Renowned Sydney-based design collective WEBUYYOURKIDS drops into Cairns this weekend for the opening of their show Photocopulist at the brand new Crate Gallery on Sheridan Street.

WEBUYYOURKIDS is a Sydney-based illustration and design collective comprising of Sonny Day & Biddy Maroney.

After being forced to work together in 2006 as punishment for a crime they didn't commit, Sonny and Biddy have been drawing and fighting with each other ever since.

Their first works together were screen-printed tour posters for Popfrenzy Records and have since expanded massively over the last two years, with clients now including MTV, Incu Clothing, Ivy League Records, Mushroom Music Publishing, Popfrenzy Records, Skateboarding Australia and a long list of bands including Youth Group, The Vines, Something For Kate, The Drones and Grinspoon. 

Ahead of the opening of their first exhibition in the Far North “Photocopulist” on Friday night, timeOUT finds out what makes the pair tick in this quick Q&A… 

How would you describe your own work?

Frantic. If I had to pick a few words I would say: Graphic, mythical and searching for a former clarity. Creepy? We have been described as "pop art" a few times lately, which I wouldn't have thought of - but I like it. Oh and "harsh magical". 

How did the whole gig poster thing come about for WBYK?

The gig poster thing was something we had always wanted to do, we had a lot of respect for the scene in the States. There is a massive culture there around gig posters and screen-printing. Have a look at gigposters.com - it's insane. So when our friend Chris Wu who runs Popfrenzy records asked us if we were keen to do the posters for a huge tour he was putting on, we said yes! We hadn't really worked together before this.  Chris has been really cool to do work for, totally supportive and has just let us do whatever posters we want. I don' think he's ever requested a change. Actually once he asked if the "C" in The Clientele poster we did him looked like a "C" enough. And we said "yeah, it does".  

As someone who has a lot of music based clients, do you believe album cover art to be as important as it once was?

I think it's more important than ever, I think all bands want artwork that compliments and expresses the themes, ideas and in some cases the sound of the album. I don't know how the "industry" will go -  there's only a certain amount of Radioheads and Nine Inch Nails-es who can afford to make such lavish and involved packaging. But there will be more and more inventive lo-fi packaging I'm sure. Just less of the "take-artist-photo-type-name-across-front-stick-it-in-jewel-case" conservative studio stuff. 

What’s it like working and living together?

A lot of work gets done. It can be very stressful. It's hard to describe because we say we are "working" all the time. But if we had other jobs - we would be doing this in our spare time, so it's a bit hard to explain. We have different roles so we aren't always working right next to each other - which is good. 

What do you consider your most famous piece of work?

Not that it's famous but we hear a lot people say they like or have one of the first posters we made. It's a screen printed poster for Les Savy Fav. We've also got quite a long history with our friends Youth Group, and have made such a lot of stuff for them between us - all that as a collection is probably the most well known.  

Has street art become too much of a commodity?

I don't know. I saw a book yesterday - a coffee-table book on Australian "urban" art. I think it was called "free art" or something like that. But I'm sure you had to pay for the book.  

What’s next for WBYK?

More shows, more posters, another animated video clip and coming back to Townsville and Cairns to catch up with the family. Pretty much trying to stay comfortably busy and having fun. 

And last but not least, how much are you offereing per kid?

At the moment it’s a buyer’s market, so about $6.95 p/kg. 

>> WEBUYYOURKIDS exhibition Photocopulist opens tomorrow night from 6pm at the Crate Gallery, 59 Sheridan St, Cairns, presented by local fashion boutique We’re.

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