Posts Tagged ‘ Harmony ’

Busier Than Ever

There’s so much happening that I might need to break things up into several posts. Heaven forbid I find the time to fill you in more regularly…

So my recent idea to turn one of my latest woodcuts into an affordable and comfy t-shirt was a resounding success and so a huge shout out of thanks has to go to everyone who snapped one up! I had a few extra made up and so there will be another chance to get your hands on one but more of that soon.

Front

Owl-Tshirt1

Back

Owl-Tshirt2

A big thanks goes to Matt Deasy of 7th Disaster for doing such a great job on the screenprinting of these. Really people, look him up for anything you want hand printed!

So a while back I said to stay tuned because I had lots of things happening before the end of the year. Well it’s all happening now.

I recently received the vinyl version of the debut album by High Tension when they came up to launch the album. Sure it looked great on the cd (see post below) but boy doesn’t it look better nice and big on vinyl? Stoked!

HTvinyl

And just last weekend I got my hands on the latest 7inch single by Melbourne band Harmony of which I (again) did the cover art for.

Harmony_1

It is the band’s third 7inch and the prelude to their second album which is out early next year through Posion City records. The band’s guitarist/vocalist/all-round-great-dude Tom Lyncoln is into sharks and so asked for a shark from me. Who am I to refuse? And so it was.

Here are all of the band’s singles, with the cover art for all of them done by me. Happy doesn’t even start to explain what it means to look at all these together.

Harmony_2

Sometimes doing artwork for great bands feels better (even though it is harder) than carving and making prints for myself but none of that comes even close to when something like this happens…

Robb Knaggs Tattoos

This is my friend Robb. Great guy and really talented musician. He recently took off to travel the world but just before he left he told me he wanted something that would remind him of home and this is what he wanted.

Printsml

Obviously the print represents something personal for him but I do find if nice that the Currawongs that hang around my house, gave me the feathers in question and that I captured in this print have unknowingly traveled so far.

CurrawongwoodcutThat also makes two people who have gotten a woodcut of mine tattooed. I think I might have to start planning to be the third.

That’ll do for now. More news soon.

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New Found Harmony

Back in 2011 one of my favourite bands in Australia asked me to do up the coverart for their debut 7″. I was both excited and nervous at the prospect of working with Melbourne’s Harmony (which I elaborated on here).

Well, clearly I did something right because late last year they asked me to have another shot with the first single from their second full-length album.

Harmony

…and this is what arrived in the mail a few days ago. Not to boast but wow it came up great. Harmony are a band that always make good looking releases and I think they did a great job turning my woodcut into the cover illustration of their single.

The image came from listening to the two songs on repeat, in particular the second track ‘ I Wait All Night For You…’. Their music  a strange mix of beauty and torment – kind of like a georgous woman standing on the railing of a bridge… you want a happy ending but it might not likely come.

Their new album will be out in a couple of months. Until then you can get the 7-inch from their bandcamp page and you should before its limited run sells out.

CHECK OUT HARMONY

BUY THEIR NEW SINGLE

Trouble In Paradise

It never really occurred to me, the amount of art I have made that is intertwined with music. Both music that I love and music that I love to make. It wasn’t until the folks at Paradise Hills Gallery in Melbourne recently asked me to be part of their latest R’n’R-themed art show titled ‘Trouble In Paradise’ that I looked over my shoulder and realised the plethora of woodcuts I had that fit the bill.

This is the poster for the show.

From the various commissions and labour of love projects, I’ve chosen a couple of my favourites to exhibit next week… Some of them you will have seen if you’ve been to exhibitions of mine in the past. Others are brand new or rarely seen.

Given the theme, I will be focusing mainly on woodcuts that I’ve done as artwork for bands and musicians. On display and available for purchase will be the original artwork that adorns Kellie Lloyd’s new solo album. The original artwork and very last print that I did for Melbourne band Harmony’s debut 7″. The very last woodcut of artwork used by Brisbane/Austrian musician Heinz Riegler. And a portrait of Mikel from Brisbane/Melbourne hardcore punk band Teargas (below).

…and this? Well, this is a close up of a woodcut that will hopefully go on to have a life long after I’m finished with it. Tim at Tym Guitars and I dreamt up the idea of me using a guitar as a woodblock and on paper it seemed straightforward enough. In the end, it turned out to be a huge challenge and on the most expensive piece of wood that I’ve used to date. So far I have carved and printed both sides of the guitar and hand-printed an edition of four prints. Right now the body is with Tim who is putting the neck and guts onto it and with any luck the guitar will be hanging alongside the print at the show next week.

Anyway, I’m pretty stoked to be showing some of my work and seeing as I won’t be having a show of my own this year, it will be one of my few art outings.

It all opens Friday next week and you can keep up to date by clicking these links below:

PARADISE HILLS

FACEBOOK EVENT

Harmony & Heartache

Some good friends of mine from Melbourne have a band called Harmony and I think they’re pretty damn good. The bees knees as a matter of fact! Thing is that there are six of them. This is good when it comes to the music and the singing and such but bad when it comes to affordable independent touring!

This Friday and Saturday they’re playing here in Brisbane as part of their national ‘Heartache’ tour.

Friday night: X&Y Bar (Ann St in the Valley)
Saturday night: The Waiting Room (Browning St in West End)

Because we’re lucky enough to get two shows, I initially though of doing a poster for it all. This however, in my usual way of getting carried away with things, meant that I ended up carving out a special woodcut and hand printing 20 prints instead.

I figured if I make 10 prints for each show and the band sell them for a few bob, then it may help them with the petrol money and get all six of them safely home to Melbourne (instead of leaving one or two on the side of the road half way home). That (joke) aside, I’m sure they will sell out both shows, be great to watch and these prints will make wonderful mementos of it all.

All of the prints have the same illustration but are printed in a unique fashion…

There’s definitely a lot happening this coming weekend. On Friday night I for one am having an art exhibition opening a few blocks down the street at the White Canvas Gallery which is where I will be before X&Y.

If you don’t have Harmony’s debut album yet, bring a few extra bucks to the show and get it!

Before then you can check them out here: Harmony Bandcamp

Or at these various facebook pages cause that’s where people seem to hang out these days.
Harmony Facebook
Waiting Room Facebook
X&Y Facebook

Ready-to-wear

I had never really thought about my woodcuts ending up on clothing until recently. Then before I knew it in quick succession, I had three different woodcut images boldly plastered on complete strangers. It’s a funny thing standing at a gig (like when I went and saw Helmet the other week) and there is some fellow I’ve never seen before wearing a t-shirt with my woodcut on it.

This is a t-shirt for my band, No Anchor. When we released our record recently I did the cover art and it was decided by the band to take that cover image and adapt it to a t-shirt to go with said album.

Die On Planes are a relatively unknown but completely mind-melting band based here in Brisbane. They asked me to design up a t-shirt for them. I went with amps because Die On Planes are all about amps, lots and lots of amps. You should check them out live and take some earplugs just for good measure.

This one, I have to say is my favourite and came as quite a surprise. I was asked to do up artwork for a seven-inch single by the Melbourne band Harmony. This in itself was a great and rewarding experience but when the band arrived in Brisbane to launch their record a few months later, they pulled out a whole box of these t-shirts. I didn’t know they’d made them but lucky for all of us they’re great looking t-shirts and I was just stoked for my girlfriend and I to have one to wear. She looks great in it but I haven’t gotten up the courage to wear mine yet. It feels a bit to much like self promotion.

Who knows what’s next… teatowels?

Glorious Cacophonous Vibes

Yesterday I received the the most awesome package in the mail. The debut 7″ single by Melbourne band Harmony. My good friend Tom Lyngcoln is the voice and the raging storm of this band and the music is easily as good as anything Tom has done in his other (amazing) band The Nation Blue.

But you see that’s not the half of it. The thing that made me real damn happy and proud was the fact that Tom asked me late last year if I would be willing to do the cover-art for the seven-inch. Something that would fit the vibe of the songs enclosed. The record sounds great. It’s on pristine white vinyl and somehow cause it’s a record, it’s worth more to me personally.

The print as you can see is of a person crouched down with their head in their hands. When I first started it, it was to me a woman crouched down but when someone who saw the print of this asked me the other day… “is that you in that picture?” I guess it’s a bit more ambiguous and that’s probably a good thing.

It means a real lot to me to have a woodcut of mine living with the songs of Harmony. So far it’s this years high water mark!

…and here is the my original print. I’ve posthumously titled it ‘Cacophonous Vibes’ and it’s 29.5cm x 39.5cm