I listened to the Lead Singer Syndrome podcast hosted by Shane Told, frontman of the rock band Silverstein recently. Shane was interviewing Ryan Clark of Demon Hunter . Ryan talked about Demon Hunter’s recent albums War and Peace, explaining the thoughts behind releasing both of them around the same time. Interestingly , much of the conversation centered around the band’s album art . If you are not aware, each Demon Hunter album depicts a demon skull split in half with a bullet hole right through its forehead. Imagine each album has this but with a version taylored artistically to each individual album. That’s amazing creativity! Listen to the podcast for an closer look at Ryan’s passion for music and art.
Album Covers
What I didn’t realize is that Ryan and his brother Don are graphic artists and run a studio called Invisible Creature where they have designed album art for bands Alice in Chains, Mae, Anberlin, August Burns Red, Despised Icon, Foo Fighters, will.i.am, Korn, Kanye West, The Chariot, Stone Sour, Underoath and Poison the Well. The studio also has been nominated for Grammy Awards for the album artwork for Norma Jean’s O God, the Aftermath, Fair’s The Best Worst-Case Scenario., Hawk Nelson’s Hawk Nelson Is My Friend. Just browsing through the studio’s website is fascinating, especially the story of how Don and Ryan decided to open their own studio after working with Asterik Studio. They desired to have a focus on album and art centered around music. The work they’ve have done is phenomenal and their credentials impeccable. These CD jackets are a few examples of the studio’s work. In times when many band find it hard to make a living solely on their music alone, Ryan and Don’s passion for excellent album art brings a multifaceted approach to the world of music and a way to make a living at what you love with not just the music.
