Meet Dave Kloc: Illustrator and Gig Poster Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dave Kloc and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dave, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
In the moment none of the decisions I’ve taken that I now see ask “risky” felt like risks. I was just young enough (see: dumb enough) to say to myself “this is what I want, so I’m going to do it” and then without much consideration, I went through with it. I didn’t go to college after high-school because I didn’t know what I wanted to study, I was the only person in my grade to do so. I moved to Worcester, MA to try and figure out what sort of work could best activate my interests and talents, and while there I painted hockey helmets as an apprentice, loved it with all my heart and then went to art school from there. Both were huge risks – but honestly just seemed like “good ideas at the time”. Then after art school, without an idea of how to utilize my art education, I moved to LA to work on a comedy show my friend has offered me a job on. Didn’t really seem like a risk, I just knew I hated the winter and Los Angeles had very little of it. The writers strike happened and the show went away – within a week of my arrival in LA, so I asked friends bands if I could go on tour with them – and I ended up doing that with a bunch of bands for a few years. Seemed like a great idea – and I honestly think it was. Risks are only risks if you’re worried about the consequences – and I very much was not. I quit touring to work at a record label run by a band I toured with, and when the label moved from LA to Santa Cruz – I switched to making posters full time, and have not looked back. That was 8 years ago.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I make posters for bands. There’s a bunch of us that do exactly that, and for the most part we’re all pretty much buddies. To make posters for bands you pretty much have to have that venn diagram of interests of art, music, and being your own boss – oh and having zero job security. When concerts evaporated during the pandemic, so did gig posters and a lot of us didn’t work for 8 months or so with only a wiff of work coming back gradually. I’ve so very much looked up to the gig poster artists that I held in high esteem from high-school into college as a massive music and art fan. I’ve been fortunate enough to not only meet a lot of those folks, like Jay Ryan, Dan Black, Dan McAdam, Dan McCarthy (it’s mostly Dans) – but also learn from them and actually become friends. It’s an insane perk of sticking with this very weird job.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I think traveling is mostly for eating, and between meals you can find things to do, but I stress adventurous eating while traveling. In LA I would, and have, taken folks to Jitlada for a tongue challenging Thai meal, Son of a Gun for the highest quality chicken sandwich I’ve ever had, then Taco Zone on Alvarado (outside the Vons) for the best mulitas two bucks can get you. The next day would have to have dim sum in Alhambra, followed immediately by Mr Softy. I start most days with a burrito from Tacos Villa Corona, which stayed bustling during the lock-down. I don’t really recall what else there is to do besides eat, and the few pinball places I hold dear, Walt’s, Barcade, Buttonmash, and On Tilt in Van Nuys. Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There’s been a clear line of folks who have helped me get the place I’m in right now. The first person who taught me the ins and outs of being a working creative was Mike Myers in Worcester, MA who I apprenticed under painting hockey goalie helmets in 2003. Then college, I don’t really know what happened during that time… but once I got to LA I serendipitously met Damon Robinson at NOMAD Art Compound and he taught me to screen print in exchange for helping him around his shop. Then I met Jonah Ray and Emily Gordon at the Meltdown comedy show at Meltdown Comics who let me design and print posters for their weekly comedy show, which enabled me to learn enough about making posters and gave me enough of a portfolio that when that show ended in 2016, I could safely shimmy my way into working exclusively with bands.

Website: www.DaveKloc.com

Instagram: @davekloc