 I want to welcome David Wills, a local resident in the Haight-Ashbury, an incredible artist of many different styles. Welcome David. Thank you. I would love to know where you were born and what year and tell us a little about your early years. Fine. I was born in Cambly in England and moved when I was one to Innsbury in Wiltshire about three miles from Stonehenge and then when I was about Pesov, when I was 14 I moved to London and went to art school until I was 20 and then took off and became an artist. What were your parents' names? My mum was Inna Elizabeth Townley and then she married Cecil Solomon Wills. Do you have any brothers and sisters? I have two brothers. I have Peter Lindsay Edmond and Robin Cecil Charles. Peter is still in London and Robin is in Tasmania. Anybody in your family are artistic or musical? Everybody is artistic but my daughter Ann is a musician in New York. She has a band called The Dream Bitches. This is a statement of the time. Spit it that way. Yes. Do you went to school in England? Yes. Did you ever study for your art? Yes. I went to art school when I was 14. In what city? In Twicktown. What did you think you were going to be doing with your art and what inspired you to start doing art? I guess one of the reasons I went to art school was because I didn't get into, I didn't pass the 11 plus which is this ridiculous exam. After that I had an opportunity to go to art school which I took. I had no idea. I think Einstein failed some sort of math test. You graduated what schools? Here we have high school, they have high school there. The art school was like high school. There was two years preparatory and then there was four years senior art school. Right. I studied graphic design and illustration. Did your early styles of art in what you do now change in any way? My style depends upon the job. I guess it depends on what I'm working on. It's always been like that. It changes. Did you start, did you make money at all from your art as a young person? First of all I started working off in advertising agencies. In 1967 I was working in an advertising agency in London. I did the classic turn on in Hyde Park with a joint and never looked back. Did you ever work for any of an art workshop in any magazines and publications or newspapers before you came over here? What do you know the names of any of these? When I worked on Town Magazine which was a sort of land mag from early 62, I was assistant art editor on that, art director on that. I had illustrations in that. Were they line drawings? Were they color? I think they were mostly line drawings. I had loads of different jobs but the most towards in 67 I was working on Osmo-Versign. Where was that out of? That was out of nowhere. Still being... Oh no, it got wonderfully prosecuted in 1970 and they had a huge trial at the Old Bay which the three editors got sentenced to jail. My goodness. So I guess those are very collectible if you find one of those somewhere. What was the focus of that magazine? It was a psychedelic color magazine. Like the Berkeley Bard or the Oracle? Same feeling. I worked for them on and off in between jobs and stuff like that. So then somewhere in your life about what age you somehow got inspired to come into America. Can you tell us a little about that and where you landed and about where that was? When I was working in advertising agency I told them I was going to go to New York. So they gave me a sabbatical so I guess I'm still on sabbatical. I went to New York and hung out in the Lower East Side. I went to see Paul Krasner at the Realist. He had the village voice. That's right and got to meet the first of the Realist nuns. Margaret St. James was a Realist nun after I was there. Did you ever do any artwork or work in New York or was it just a visit? I most wonderfully had a great time there staying with Bryce Mardin. What year was this? This was 1967. Did you ever go to any of the concerts in the park and the gatherings of people? No, I didn't. I don't think. I can't remember any but that doesn't mean I didn't go. Did you ever go to any of the performances in the village? Yeah, I went to see Paul Krasner, Frank Spapper, Andy Wall, that was the crowd. Yeah, I was hanging with Andy Wall's crowd at some bar or other. Exactly. And then they would have parties with Wall. I never met Wall but I met his substitute, the guy who used to go teaching for him. Exactly. About how long were you in New York? About 30 days or so. Oh, that's a lot for 30 days. And then where'd you go from there? Then I went back to London and got on with Life in London. I worked on Wall's magazine and all the other things I worked on. I had a list of them down here someplace. Tan magazine, I mentioned that. Wall was curious. It was a sex education magazine. All the magazines I worked for around 70, all got busted. Alternative magazines, right? I was working next door to one of the censors of the Chamberlain's office. Lord Chamberlain's office. And he did not like curious magazines. He was going to bust me. So he busted Oz, Curious, IT. I don't know, there were other magazines as well. Well, did you find, or doing artwork there and doing artwork there compared to the kind of freedom of speech here in America and non-censorship? I found San Francisco to be very conservative when I got here. You know, compared with London, I think it still is. When did you come to San Francisco? I first here in 1969. In 1969? I had a friend who had been eating goat cheese in Italy and she got a disease in her eye and so she was coming out to Los Angeles to get it cured. It didn't work, but we got to drive up to San Francisco. Did you get bitten? I left my heart in San Francisco. That's right. I liked it. I thought I was going to come back and live in Humboldt County, but I never did. When you first moved to the Hague Ashbury, where'd you live? On, let's see. First of all, in 1973, I left London and went to Mill Valley. I lived in various houses in Mill Valley and the first place I lived in in San Francisco was on Jackson and Baker. Right in the middle of the Pacific Heights basement. Right. And then I moved to church and market with Molly Rodriguez, who's a wonderful belly dancer and she's now married to her husband. Exactly. Well, we can always fill it in with this ongoing research. Yes. Did you have a feeling like a lot of people did when you came to the Hague Ashbury, the community, the family, the music family, the art family? Yes. Did that hit you? Did that happen to you? Well, I knew about it from London, of course. There was a lot of communication between London and San Francisco in the 1960s. Totally. People used to get off the plane and come and visit houses. I came back and forth with myself. I heard about it. Yeah. When you came to San Francisco, as you settled in, did you start getting work? Were you involved in any organizations? Yeah, almost immediately. I came here. I started working at Rolling Stone magazine. I was designing exhibition stands for the Book Festival, Book Fair in Los Angeles. Did you ever do any artwork for posters? Not for friends, because that's the way it was in the early days. I worked with John Goodchiles, who just died a couple of years back. He was working at Rolling Stone and Stray Arrow Books. That's what I was working for. Then I got caught up with Margot St. James. That could easily be done. That could be done. I'm interested in seeing, if you wanted to show us a style that you would consider the kind of artwork you would choose to do, if you could. You have many different styles. You say that when you get asked to work on a project, the producer or whoever will tell you what the project is, and then you do the artwork by the themes. I'd love to start getting to see some of the different styles that you're working on. This is a poster I did for Margot St. James. Long after the original Hooker's Bull had finished, this was done in 1996 or something like that. It was beautiful. I saw another poster that looked like it had cribbed from this, but maybe they cribbed from the same place that I cribbed from. I'm not sure. Where did you get your inspiration? I forget now what it was. There's a kind of poster around. It's very similar to this. Is that enough for the moment? Oh, I'd love to see more. This was a poster that I did for. It's beautiful. For Hates Street. It was commissioned by the merchants of Hates Street. Each of the stores contributed about $250 or something. This was the last poster printed by Laval Roscovian himself. Oh, wow. This is the neighborhood community showing interest to the Hates. This was a very large watercolor. It was very beautiful. It's a whole different style. It's beautiful. This was a poster for the embassies. I remember seeing that. This was the first. It's still ongoing. It's a great idea. The guy who produces them. He's got a glass store on Hates Street. He does them. He's been taking photographs for months. Do you know him? Yes, of course I do. It'll come soon. It'll come and we'll write what it is. I've been told that you got involved with a lot of the community in the Hates Ashbury. I'd love to know a little bit about the feeling of the community in the Hates Ashbury. I know you're an artist. We interact with musicians and writers. There's a street fair that I've heard you've been involved with. I'd love to learn a little more about that. Yes. I love the neighborhood. I'm part of it. I protect the trees on the street from vandals breaking them. It's amazing. He's still out there. I got attacked just recently on Hates Ashbury by a guy who's been breaking twigs off the trees, which we all love. It's just like the sign of the community wants to. Maybe this person somehow needs to be sat down by the community and smell a rose or something. I think he's schizophrenic. I think he's beyond help. I've lived in the same house since 77. Where is that house? On Ashbury Street. Between Hayton Page. Very close to H Street. What was the street like in those days? When I was here in 73, the street was very closed down. Lots of stores were closed. They were rebuilding. It wasn't even rebuilding at that time. When I started living in 75, I think that was when the street started to come back. I started working with Shady Grove, which is a wonderful night job on Hates Street. Can you tell us where that was? There's an Ethiopian restaurant there now between Ashbury and Flint on the north side. Ashbury and Clayton? Yes. What happened there? It was a rock and roll, five nights a week. Movies on the fifth day and one day I guess they had it off. As I lived right in the corner, I was in there all the time. It was great. It had a bar, a community pub. I used to drink orange juice. Did you remember any of the music you saw? Comfort. I don't think that Loose Gravel ever played that. I used to like Loose Gravel. Comfort. Moby Gray. I had a poster. Oh, wonderful. Did you do any artwork for that? I used to do all the posters. Roadhog, Cat Mother, Hadzoli, Varigiana. Dubs Breath Mystery Theater. I would love to see it if you could turn it around. Is that good? That was a wonderful introduction to San Francisco. When did they close? 79, I think. Do you know why they closed? No sound protection there at all. The noise control. Exactly. Then you got involved with Pablo, with the H3 fare? Yes. I was in a committee that met with Harvey Milk. We were in a meeting at Shady Grove. I got it all together. I worked a lot with James Roneven. He was the guy who used to book Shady Grove. It was pretty much responsible for starting the street fare. You did the artwork for the first? Yes. The first street fare. It wasn't a competition then. I was asked to do it just because I was the only artist around at that time. Could you tell us a little bit about that poster? Yes. And the repercussions of it being made at the award that you got? Or won a contest of some kind? No, there was no contest for that. As I say, I was the only artist around at that time, so I got to do it. It was hand drawn on the screen and hand cut stencils, and it was printed by... There were only about 200 of them printed. Wow. I forget the name of the guy who printed it, but I got his name. Not on H3, some more instances ago. No, it was on H3. It was one of those copy places. No, it was silkscreen. Silkscreen, serigraph. So you're saying how many were printed of these? I think that's the first edition. No, the second edition. That was 200. I think that edition was 200, and the previous edition was 750. And where were they put up all along H3 on the poles? In restaurants? Yes. In the windows? Down H3. About what year was that again? It was... 1978, was it? 1977. So that's the first... That's the first street fair. And now 2005, what number are we getting ready to happen in June? We must be getting up to 30 by now. Exactly. We'll find out from Pablo. Yes. Wonderful. And so you pretty much are doing some of these still? Every now and then I am to the competition, but I never ever win. So how does it work now to do a poster for the H3 fair? There's a competition. You enter in the competition, but it's worldwide now. It's online, so you could enter the competition from the ambassador if you were... Really? And then who decides? Pablo decides. Pablo, the promoter. He pretends it's a committee, but... Beautiful. So you attended that first fair? Yes. That was... And what was it like? It was the best fair ever. Can you tell me a little about it where it ran from? People were so excited to be back on the street. Nobody had closed H8 Street down since the Grip from Dead were there. And so this one was an opportunity to do it again. Exactly. In recent years, my friend Kat Bell and I have always had a tea party on the street. We have two booze that Pablo gives us, and we give away free tea and cakes. Well, where do you usually set that up? Outside the grocery store. They give us free electricity. And what part of H8 is that? H8 Nashville, where else? H8 Nashville, over there. What type of set up was that fair? Did it have a stage? Did it have booze? Was it the music? Was it just vendors? The first one? Do you remember? There were three big stages. It was very intense, and we were all learning how to do it. I remember Camille and I worked on a banner. Camille Houston. I think she worked on a lion and a page, yes. We worked on banners for all sorts of things, including the hookers bowl. We did this wonderful banner for the street fair, and it was like 35 feet long. It was stretched across the... Air vents, but it went through the air. Through the years of practice you learned to cut these air vents. We cut air vents, but it wasn't enough. The fire department was hoping to put it up, and they said it was too dangerous that it was going to blow the fireman off the roof. So they had music on the street. They provided food that the community could buy, and they were vendors selling them their crafts, pretty much. The big thing about the first street fair was that there weren't so many commercial vendors as there are now. There were artists. There were a lot of artists. Artisans, yes. Of course it was a lot cheaper in those days. Right. Do you feel the community, the Haydashbury community, benefits from this event? Definitely, yes. It gives it a very strong community feeling, I think, coming out of the street fair. Of course. I was reading Charles Perry's book on 67 in the Haydashbury. He said that there were 150,000 hippies living in the Haydashbury at that time. I think you probably count the number of hippies living in the Haydashbury now on two hands. Exactly. So there's not quite the culture that there was, but there's still a strong feeling for it. Well, we have an upcoming fair coming in the next few months. I was curious, since you were at the first, had you been at the last last year? Yes. And do you see a difference in it? And do you feel that somehow the spirit of the Haydashbury is being better? It manifests through the street fair, definitely. Yes. Each street fair is very different as its own quality and character. And I think a lot of it concentrates on the tea party that we give. Right. Because all the workers come in. Has it gotten a lot larger than it had in the beginning? Last year was slightly less large than the previous year, but I think each year it gets bigger. People from other parts of San Francisco communities come and join in the celebration. Oh, yes. And a lot of people come back every year. Can't find parking. Come back to our tea party and say, oh, I remember coming in 10 years ago. Exactly. Must they wear a hat? I'm sorry? Must they wear a hat? Like Matt Hatter's hat? Oh, right. Yes. Exactly. Yes. Let's ask. I was really interested to see some more of your artwork, anything at all that maybe involved the Haydashbury, but if you come across something else interesting that shows your style, I would love to see it. Is the Haydashbury literary journal, which I worked for occasionally doing illustrations for a while. I was designing the covers for them. I worked with... Is that still being published, and how do you get a copy of it? You buy it on the street. It's sold by someone selling it on the street. I also looked on, this wasn't one of my covers, but sort of gives you the idea, the Haydashbury free press. That's lovely. That was... Now, it's beautiful, but in the old 60s style, difficult to look at. Can you explain that to us a little bit? Yes, and that's part of the style of the 60s. What year is this? This is 95, March 95. David Hoffman, he was the editor. And how are you involved with this one? I was designing it. Beautiful. I was looking for something I'd work on. Yeah, my filing system isn't what it should be. I would love to see some more. And some of your favorites are... That was Music Works, that was a magazine I published with Diane Rappapool. The cover was interesting because it was a picture of a Venusian playing the Golden Gate Bridge as a harp, which is what somebody alluded to it when the Bill Kerplie built it. And later on, about 10 years after I did that, we actually went out and recorded the sound of the Golden Gate Bridge by putting a harp on it, taking it to one of the 365 foot tall cables and recorded the sound of the longest guitar string in the world. Then a friend of mine made music from that. I'd love to see some more. I'm just in wonder seeing you, beautiful artwork. There must be more stuff here. This is another copy of Music Works with a photograph of Marty Ballin that he did not like sticking his tongue out. We only did three copies of this magazine. Really? Yes. It was very influential. I know the library has it in there. Yes. You went on to become a book called Making and Selling Your Own Record. Exactly. It was sort of the book behind the... I've seen a copy of that as well in a collection. I think it was, I had a print there, but it was fine. I'd love to see anything else in your portfolio. Just take your own time. I think anything you would like to show us that we shouldn't miss. This is a wonderful book that I just finished work on, called Homework. It's done out of ballinus. I worked for the publisher on ballinus. It's a book about inspiration for building your own home. The book is full of photographs of amazing places. I think in the 60s it was an oversized book called Shelter. This is the 30-year... The author of this is the same author of Shelter. This is Shelter 30 years old. Look at these teepees that I can do on my own. These geodesic domes. He was the guy who popularized geodesic domes. Exactly. Lloyd Khan. And he backtracked on domes later on because they leak. Because they don't have a roof on them as well. Well, if you feel free to show us anything more, I'd love to see something. I'm also curious... I've been through everything as far as that I've bought. Well, we might invite you back to show us some more. Yes, I've got tons more I just went through. Or maybe we'll come to you to be easier. I'm curious what kind of artwork are you doing now? Where do you see your future going? And also, where do you see maybe the Haydash Berry at present? Through its art, through its music, through its family of people. Well, I guess this is the most recent book that I've worked on, the homework book. And I see myself doing more stuff like more books. Well, I can see this as an expansion of the family and being creative and individual in your home, in your lifestyle and living your dream. My house in the Haydn now is worth some horrendous sum of money and people keep on asking me if I want to sell it. But you wouldn't move, right? I wouldn't want to move. Where would I go from the Haydn? Why would you not want to move? What's keeping you here? Friends and family. Beautiful. So you're part of the community and involved with the family on all levels. And I see that the reason you wouldn't move is because that's your home within this family. And you're so talented with your art, so you get to contribute to the family. And that message continues the outskirts of the Haydash Berry community. Say that, I'd go along with that, yes. If someone sees this video 100 years from now and you see your life and your path that you've been on and you've come from another country across the ocean and New York, San Francisco, and now you've made this your home to keep alive the values of the Haydash Berry, more of the community and less corporate and less keep it family. And hopefully it can as people are inspired. How would you like young people to see what your path has been in life? And do you feel you've contributed and I'd love to see your opinion on some of that. That's a big question. Yes, I would like to see kids coming into the Hayd and I see it all around me. It's definitely still has an attraction for people and I think that they're coming for the right reasons. Would you like the Hayd to still be here in 100 years? I'm sure it will be, but the way house prices are going, I don't know what's going on. I think that the spirit of the Hayd took off and went around the world. I think that the Hayd is maybe the starting place for it. The summer of love, the spirit of peace. I've been working with Waterfall on the Waterfallium. My first exercise in writing has always been an illustrator designer before. There's a chance to be able to say things in there that I fumble for saying in front of the camera. I should bring some copies of that to read. No, I think this has been wonderful, totally wonderful. I've been so impressed with the artwork and your sharing of your life and community. We definitely feel you've contributed to society, the community, and your next door neighbor, your person across the ocean, and young people as well as contributing to the events and publications and all types of things. This is the business of making people enjoy their day and smell the roses. We want to thank you so much, David, for being part of this. We'll be asking you back or maybe coming to you. I just want to say thank you so much for contributing.