Marcellus Hall is an American

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

and

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

. As an illustrator, Hall has worked for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' and other publications. As a musician, Hall has performed solo and with bands

Railroad Jerk Railroad Jerk was an American, New York-based indie rock band of the 1990s, specializing in a hard-driven punk blues sound. History Railroad Jerk's lineup changed frequently, but the core members were Minnesota native Marcellus Hall (vocals, guita ...

and

White Hassle White Hassle were a band with the lead singer Marcellus Hall based in New York, New York. Dave Varenka (also of Railroad Jerk) played drums, with Chris Maxwell and Joachim Kearns on guitars. The Houston Chronicle described their music as "strippe ...

Biography

Marcellus Hall was born in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, and graduated with a

Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students for pursuing a professional education in the visual, fine or performing arts. It is also called Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA) in some cases. Background The Bachelor ...

degree from the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

Marcellus Hall
(official site) where he also learned guitar and harmonica.

Illustration

As a freelance illustrator, Hall has worked for publications including ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''The Atlantic'', ''Time'', ''The Christian Science Monitor'', ''New York Magazine'', ''The New York Times'', ''Fortune'', and ''The New Yorker''. His first cover for ''The New Yorker'' was published in 2005. His second in 2008. His third in 2013. And his fourth in 2016. About his fourth cover Hall said "...I did that in 2008 ...it got printed in 2016 ...it took eight years. In March 2018 Hall published with Bittersweet Editions a debut comic narrative (also known as a graphic novel) called Kaleidoscope City. The book is an existentialist meditation in words and drawings on a year in the life of an unnamed protagonist who seeks meaning through art and city life following the end of a romance. The book earned accolades from actor Bob Odenkirk, comics artist Adrian Tomine, and musician Adam Green. "I loved this book and it's understandable why people like Adrian Tomine and Bob Odenkirk do too. It's something I haven't seen or felt in a piece of art before. I haven't stopped thinking about it since finishing reading it. This is a nice and refreshing change of pace for comics and a great book for early spring,” said Lenny Schwartz of Forces of Geek. “...a wonderfully unique book.” “We wake up, trudge to work, eat, sleep, repeat. However, illustrator Marcellus Hall challenges that view of life and beckons us to look at life in a different way in his lyrical, sometimes ethereal, always lovely new graphic novel Kaleidoscope City," said Jed W. Keith of Freak Sugar. About Kaleidoscope City Hall has said “Life is a lonely business. Religion and art tell stories to make us feel less alone. The fact that we inhale air speaks to our need for air. The fact that we have religion and art speaks to our need for connection. I can’t say why we need connection anymore than why we need air, except to say that we would die without either of them.” Hall's work has also appeared in The Society of Illustrators, American Illustration, and Communication Arts annuals. In his first years in New York, Hall also created the weekly comic strip ''Bill Dogbreath'' for alternative weekly newspapers that included The Onion, The Seattle Stranger, New York Perspectives, and Baltimore City Paper. In addition to illustrating the books ''White Pigeons'' and ''57 Octaves'' fo
Fifth Planet Press
Hall has self-published books of drawings and writing including ''Hard Luck Stories'' and ''Legends of the Infinite City'' (a collection of black & white drawings of New York City). A selection of Hall's sketches was published in Le Sketch #05, 2008. In 2008 Hall began illustrating

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

s. Among them are ''Because You Are My Baby'' (2008) by Sherry North, ''City I Love'' (2009) by Lee Bennett Hopkins, ''Because You Are My Daddy'' (2010) by Sherry North, ''The Cow Loves Cookies'' (2010) by Karma Wilson, ''Full Moon and Star'' (2011) by Lee Bennett Hopkins, ''Because I Am Your Teacher'' (2012) by Sherry North, ''What's New? The Zoo!'' (2014) by Kathleen Krull, and ''Duddle Puck The Puddle Duck'' (2015) by Karma Wilson. In May 2013, ''Everybody Sleeps'', Hall's first children's book as both author and illustrator, was published by Nancy Paulsen Books, an imprint of Penguin.

Music

Hall was a founding member of and main songwriter for the band

. The group released four albums on

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City apart ...

and was influential in the blues/punk/folk/grunge genre. The song "Rollerkoaster" from the album ''One Track Mind'' appeared on MTV's Beavis and Butthead. After the dissolution of Railroad Jerk, Hall formed the band

with

drummer Dave Varenka. Using accompanying guitarists, a theremin player, and a DJ, White Hassle released albums on Matador Records, Fargo Records, Mazri Records, and Orange Recordings. The band toured Europe and America before disbanding in 2006. Hall has since performed as a solo artist with his band, The Hostages (which includes mainstays Damon Smith and Mike Shapiro, as well as others, including Michael DuClos, Alex Berman, Troy Fannin, Jimmy Ansourian, Joachim Kearns, and Matt Martin). Hall released a debut album, ''First Line'', on Modest Mouse singer Isaac Brock's label Glacial Pace in 2011. The album is accompanied by a 44-page illustrated book. In 2013 Hall raised money via Kickstarter for the album ''Afterglow'', which was released on December 10, 2013.

Discography

Railroad Jerk

* Railroad Jerk discography (1990-2000)

White Hassle

* White Hassle discography (1997-2005)

Solo discography

* '' I Like Walt'' compilation (1994) * '' 4 Track Recordings'' (1995) * '' More 4 Track Recordings'' (1996) * '' The First Line'' (2011) * ''

Afterglow An afterglow in meteorology consists of several atmospheric optical phenomena, with a general definition as a broad arch of whitish or pinkish sunlight in the twilight sky, consisting of the bright segment and the purple light. Purple light mainl ...

'' (2013)

Selected works

Illustrator and Author * ''Left Turn Only Comics No. 1'' (1987) * ''The Vast Ranch'' (1987) * ''Lies, Lies, All Lies'' (1988) * ''The Vast Ranch II'' (1989) * ''Scenes from New York'' (1990) * ''The Absolute Truth'' (1990) * ''Hard Luck Stories'' (1993) * ''Legends of the Infinite City'' (2003) * ''Everyone Sleeps'' (2013) * ''Kaleidoscope City'' (2018) * ''Hitchhiker'' (2018) * ''Virtual Reality'' (2018)'' * ''Multiplicity'' (2022)'' Illustrator only * ''Duddle Puck'' (2015) * ''Cow Loves Cookies'' (1996) * ''Because You Are My Baby'' (2008) * ''The Cow Loves Cookies'' (2010) * ''Because You Are My Teacher'' (2012) * ''What's New? The Zoo!'' (2014) Simon and Schuster
(Simon and Schuster publishing site)
(Penguin Random House Canada publishing site)

Filmography

In 2013 Hall appeared in a music video for the song Soulmate. In 2021 Hall appeared in a documentary, Marcellus Hall, An Artist in New York City produced by Fourwind Films & Laura Davi. * '' Soulmate'' (2013) * '' Marcellus Hall an Artist in New York City'' also known as Artist & the City (2021)

Footnotes

External links

MarcellusHall.com

Marcellus Hall's blog

VH1.com: Railroad Jerk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Marcellus Boss Hog members Singers from New York City American male singers Living people Artists from New York City Artists from Minneapolis Musicians from Minneapolis Rhode Island School of Design alumni The New Yorker people Singers from Minnesota Year of birth missing (living people) Rhode Island School of Design alumni in music