patjameslongo.com - ART * DESIGN * MUSIC

DataPipe

Weird in Jersey since "66

New Jersey born and raised through and through. My Dad is a truck driver and my Mom a beautician. Kind of like a scene out of a movie about the working class hero or the beginning of a crude joke. Funny thing was neither of my parents follows the stereotypes in look or attitude. They were the most supportive and understanding parents. All the kids I grew up with wanted to hang at our house and my parents were always home. We never went to Disney Land but then who needs Mickey Mouse when you have Goliath the Giant Bear at a place called Space Farms? This was no guy in a costume this was a 12' tall bear! How about Wild West City, the Paterson Falls or better yet the Morris Museum. Shit! Jersey is packed with roadside attractions and odd day trip destinations that no "theme park" could ever offer and we hit them all. My Dad's days on the road and incredible memory made weekend excursions the best vacations any kid could have. I wasn't on an airplane until I was 25 years old. Who could leave such an entertaining place?

My Mom encouraged my brother and I to draw at the age of 5 and 4 respectively. This was as much a creative decision as well as a survival tactic. Making a mess, or as she said "art," was a great alternative to the destruction we were already capable of. Michael, my brother, was big as well (not fat but athletic). I was called Fat Pat the Water Rat for most of my childhood. I didn't "excel" at sports... I ate often and a lot. By twelve I was 5' 4" and tipping 'em at around 210. I lost the weight by 14 and began lifting weights. OK so it's Jersey - my brother has a Camaro, I lift weights, and we are Italian. Not as obvious as it sounds. We are both artists and really into music. It's the early and mid-eighties so we are into everything from REM to the Germs. We went to shows of all sorts and frequented freak scenes like the Show Place in Dover, NJ. Ruled by the local bikers, including some weightlifting buddies, the Show Place already had a long and incredible history. This was the kind of place that had ladies mud wrestling one night and the Dead Kennedys the next. Maxwell's in Hoboken became our second home. Oddly enough Hoboken has become our permanent home.

I read William Blake in 6th grade and stuff like "Slaughter House Five" in 8th. I was really into Mad Magazine, then the "Raw Magazine" school and of course anything and everything from 60s and 70s Underground Scene. My parents took us to the Modern and the Met on a pretty regular basis. I think Alfred Jarry, Duke Ellington and Art Spiegelman are all geniuses of equal merit. I make what some people say are disturbing images. I play music in a band (Hippopotamus/Project3) that has been known to induce anxiety attacks. I think I'm doing OK for a guy who comes from a state whose hockey team mascot is the Devil.