Exclusive interview with BRIAN CANNON.
At KULBRITANIA we had the pleasure to interview, Brian Cannon, British graphic designer, art director, band manager and music video director. Best known for his Microdot graphic design company and its work in the 1990s, which created the album cover for Oasis' record breaking debut album, Definitely Maybe, in 1994. Two of Cannon's record sleeve designs—Definitely Maybe (#14) and "This Is Music" (#79) feature in featured in Q magazine's "The Hundred Best Record Covers Of All Time". Brian Cannon talked to us about Oasis, Richard Ashcroft,The Stone Roses reunion, Adidas trainers, new projects and more!
Read the interview below.
KUL BRITANIA : THANK YOU FOR JOINING US BRIAN. WHY DONT YOU TELL US A BIT ABOUT THE EARLY DAYS? WHERE DID YOU GROW UP ? AND WHEN DID YOU REALISE YOU WANTED TO BE A GRAPHIC DESIGNER?
BRIAN CANNON : I grew up in a place called Wigan in between Manchester and Liverpool and when I was a young lad about 11 - 12 years of age I came across punk rock and particularly THE SEX PISTOLS and that's when I got into real music if you like. Initally, like any other young lad I wanted to be a rock star so I got a guitar but I didnt have the patience to learn to play it but I'd always been good at drawing and art and I was interested in that and I thought I'd put the two things together, the art and the music and design record covers.
KB: YOU'VE WORKED WITH SEVERAL MUSICIANS AND BANDS BUT WHO DID YOU GROW UP LISTENING TO? WHO WERE YOUR MUSICAL INFLUENCES?
BC: Well as I said before initially it was all punk rock, Sex Pistols, Buzzcocks, Clash, Stranglers you know all that kind of stuff.
KB: HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY AND BUSINESS? IS THIS SOMETHING YOU ALWAYS WANTED TO DO OR IT JUST HAPPENED?
BC: Well I guess that no matter how talented you are, you've got to have some lucky breaks and I met a few people on the way and they noticed what I was doing when I was 18 or so. I got to know this guy from Liverpool who was managing and producing bands, we became friends and he asked me to do some record sleeves for them and that was before I finished College. I was working professionally while I was still a student and it all went off from there. You actually meet more people and more people see your work.
KB: YOU'VE WORKED, AS WE SAID BEFORE , WITH LOADS AND LOADS OF ARTISTS INCLUDING OASIS,THE VERVE, CAST , SUEDE, INSPIRAL CARPETS AND SO ON. WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO DO JOBS FOR SOME OF THE BIGGEST BANDS BRITAIN HAS PRODUCED?
BC: It was out of this world to work for all these bands. I was doing what I loved and what I wanted to do and doing it for bands I was a fan of, you know...so you could not have been any better.
KB: WHAT PROJECTS DO YOU LIKE TO GET INVOLVED IN ? DO YOU JUST WORK ON BIG PROJECTS THESE DAYS OR FOR BIG BANDS OR DO YOU SORT OF DO SMALLER JOBS IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN A NEW ARTIST OR BAND?
BC: It just needn't be about music I've done stuff which is not even music related. The kind of jobs I like are where people asked me to do it because they like my style, they've seen the work I do and they just let me get on with it. It's not nice when people asked you to do a job and they can kind of try to take over,you know? Just getting too involved you go like "You asked me to do it so let me get on with it" .So my favourite jobs are the ones where I'm given creative freedom and the people are cool to work with, exchange ideas and it's a creative process.
