Mountains of ink and graphite have been spilled in an effort to explain music and the affect it has on the soul, especially that of the artist. It almost feels redundant to say that it changes and evokes moods, that it inspires and drives. Music can be something special for the creative as it helps motivate and coax out ideas which lay hiding. I spoke to six immensely creative people to find out what music means to them and how it affects their work.
Music wrestle the bear that is the unsettled mind. Music is many things – a release for that which we cannot express, a trigger for us to traverse the gardens of the mind, an evoker of emotion and passion, and when the notes reverberate through the soul; an enlightener to helps us ascend to a realm where the spirit connects to all that is beautiful. Or to be more humble about it – music rocks.
What you’ll find below are three questions that I gave six talented illustrators about music, how it affects their work and who some of their favourite artists are.
Kerry Roper
Kerry Roper’s work reminds us how beautiful the texture, grit and scratches of grunge can be when handled by a master.
What does music mean to you when you’re working?
Music inspires and drives me. I find music a great inspiration to my work – wether it be the lyrics or the general sound itself. I love the way music can evoke emotions – I try to achieve this through my work by using both images and words. Music also can help me get into my work by stopping any distractions from other surrounding sounds. Words are powerful and it’s great to listen to music which encapsulate this power.
What’s your favourite bands/albums to have on when you’re working?
Usually I like to listen to bands such as Interpol, Kings of Leon, The Charlatans and Joy Division. They’re all very moody bands but they have great attitude and lyrics.
Are there any illustrations that you’ve done that were were strongly influenced by the music you were listening to at the time?
It’s sounds like a cliche but two illustrations that have come direct from music are The Beauty Room sleeve and the Devil’s Gun sleeve – I listened to them for inspiration on designing the actual covers for the bands themselves. They are both completely different kinds of music one being more soulful and the other very dance/mix oriented – I think this reflects well in the final cover designs.
Tiphanie Brooke
Beautiful collages of mixed media, typography and imagery, Tiphanie Brooke’s work has a style all of its own, that few can match in originality and beauty.
What does music mean to you when you’re working?
I think new music or music you haven’t heard in a long time that you use to love, reenergizes a project.
What’s your favourite bands/albums to have on when you’re working?
I listen to mostly all old stuff. But it’s all top quality. Favorites would be:
Zion I – True And Living
Bad Religion – All Ages
Bob Dylan – The Essential Bob Dylan
2pac – Better Dayz
Yeah. My musical taste is totally everywhere.
Are there any illustrations that you’ve done that were strongly influenced by the music you were listening to at the time?
Really, all of them. Whenever I start on a new project. Music is the first thing i listen to. And a lot of my earlier collections have been named after 2Pac lyrics. Passion & Fury, Babylon Beware, Bleed Deeply… All those titles are from 2Pac lyrics somewhere throughout his songs.
Chuck Anderson
The master of light and an amazingly talented guy in all regards, Chuck Anderson has had an illustrious career which is only just beginning.
What does music mean to you when you’re working?
Music, for me, is a way to drown out everything else around me while I work. A good distraction, in a way. Certain music at certain times of day affect the work I do as well. For example, if I’m working in the middle of the night, I usually have jazz or something really chill or instrumental on. During the day I don’t mind listening to music with vocals, heavier stuff, metal, etc.
What’s your favourite bands/albums to have on when you’re working?
Totally depends on the work I’m doing, the time of day, my mood…but I’ll give you a wide variety….sometimes its hardcore or metal. Have Heart – Songs To Scream At The Sun, Isis – Oceanic, The Austerity Program – Black Madonna, any Botch album, and if I’m really feeling antsy I might throw on Ceremony. Occasionally some hip hop … Jay-Z, Murs… I love jazz – The Very Best of John Coltrane is one of my favorites. Never gets old. Even classical sometimes … Zoltan Kacsis on Ultimate Chopin … What else… I listened to Animal Collective – Strawberry Jam one too many times last year … and lots of Pedro the Lion.
Are there any illustrations that you’ve done that were strongly influenced by the music you were listening to at the time?
Any time I do something for a sports related client like Reebok, I tend to listen to heavier stuff. I don’t know why … Stuff like this for exmaple … is grittier than a lot of the other work I do … so I suppose that kind of music just has a better effect on me when I do things like that. Other than that, it’s hard for me to pinpoint different projects. Mostly it depends what time of day I’m working moreso than the project I think.
Linda Zacks
Step into the world of Linda Zacks and you’re stepping into the city she calls home and all the energy and noise it has to offer.
What does music mean to you when you’re working?
It’s not just music that’s important it’s just plain NOISE. I like to hear sounds of all sorts. It could be the radio (I’m a big fan of NPR) or something in itunes, OR just the windows wide open and the crazy sounds of the street filtering into my apartment. I live on an extremely noisy street in Brooklyn – trucks (I call them spaceships), street sweepers, car alarms, jackhammers, the crazy kids from the rough highschool down the street screaming and yelling and having riots… the soundtrack of the City.
What’s your favourite bands/albums to have on when you’re working?
Lately … Johnny CASH! I’m definitely caught in a johnny cash rut right now … but I like a lot of different music, all kinds really, all different spectrums. There’s a time for Charles Mingus and a time for old Metallica. But I love listening to the radio … NPR.
Are there any illustrations that you’ve done that were were strongly influenced by the music you were listening to at the time?
When I made
Jason Munn
Jason Munn’s work is elegant and beautiful. Simple, idea driven posters for bands passing through, who could be better to answer a few questions about music and creativity?
What does music mean to you when you’re working?
It’s fairly important and at the same time something I don’t really think about because music is almost always on here, so its a constant.
What’s your favourite bands/albums to have on when you’re working?
I recently put all my CDs into iTunes so I’ve been enjoying iTunes on shuffle because it keeps bringing up songs I haven’t heard in years. Typically when starting a project and trying to come up with ideas – if it isn’t directly related to a specific band I’ll listen to music on shuffle because sometimes if I’m listening to an album I know very well I’ll get caught up in. When the music is on shuffle its more in the background for me.
Are there any illustrations that you’ve done that were were strongly influenced by the music you were listening to at the time?
Yes, many of my posters are directly related in some way or another to the band they are promoting, whether the design is inspired by a song, album, or the general aesthetic of the band. One example could be the couple of posters I’ve done for The Books. The Books consist of two guys who create there own music intertwined with found recordings – like splices of tape that all runs together seamlessly.
Sanna Annukka
Sanna Annukka’s work is delicate yet bold. Her beautiful illustrations are full of fun and will make you smile again and again.
What does music mean to you when you’re working?
I do have music playing a lot of the time whilst working, for me it it helps give my work pace an energetic vibe and helps my productivity. However, admit-tingly, I do get distracted at times and end up dancing round my studio!
What’s your favourite bands/albums to have on when you’re working?
I really enjoy listening to Icelandic bands Mum and Seabear. They create such beautiful music, a wonderful mix of sounds that I find very enchanting. I also think Brian Eno is amazing! His album Taking Tiger Mountain has some truly incredible songs!
Are there any illustrations that you’ve done that were strongly influenced by the music you were listening to at the time?
I find music very inspirational and important for creating a good working atmosphere but generally my personal work isn’t strongly influenced (or deliberately influenced) by the music I listen to. However when working on Keane’s second album Under the Iron Sea I listened to the music hundreds and hundreds of times, all the artwork for the album was heavily inspired by their lyrics and sounds. So music can certainly inspire work.
The artwork I did for Keane could’ve turned out quite different if i only had the lyrics to go by, event hough the lyrics had a beautiful narrative within them and were inspiring in their own right, it was essential to listen to the music to capture it’s atmosphere successfully in my artwork.
Music…
Music is a powerful tool in many regards. It can serve as a means to connect people through the evoking of emotion, or the chanting of a message. It can cut through the thick fog that sometimes shrouds our mind when we just need a moment of brilliant inspiration and clarity. It can make us sit in sombre reverence to the beauty the artist is conveying through their tune. It can make us jump up and down and throw our selves around the studio as we thump our feet and bob our heads to a beat that comes from the pit of our stomach and needs to be set free. It is a beast that the talented, the inspired, can tame.
The six illustrators above gave us a small insight into what music means to them and how it influences their work. One of the things to come out of this series of interviews is that you can’t guess what kind of music affects anyone else. Some of the answers I got from these artists surprised me, as they didn’t really seem to fit with their style of work. But on further thought and discussion, it became more and more obvious that this is why these artists are so good at what they do. They find inspiration in a wide array of sources, not just in the obvious (or perhaps cliche?) places.
So the lesson to take away from this is give every musician a go. Don’t blow any suggestion off, thinking it isn’t going to align with your tastes. Doing so will just result in missing out on some great, eye opening music. Explore the odd, the quirky, the weird and soon enough the odd will become normal, the quirky interesting and the weird exciting.
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