In this business you sometimes get into a project that you love, but for reasons beyond your control the thing fizzles out. Usually it's not for any malicious reason, but rather things just don't work out. Simple.
This post is about one of those projects.
A while back I was contacted by Stones Throw's art director Jeff Jank about coming up with visuals for a project they were developing with Portishead’s Geoff Barrow. I'm a big fan of Stones Throw (who put out the hip hop classic, MADVILLIAN) and Jeff Jank (Go see his brilliant art for Madlib's QUASIMODO), and LOVED the idea behind QUAKERS!
The Quakers
After discussing it with Jeff, and hearing the track "Fitta Happier" with rappers Guilty Simpson(!!!) and M.E.D.(!!!) I was hooked. Jeff was clear that they didn't want any glamor shots, and my gut told me to approach it as a modern reinvention of various mythologies from around the world. The producers and record label all dug the idea, but I was very early on in figuring out how to approach it when it was decided the QUAKERS wanted to try a different approach.
I would have loved to take this all the way, but it wasn't in the cards. All was amicable, and we parted ways promising to work together on something soon. So there are no hard feelings. In fact, I'm kinda happy about it because the project pushed me to think about my work as it would relate to music. It forced me to think about how I might visually interpret a song.
So for that I'm grateful to Stones Throw, Jeff Jank, and the band.
My plan is to pursue the idea of a new world mythology (minus any reference to the QUAKERS of course) and make a series of prints, or maybe a book.
If you're a Portishead, or Hip Hop fan, definitely keep and ear out for
THE QUAKERS. It sounds amazing!
Best,
Mike
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