Kyle Ng Of Brain Dead Talks Of Art, Pedals And Collaboration
Brain Dead is an L.A.-based counter-culture lifestyle, streetwear, and fashion brand co-founded by artist, skater, hardcore gamer, street and subculture connoisseur, and creative director Kyle Ng and his partner Ed Davis. Founded in 2014, the Bay Area-bred Ng has been a lifelong and avid collector of sub-culture and counter-culture art. He’s into everything from campy 80s horror and Kaiju movie posters to graffiti from around the world, skater art, video games and tabletop card games, t-shirts, music and album art, comics, D.I.Y. punk, and hardcore show flyers. If it’s mainstream-adjacent and has a unique visual aesthetic, Ng is probably into it.
In addition to their visually striking streetwear, Brain Dead enjoys collaborating with artists in various media and companies from around the world to create new, unique ways to connect communities and sub-cultures and to make rad stuff people can wear, use and enjoy.
Brain Dead has teamed up with EarthQuaker Devices for a pedal unlike any other inEQD’s current or legacy lineup. The Brain Dead Ghost Echo features a vibrant green base color, a haunting collage of psychedelic graphics invoking the connection of sight, sound, altered states of mind, the power of music, and a touch of magic.
Kyle Ng was kind enough to answer a few questions about the Brain Dead ethos, his methods and inspirations, and why he digs the Ghost Echo Vintage Voice Reverb.
EQD: Brain Dead specializes in unique collaborations. What do you look for when considering a collaboration? What attracts you to a company as opposed to an artist or band? Are you looking for a specific aesthetic, “cool factor,” or socially responsible outlook?
Kyle Ng: I think all those are factors. We really look at collaborations that feel authentic to our lifestyle. We want to work with people and companies that share the same passion and ideas that we do.
As a guitarist and a friend to many musicians, you've likely seen many pedalboards. What made a pedal company an attractive collaborator, and was there anything challenging or different about working with a relatively small pedal-sized “canvas” with knobs?
Every time I went to a guitar store, I loved the EarthQuaker designs. They are the most beautiful pedals I have ever seen. We really loved the sound of the Ghost Echo, so that dictated the pedal we wanted to make.
The Brain Dead Ghost Echo is quite visually striking and hallucinatory, certainly different from EQD's familiar aesthetic. What inspired your visual choices for the pedal?
We always think about the idea of noise being a natural state. The idea of hallucinations or Psychedelia goes beyond drugs. Rather it’s a sense of being in TUNE with the natural world. I actually am Straight Edge, but I feel that music is its own form of hallucinatory drug.
When it comes time to design the product, do you try to incorporate elements of the collaborator or the specific product? (I would delete all those slashes so it sounds like the interview was done in person or over the phone) Is the product a blank slate for your creativity if it's not tied to a particular social issue?
We definitely think about the collaborator or product. It's important that it feels true to both parties.
Braxton Marcellous of Zulu with the Brain Dead Ghost Echo. Photo by Alexis Gross.
Brain Dead has done plenty of charitable and community-focused collaborations. Does your approach to the art and graphics differ when you're just creating something that looks cool? Is there always a statement or purpose in the visuals?
The visuals always hold tiny messages that are built into our brand's ethos. We believe that aesthetics are part of our DNA and so are messages. Visual medium is just another way of communicating ideas.
Your work has deep roots in street and skate merch culture. Do you have a personal favorite era, style, or artist that encapsulates what you love about all of those sub-cultures?
The 90s are my favorite for sure. There was an amazing mixture of all these things coming together. In the 70s and 80s, a lot of the subcultures were created, but the 90s were the time when it all converged.
Malcolm X Abram is a recovering reporter and music writer and a proud 40 year guitar noodler. He lives, works and plays in the bucolic dreamland of Akron, Ohio in an old house with two dogs who don’t really like each other and way too many spiders.