by Phillip Griffin

Hi there! Who are you and what have you done with my shower curtain?

Ayyyy, this is Mary Kate Teske some of you know me as Murray Kurt Tersker or MK. And Phil! Dude, I was walking down on the Southside and actually saw some naked lady bust into your house and ALL she took was the shower curtain. She sort of fashioned it into a dress when I saw her take off.

I hear you've had a busy summer. What have you been up to?

Busy as helllllll. It's been a rad summer though full of traveling, camping, climbing, photo taking, shindigs with friends and a whole lot of other stuff!

I also hear you've been coordinating the visual art aspects for Dreyfest this year. What can people expect to see during their DF experience?

Yeah, I have been! Alright, you guys can expect your faces to melt, your eyes to get trippy, details to stun you and for artists to knock your muthafuckin' socks off.

Much of your work features an old car you call Frank. What's the story there?

The story behind Frank is kind of a long one, but I'll make it short and leave a link to the article I wrote for Last Best News explaining more of it*. My grandpa used to own a gas station in Seattle that my whole family worked at. They were always redoing cars and one day was willed the Lancer from an old customer of his. Eventually another customer came in and ended with the Lancer through a trade between her and my grandpa. My family at some point down the line sold the gas station and moved to Terry, MT to start a farm. My grandpa ended getting the Lancer after it was willed back to him where it sat on the farm for years. When I was fifteen I got to rebuild it with my family and have been driving it ever since!

*Read the whole story about MK's Dodge Lancer, Ol' Frank, here.

You've also been doing some work on a project called Backseat Sessions, in which artists perform songs in Frank's back seat. This seems like an awesome way for small artists to get content they can share online. How long have you been doing that? How did it start? Any future plans for the project?

So the Backseat Sessions have been going on for about five months now. They spawned from an old roommate and I hanging on the rims one night. We were chilling inside of my car and, being a musician herself, my roomie brought her guitar and started playing in the back while hanging out. I got the idea from that, and it turned into something a bit bigger because a lot of my friends are musicians. As for future plans, I hope to one day get Kendrick or something in the backseat so we'll see how well progressing toward that goes.

What's your favorite Lord of the Rings character?

Oooooh, LOTR is one of my favs. I've always been kinda in love with Aragorn.

To me, a lot of your stuff has an '80s feel to it - something like a hay-day sensibility. Bold colors and some sleek darkness, burgers and a highway. Maybe a gesture back to a time when cars were seen as more of a boon than a burden as they are now, with climate issues upon us. Is there anything in particular you try to capture in your photography, or do you just snap stuff you think looks cool?

I definitely try to focus on colors. I hate the goddamn beige epidemic happening in modern homes today. But really, I try mostly to document my life, and fit my car into iconic, classic scenes. I'd like to do more throwback type of stuff in the future though.

Top three things you're most excited for in the next six months? Ten years?

Damn, it seems like I'm always excited about something, but if I have to choose: I'm jazzed to climb Devil's Tower soon. I'm actually really stoked for Dreyfest. I'm always reeling for the day I get to become an organic farmer.

Dreyfest is less than two weeks away! What are you most excited to see?

Well, Phil, ya told me about that damn Richard Dreyfest piñata head and now I can't stop thinking about that thing.

Top three places you've visited with Frank?

My favorite places I've traveled to in Frank are probably Glacier National Park, The Redwoods, and Big Sur!