23 is one of my favourite albums – and Blonde Redhead are one of my musical obsessions. I’m fascinated with their band DNA – 2/3s of which belong to idential Italian twins Amedeo and Simone Pace, the other 1/3 to Japanese singer Kazu Makino, and all three combine through the filter of Boston jazz and New York no wave and punk scenes. Quite a pedigree.

After releasing five albums throughout the 90′s, the band was put on hold briefly after Makino was trampled and severely injured in a horse riding accident. After recovery, the band returned to the studio and recorded Misery Is A Butterfly, a remarkably different album to its predecessors, featuring more dreamy, evocative and experimental sounds, and effectively reinventing the band.

While it’s a brilliant album, for my money their new makeup was perfected on Misery’s followup— 23. There are very few albums that I can listen to multiple times in one sitting, but 23 is one of those albums. It’s absolute perfection, from the circus freakshow inspired Alex Goss album art (and it’s iconic baby blue background) to the songwriting and the production (by the band themselves). For those that have never listened, I’ve heard it described as ethereal, haunting, beautiful and dreamlike. While all those words are apt, you really just need to immerse yourself in it to fully appreciate just how good it is.

As the band’s new album Penny Sparkle is about to drop, I thought I’d share these videos which feature the band sharing some insight into the making of the 23, the artwork, and the difficulties they members faced throughout the process. There’s also a truly special live version of the song 23, which I strongly recommend watching, and there are some fantastic music videos directed by the great Mike Mills. Enjoy—

The Artwork
The Tragedy by Alex Gross

“23″

“Dr Strangluv”

“The Dress”

The Dress
Mike Mills

“Spring And Summer Fall”

“My Impure Hair”

Kazu Makino talks about what matters to her.

Top Ranking
Mike Mills & Miranda July
One pose per second

I’m very pleased to introduce a record label that has been a huge source of inspiration to me personally, and is one of the most compelling, handsome and consistently excellent labels currently operating – Australia’s own Preservation.

There’s something truly special about this label – from the audio to the visual, and from the quality of the output to the way that it has been meticulously crafted and managed. A label of this nature can only be brought about by genuine passion, and the passion behind Preservation comes from Sydney based radio host Andrew Khedoori and graphic designer Mark Gowing.

The label specializes in experimental and exploratory sounds from all over the world, and features a range of artists working in styles such as ambient, electronic, orchestral, folk and instrumental. There’s something for every taste within Preservation’s catalogue and even a cursory listen to what’s on offer will surprise and seduce. Grand Salvo, Post and Richard Skelton are all frequent contributors to my late night design playlists, but there’s just so much diversity and quality available that it’s hard to pick favourites.

I recently spoke with Preservation co-founder, 2SER music director and Australian music zealot Andrew Khedoori about the origins of Preservation and what it means to be running a niche record label in an uncertain industry. Andrew’s passion for music is obvious, and his dedication to unearthing and promoting new music is something I admire greatly. This industry could use many more like him – particularly in Australia.

Grand Salvo: The Temporal Wheel

Grand Salvo: Soil Creatures

Born and raised in Sydney’s east, Khedoori’s love for music began at an early age, with a particular affinity for portable radios.

“I’d always be listening to music at the beach or while weekend-long cricket matches were being played. When I was really young, I was obsessed with the radio and I thought that the music coming out of a radio was made by tiny people inside. So, both have gone hand in hand for me for a long while now.”

But it wasn’t until a jaunt to America that he started to develop his career within the industry

“I went overseas when I was 19 and took a swag of Australian independent music with me. Every city I visited in the US I’d check on for a college station. I contacted them and did radio shows presenting the tunes I’d bought with me. I came home looking to further the experience and discovered 2SER soon after. I started filing records on a Saturday, partly to weave my way into the Australian indie show they had on in the afternoons. That’s how I started broadcasting regularly.”

Aaron Martin: Almond

Aaron Martin: River Water

Aaron Martin: Cahutauqua

Up untill recently, all the artwork and design for Preservation has been taken care of by Sydney based designer Mark Gowing, who is also the other label co-founder. Gowing brings a unique visual sensibility to the label. Swiss-like minimalism with a disinctly Australian flavour. The artwork for the Preservation catalogue is an embaressment of riches. Experimental typography. Stunning photographic montages. Strange and beautiful imagery. While each cover has its own unique identity and concept, there’s a lightness and simplicity that ties them all together, and collectively Preservation is one of the most consistently well designed record labels I’ve ever encountered.

“I met Mark Gowing from going to shows with mutual friends. Some time down the line I asked him if he would do the artwork for a compilation of live recordings from a show I was doing at 2SER (Methodology) for Spunk Records. He wanted to make a project out of it and this coincided with a load of conversations we’d been having about design becoming of less and less importance in the scheme of record labels’ work. Also at the same time I got encouraged to start a record label by Oren Ambarchi who was looking for someone to release his pop project with Chris Towened, Sun. Mark and I decided to give it a shot!”

Inspired by a mutual love for labels that engender devotion such as Thrill Jockey, and labels that have a consistancy and dedication to their design such as Touch and ECM, Khedoori and Gowing set out with a fairly simply goal – to provide a home for interesting and engaging music. Preservation is a label for music lovers, by music lovers – which means that every aspect of the label is considered, thoughtful and important, from the type of music that is represented to the way that it is presented and packaged.

“We have always wanted a design to reflect the music in some way, for it to become part of the the whole. We wanted things to be a little challenging and a little fun, too, as well as beautiful. If people are going to buy a physical product, we want them to enjoy holding it their hands and playing around with it.”

Saddleback: Night Maps

Saddleback: Everything’s A Love Letter

While Preservsation have embraced the digital revolution (the entire catalogue is available on iTunes), it continues to have a commitment to artwork, printed material and physical packaging. Most Preservation releases are exquisitely packaged, with a CD effectively slipping into an envelope constructed from an A3 poster that features extended artwork, lyrics and sleeve notes. Often the cover art of a Preservation release is merely a fragment of a much large piece of art, fully revealed when unfolded.

“Digital’s another means to get music and that’s just fine – if people are getting and enjoying the music that way then all good and well. Preservation is always going to be a boutique label so if digital sales allow it to continue printing well-packaged CDs for those people that still want then, I’m all for it. There’ll be a new limited-edition CD series starting up soon – releases of 300 – and this seems to fairly reflect the state of play for some music out there, though the digital will make it live on.”

Sun: Sun

Sun: I’ll Be The Same

With the understanding the Gowing will be taking care of all artwork and design duties for each album, I asked Andrew about how Preservation artists respond to this, and if they have any involvement in the design process.

“Mark has essentially worked from scratch using his own resources for the designs. This was largely to retain a kind of consistency and overall vision for the look of the label, but we’d always be upfront about that way of doing things. (and had a couple of people here and there pass as a result, which we’ve always been accepting of, though rare) Mark would chat a lot with the artist to get feelings and ideas about their work even so from a visual standpoint and come with an ‘interpretation’ from there. We’ve never had an unhappy customer I’m pleased to say!”

Tom Carter & Christian Keifer – From The American Song Book

Gowing’s work for the label fluctuates between the playful and typographic, to the photographic (often having an almost found-photo look) to the purely graphic – with experiments in line and form. Each release really seems to celebrate the joy of creation and experimentation, both musically and visually.

Tom Carter & Robert Horton – Monsters Of Felt

Recently though, Gowing has taken a backseat as a designer, and preservation have opened the doors to other illustrators, artists and designers from around the world as possible visual contributors.

“Mark has become too busy with his design business to stay directly involved with the label – he helps out immensely with things such as layout, ideas and still does some design as well, but had to drop out of the day-to-day, co-running of the label last year. With the sensibilities for design established over a the releases he worked on, we’re looking to bring new people we come across in on it.”

Tara Jane O’Neil: Bones

Tan Or Boil: Seamstress In A Suitcase

The diversity of Preservations artists (like the diversity of the cover art) do share some common links. It’s not so much down to a particular style or idea that links them, it’s more the mood or atmosphere they create. But what makes a recording artist suitable for the label? And what would make an artist unsuitable? As it stands the Preservation catalogue spans from folk to opera to electronica. There is genuinely something for everyone available.

” I just follow my nose, really. It’s funny – I love hip hop but I can’t see a hip hop release being on Preservation . . . I don’t quite know why it wouldn’t fit but there it is. Once again, I really just follow my nose on these things. I suppose the label has a vibe overall and you tend to find what might work best and what you might be able to have some impact on.”

Steffan Basho-Junghans: Unknown Music II – Transwarp Meditation

Richard Skelton – Marking Time

Preservation also seem to have nailed the label-artist dynamic.  While many labels still seem to view their part in the process as a something of a creative filter (or simply a marketing traffic cop), according to Kheedori, it’s about nurturing, support and feedback. After all, if the artist has caught the attention of a label, then their responsibility is to help bring the work to life, not to package it for the lowest common denominator.

It’s a case by case scenario. If I’ve approached an artist and asked them if they’d like to do something, we chat about how to move forward from there in shaping a release for the label. If they’re open to it, I’ll make suggestions as they’re producing tracks as to how to get the right balance with whatever comes into play and often work with them on the final tracklist and sequence for an album. Sometimes we look at the sonics of a particular track, break it down and work on those if someone wants a sounding board. It’s always nice when people are open to that spirit of doing things – I find it really exciting seeing a record develop that way –  but all the same, some people have come to me with records they’re settled on and they totally hit the nail on the head.

Rand & Holland – Tomorrow Will Be Like Today

As an Australian who has been deeply involved with the music scene, I asked Andrew about his thoughts on how the lanscape has changed here over the last few decades.

“I suppose what people define as ‘indie’ has changed considerably over time – I love how it’s expanded, basically in both the means for creativity and the creativity itself. It’s evolved in some way and maybe devolved in others, but in the end there are plenty of ways to see and hear great music if you want it.”

Oliver Mann – The Possum Wakes At Night

Preservation have also kept a fairly low profile in terms of marketing, both online and on the street. With the exception of a MySpace page and its website (recently rebuilt on the Indexhibit platform) the label has grown almost entirely from word-of-mouth, which is a phenomenal achievement – particularly in this country.

“It’s getting much harder to sell the kind of records Preservation releases in Australia – you can virtually discount it as a territory for a lot of things these days … We always wanted to build the label by reputation, getting good press and so on. It’s a small label with decent recognition around the world and that recognition seems to keep building ever so slowly. It’s fine pace to be at I think!”

As the internet is now providing unprecedented new ways for us to discover, share and distribute music, I asked Andrew about how effectively he thinks these new tools are being used, and how Preservation might fit into it all.

“I’m not sure it’s for me to say how people should be using the internet. The internet has been great for a label like Preservation getting noticed around the world – it’s been a great way for me to discover new music as well to an amazing extent – but I’m a music fanatic and I’m not sure people are camped out around the laptop for long periods as I can be seeing what’s around. Traditional forms of coverage can still be crucial to someone not as pro-active about music.”

Pimmon – Smudge Another Yesterday

“Record stores and distributors don’t really want to push the envelope too far these days, so stores are really only stocking what they know they can sell reasonably and distributors aren’t pushing the issue. It’s like when you enter a mall, your choices are immediately narrowed and that’s the kind of mentality at play, especially with larger chain stores commanding the sway at retail, or store level.”

Is there a limit to how Preservation could grow, or what it could become in the future? For example could we ever expect to see Preservation “club nights”, or something as diversified as Preservation Films?

Hmm, I don’t think so. When the main aim is to make money back to make more records, and that seems to accurately reflect reasonable hopes with the current state of the industry, anything like club nights or film ventures would be an entirely separate scenario altogether.

Nicola Ratti – Ode

At this point, Preservation continues to be dedicated to its artists and its identity – but where are things headed in the future?

“I’d just like to keep it going, keep making records that people enjoy. The label is about documenting and recognising music – creating a presence for it. If it helps artists continue to make music and develop what they do then I think that’s great.”

In this age of constant re-invention, it’s always nice to hear someone maintain a dedication to an idea, and not risk contaminating a successful formula.

Heather Woods Broderick – From The Ground (2009)

While the label has gone from strength to strengh, I was curious to see if there had been any negative experiences or pitfalls along the way.

“No. Like I say, it’s a really small label and it’s really a hobby as well, but one where there’s been a lot of passion and energy on behalf of representing what we think is great music. The negative experiences relate mainly to industry changes – that makes you look at what you’re doing to be able to keep it going, but if it stops being enjoyable, that would be the most negative experience of all.”

Fabrio Orsi/Valerio Cosi – Thoughts Melt In The Air (2009)

Eddie Macron – Shining On Graveposts

Post – Post

For someone checking out Preservation from a fairly pop or mainstream listening background, I imagine something like Grand Salvo would be a good entry point to discovering more of the sounds on the label. But how would you go about introducing some of the slightly more experimental work like that of Aaron Martin? And is expanding palates a part of what Preservation is hoping to do, or is it more about providing a type of music for those that enjoy that type of music?

“I would like to think Aaron Martin and Grand Salvo share some qualities in their music; they’re just coming at them from different angles. I read a review this morning for the new Sophie Hutchings album that said it plugged straight into the emotions. The same reviewer once said pretty much exactly the same thing about a record that on the face of it seems quite different. If a lot of the records do that in spite of their particular approach, then there could well be a bunch across the catalogue people will enjoy equally. It’s nice if that happens, and I’m sure it does to some degree, but there’s no agenda that way. We get excited about records and release them. I’m sure there’s some unconscious thread there, but I’m happy to let it play out that way.”

Evan Miller – Beeswax Ephemera (2009)

Early Songs – Wind Wound

Caethua – The Long Afternoon of Earth (2009)

Finally, Khedoori offered some simple, sage advice for someone considering starting up a similar label to Preservation—

“Make it a pleasure to do it.”

Live & Direct (Compilation)

Motion – Movements In Australian Sound (Compliation)

The first three releases to feature the new Preservation artwork template – as designed by Mark Gowing.

Ben Swire – From Here To There (2010) (Photo by Ben Swire)
Ous Mal – Nuojuva halava (2010) (Artwork by Jenkins)
Sophie Hutchings – Becalmed (2010) (Artwork by Mark Gowing

2Ser Radio and Intertia Distribution trademarks by Mark Gowing.

* * * * *

I’d like to send out a massive thank you to Andrew Khedoori for giving up his time and insights for this. A real pleasure to interview!

And big thanks to you for reading. If you’ve enjoyed the article please tell your friends, and make sure you pick up plenty of new tunes from the Preservation library – you wont be disappointed.

* * * * *

Preservation
Preservation MySpace
Buy Preservation records from Inertia Distribution
Listen to 2SER Radio, Sydney

Mark Gowing Design
Nick Scott Photography
Joshua Morris Photography

Some more recent work for New Weird Australia – this time it’s the cover art and layout for the second volume of the Broadcast series – which essentially compiles performances from the New Weird Australia radio show on FBi.

While the branding and artwork system will continue to be used for a variety of purposes, project off-shoots like the Broadcast series allows us to do something a little different visually, just to keep things interesting. This particular cover was loosely inspired by two of my favourite album covers Andy Warhol’s The Velvet Underground & Nico and Michael Vadino’s LCD Soundsystem. Broadcast Two sees elements from both these covers mashed up with a distinctly Australian flavour, featuring a mirrorball, six-stitcher cricket ball and a banana, which combine to form a slightly deranged looking smiley face.

All stock images were converted to greyscale and then treated with a half-tone effect. These were placed onto a spot colour using the Overlay blending mode.

Typography is all set in the beautiful Caslon, which I had a great deal of fun with on the back, playing with the various weights, glyphs and superscript.

Find out more information about the series here.

Download the compliation and artwork for free from here.

I should also point out that I assisted The Nest with the design of the New Weird Australia site, which has just gone live. Check it out.

Just for fun I produced a few alternative versions of the cover art – which I’ve included here for your viewing pleasure. Both feature essentially the same idea as the final cover art, although the “eyes” have been replaced by a CD & a black balloon in one, and a tennis ball & a diamond in the other.

You can download this compilation for FREE from here.

As part of my ongoing work for New Weird Australia I’ve recently produced a template and artwork for the first in a series of releases entitled New Editions.

New Editions aims to help promote and distribute new experimental Australian music in a collection of physical and digital releases. Punters like yourself have the option of downloading a digital version of each album for free, or to help support the project and artist by purchasing a physical copy.

The first New Edition is by Melbourne based ambient / industrial / hip-hop group Caught Ship, with their album Start Dencing Dad Start Dencing. It’s a great release, and really helps set a high quality standard for future releases.

The artwork (and overall layout) concept uses the system and assets created for the New Weird Australia branding – which is essentially built around a 4×4 grid filled using a library of geometric shapes, strange images and hand-made textures. Part of the idea behind using a square grid for all artwork was so that it could easily fit into both CDs and posters, so it’s great to see that it actually works in practice.

Again, type is set in Nimbus Sans – which is the primary New Weird Australia typeface. A strip of text with the New Editions label name and “edition number” runs vertically down the front, and next to that is the band name and catalogue number which makes up the sleeve spine (also vertical).

The artwork is being printed onto a white sticker, which will be affixed to a recycled carboard wallet containing an audio CD and artwork created by the band themselves.

I used the band’s artwork as a reference guide for the cover art colours and (to an extent) the imagery, which features decorative Middle Eastern textiles and jewelry and ancient Egyptian artwork. A nice RGB colour scheme emerged out of it all too – which also helps tie it all together. There’s a bit of improvised formalism to the way each piece of art comes together for each project, so I’m glad that the system can not only accomodate that and also allow for the specific project to have a unique look.

Future releases in this series may continue to reference supplied artwork in unusual ways, or they may also directly use assets supplied by the band (such as photography). There’s still quite a bit of tweaking that goes into each image and a great deal of consideration into the way each element fits into the composition. To a large extent the final result really comes down to how pleasing everything looks and well each element fits together, so how and when new assets are used will largely depend on those considerations.

The image below shows just how the template comes together. Click for a larger version.

You can download (name your price) the album right now from here.

This series of articles aims to examine the relationship between design and music. How does one compliment the other? How do different designers solve the various creative problems of this discipline? What makes a successful (if not iconic) solution for music design? And how do creative partnerships in this field operate?

I can think of few more important, successful and inspiring case studies for this series than the creative partnership between Underworld and Tomato – which spans two decades, six studio albums, countless tours and side projects, a number of changes in personnel and numerous shifts in visual and musical style.

Throughout all this change, three players have remained at the core of the partnership and continue to work together today – Underworld’s Karl Hyde and Rick Smith (who have recorded together in various incarnations since 1980) and Tomato’s John Warwicker, who is an artist, designer, writer and conceptualist.

The work of John Warwicker and the music of Underworld have both played a massive part in the development of my own work, so I feel extremely privileged to have been able to speak with John about his relationship with the band, his process and how the visual identity of Underworld has evolved over the past 20 years.

I began my conversation with John by asking about how the dynamic between Tomato and Underworld has changed over time, how work is structured between the two and if any creative conflict exists within the partnership today.

“Essentially it hasn’t changed. You have to remember that Rick, Karl and I have known each other since 1983 and the tomato/Underworld partnership has been going since 1991.”

“We both offer each other opportunities. Sometimes they’re right, sometimes they’re wrong and sometimes the timing is wrong. And of course this goes beyond ‘commercial’ projects into the self-initiated and when it does we always try and help each other out. This has been happening from the very beginning.

I don’t think there’s been any conflict in a big way, disagreements yes. but that’s only natural. Very rarely is the direction predetermined, it’s something that we work out during the process of a project. We also give each other room and accept what the other does. I think part of this process is the respect we give each other to present something different, something that we, ourselves, wouldn’t have thought of.

“In the case of the new album, Rick and Karl felt and communicated that they were making something different, something lighter and more energetic than previous albums. So they did say that they wanted to signal this change on the sleeve. But there again listening to the first iterations of the album this was self evident anyway.”

These sentiments seem to encapsulate the very nature of the creative partnership between Tomato and Underworld. Production seems to orbit around an ongoing creative dialogue between the two. It is the sharing of ideas that enables both parties to push their work into new territory— be it in music, artwork, video, software or any other medium that can be explored collaboratively.

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dubnobasswithmyheadman (1994)

Underworld’s third album, their first under the visual direction of John Warwicker and Tomato, marked a significant evolutionary jump in both the musical and visual identity of Underworld. The artwork is dark, chaotic and typographic. The music is layered, hypnotic and narcotic. This release signaled that there was something truly special about the band – from the signature sounds they were making, to Karl Hyde’s steam-of-consciousness vocal poetry, to the indecipherable and utterly compelling artwork it was packaged in.

I asked John about how the musical and graphical growth spurt occured, and how the album artwork was expanded into the book “mmm… skyscraper i love you”, which is a typographic study of New York.

“Sometimes something just ‘pops’ out. It’s of the moment. What is in the ‘air’ alchemically forms into an object. For whatever reason if one is ‘tuned in’ the work forms itself.”

“Underworld were going to play their first major concert. At the Astoria in London. We didn’t want to produce a t-shirt or any memorabilia of a conventional kind. We had designed the album cover using words from Karl so we decided to make a book to expand on these words/notes that he had written in drifts through New York and typographically articulate these words (which produced a further form of writing). The pressure was on as we only had 3 weeks to get the book ‘designed’ and published. The whole book was put together in 36 hours. Because of the temporal nature of a book, where one could create a rhythm that unfolded over time, I feel that mmm… skyscraper is a purer articulation of the idea. The album cover however is a purer articulation of our group ethos since everyone contributed something.”

Second Toughest In The Infants (1996)

For me, this was the cover that truly cemented my interests in Tomato and Underworld. At the time I was still listening to the likes of Nirvana and Soundgarden, and electronic music was a million miles away from my thoughts – but then came Born Slippy .NUXX. I had no idea what the song was about, what it meant, or even how I’d classify it – I just new that I loved it and that it completely changed my notion of what music was or could be.

And then there was the album cover, unlike any that I’d seen before. Challenging. Revelatory. And really messy.

The album and single also came about in the same year as Trainspotting, for which Underworld contributed music and Tomato contributed title design. A big year for all involved.

I asked John about how Tomato and Underworld actually work together, as well as how specific Tomato projects have helped shape the music of Underworld.

“We are in constant touch with other so the ongoing conversation shapes what we all do. When asked about how tomato works i’ve always replied ‘it’s a bit like alcoholics anonymous, it’s a support system and critical forum’. Of course there are certain moments when this support and criticism is more pertinent than at other times but the effect of this rarely manifests itself in a major way it shapes and guides on a day to day basis. However, there are certain projects that have concentrated or demanded a change or different response … ‘riverrun’, ‘dérive’ , the book of ‘mmm… skyscraper, i love you ‘ and ‘what’s going on in your head when you’re dancing/bungalow with stairs’.

Process has been at the core of what tomato has been about since its beginning and I’m sure this gave Rick and Karl an interest in releasing work as it happened. I also think that suggesting ‘riverrrun’ for the project helped it gave it a descriptive word, borrowed from James Joyce, that focussed the working process. This is a good example of something small helping and supporting. words and ideas are ‘artwork’ as much as a graphic form.”

John went onto explain some of those projects in greater detail.

“‘dérive’ is a 20 minute installation piece that is a wander through the streets of Soho made by Rick and myself. It’s a reconfiguration of our (male) conversation into a (female) monologue, and the film that was made for this compliments this drift and this gives confidence. Confidence to Rick regarding the music and to me (in this instance) confidence in the visuals. The conversation that it generates effects and shapes both forms of expression.

‘mmm… skyscraper, i love you’ cemented our interest in the rhythms of the street. One of the reasons why an artist makes work is to prove the idea or feeling. To give it substantial, physical form rather than just being an idea. and i guess ‘mmm… skyscraper’ did exactly that.

‘what’s going on in your head when you’re dancing‘ is Karl’s upcoming painting and drawing show at La Foret in Tokyo. ‘bungalow with stairs’ is the cd of music by Rick to accompany the show. Undoubtedly the rhythm of his paintings and drawings effect (and will effect) how Karl’s musical contribution (you have to remember that it we all – that’s tomato and underworld – produce imagery and tomato is active in the sonic). ‘bungalow with stairs’ is an evocative collection of tracks that is going to be released for the la foret show. ‘dérive’ is one of the tracks. whether this collection would have been made in the same way had it not been for ‘dérive’ is a matter of conjecture.”

Beaucoup Fish (1999)

Beaucoup Fish Singles—
Push Upstairs
King Of Snake
Bruce Lee
Jumbo

“Tomato is different to most design groups that I know about, in that there is not a ‘style’ that dominates or shapes any expression. tomato was initiated as a conversation/support system/critical forum rather than a studio interested in modernist expression (as an example). Tomato is set up to support the individuals on their own exploratory journey and whatever form that might take. It is expansive rather than reductive. This is not a criticism of other studios, far from it. it’s just how we are. the onus on everyone is to bring back something different whether it be an improvement in craft or something radically different, something unexpected.”

Everything, Everything (2000)

A Hundred Days Off (2002)

The artwork for A Hundred Days Off (and Beaucoup Fish) were largely taken care of by Tomato members Jason Kedgley and Dirk Van Dooren. Regarding who does what and when within the Tomato camp, John had this to say—

“All of us have worked on ‘Underworld’ projects at one time or another. For example the deluxe edition and special boxed set of ‘Barking’ contains films by Simon, Dylan, Jason and Michael. it ebbs and flows. It all depends on who has an idea at any given time.”

A Hundred Days Off Singles—
Two Months Off
Dinosaur Adventure 3D

1992—2002 (2003)

Oblivion With Bells (2007)

With all the Underworld designs, typography has been a key feature and intergral part of all the artwork. I asked John about his approach to typography and his response to formal typographic rules.

“um … what typographic rules? That’ s like saying there are musical ‘rules’. Certainly there are ways to make things ‘work’ in most circumstances and fully engage with and support them. But … there are other ways and it’s up to us all to find these ways and to explore the possibilities. I think there is a tyranny of modernism. It’s as if many designers feel that if they learn the ‘rules’ then it’s job done. Now, in the hands of the talented then this is true because their craft transcends its basic elements into something quite beautiful but rules in themselves don’t produce a work of beauty. If it is that expressive, emotional transcendence, where a work has ‘spirit’ then its form can be anything – from 17th century Arabic manuscripts to a punk newsletter  - Sniffin’ Glue, for example.”

“For those interested in typography the question that should be asked is why is this like this rather than saying that it doesn’t correspond to the ‘rules’, to what has been identified as ‘good practice’. it is both an emotional and intellectual decision.”

Our discussion about typography went a little deeper, examining Warwicker’s approach to type selection and treatment, specifically in regards to his unique applications of common typefaces such as Helvetica and Caslon. I was interested in how he takes such widely used fonts and makes them appear fresh and distinct.

“It’s an instant emotive decision. Felt rather than worked out (in a conventional way). Let’s take Caslon. Like any typeface there’s a timbre to its ‘voice’. It has been around for several hundred years and has a structural and aesthetic resilience that means that it is mutable. If one used something that had been designed in the last few years there might not be this type of resilience. Of course this a strategic decision but it is also one of personal choice. Josef Müller-Brockmann spent decades using Akzidenz-Grotesk. Just like learning a musical instrument it takes years to get a typeface to work for you. after that learning period you can now play and express yourself through the nuances.”

Inspiring stuff.

Oblivion Singles—
Crocodile
Holding The Moth
Boy Boy Boy
Beautiful Burnout

There is an obvious lyrical, musical and emotional quality to Tomato’s artwork and designs for Underworld. But is it all an attempt to visualize the music, or to apply the same creative process that occurs in songwriting to the creation of graphic design?

“To be honest neither. It just happens to be. One thing I would say is that it is not meant to be an ‘illustration’ or faux score. Rather it is a reception of the music emotionally processed and translated. Musical scores always fascinated me (as much as the emotive and even concrete experience of listening to music. and of course this all (imagery, type, music, ideas) comes together in the work of John Cage.”

I asked John about his process in specific relation to his Book of Jam series (download these by signing up here), and how he might be creating visual riffs within the e-books for use in future compositions.

“They are visual riffs for a music that is unwritten, and never assuming that they might one day be compositions. And they never have. But as I said everything we all do contributes to our ‘group’ palette of moods and in that indirect way, the influence of the ‘weak forces’, that i previously described influences all of us.”

“At my most personal I see words and ideas like musical phrases (more poetry than literature) and typography as having similarities with music … tone, timbre, rhythm, ‘voice’. That is what i am trying to achieve, as in my book ‘The Floating World‘ and ‘mmm… skyscraper, i love you’ as examples … and some of my recent typographic work that i have self-initiated.”

“It is my understanding that one track on ‘Barking’ that has been influenced by one of our extended family is ‘Moon on Water’. Graham, who is no longer in Tomato but of course still part of the ‘family’ had given Rick a text some time ago. Rick was so moved by it that it became ‘Moon on Water’.

Of course one of the most notable aspects of this release was its similarity to the artwork for dubnobasswithmyheadman. While the similarities are somewhat superficial, it’s hard to look past the relationship between the monochromatic, chaotic forms they both share.

“It was only after the process of assembling artwork was begun that this became apparent. It wasn’t a conscious decision but looking back it seemed like the two albums bookended a period of Underworld. And onto the next…”

The Bells The Bells (2008)

Athens (2009)
as Underworld vs. The Misterons

One thing that all Underworld covers share is the sense of the hand-crafted, the use of material, ink, paint and paper. Even when the work is purely digitally, there’s still a rawness and grittiness to it all that makes it feel special and unique. In regards to the overall look and feel of Underworld’s artwork, John had this to say—

“A pixel is not as interesting as the pencil mark. I think it’s irrelevant what medium is used the only importance is in the conveyance of spirit.”

“Before moving to Australia, I had lived in London all my life. Detritus is part of the grain of that city. You could almost describe it as informal (urban) landscape gardening. And there can be a certain beauty poetic in the sodden newspaper that has been pressed into kerb in an interesting shape by the tyres and the feet, or there can be a poetic beauty in the sunlight catching the lip of a broken polystyrene cup that has been inserted into a wire fence. Through its history and its streets, London is a montage city a riverrun or profusion of narratives that embed themselves in the fabric of the city. If you look at many of Karl’s photographs over the years they are of the marks and scuffs of the city and the accidental sculptures that the city throws up.”

Barking (2010)

Barking in many ways represents a new chapter for the band. There seems to be a sense of positivity and joy permeating the visuals and music. The tradition of collaboration that has occured between Tomato and Underworld seems to now be informing the music, as each track features a guest producer. It’s truly exciting to see a band and design studio continue to push their already considerably expanded creative boundaries.

John talks in more detail about the creation of the artwork

“On hearing the initial versions of the tracks and in conversation with both Rick and Karl the (reborn?) energy was evident and ‘of its time’. A counter-point to ‘Oblivion With Bells’. Of course our conversations are not purely about music or imagery they are about many things, including general cultural & social matters. All of this combined to make the colourful deconstructed ‘mess’ that became the cover. One other important intervention in this process was the excitement that both Karl and Rick felt for some work for the live shows that they had been doing with Toby Vogel (who assembles and creates the live show projections). This work deconstructed the face (or number of faces)  into a sort of surrealist ‘photo-fit’ or more accurately ‘photo-doesn’t fit’. There is an energy in montage/collage, and this work seemed to vindicate the work that had already had been started.”

“Although it might been seen as a radical departure from ‘Oblivion’ in many ways, it is the same thing but with colour so there is a continuity but from a different angle. I’m sure there will be a few comments about ‘my child of 6 could have done this’. well, if its that good i take it as a compliment.”

Barking Singles—
Scribble
Always Loved A Film

“There is no ‘final’ version. There are subtleties that distinguish all the sleeves (standard cd, deluxe dvd, vinyl, special boxed edition and their electronic equivalents). The sleeve was assembled over a period of time, some elements came, some went, others subsumed. The source material came from randomly searching the net on a day to day basis and then rebuilding/translating what was found. During this period Simon had sent through some drawings that Dexter had done on the portraits of every member of tomato/underworld and then sent through some other drawings that Dexter had done. so i used these. If my 6 year son had done the same at that point in time or had any of the other children in tomato i would have used them.”

“Fans of underworld and tomato shouldn’t be surprised. We’ve always been interested in detritus. To paraphrase Oscar Wilde ‘lying in the gutter looking at the stars’. With us it’s more like ‘lying in the gutter looking at the sodden newspaper floating above’. This time it’s the electronic gutter.”

*

I’d like to extend a huge thank you to John Warwicker for donating his time and thoughts to this discussion. It’s not every day that you get the chance to chat with one of your idols about their craft.

And a huge thanks to you for reading. If you’ve enjoyed the article please tell your friends, and make sure that you purchase a copy of Barking when it’s released on September 2nd.

Underworld
Underworld Wiki
Underworld Twitter
tomato
Tomato Wiki

Directed by Darren Aronofsky and co-written by Mark Heyman (assistant on The Fountain) and American environmentalist Andres Heinz (?!), Black Swan is now #1 on my list of films to see.

A New York City ballet company is producing Swan Lake, and director Thomas Leroy (Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Ryder) with ballerina Nina (Portman). Nina lives with Erica (Hershey), her overbearing mother and a former ballerina. Nina finds competition in new dancer Lily (Kunis). Swan Lake requires a ballerina who can play the innocent White Swan, which fits Nina, and the sensual Black Swan, which fits Lily. The dancers’ rivalry changes into a bizarre friendship, and Nina begins exploring a dark side of herself.

The look and tone of this is right up my street. Spooky. Beautiful. The trailer alone is utterly compelling and mysterious. The whole thing strikes me as hybrid of Argento and Croneberg, but of course Aronofsky is really carving out his own style in a brilliant, genre bending career.

And of course there is the Clint Mansell soundtrack to look forward to as well.

This will be the final Roundup for the foreseeable future.

It takes a surprisingly long time to collate and publish the posts in this series and as weeks (months) have gone on, I’ve found that my interest in it has waned considerably and I’m really struggling to maintain it. At this point I think my blog-time would be better spent on articles rather than image dumps. What’s more, I think the world has more than its fare share of design Tumblrs and inspiration aggregators, with plenty of people doing it in a far superior fashion to me. I can’t imagine that anyone will miss my small contribution to the world of visual mix-tapes – but if I ever come up with a novel or relevant way to do it, I will.

I started this blog to write. Hopefully by amputating this category I’ll be able to focus on what this blog is really about, which is banging on about design, art and culture as well as my own process and journey. I still plan on posting the stuff that interests and inspires me day to day, but I’ll devote a full post to these things, with at least a couple of lines of commentary on each. Of course you are so inclined you can always keep tabs on what I’m looking at on Twitter and listening to on Last.FM

Besides, the truth is that most of the content for my Roundup entries come from a few select places, so you’re better off getting your fix straight from the source. There are many blogs whose content I’ve pinched over the past six months, but these are the cream of the crop. I’d like to thank them all for consistently keeping me entertained and informed. Treat your brain and RSS the lot.

Enjoy*—

Adrian Shaughnessy**
Feuilleton
Iain Claridge
Linefeed
Designboom
Underwire
Wired Science
Dangerous Minds
bumbumbum
Kate Banazi
Kate Nielsen
Kate Crawford
Facing Sideways
Seb Chan
Pip & Co
Recollection
Hard Format
The Casual Optimist
The Belbury Parish Magazine
Le Blog
Stuart Buchanan
Lee Tran Lam
Richard Smith
Nevolution

* In no particular order.
** Except for this one.

As always, wherever you are, have a great week.

A new design for Tantrum Theatre this week – an identity, poster and flyer for a performance that will be part of the Sydney Fringe festival this year called Peepshow. This will actually be MK2 of the Peepshow performance, and the first time it has been performed outside of Newcastle.

“Tantrum Theatre will present the bold and challenging installation performance, Peepshow, at PACT 107 Railway Parade, Erskineville, NSW 2043. This tantalising work was the success of the 2009 Newcastle arts scene with its innovative use of a found space. The work exposed performers and audiences alike to an experimental mode of performance, challenging perceptions and allowing an active collaboration between audience and performer in each show. It presented audiences with an insight into the darker recesses of Newcastle’s psyche, as seen through the eyes of its young people, and highlighted some of the social concerns that our young people have, as well as concerns of the community around issues of disused and abandoned spaces and safety within the CBD. Peepshow explores our fascination with what is hidden behind closed doors. The inner workings of us all will be on full display as you enter the Peepshow.”

As the performance is not strictly a part of the 2010 season canon, it was an opportunity to do something a little different visually and really interpret the themes and ideas behind the performance (as outlined above).

As I mentioned in yesterday’s Roundup, I’m currently working on the artwork and design for Tantrum’s 2011 season – which should be finished and revealed in the next few months. Expect something quite different, yet again.

The fabulous photo featured in the poster and flyer was taken by Marcus Ranum

Big thanks to Justine and Brendan at Tantrum for continuing to be such supportive and open-minded clients!

Apologies to the creative team behind the original theatrical poster for Naked Lunch. Does anyone know who’s responsible for that gem?

And apologies to you for yet another slow blog week, and yet another text-lite Roundup. Time just keeps getting away from me, and as much as I’d like to be blogging daily – it’s just not possible right now. I can announce however that among my very exciting forthcoming crop of new articles is the results of a recent chat with Mr John Warwicker, specifically regarding his work for Underworld. Keep your eyes peeled for that one.

Due to the unfortunate ongoing trend of having very few freelance projects on the go and no full-time design gig, I’ve had to take up a part time job training High School teachers in Adobe software . Officially, I am an “IT consultant” – however I refuse to accept that title. I’m yet to come up with a suitable alternative though – Adobecologyst perhaps? Suggestions are welcome. So far it’s been an eye-opening experience, one which I hope to retain my sanity in, and have some stories to share at the end of.

It’s not all bad though. I’ve recently started working on the artwork and design for Tantrum Theatre’s 2011 season (which I’m very excited about), and I’m continuing to produce bits and pieces for New Weird Australia – who should have their website up very soon.

I’m still very much available for freelance work though, and I’m still open to all full-time positions – so feel free to hire me for either.

In other news, I have recently started reading fiction and graphic novels again. If you’re into that sort of thing, and want to exchange recommendations – join me at Shelfari.

7 Days Of High Rotation—

And a big thank you to Dangerous Minds (I fear I’m going to be reposting them frequently in these Roundups from here on) for reminding me to listen to more Barry Adamson.

Eric Therner’s Diamond Light

Carsten Höller’s Flying City Tableware

Behind the scenes photography from Twin Peaks.

Kimiko Yoshida. Self-Portraits. Wow.

The Hunt for Lost Amphibians.

John Coltrane + Pixel Animation = Giant Steps by Michal Levy

Abandoned Pools by J Bennett Fitts

Andy Warhol x Dom Pérignon

Oh, and Happy Birthday too.

Wherever you are, have a great week.

The Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) is currently producing a series of videos titled Conversations With Designers.

There are three videos in the series so far, focusing on three extremely talented individuals with very unique and interesting points of view. It’s a classy and insightful series that I’m very much looking forward to following.

You can subscribe to the series on YouTube or Vimeo – and be sure to check out the videos so far—

Brian Sadgrove.
Sadgrove Design

Truly one of the most inspiring figures in Australian design, and deserving to be considered among the best in the world. Sadgrove’s humility and zen-like approach to simplicity in design is incredibly inspiring. Nice house too.

You can read more about Sadgrove in my article from earlier this year.

John Warwicker.
tomato

One of my personal design heroes (and soon to be featured as a part of my Discography series), John gives some insight into his philosophy and process in this video, which has been pieced together from a recent Q&A with Victorian design students and professionals. Essential viewing.

Michaela Webb.
Studio Round

With her studio currently producing some of the very best design in the country, Michaela Webb talks about what inspires her and how ideas become designs.