr. Who Dat?’s Beat Journey. Though these sleeves subtly nod towards the crew’s graffiti past, they avoid the obvious at all costs, eschewing played-out fonts and themes in favor of mystical calligraphy and dark, satirical details. Record sleeves are just a small fraction of what ehquestionmark does, explains Bhat, the crew’s reluctant ringleader. In 2007, they embarked on (P)origins Of Pommery,
a touring exhibition and a series of films and books based on the crew’s interpretations of the history of the British empire. “The details change from venue to venue,” explains Bhat. “It represents a tomb of pseudo-relics–a surreal delve into our personal English empirical world of masonic antiquity.” ehquestionmark has also developed an aesthetic identity for Pollinaria, a fully-functioning organic farm in the Italian countryside, as well as working on myriad personal projects. Bhat, for example, also designs beautifully cold and futuristic sleeves for experimental electro label Skam under the name Bhatoptics. Where most graphic design crews are only too happy to flagrantly promote themselves, ehquestionmark likes to keep secrets and doesn’t
Interview by Vivian Host Based on the an interview which originally appeared in XLR8R #83, December 2004
suffer fools lightly. “There’s too many pretenders and stale profiteering cowboys in both [graffiti and design] at the moment,” Bhat told XLR8R writer Matthew Newton in 2004. He says it’s a statement he still stands by, along with this credo: “You’re only as good as your last shit. The work’s got to stand up in a decade’s time, at least.” Bhat’s lost none of his fire since our first interview with the crew, as we found out recently when we tracked him down in the Rochdale section of Manchester. He chatted to us about his favorite writers, Bic pens, and the bad things about Britain.
Did where you grew up have an influence on the work you make now? I grew up in Glasgow, Scotland and Manchester, England–part urban industrial and part rural upbringing. Geographical location has had a massive influence on my persona, factors such as climate and economics, but it really depends on social situation within those locations as a second-generation immigrant. I’ve spent a lot of time indoors due to unpleasant weather and lack of funds, having to deal with myself for long periods of time–this, as an adult, has made it easier to reject a social life and maintain a reclusive one. Good for productivity but bad for personal economics with this in-built anti-capitalist ethic. I’m so glad I never grew up in London, though. I love the place but it is draining. How did you get linked up with Lex Records and what is your favorite Lex release? Warp Records (former owner and instigator of Lex) were stockists of our graf mag Hold No Hostage–they liked the magazine design so much they asked me to take care of the Lex print aesthetic in 2001. They also knew of my work for Skam Records, so they were sure of my capabilities. As for the favorite Lex release, that’s a tough one. It’s probably between the Lexoleum
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