This week I interviewed IG account: @bootlegbart

1. Tell me a bit about yourself.”Hey Ladycult thank you for having me on, love what you do. Ok so my name is Leo, born & raised in the London Borough Of Hillingdon. Grew up playing Sega, loving the Simpsons & all that good stuff most 80’s/90’s kids did. If you were to put a label on me I would say I’m a creative.

   I’m also known as “Bootleg Bart”, the online project I have worked on in spare time for the past 9 years. What else… oh & my home town still has a blockbuster store just standing there derelict getting more & more decayed as the years go by, there’s a garden growing in there!”

2. How did you come up with the idea of your IG account?”I’m always coming up with ideas for projects & this one has definitely been seen by the most people. So how did it come about? I guess I can trace it back to 2003-04. I had access to a friends computer & they would let me search online for things & any images I wanted to download I could save on floppy disks (usb sticks I don’t think we’re out yet? or if they were they were new & expensive) I had a bunch of floppy disks labelled up: “2d animation”,  “Bollywood horror posters”, “Iceberg History” & one named “Bootleg Bart”…

   By 2006 I finally got my own computer & still enjoyed finding all types of art & imagery online & now had folders on my desktop labelled like the old floppy disks.

   MySpace was a thing at the time & thought it was funny that you could be friends with ficitional or comedy accounts like: Kermit The Frog or Black Tom.

   By this time anytime a family member went on holiday (vacation) & asked if I wanted them to bring anything back, I would just say ” a really bad bootleg Bart tourist shirt”, I had started a small collection by now.

   I wanted to find more & share images etc, so I opened up a Flickr account (MySpace had died out by now) , then sometime later a Facebook page. Interest picked up on the project & a lot of the followers would tell me to get on instagram.

3. What are your top three favorite Simpsons episodes and why? “The very first Episode I loved & still do on repeated viewing (it was the first episode I saw & the whole 1st season holds the most nostalgic value for me) So yeah, “Simpsons Roasting On An Open Fire” has to be number 1. It really shows the struggles a lot of families face at Christmas or just in general in life (work pay, cost of living etc) & that always hits home. 

   “Stark Raving Dad” the episode with Michael Jackson doing the dialogue (& an inpursonator doing the singing due to contractual stuff I think). It’s just a genius way to do a cameo, so creative & again the struggle between Lisa & Bart, I really feel it when Bart lets her down on her Birthday 😦  but then makes up for it with that song! 🙂 

   Here’s a link to the MJ demo for “Lisa it’s your birthday” if you & you’re readers are interested:

   There’s so many moments in episodes that stand out, from the “Steamed Hams” ,the “Planet Of The Apes Musical” , “The best of times, the blurst of times” .

    

   But I have to chose so… “Moaning Lisa” it is. 

   It’s got Bleeding Gums Murphy, The Simpsons in a Jazz Club, Bart & Homers video game rivalry, Homer in the arcades barking like a dog & waking up from a nightmare screaming, its got a lot of things I love packed in, with great writing & story.”

4. What is the most interesting bootleg Bart item you came across and why?Good question!, I have seen so much random crap over the years.

   I’ve seen some of the original screens they used to screen print with. They were found at the back of an out of business print works that had just been bought by the guy that got in touch (I sometimes wonder if he’s out there churning out new bootlegs with the old screens…)

   I love seeing some of the early 90’s rave records & flyers that use Simpsons imagery on & a have a few in the collection.

   But the most interesting to me is receiving stories,memories & photos from you guys out there- especially when they’re from the early 90’s.

   It really is history class to me & love to see how Bartmania touched so many people’s lives.

   If you have any memories/photos/thrift finds you would like to share please send to: 📩 contact@bootlegbart.com 

5. Do you have any exciting events coming up in regards to your account that you would like to share?”Exciting events? Well my partner & I just became parents for the first time. That has been a big event in my life & an inspiration for me to pull my finger out & get this book (that I’ve been working on for years) finished & out there. (Maybe I can come back to the instahood when the book is complete) I’ve also been working on a couple more art toys for this year… To hear about news & releases etc before the public I always recommend people to subscribe to the newsletter at bootlegbart.com

   If you have any questions please use the contact information below:

Email: Contact@bootlegbart.com

Website and to sign up for the newletter (I already did!) :  Bootlegbart

IG Account is: @bootlegbart