Elevate Talks: Bjenny Montero
Ben Montero is a Melbourne-born artist and musician. His comics are lo-fi. He makes trippy, vibrant and melancholic ink and watercolour drawings that deal with sarcasm and loneliness. He has published several comics in Vice, has done Pond’s It Feels Like Space Again album cover and has worked on illustrations for Mac Demarco and Kurt Vile’s merchandise. Also, Ariel Pink once stole a picture he did for his Twitter profile.
3 min readJul 11, 2018
Can you introduce yourself, please?
My name is Bjenny Montero.
How would you define your work?
I draw cartoons, doodles, artwork and dumb stuff and I also make music sometimes.
Can you show us a picture of your workplace?
It could be anywhere. Look at the nearest table and that could be it.
How did you become a musician?
I pulled a random occupation out of a hat and got stuck with that one.
How did you become an artist?
Failed high school.
On a scale from 1 to 10, how important is social media for your work?
12
If you had to put together your all-time top 3 favourite projects, which would they be?
Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Which band would you love to work with? Why?
The Beach Boys because they are my favourite.
How are you?
A bit sad a bit happy
Who or what inspires you, in general?
Just myself and my emotional disorders
What are you working on right now?
Lying down as long as possible
If you could choose any product to sell on your online store with your drawings on it, what would it be?
Pyjamas
How do you see yourself in 12 months?
Looking for snacks and lying down.
How do you see yourself in 5 years?
Loking for snacks and lying down.
Bonus track: Could you recommend any TV series/ comics/ movie/ song/ artist/etc?
Willie Nelson’s album — Stardust.
Rainer Maria Rilke’s book- Letters to a young poet.
Jan and Dean’s song — I Know My Mind.
Seinfeld.
