Leland Taylor Interview

Talking to Leland Taylor, cell phone blogger, skateboardist, outlaw tent wizard, and general good times machine, about his most excellent blog http://toolbag.tumblr.com/ !  The Toolbag Tumblr is a treasure trove of almost daily photos of, well, life.  Minutia to mayhem, Leland has an eye, what else can we say. Check out the interview, and check out the blog. Here it is again! http://toolbag.tumblr.com/

Where are you now?

Right now Im living in Seattle with an amazing girl. Packed up and moved east to west at the end of october for the sight of less snow.  

When did you start I'm A Toolbag Tumblr and what was the thought behind it?

toolbag.tumblr started 2008/2009. My friend Tim got me set up.  I remember we were in his kitchen and I wanted a website to post the photos I took on my "razor".  I would snap the photo then text it to my email and then finally post it on to tumblr.  I wrote a few pointless diary posts and some other things but it was mainly for cellphone photos.  I deleted it all at some point and on 01/9/10 5:06pm did my first photo text straight to tumblr once I realized they supply you with an email to text.  Thats what started this.

first ever toolbag post

Any initial inspiration?

Mark Gonzales.  He was taking photos on his sidekick and I loved the quality. 

Drinking Oly now?

I've had it a few time but to tell you the truth I'm hardly drinking, basically I haven't found my 379 locustfield or 30 mozart yet.

What kinds of moments trigger you to think "This is perfect for Tool Bag"?

The perfect moment is when I only have a few cares in the world, enough cold beer and a five-star camping spot. 

Let's see, lots of camping, skateboarding, skate spots, friends, good vibes in general. Are you into good vibes?

Thats my god damn modus operandi.

A good portion of your blog was really low res flip phone pictures. What about this medium did you like? Did you have any reservations switching to the higher quality photos of newer phones?

It was so pixilated and beautiful.  I would just point the damn thing out the window and he glare from the sun would be amazing.   Switching to iphone really hurt the toolbag.  I enjoy how sharp the photos are but its not the same as my samsung intensity.  With the Iphone I find myself taking lots of photos still but only on the camera mode and never sending them.  With the intensity it was more organic.  I would hit the button on the side to open the camera then snap the pic and a screen came up "text this photo?", damn right, right on the spot.  My own private twiter/instagram, without the data fee. 

Do you ever wish Tumblr would let you auto play some music on your page, y'know like Myspace did? What song would you pick right now?

Dude its gotta be corny because its my life since 2010 till now, Marvin Gaye - got to give it up

You've made a few zines of material drawn from this blog, tell us about those.

Boredom.  Wish I still had a cpoy of that one, "toolbag finepoint" I think.  Sold a few on tumblr which paid for the paper. 

Any plans for a I'm a Tool Bag coffee table book? I'd love to see some old flip phone pictures blown up real big! 

Man thats a great Idea, lets look into that.

How many posts? 

as of today 12/19/14 3:13pm, 8,404.  99.5% all cellphone photos