BITBL015 – Cartel – The Ransom EP

When I was in college (the first time), one of my favorite songs was “Luckie St.” A college roommate (later best man) and I used to roll the windows down when Will from Cartel told us too and we just thought it was the greatest.

I was asked about doing these covers at a time when I thought there was no chance of having access to the laser cutter, but I just had to find a way.

I clearly did find a way.

Joe from Company Ink is one of the greatest guys I’ve had a chance to work with and I wanted to go all out on what might be (still not sure) the last laser-cut covers I would do.

It took some playing around to get the gun barrel ‘just’ right, and then even more tinkering for the string-tie enclosure. I think these are just awesome (and I am a little bias but completely ok with that).

Five of these were auctioned off for charity months back, and the other five are long since spoken for. However, you can pick up a copy of the record itself (which comes in pretty neat packaging too) from Company Ink Records.

On to the pictures!

BITBL011 – Hot Rod Circuit – The Underground is a Dying Breed LP

One of my favorite bands growing up was Hot Rod Circuit. When ‘Sorry About Tomorrow’ came out, I remember having to buy a new copy because I wore mine out.

The last album they released was ‘The Underground is a Dying Breed’ and the first and only album released on Immortal Records. It hit me nearly the same way ‘Sorry’ did.

Enjoy the Ride Records issued this on vinyl last year for the first time, and contacted me about doing 24 covers for the test presses. The front image of the covers is taken from an inside drawing on the gatefold of the record, and the back image is nearly a copy of the original back artwork.

One of my favorites to do, and I love working with artists that I have admired for a while.

(Side note: Not until cutting this cover did I realize the guys in Hot Rod Circuit got their start in Auburn, Al., where I went to school. Neat.)

You can buy copies of the record from me (10 available), and I have one of the quad-split colored copies (limited to 100) that will go in a random order. For the rest of the month, beginning today, get 10% off your order (off anything!) with code HRC.

BITBL010 – Sea of Storms – Demo 7″

My friend Brian over at (the now defunct store and label) In Vinyl We Trust released three 7″ records in just a few months. This was the last release he did, and (no offense to the others) is my favorite.

In case you have not noticed, I try to do something different on every cover I do. I really struggled to think of anything at all that might work with the existing cover art – and finally decided to keep it really simple. I ended up having to buy a ton of different paper to get this done like I wanted. Four different sheets of color were used and then a gray matboard to keep it all sturdy.

The resulting product turned out really nice (even if it did take me months to actually complete).

You can listen and download the whole EP for free, buy the vinyl in my store, and like them on Facebook. They are prepping a full-length album now too.

BITBL012 – Chris Staples – American Soft LP

Sorry for the delay in posting.

I actually did a brief ‘How To’ on this cover about a year ago. About time I posted the finished product.

Chris Staples was the lead singer of Twothirtyeight – one of my favorite bands in high school and college. American Soft is his third (?) full-length solo album, and the first to be released on vinyl.

I made five of these for Daniel over at Something to Break Records.

Gray mat board with black arches paper underneath the front. Each machine-numbered.

Buy the record on vinyl. Check out Chris Staples’ music. 

BITBL008 – The Fur Coats – Goddamn, I’m a Handsome Man 7″

The latest from Artistic Integrity Records is a collaboration with two other labels: Seven Dead Arson Records and Dirt Cult Records. They are The Fur Coats – a Chicago power pop band from people who have brought you bands like Das Kapital, The Traitors, No Empathy, Devon Kay & the Sollutions, and Direct Hit! To steal a review from another site: “If you like garage and pop punk The Fur Coats is a band you should check out, it’s catchy as hell but not your generic pop punk.”

For the sleeve of these test presses, I drew some inspiration from the recent Local Natives record sleeve for their album ‘Hummingbird.’ It had a die-cut slip cover and after seeing it, I wanted to try something similar for something of my own.

These turned out exactly like I expected, and I love different layers that came through on the final product. Enjoy.

Pressing Info:

Black – /300 (Buy here.)
Test Press with Covers – /10

Test Sleeves:

Normal 7″

Listen here: http://thefurcoats.bandcamp.com/album/goddamn-im-a-handsome-man

The Laser Cut Process – How to Make a Cover

I am going to try to do a few posts that describe what it actually takes to make a cover turn out like the final products you see on this site.

I was approached by Something to Break label owner, Daniel, a few weeks ago about doing five covers for the first album on his label – Chris Staples’ American Soft. Being a huge fan of Twothirtyeight when I was younger, and of Chris’ solo work, I readily agreed. This is the cover I was given:

Once I am given a cover, I have two options: (1) keep the cover as is, or (2) make something new and original. With this one, I decided to keep the original, as I am currently in training to be an architect and so the appeal of a beautiful building on the cover was enticing.

I take that original cover and then have to redraw it line-by-line into a computer drafting program (like AutoCAD). As you can imagine this is often the most time-consuming process. With the above cover, it took me a few days to get the final exactly like I wanted – focusing on making sure everything I wanted was covered and looked right. In AutoCAD, this is what it looks like:

The laser cutter is programmed to treat different colored lines as different depths of cut – for example, a magenta line will cut all the way through, while a red line will only score the material. After the above lines are drawn, I have to go through and change the lines to correspond to what I want the laser cutter to do with them. 

The file is then taken to “the shop”, mat board is purchased depending on color choice, and the sample is made. Here are some videos showing the cutting process:

Some pictures showing the process:

Thanks for caring.

The record is out now and can be purchased from Something to Break Records or downloaded from Chris Staples’ bandcamp.

BITBL005 – Beloved – The Running EP

I finished these at the end of last year. Easily the most time-consuming project I’ve attempted as the detail level was high, and I was asked to produce 40(!) of them. It was an honor, however, as Beloved has always been one of my most respected and adored bands (me and three friends drove 11 hours for their farewell show in 2005).

Simple back, elegant and detail front. Enjoy!

You can still purchase the record, or the test press from Broken Circles Records.

Or get one of three artists proofs here in our store.

 

BITBL009 – Hidden in Plain View – Life in Dreaming LP – Test Sleeves

Hidden In Plain View was an emo band from New Jersey that was on Drive-Thru Records in the mid 2000s. This was their first full-length (2005), and is generally considered to be their best album.

Company Ink Records got in touch with me several months ago about this release, and once I saw the cover, I was confident I could come up with something clean, simple, and elegant. One of my favorite sleeves to date (do I say that about them all?).

The pressing for the record is:
Bronze Rose Edition /500
180 Gram Marble Stone Edition /100
Test Press /10

Five of the ten test presses, with the covers below, are currently on eBay. 100% of the proceeds will benefit the Hurricane Sandy NJ Relief Fund, so make sure you bid high for the cause.

Custom Cover – Protest the Hero – Fortress

A friend in Ontario asked me to do this cover for him. Easily the most time-intensive, and detailed cover I’ve done.

Note: there is currently one artist proof left of this in my store.

Custom Covers / 7″ Artist Proofs In Store

To raise some money for charity and offset the cost of me doing these for friends and labels, I’ve set up a store where I will be selling covers.

You can check out all the info there, and here are some enticing images to get you started: