Art inspired by vegetables, talking cupcakes, and unemployment. Songs about porridge and kale. Illustrations on the disappointments of daily life. These are some of the ingredients that Brighton, England-based artist and musician Chris Sav uses on his blog, Banal Muffins.
Read, listen, and get lost in his quirky world of food, drawings, and music, which is sometimes hilarious, sometimes awkward, and always interesting.
The first time I clicked around on your blog, I was entranced. I wasn’t sure if it was a carefully orchestrated mess, or something you’ve built by accident. Why did you start this site?
While a lot of your work is unexpected, food is the constant. Why?
Some of your drawings make me laugh. Others make me sad. What’s your aim when you draw?
In your eyes, what food is the most misunderstood?
It would have to be the humble celeriac. It may look like a brain but it’s very versatile and in my opinion, quite delicious, and you can even eat it raw. My opinions about this are so strong that I even wrote a fake musical about it:
You’re in a two-person boy band with a root vegetable — Chris and the Celeriac — and sing songs about food and existential crises. How is expressing yourself through music different than art? Do you enjoy one over the other?
Sometimes I think that a drawing might make a good song — it started with an image of a guy eating rosemary leaves to spite his love interest. I thought this would make a good lyric in a song about eating various herbs to deal with unrequited love, and the whole Chris and the Celeriac thing snowballed from there. I would hear songs in the charts that were always about going out dancing, or love, and I thought, “what if there were pop songs about vegetables, or cake?” — because those are the things I really care about.
There is a satisfaction I get from recording and putting a song together, making it sound like any other boy band song, yet it’s about mashed potato. There is also a live element to Chris and the Celeriac which produces a different kind of enjoyment. It can be nerve-wracking, but there is something about the adrenaline rush and the fact that I can see the audience’s reaction — there’s an immediate satisfaction that I don’t get from drawing. I’d also say that Chris and the Celeriac comes under the umbrella of art — because if I record a dodgy harmony or hit a bum note, I can just say, “it’s meant to be like that . . . it’s art.”
Disappointman is your illustrated hero who has the power to be endlessly disappointing. I’m curious: is there anything that makes him happy?
Explore more art, writing, music, and other goodies from Chris Sav at Banal Muffins, and follow him on Twitter (@Disappointman). Hear more from his two-person boy band, Chris and the Celeriac, on Facebook and SoundCloud.
Very interesting stuff! I had never heard of his work!
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This is very interesting. This shows that art comes in many different forms. Creativity at its finest.
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This is amazing!! Truly,Out of the box.
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How Chris Sav explained on connecting all his skills on drawing, writing, and video-making to make a great end product is inspiring. Thanks for highlighting his work to us, Cheri!
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This is very nice!
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Creative and interesting.
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Just the name of the blog immediately made me want to check it out – it’s SO the opposite of banal. I love the comments next to the drawings, they range from pure hilarity to things that actually give you pause to reflect on how it applies to situations, thoughts etc of your own or in your own life. Personally, I was taken by the drawing about the “Missed Opportunities Recruitment Consultant” (light bulb!). But what really made me crack up was the MA in Boy Band Theory etc – HAH! Thanks for sharing this, totally made my day 🙂
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Hahah. I love artists that can be so real. Cross over into other artistic mediums and have courage in that. As a musician that’s obsessed with painting and illustrating it’s so nice to see others rocking the hell out of that juggle. Holllla!
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Delightfully original and refreshing!
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diggin the artwork!
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THIS JUST MAKES ME HAPPY
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Truly enjoyed reading this, absolutely LOVED it!!! I loved the fact that it was so creative and original, and most of all hilarious (In a very good way)! I have just started my blog and I would truly love it if you checked it out, hopefully my posts will be as exciting as yours someday 🙂
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Damn if that didn’t make me smile. How imaginative and beautifully unique! I’ll never look at fennel the same way again.
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I love your songs! If pop music was like this, I would listen to more. Keep it up, this is true unadulterated humor. The food aspect is beautiful, this is my kind of person!
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That’s one of the coolest things I ever read in WordPress!
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Amazingly creative!
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This is so awesome!
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Haha this is amazing.
Well done. 🙂
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That is awesome….and very creative
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