jay learned to screenprint beginning in 1995, working under steve walters at screwball press. jay printed posters for his own band (dianogah), his friends' bands, and the clubs they played at. slowly, work from other clubs and other bands came in.
in 1999, jay started the bird machine print shop in the basement of his apartment building, and soon hired mat daly to help with the printing responsibilities. mat worked with jay until the end of 2007.
in 2002, the bird machine moved to proper commercial space in chicago's ravenswood neighborhood, during which time the national poster community really took off, as reflected by jay's constant travel, showing posters and talking to students around the country. during this time, the crew of people working around the shop included diana sudyka, nick butcher, dan grzeca, kevin duneman, nadine nakanishi, sue demel, alana bailey, jack ryan, and, of course, mat daly.
in 2007, the bird machine moved a final time, to a small building in skokie, a near-north suburb bordering chicago, where the print shop runs now.
