Doc: Being a builder/tinkerer/maker/contraptor/whatever and having grown up in both the hacker/phreaker and punk rock cultures, I really identify with the strong DIY ethic that has developed in the steampunk modding scene. I think there's something empowering and romantic about being part of a movement that refuses to accept the way that technology seems to grow more disposable, distant and inaccessible every day. Steampunk harkens back to a point in history where your average high school graduate could have a rather thorough mastery of the technologies around him and compete with the brightest and most well-funded minds of the time (like the Wright Brothers and Edison, who actually takes that idea a step further, having only a few months of genuine public school education). Granted, modern tech has grown very complex and most of us aren't going to be working on things like nanotech and molecular electronics in our garages, but I think the steampunk movement is a rather passionate and artistic (and shiny!) psychological response to current technological trends and I could certainly see the core ideals of it being carried over into a new generation of the tech elite. It encourages that same sort of rebellious confidence that inspired the likes of Woz and Jobs to create Apple Computers in their garage and change the world in a very profound and lasting way.

*(This may seem like an ironic reference, but bear in mind that Woz and Jobs were totally rebel-DIY in the early days)

D: It was just the logical progression of a lifelong love of technology and an appreciation for good design. I've been in love with gadgets and tech since before I can remember and started hacking away at computers when I was about 11. Having grown up around classic cars and the auto industry, I was given an appreciation for the beauty of hand-craftsmanship and was able to see for myself the way that fabrication methods had changed over the years. There are a lot of parallels to other industries there. Standardization and modular construction is sort of a double-edge sword. Yes, it makes maintenance and repair easier, but it usually doesn't make the end product that much better. In modern cars, for instance, a 10mm hex bolt is not always the right piece of hardware for every application, but that's all you get because of the standardized design. It's cheaper for a manufacturer to build a million of one bolt and rework the whole vehicle around it than it is to choose the best fastener for each part of the car. But as always, I digress. Basically, I think my original inspiration was that I felt that it would be fun to try and impose the same level of intimate craftsmanship that goes into the restoration of a classic car, antique grandfather clock, or tube radio onto a piece of computer hardware which is by nature completely modular, standardized and well…rather soulless and disposable.

D: I am utterly astounded at (and a little baffled by) the positive reactions my work has gotten. All I can say is that I guess we've all really struck a chord with people. I get tons of emails that just say things like “thank you….thank you for doing this. It's inspirational. Since seeing your work, I've (insert previously abandoned dream here)”. It's really quite touching that people would take time out of their day to sit and write me, much less thank me as though I were doing a public service. I'm a pretty humble guy, so it certainly takes some getting-used-to. I mean, how do you respond to someone that tells you that because of your artwork, their life has changed for the better and they are following a dream that they wouldn't have otherwise? It's overwhelming. I'm not too macho to say that it actually gets me a little misty-eyed sometimes.

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