#stormstudios

Storm Thorgerson:

Once into the thrall one could be said to be in the groove, a favourite expression I think amongst musicians. This design attempts to describe that by carving a large groove/trench in the countryside and lining it with vinyl. Hovering above the groove is a large needle as it were, waiting to play the record. This is a real event - a sort of land art or arable sculpture.

Pink Floyd: Live At Knebworth 1990 (Pink Floyd Records, 2021)

Storm Thorgerson:

We imagined a volcanic landscape with a graphic flame in the middle of it - an eternal flame symbolising how two deceased bands, Soundgarden and Rage Against The Machine lived on, reincarnated as Audioslave. This shape that looked like a hand or flame was turned into a large sculpture made of beaten bronze, like a sounding brass. The little figure is playing homage to the sculpture and acting as both a size and a reference point. A pilgrimage to the mystic sounding brass set in the volcanic wastelands of Lanzarote – paying homage to an eternal flame (Audioslave) as any slave to sound should.

Storm Thorgerson:

The Belgian manager of Plea, one Renaat, is refreshingly direct, and said, 'I so much like a design of yours Storm, called 'Guitars On Trees', can you do that for us too? As a companion to the 'Tunnel'. We can use it as the innerspread of a gatefold vinyl', he added enthusiastically, and here it is. The idea goes like this... as Rock 'n' Roll guitars are invariably made of wood, theirs are being returned to their source, tied neatly with rope as if an offering of libation, and what you see is what you get. This little pine wood near Cape Town is a favorite spot for picnics.

Storm Thorgerson:

Sufficiently stimulated, we composed several designs, two of which I particularly liked They unanimously chose, however, 'The Tunnel' from which school boys are emerging, from the darkness to the daylight, observed by four shadowy figures on the bridge. The boys are carrying lighted orbs, which I saw as the 'great spheres of knowledge'. This is a design about education, hence the schoolboys in uniform. It is the possession of knowledge, especially in the Rock 'n' Roll context, which marks the grown up emerging from adolescence into the light of young adulthood. The plea also had a song called 'Out Like a Light' which may or may not have been about the same thing.

AP and the Heat - Bleak Future EP cover