David Heatley is a musician, cartoonist and animator living in Queens, NY. He has been writing songs since age 16 when his teenage band, Velvet Cactus Society, recorded two albums with legendary Shimmy Disc label founder and producer Kramer. In the mid-2010s, Heatley performed and recorded with the band The Bischoffs, which The New Yorker described as "pop-tinged psych rock with an acoustic-guitar foundation and featuring a percussionist who uses an antique school desk in lieu of drums." In 2016, Heatley released a series of EPs under his own name titled "Angel Numbers: 111, 222, and 333" produced by NYC rock mainstay Pete Galub. His most recent project is his debut solo album, produced by Mark Bingham and featuring members of Lost Bayou Ramblers and GIVERS, plus Julie Odell, Lilli Lewis, Michael Cerveris, Sam Kuslan, and Sarah Quintana.

 

Heatley’s illustrations and drawings have appeared on the cover of The New Yorker, in every section of The New York Times, and in numerous other publications, including McSweeney’s, and Best American Comics (cover artist 2007). He’s the author of My Brain is Hanging Upside Down (Pantheon, 2008), AMY (Desert Island, 2019), and Qualification (Pantheon, 2019). His work has been translated and published in Switzerland, Sweden, Belgium, France and Spain. An adaptation of his graphic memoir Qualification, co-created with Adam Resnick (Letterman, Get a Life, Larry Sanders Show) and produced by Gaspin Media, is currently in development.