Steven Cerio (born September 8, 1965) is an American artist, filmmaker, musician, writer, and composer whose unmistakable style set the stage for the neo-psychedelic revival in NYC. He has created his own loving and sarcastic expressions of joy for three decades. Cerio has created visual art for The Residents numerous times, starting in 1995 when he created the 'Kill a Commie' video featured in Bad Day on the Midway.
Background[]
Early Life[]
Cerio was born on September 8th, 1965 and was raised in Liverpool, New York. He was eight years old when The Residents released their debut album, Meet The Residents in April of 1974, and was 18 years old when The Residents' toured the Mole Show.
Career[]

After graduating Syracuse University in 1987, Cerio relocated to Brooklyn and began his artistic career in 1988, working as as a freelance artist. In 1993 he was commissioned by TEC Tones to reformat the artwork for the Renaldo & the Loaf albums 'Arabic Yodelling' & 'The Elbow Is Taboo' for CD. Cerio was already a fan of the group and wanted to put his mark on the CD versions, and created new artwork for the interior sleeves and discs.

In 1995 The Residents hired Cerio to create a short music video for their 1986 cover of 'Stars & Stripes Forever' for inclusion in their Bad Day on the Midway CD-ROM. The video was titled 'Kill a Commie' and represented the sadistic shooting range found on the Midway. Two years later, The Residents rehired him, this time to create an animated background for their Disfigured Night live shows, which premiered with Cerio's projections on August 16th 1997 in Köln, Germany. Since then, Cerio has regularly created posters for Residents projects from albums to tours. In 2004, Cerio contributed a video to The Residents' Commercial DVD anthology, animating a music video for 'Birds in the Trees,' then, on July 8th, 2008, The Residents released two vinyl figures designed by Cerio, featuring the group's skull and eyeball designs.[1]
Later on in 2015, Cerio was interviewed for the Theory of Obscurity: A Film About The Residents, and then later created the album artwork for Loss Of The Lizard Lady. Most recently Cerio has released the limited edition comic book 'Fresh Hell in Fits', detailing a fictionalised history of The Residents. He was also featured in the documentary 23rd Century Giants.
Work with The Residents[]
- Kill a Commie (Animated video, Bad Day on the Midway, 1995)
- Disfigured Night (Animated background, 1997)
- Icky Flix ('Stars & Stripes Forever' Animated video, 'Just For You' animated background, 2001)
- Birds in the Trees (Animated video, The Commercial DVD, 2004)
- The Theory of Obscurity (Interview, Artwork, 2015)
Discography[]
- Drunk Tank (1991)
- Railroad Jerk - Raise The Plow (1992)
- Lettuce Little - Distant Bee Travel (2003) [Self released]
- Atlantic Drone (2006)
- Atlantic Drone - A Vivified Sugarcube Explains The Universe (2009)
- The Magnificent Pigtail Shadow (2012)
- Sonisk Blodbad - Dark Spring (2012)
- Endoplasmic Flow - 11/12/13 (2013)
- Brown Cuts Neighbors - Horseback Solids (2015)
- Sonisk Blodbad - Electric Mirror (2019)
- They All Come Sunshine (2021)
Guest Appearances[]
- Mesomorph Enduros (1992)
- RRR 500 (Various 500 Lock-Grooves By 500 Artists) (1998)
- Twink - The Toy Box (2004)
- Chemical Imbalance Vol. 3, #1
- Hippy Porn - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack