WB: How and when did the idea for this series begin for you?
ZP: I used to go to a lot of raves in the desert and I thought it was just
such a colorful culture filled with interesting people. I kinda saw it as a
modern-day counter culture. As with every counter culture movement,
music is a part of that. Be it the sixties with rock and roll or further back
with jazz, music is a part of the expression of counter culture. I really
liked electronic music and thought that this might be a good setting for
a political story.
WB: What was that decision like for you to go from personal project or
just an idea you are kicking around to deciding to really produce this and
invest a lot of time and energy into a public work to sell and promote?
ZP: The idea started maybe in 2009. Originally, I wanted to make a
film. The music was such a big part of it for me, and the costumes, but
my friend was like, “Films are so expensive. Why not
just make a graphic novel?” I just thought that was a
great idea, but it stayed in the back of my mind for years
until I heard about Dionysus. That got me excited to
incorporate that into the story as a central element. I
just felt this urge to share what I’d learn and all of this
knowledge.
I illustrated a page just to see if I could do it. The
another page, and another, and before I knew it the
words began coming to me and I wrote this whole story
as one long poem.
I feel like, as an artist, you know it is going to be that
kind of project because you feel this sense of urgency. A
lot of artists feel that way right now I think. We need to
do something.
WB: You focus on Dionysus, the Greek god, tell me a
little about why that is.
ZP: The cult or cultures of Dionysus were a
counter-culture themselves. In Greece, you have the
traditional patriarchal following of Zeus and the gods
of Olympus. Dionysus represented a wild man who
was cast