Canopy Club Show Poster ©2010 Nick Beery

After putting together a show poster for a few local acts which included The Sugar Prophets in the line up, frontman Josh Spence hit me up to put together TSP’s image and logos. The group loved the “record head” element from the show poster. We spun some ideas for additions to the logo making it more streamlined and ‘blues’ proper which ultimately ended up utilizing the wavy beard of the logo to divide and create a Fender telecaster silhouette with the negative space and thus produced “the prophet”.

The Sugar Prophets Logos

The Sugar Prophets are due to release their record at the end of January 2011 and continues to garner new fans and a devoted fan base wherever they play. Their raw, intense energy and blue collar lyrics are both danceable and deep. Blending sounds across Blues, Rock, R&B, Funk, Country, Soul, and Gospel; The Sugar Prophets have the sound of a soul-inspiring locomotive heading straight to your door. Listen and become a believer in this heartfelt message of amazing music.

Design/Photo/Composites by Al Brandtner

From The Sugar Prophets Press Release:

The Sugar Prophets: www.thesugarprophets.com

The Sugar Prophets are an interesting amalgam of backgrounds and talent that have seemingly merged together in the right time, place, and groove. Fiery singer and harmonica slinger Josh Spence had been around the Central Illinois Blues scene as a regular guest performer with both local and national touring acts for years before deciding to form the band in March, 2009. The band played several shows and went through a few personnel changes until February 2010, when the present day lineup was set. Since then, The Sugar Prophets’ profile has continued to rise in Central Illinois Blues circles and beyond. After playing just over 100 shows in their first year, The Sugar Prophets were chosen to go to Memphis and represent the Illinois Central Blues Club at the 2011 International Blues Challenge.
Now, don’t get the impression that this band is just a group of young pups trying to run with the big dogs. No, The Sugar Prophets have a lot more experience and savvy than that! In their current form, collectively, they’ve logged over 5,000 shows. In fact, some have recorded and played with some of the finest musicians in the worlds of Blues, Gospel, R&B, and Blues-Rock.
Guitarists Joe Asselin, former member of the Kilborn Alley Blues Band, and A.J. Williams, who has logged miles with Murali Coryell, Shirley King, and legendary blues sax-man A.C. Reed, combine with bassist Al Chapman, best known as the rock-solid groove-man in Billy Galt’s Blues Deacons, drummer extraordinaire, Aaron “A Train” Wilson, who has performed with Nick Moss & the Flip-Tops, the Kilborn Alley Blues Band, and Joe Moss, and front man, Josh Spence to form the The Sugar Prophets.

For more info, show dates, interviews, and audio tracks from The Sugar Prophets:

www.thesugarprophets.com

Contact: Josh Spence

Email: thesugarprophets@live.com

When producing highly detailed artwork for such an ultimately small format of media the designer must be diligent at utilizing strategically placed elements so that the compostion works and is not too cluttered. This is typically my main concern with creating super intricate album covers…not cluttering it needlessly. I also decided to take our original concept up a notch: The ‘mystery’ man at the bar glances over his shoulder. The woman next to him at the bar looks off in concern with her hands on her hips. The man holds a letter, which is kind of hidden, down to his side by the bar stool. The ‘mystery’ girl walks into the room toward the bar. Is it her who is getting this attention? What’s the letter? Love triangle? etc.

I really wanted to play off the idea of a love pattern that could bring about questions regarding what is exactly happening in the cover scene while tying it into the collateral pages of the layout. A couple of photo shoots at a variety of local establishments mingled with the hand drawn characters and photo real representation of the band enabled me to produce a stylistically unique layout that reflects not only the music, but the image aesthetics conjured by Land’s riffs and Zorn’s candlelight-lyrics. It leaves room for dialogue and the viewers own interpretations of their style and sexy, steamy intrigue.

To preview sample songs from Forget Me Not or purchase the CD please visit: http://www.conceptsongs.com

Concept Forget Me Not 2010

“Concept established their musical collective out of a true joint passion for music. The duo formed in the spring of 2010 with the goal to create original music blending the unique styles that Shiri Zorn and Yoav Land each brought with them. What emerged was an engaging combination of blues, jazz, folk and rock.

The band, based out of Seattle, WA, has recently released its first CD “Forget Me Not” with highly positive reviews and ever growing sales. The material for the CD was composed and recorded in just 3 months. The songs carry western and Mediterranean flavors all at the same time.

Yoav Land, who composed all the materials, is a multi-instrumentalist, arranger, composer and a songwriter. From a very early age he was exposed to jazz, soul, rock and Middle Eastern music. His influences include a wide range of musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker, Led Zeppelin, Gary Moore, Yngwie Malmsteen, Van Helen, Steve Vai, J.S Bach and various world music artists. His broad range of composition styles is reflected in the CD, where each song is a real work of art.

Shiri Zorn’s vocals draw the listeners in as the CD unfolds itself. Her versatile voice allows her to add unique color and tone to each and every song. Throughout her musical career, Shiri was inspired by musicians from all across the spectrum. Amongst her main influences are Jazz vocalists such as Carmen McRae, Nancy Wilson and Sarah Vaughan alongside instrumentalists such as Chet Baker, Miles Davis and Elvis Costello.

Both Land and Zorn (“Concept” members) have lived in various countries over the years and were exposed to multiple cultures. Each member brings his/her own experience and concepts to the mix. This is what makes “Forget Me Not” an extraordinary piece which takes the listener on a special emotional journey.”

STP Oracle ©2010 BeeryMethod

Working with any band on covers, collaterals, and designs takes quite a bit of time. Not just on the creation aspect, but in just getting in touch and hearing back from such superstars. It took a while for them to finally get back with me about the design. It appears as though they may not be using this one on the merchandise as planned, but it was a hell of a lot of fun dishing out some psychedelic throw back material for one of my all time favorite rock bands!

His latest release, The Late-Nite Walrus, is no exception for our insanely syncopated symbiosis. What began as a few liner notes from K Sos turned into a deeply exciting cover to work on when it came around to the BeeryMethod Studio. His notes consisted of “a walrus (with sunglasses, a tuxedo on, tusks, and whiskers) walking forward in a desert. In the desert, he is surrounded by stacks of CDs (which appear like castles) and tons of random book shelves filled with books.” I decided to take this concept a bit further and ‘class’ it up a bit. Rather than stacks of compact discs I decided that the old vinyl was more proper. The walrus character was a depiction of a burnt-out Vegas act who had done his dues and is now out of his element yet surrounded by what he loves best, his words and music. This was a clever hint on the personality and desires of K Sos as well. We even hid a few book titles on the foreground shelf that are a few of Sos’s favorites.

The Late-Nite Walrus ©2010 BeeryMethod

Aside from the vinyl I thought the perfect compliment to this lounge-act-walrus was to add in a few other antiqued elements such as the old record player, radios, violin, and vinyl records stuck in the ground with K Sos’s other cd titles. Taking a reference from the Marvin Gaye album I Want You, I divided the top half of the cover with a simple white line and black rectangle. This also conveys the old record covers of the era and seemed like the perfect touch for the theme of this album. Along with the Vegas references I created lettering based upon the famous ‘Welcome to Las Vegas’ sign on the strip and even borrowed those neon star elements which really made the cover ‘pop’. Using our neon color trifecta which consisted of purple, green, and blue it was an easy task of strategically placing these colors and elements to keep the viewers I moving around the cover.

Last but not least I chose to utilize the crow element. The crows represent the vehicle of bringing knowledge, shape-shifting, eloquence, prophecy, boldness, skill, knowledge, cunning, and trickery as symbolism. The flock of crows is the unleashing of lyrical mayhem and fortitude K Sos brings to the mic and were worthy elements to bring intricacy to the sky and atmosphere. They float nicely in front of the moon.

When I finished the cover, after a few small revisions, K Sos sent me this message: “Do you have a portal into my brain?…is that a component of the BeeryMethod?…shit is fucking ridic!”

My love for zombie themes coalesced with dead rap artists seemed like the perfect route to get these martyrs of the game out there like never before. The criteria for the zombie rappers series is that this gang of artists must be deceased. This is an ongoing series that is not fully finished. These are offered as limited edition prints (signed and numbered by BeeryMethod), one off screen prints on wood panels with ink and finish, as well as to be offered soon on apparel. Keep your eyes peeled for the additions to this bad ass street-series as well as the upcoming tee shirt line!

ZOMBIGGIE (Biggie Smalls)

ZomBiggie ©2010 BeeryMethod

2DEAD (2Pac Shakur)

2Dead ©2010 BeeryMethod

Ol Decay Bastard (Ol Dirty Bastard)

Ol Decay Bastard ©2010 BeeryMethod

ZombEAZY (Eazy E)

ZombEAZY ©2010 BeeryMethod

Jam Maggots Jay (Jam Master Jay)

Jam Maggots Jay ©2010 BeeryMethod

The wood panel screen prints exist as only 1 per rapper. They are extremely limited and on sale for $200 each. These pieces are ready to hang and are a nice size of 10×18. If interested in purchasing one or the series of these rare art pieces please contact me: nick@beerymethod.com.

Below are the limited edition prints of the Zombie Rappers series look like:

Zombie Rapper Prints ©2010 BeeryMethod

If your interested in purchasing either the wood panel art or any of the limited edition prints please contact me. These prints are extremely limited and will sell out quickly. Print sizes are 15×20 / numbered & signed / $50/print. Please check back regarding the Zombie Rapper clothing line planned to launch 2010!

I find that connecting with so many individuals all across the board in many industries who simply enjoy what I do is the most gratifying aspect of my work. Whether connecting with a young artist, musician, or skater I hope I can always inspire and nurture the original creative qualities in all who I link up to. When working as an independent artist and consultant it is the journey through creating exceptional imagery for clients who respectively come back to give praise and seek future collaborative opportunities that keep me engaged and inspired.

Thanks to D Port and SkinnyBuddha for representing my hard work and offering good wishes on my birthday! Skinny Buddha family always!

Beery Birthday

This is just a huge shout out and enormous thank you to all my fans, fellow artists, friends, and family who have supported my all my goals and work. I couldn’t do it without you all…you are the best and I got nothing but hot lava love for you all…MAD THANKS!

No strangers to stirring the pot of political roughness and kicking raw flavor that amplifies the generation XYZ, it was a duo blast of urban rawness and shotgun imagery from both sides. K Sos and Rams are on the pinnacle of exploiting their freedom of expression and Murphy’s Killer is no exception. In an attempt to squash Murphy’s Law, the facetious proposition that if something can go wrong, it will, these two members of The N.O.C put the clutch down on excelling into a new era of keeping it genuine and representing the buzz of the American street aficionados.

To do justice and reflect the messages broadcast on MK the cover had to be montaged in a seamlessly compact way. Depicted on the cover are members K Sos and Rams who have drug Murphy to his last rights. Murphy is satirized as the obese, greedy, white-bred politician who has been captured and brutalized by the N.O.C crew. A shotgun to his head, stab wounds, and all his dirty money on the pavement, Murphy (Murphy’s Law) is over with.

Murphy's Killer 2010

To complete the full effect of the chaos to ensue I broke into my bank of imagery to montage a masterpiece of mayhem. Surrounded by police squads, cops with guns drawn, tattooed chicks, screaming fans, and flames bursting in the air the focus of the cover (the slaughtering of Murphy) is pushed into the foreground. Photos used in the background came from my trips across the continental USA. The graffiti building on the left originates in the Mission District of San Francisco, the city skyline of Chicago, a water tower from Alcatraz, parking lot in Seattle, deco building and club from Italy, and characters who have been digitally painted and enhanced all come together to form a surreal environment that is reminiscent of a frame from Grand Theft Auto.

Every detail from the ghetto birds (police helicopters) blasting spotlights all the way down to the cracks in the concrete all spin from the depths of my inner beast that roars “make this solid…down to the core”. The effect is an insane composition that keeps the viewer coming back and finding more pieces of gooey visual elements that rock the soul. Here’s to putting the kibosh on Murphy’s Law and the giants of the Southeast…N.O.C. 4 Life!

She's Green design elements

I started thinking about the “green” era’s and all the generations that perpetuate the thought and the provocateurs that act as catalysts to initiate the cycles of “recycle” for future gens. The idea that music has always played a “vocal” role in supporting these messages for the masses to consume is always a most satisfying notion for any creative and expressive human being. We all come from earth-roots and every person (green conscious or not) has experienced a wonder that is the music and environmental philosophies that are harbored in our wonderful world.

The concept of bringing an iconic statue, that defines not only the progressive nation of the US and one of it’s most influential cities on the world, together with the rooted structure and harmony of music and nature seemed a fitting choice to convey the opalescence of our new generations consideration for making this planet a cleaner, healthier, and fantastic place to call home.

She defines “GREEN” … literal!

She's Green Tee