Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Hydra Head Records poster


I designed this poster for Hydra Head Records.

Limited edition
18"x24" 
hand screen printed on a matte offset background 
100# white paper 
Signed and numbered 
It's being sold as part of the larger Hydra Head Rehabilitation Project HYDRA HEALTH

I've been working at Hydra Head for over 5 years now. I started as an intern (technically Isis' intern, but I quickly rolled over to HH duties). There has never been a time when I didn't believe in the projects we were involved in, or the way we have approached them. We probably could have pressed fewer quantities of certain CDs, but we also could not have predicted such a precipitous drop in CD sales. This endeavor was never about making money, though. If it was, there would have been a lot more corporate sponsorship and licenses, shittier touring bands, and pandering advertisements. Everyone who does and has worked here has foregone any delusions of luxury (or even healthcare). I don't remember anyone besides Aaron having a car made within the last 10 years. 
People occasionally complain that our records are expensive, but if you are going to make a physical artifact of the music, you should make it well. Heavy vinyl, sturdy jacket, and quality printing. We have compromised very little on that. Maybe we should have made flimsier LPs and required our bands to tour relentlessly. Maybe we could have been rich. Except that it hasn't just been our choices that have led to our current financial peril. We only control our ship, not the entire sea.
The music industry has changed drastically over the past decade, and especially over the past few years. For better or worse, the internet has destroyed the old model of music distribution. Once it's released, artists and labels don't really have control over the dissemination of their own content. The new streaming services pay pennies, and even through proper channels, music is used as content to drive services and advertisements that benefit those providers vastly more than the artists themselves. Even if a band is the type to tour, gas has gotten expensive. I don't have any scientific data to back it up, but it feels like there are less touring bands coming through than there used to be. I think because the overhead of being on the road has become prohibitive for acts that don't have a large following.
Maybe Hydra Head is dying. I still don't believe it. Maybe it will be saved by the generosity of those that appreciate earnest, challenging music and aesthetics. Maybe the whole world really is ending and the rumble of the earth falling will match the rumble of the records we have released.
I am humbled and honored to have been directly involved with a lot of groundbreaking records, and a few masterpieces. I am grateful for all of the friends I have met, to know that there are other people that care about things like I do. I am proud to be part of this family.
Cut one head off...

Saturday, August 18, 2012

OLD MAN GLOOM - 9/3/2012 poster

I designed a poster for OLD MAN GLOOM's upcoming show at the Echo. It will be available as an 18"x24" signed and numbered screen print at the show. I will probably have a few available online.

If you haven't given OLD MAN GLOOM's new album NO a listen, you should. It will put hair on your chest. And your face. And your arms, legs, back, and everywhere.


pencils

inked

color mock-up

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Torche - "Kicking" music video

I directed a new music video for my pals Torche. The song is "Kicking," from their new album Harmonicraft. It premiered today on Stereogum. Here's a quote:

"Director Andrew James Cox manages to hit all the inspirational sports-movie beats while making fun of them at the same time, and that hallucination sequence is a thing to behold." - Stereogum


Torche - "Kicking" (Stereogum Premiere) from stereogum on Vimeo.


Thanks to everyone who helped out, and to Volcom for making it happen.


Also, congratulations to my best friend Jesse Rueter (that's him adjusting his hat in the preview image above) and Caroline Chen on their wedding on Sunday. This has been the best week of my life. I'm working on making it the best year.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

MINI COMIC CON

After you drop by your local comic shop for Free Comic Book Day (this Saturday), come on over to Eagle Rock:



Saturday, May 5th 2012 11:00am-6:00pm
FREE ADMISSION


Gallery Exhibition: May 5 - June 7, 2012

Center for the Arts Eagle Rock
2225 Colorado Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90041


Mini Comic-Con narrows the focus of the monolithic pop-culture event of Comic Con to its humble origins: the overshadowed vanguard of small press and independent comics. The exhibition highlights work that experiments with visual storytelling, both in content and form. Through selective appropriation of narrative devices and the invention of new ones, creators explore new ways to craft stories.

Mini Comic-Con exhibits recent work by emerging and established independent comic artists, a diverse group that is connected by shared influences: traditional comics, literature, film, experimental visual disciplines, DIY and small press culture, and a desire to project a singular voice. These works do more than tell a story with pictures; they blur high art, fantasy, and mundane experience to create something else entirely. Sometimes funny, sometimes fearlessly earnest, the artists use accessible yet refined drawing techniques to simultaneously connect with the viewer and generate a narrative structure that draws us further into their created worlds.




Adrian Tenney

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Open Network

The video I directed for Helms Alee is in this art show at Cirrus Gallery, opening tonight (like right this moment, as I am typing this. Sorry for the late notice.) Thanks to Aaron Wrinkle for including me.

ONCE EMERGING, NOW EMERGING: OPEN NETWORK  
March 10- May 5, 2012
  
Opening Reception
Sat. March 10th  7-10pm 
     
Hinged to the website oncenowexhibiton.com, the exhibition presents itself with gestures on technology, community, innovation and performance. A comment on networking, the exhibition and website highlight important examples of artists bringing ideas of collaboration and presentation to the forefront of contemporary art. Artists and groups include: Artists and groups include: Artobjectculture.net (Lucy Chinen and Emilie Gervais), Chris Burden, Andrew Cox, Alan Dunn, Michael Decker, Eternal Telethon, Corey Fogel, Jack Goldstein, Peregrine Honig (Bravo's Work of Art), Mariah Garnett of Human Resources and Geoff Tuck (Notes on Looking), Actual Size artists: Ali Bailey, Scott Benzel, Guy de Cointet, Larry Bell, Doug Edge, Cayetano Ferrer, Katie Herzog, Laura Owens, Ed Ruscha and Barbara T. Smith plus artist submissions from oncenowexhibition.com

Cirrus Gallery
542 S. Alameda St.
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Tuesday- Saturday 10am- 5pm

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Axed Crown - First show this Friday

My first show as AXED CROWN:



KEEP BULL FIGHTING with visuals by MIKO REVEREZA


Friday, March 9th, 2012
Doors: 8:00pm // $10
Mahasukha Center http://www.aci-la.org/
6512 Arizona Ave., Los Angeles, 90045

A selection of tasty teas and snacks will be provided
Proudly supported by VACATION Vinyl


http://www.facebook.com/events/264199843655785/

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

HELMS ALEE - "8/16" music video premiere on VEVO


So, the video I directed for HELMS ALEE's "8/16" is finally out. Not only that, but on the front page of VEVO, which means it is getting millions more impressions than I ever would have imagined.

I had a lot of fun making it, especially going up to Seattle and shooting with the band (total DIY friend-fest. We owe a bunch of people hugs and favors.) It was stressful at times, but I was always sure we were working on something awesome. I am extremely proud of how it came out.

Ben told me about the idea for the video when the band was on tour with Boris around the time my video for Torche's "UFO" came out. Which means this was waaay before any of us knew that Beavis and Butthead was going to be back on TV.

So months go by, the band records Weatherhead and we pick up discussion of the video. At one point I proposed shooting them as live action versions of Beavis and Butthead, mostly because I was nervous about animating. We settled on the concept of the video pretty much as it came out, and I suggested trying out Kickstarter to get a decent budget to make the video (when I made the Torche video, what little money we spent came out of my own pocket). I'd do some things differently in hindsight, but mostly it went really well, and we got enough money to do the video.

Shooting the video and editing were smooth, and animating was too, but it is always a pretty slow process. I did all the drawings by hand then scanned, colored, and arranged them digitally. It took longer than I anticipated (as usual). When I gave the band an ETA I doubled how long I thought it would take and ended up being right on the money. It could have been done more quickly, but making videos isn't my full-time job (yet?).

So in the time it took to make the video, Beavis and Butthead returned to MTV, grunge returned to the fashion world, and at Trader Joe's I've started hearing the songs whose videos we re-created. 


Excellent timing.









video link: http://youtu.be/GmcX97Y3vE4


"8/16" comes from Helms Alee's second full length album Weatherhead.  Produced by Matt Bayles in the winter of 2011, and released the following July, Weatherhead finds the band expanding on what AVClub calls 'impossibly catchy heaviness'.  Tours with TorcheBig BusinessBoris and Minus the Bear have helped the band, and now Weatherhead, put grunge right back on the map.  

The girls and boy of Helms Alee will be on tour this March with fellow Northwest resident, Thrones:
03/03 Bellingham, WA @ Jinx Art Space w/ SlothsTearamanapart
03/31 Seattle, WA @ Comet Tavern w/ Thrones
04/01 Vancouver, BC @ Iron Roads Studio w/ Thrones
04/03 Bellingham, WA @ Shakedown w/ Thrones
04/05 Arcata, CA @ Alibi w/ Thrones
04/06 San Francisco, CA @ Hemlock Tavern w/ Thrones


Buy HELMS ALEE stuff in the Hydra Head Shop


Helms Alee: 8/16 (Black) T-Shirt (Ships in 2 - 3 weeks)Helms Alee: Weatherhead CDHelms Alee: Night Terror CD


Tuesday, February 14, 2012