Drawing the Witch House

“Mike Dalager had already produced the Dreams in the Witch House album and had been doing press for it here in the States and over in Sweden [when] he found me at San Diego Comic Fest,” says singer/songwriter/comic-creator Chad Cavanaugh of how he came to illustrate part of a graphic novel based on the concept album. “He purchased the first three issues of The Map, my post-apocalyptic comic book series, and told me he wanted to talk to me about a project he was working on...he said to listen to ‘Signum Crucis’ on the album.”

Cavanaugh ended up drawing that song for the comic version of Witch House, based on a work by H.P. Lovecraft. “[Dalager] was instrumental in giving direction for how the art should feel. Without telling me how to illustrate, he was great at conveying his vision to me. At that point, I had released only four issues of my own work and was nearing completion on the fifth issue of The Map, so it’s safe to say I was open to his direction.”

Though he was a Best New Acoustic Artist nominee at the 2008 San Diego H.A.T. (Honoring Acoustic Talent) awards and released several records, Cavanaugh says he’s given up music for creating comics under his Grunt 1B publishing imprint. “I wasn’t drawing much when I was doing music. I drew my logo but that was it. I stay incredibly focused on the project at hand. I put two albums on iTunes, received plenty of radio play on local radio, and daily plays on internet radio around the world. At some point, it stopped, as these things do, and I took an objective look at it and realized it was time to hang it up.”