The Source: Russell Ramsey

The Source: Russell Ramsey

ECD at JWT London, Russell Ramsey feels akin to a cat-stroking Bond baddie and is moved by Sex Pistols, spies, Stone Roses songs and a Spanish City
by the sea. Below is an extract from an interview with Ramsey featured in the new issue of shots - issue 133.

Subscribers to shots.net can read the full interview by clicking here.

What is the most creative advertising idea you’ve seen in the last few months?

Trident Senses’ Pointless Fun. A fantastic integrated campaign featuring dancing polar bears and chicken shadow puppets. Online films, TV ads and crazy interactive events all linked together by pointlessness. The Pointless Collective’s three masked heroes, Tortuga, Paco and Flaquita, come up with ideas for pieces of pointless fun. pointlesscollective.com

What’s your favourite website?

BBC.co.uk. For listening to the radio, getting up-to-date news, the weather, the sport and catching up on iPlayer.

If you could be in any band, which would you choose?

Sex Pistols. A prerequisite for being in the band was that you couldn’t sing or play a musical instrument. I’d have fitted in perfectly. The more badly behaved they were the more famous they became. They were the first to use the F word on live TV and described the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a ‘piss stain’. They were rebellious about everything. Rebellious sound, rebellious hair and clothes and even rebellious typography. What they did have was raw energy and even though they only released four singles and one album they were hugely influential in stimulating a can-do attitude in British musical youth.

If you could live in one city, where would it be?

Spanish City, a permanent funfair at the seaside resort of Whitley Bay in North Tyneside. I used to love going there when I was a kid and so did Sting from The Police by all accounts. It had old-fashioned rollercoasters, an amusement arcade and a ghost train. Major plans to revamp it have been approved. I’ll be back.

What product could you not live without?

A corkscrew. How else do you open a fine bottle of wine?

What product hasn’t been invented yet that would make your life/job better?

An instant body scanner for airports. The worst thing about air travel is that bit where you put your bag on the scanner together with your coat, belt, your shoes, money, keys etc. Not forgetting the laptop/iPad. I once saw someone pour a whole bottle of aftershave over his head because he wasn’t allowed to take it through. Fortunately I wasn’t sitting next to him on the plane. How good would it be to just walk through and have a scanner check everything without you even noticing?

Mac or PC?

Apple makes some amazing products but I don’t buy the whole technology brand as a religion. Apple even makes their stores look like churches. Why do people behave the way they do? Queuing up overnight, worshipping all of the products and thinking Steve Jobs was God. Alan Shearer is God, surely?

What show/exhibition has most inspired you this year?

Gerhard Richter at Tate Modern. Coinciding with his 80th birthday this is a diverse retrospective. I love the photorealist approach of a lot of his work. At first his paintings appear like photographs but look more closely and you see the delicate brush strokes. Great compositions and every mark considered. A trip up to the seventh floor restaurant gives me an inspiring view of the Thames and a pretty inspiring steak and chips.

If you're a subscriber to shots.net you can read the full interview by clicking here.

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