Hallerton & Light – Meet Artist Bruce Wangsanutr

Quite a few years ago I made friends with a guy while working at Disneyland. He and I hit it off pretty quickly, and have remained friends ever since. In fact, that was close to 30 years ago. How many people can say that they have friends that have stood by them for nearly 30 years now-a-days. This article takes a journey from his early years in music to his most recent creation, Hallerton & Light.

Bruce and I have quite the past, from playing backyard concerts in one of our band creations, to guiding thousands and thousands of guest around one of the largest theme parks in the world. He is a great guy and has been on a pretty incredible journey.

Bruce now lives out of state, but I recently had the chance to chat with him a bit about his past and what lies ahead. In this interview we talk about where he has gone and where he is going.

Our Past

Davey- I had the opportunity to meet you back in the early 90’s working in attractions at Disneyland.  Some great memories and experience came out of that time at the park.  How long did you work there, and do you have any outstanding memories that jump out at you?

Bruce– Disneyland to this day holds some of the most amazing memories of my life. I worked there for 3 and a half years. Some of the most notable memories were the people I worked with, my first day working on Indiana Jones and how excited I felt to be part of that crew, walking inside The Haunted Mansions track, and the Candlelight Processions.

Davey– Thanks to our great community of friends on Facebook, we have the support and love from lots of our fellow cast members.  Do you still keep in touch with some of your fellow cast members?

Bruce– Over the years I keep in touch with a handful of people, including some I would have not expected to. Laura Dickinson, yourself and Earl Mahnken. I also see Kelly Love’s posts from time to time on my Instagram and I really appreciate the inspirational posts I get on a daily basis from Jenna Edwards/McCoy. From time to time I also see posts from Todd Huerta and his civil war reenactments. Also not from west side attractions Dave Dunlap who worked at Carnation Plaza Gardens with me. 

Journey In Music

Davey– How did you get started in music?  Had you been playing your entire life?

Bruce – My dad bought me an organ for Christmas around the time I was 5 or 6. At the time I was going to a Lutheran school so the first song I played was Little Drummer boy because my teachers used to play that during nap time. I took piano from the time I was 5 til 8th grade and then got into synthesizers. I then went to CSUF for music and had been doing music ever since!

Davey– I seem to remember one late night at a weekend party in the mid 90’s where you and I were discussing music and we decided to start a band.  Something like that anyway.  Had you been in bands previous to that?

Bruce– I started a band with a close friend called Versailles. One of the members has had a lot of success with his band Frequency 5, now Hotel Lobby on MTV chi, another became a lighting tech for major shows like the Backstreet Boys etc, and another became the lead singer for Christian Rock band Plank Eye. There was another one as well before that. And there was a group of friends from high school that tried to make bands with. However, I think I grew the most as a musician playing in a band with you because we had goals that we accomplished and learned new material all the time. 

Davey– Since our fun living room/garage/backyard party band days, you have played with some fantastic artists.  Can you name a few of the artists and bands that you’ve played with?

Bruce– Sure, I’ve had the honor of working with a lot of Motown artists including the Emotions, Friends if Distinction, The Miracles, Smokey Robinson, Gladys Knight, James Ingram, and the pointer sisters. I’ve also had the honor of playing with Dralion for Cirque du Soleil, and did some production for Taboo from the Black Eyed Peas and written a number of tracks for television through my friend Charlie Brissette who scored Jimmy Neutron and Ren and Stimpy. 

Davey– You’ve also played all over the world.  What is one of your favorite countries that you have played in?

Bruce– I really loved Australia as the people were all very friendly. Getting to see incredible sites like 12 Apostles, Sydney and connecting with some friendly faces that I met while playing an online video game were some of the most exciting things I got to do. 

Davey- One of your top gigs had to be our wedding!  Can’t believe its been 20 years.  Thank you again for that. 

Bruce– It was my honor and I was so happy to do that for you. I still remember your cartwheel 🙂 

Davey- Mee too! And so does my back :0 I can still do them by the way.

Grabbing The Pencil

Davey– Over the past year or so, we suddenly started to see more and more sketch work via your Facebook page.  Is drawing and sketching something that you have always done?

Bruce– I drew a lot in high school. There was a point in my early high school years that I wanted to be an artist or comic book writer. When I was in 5th or 6th grade I used to draw a lot of Veritech fighters from Robotech because I loved the idea of Giant mocha and the whole story of it all. 

Davey– How do you get going on coming up with ideas on your art?

Bruce– Some ideas are a lot of thought and research. Such as character background etc. Some come from randomly drawing lines that “feel right” but the best ones come from the heart, and imagining things or visualizing moments that inspire me. 

I do a lot of waking meditation, thinking and research before I make a decision to draw/create something. The creative process varies quite a bit.  I try to come up with things that are unique that have some sort of story and purpose behind them. Most recently I’ve become more interactive with my storytelling and responding more to various situations I encounter in my life. 

Davey– Is there anything in particular that inspires you when you are drawing? 

Bruce– Music keeps me going but it depends on what I’m drawing. Sometimes just the discipline of forcing myself to draw, a place that has good creative energy that I can draw from is incredibly important , but  In the best  cases it is a feeling of what makes me happy. Drawing  a picture I look forward to seeing no matter how many times I look at it,  and still love that picture every time I see it inspires me. 

Davey– The first sketches we saw were pretty awesome, but now you are really refined and the artwork is excellent.  How much time do you put into your artwork?

Bruce– It really depends on the art. Sometimes it’s more about  the story than the art so I might  spend minimal time on the art because I understand my goal is to share my story in a way that can hopefully inspire my readers or express gratitude really quickly. For art that I want to be quality art it can take me anywhere from 8-24 hours to make a quality page or large picture from pencils to inks and then colors. Some drawings can take months because I will draw them over and over again until it feels right. 

Hallerton & Light – and Beyond

Davey– How did the idea of Hallerton & Light come into play?

Bruce– I had made a decision that I wanted to find a way to create with my spare time that could be mobile. I came to a conclusion that comics would be a great medium because I had a passion for drawing and story telling! After watching an interview by Stan Lee on how he came up with Spider-Man, and   I wanted to tell a story that was unique in the sense of finding a power that hadn’t been done before. So I started looking around my environment for some inspiration.

I think a video of the trailer for Carrie came  up on my feed at some point. It got me to thinking about the supernatural and how spiritual possession of objects could be a cool untapped source for inspiration. I started researching spirits that left the body before death and discovered a Japanese legend called Ikiryo. Which are spirits born or jealously or intense situations which cause their spirits to leave their bodies before death. I thought “what if this Poseidon of inanimate objects could be used as a sort of superpower? This gave me an “in” to create a symbiotic relationship between a girl who’s spirit is used to power her boyfriends super suit and how they would fight evil forces using a technology that harnessed her spiritual energy. 

Family

Davey– You have a young son.  Does he enjoy your artwork as well?

Bruce– He likes my art, and is really supportive. But sadly he’s not really as passionate about drawing as I am. 

Davey- I saw he was helping in your booth at one of the recent Comic Con events.  That had to be a cool experience for both you and him. 

Bruce– I thought the whole experience was worth it just for that alone. Watching him work was incredibly inspiring and humbling at the same time. He wanted to be there and at times asked me to step back so he could try to sell. He stood with me side by side the entire event and gave it his all. I could not have been more proud that weekend seeing him be productive and willing to work hard on something that wasn’t just video games or YouTube! I think he gained a lot of confidence dealing with the community in that regard and was able to build some character as far as good work ethic was concerned! 

Davey– I had the opportunity to sing at D23 a couple years ago in Anaheim, and got to meet Stan Lee.  It was an honor and privilege to meet him.  In your travels either in music or in the drawing side of your life, have you met anyone that truly stands out and that has inspired you to keep on doing what you are doing?

Bruce– I am so jealous you got to meet him! What an incredible opportunity. I recently had a dream about Stan Lee where he said he would read my book which I Found fascinating as dreams and my life usually end up being connected in some way. That being said, every person I meet is an inspiration in some way. My community is an inspiration because they never give up on me and are always there for me.

At the moment, Todd McFarlane is an inspiration because seeing how he handled making his dreams a reality helped motivate me to look at ways to make things happen. William Portacio because he shared on a video, the importance of  meeting a deadline. Jim Lee for his work on X-men. Right now I also feel it important to mention a friend James Stone, a local artist and writer who runs a local “comic Jam” which brings local artists and writers together. And my Editor Jean Munson who brings me my coffee. 🙂 

Davey– You recently released your first issue of Hallerton & Light.  How has the whole experience of completing your first comic been?

Bruce– The whole experience is one giant roller coaster ride. The process has taught me a lot about myself. Drawing has also given me many opportunities to improve both my personal being, my art and my story telling. It continues to help me grow and inspires me to keep telling stories. It has taught me dreams do come true, and the value of not giving up on something no matter how hard things get and how even the difficult times you have, are blessing because at the very least, they give you something you can put in your stories!

Davey- How was the process of getting a supporting publisher?

Bruce– I actually ended up publishing independently. Ethra Comics is my brand. That being said I had an opportunity to be published by a local company Plot Twist Comics l, but we both agreed it was better for me to start my own company. She likes my scripts as they are very Joss Whedon-ish in their style of writing. In the end we agreed I would hire her instead to be my editor because I highly value her feedback. She also taught me the process of comic book writing. 

What Lies Ahead

Davey– What are your future plans for Hallerton & Light?

Bruce– Currently I have a 5 issue story arc that I will finish and at the same time incorporate some new unexpected blessings into its script as a side story arc which will be implemented in future issues past the initial story. 

Davey– Your artwork is fantastic! I can’t wait to see more and more issues hit the stands.  I see on the website that you are also offering full artwork and not just the comic.  Do you enjoy creating the story and building characters, or more of the pure creation of art more?  Could be a combination of both I guess.

Bruce– Thank you for the complement! I consider myself a writer who happens to be lucky enough to be able to draw. I love writing script and storytelling. Eventually my goals are to create jobs for artists who are more talented than me. I can then focus just on the story telling aspect of it. My friend suggested I create the art to have more things to offer at my table than just my book. Also to have alternate revenue streams but I was blessed to have the book do better than the prints actually 🙂 

Friendship

Davey– Bruce, I’ve known you for nearly 30 years of our lives.  It is so awesome to see the changes in your life, and the transformations that you have gone through over the years.  I hope nothing but the best and much success going forward.

Bruce– Thanks so much for believing in me and being a friend through all this time. You taught me the value of building things and we had a lot of fun creating many incredible memories. If I can help in any way, please let me know!

For More Information

For more information on Bruce Wangsanutr and to check out Hallerton & Light, please check out Ethra Comics.

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Davey