This month's featured article will be all about part-time Blur artist Andrew Rens Salendu from Indonesia who published a series of wonderfully stylish Blur posters online in Deviantart. The styles of his Blur artwork, custom Blur album sleeves and covers ranges from dark britpop grunge, pure vintage to brilliantly colorful and psychedelic.
Describe yourself - who are you ?
I’m a forensic pathologist who listens to a lot of music and draws a lot. I have a lovely wife and a handsome baby boy.
What inspired you to make the Blur posters?
Blur are very visually stimulating. They seem to put great care in their packaging. That inspired me to try to imitate the thought process in designing posters.
We've Got a File On You-
A riff on countless pop art stuff
Poster Design- A Blur/Batman
animated series mash-up
How did you get into Blur in the first place ?
For Tomorrow was a minor radio hit, and I remember thinking it was a very catchy tune. But like most others, the Blur bug bit me when Parklife was released. The variety of music is breathtaking, the quality of the songs even more so.
Name your favourite song - why ?
I can’t decide between Blue Jeans and Sweet Song.
What other music do you have in your collection ?
Like all the people who were in high school in 1994-1996, I have a soft spot for Britpop, even the second-division bands like Menswear, Dodgy, Octopus, Subcircus and Bennett. My favorite bands, other than Blur, are The Beatles, R.E.M., 10,000 Maniacs, The Smiths, Ryan Adams and Fountains of Wayne.
A Spell for Money- A fictional record sleeve
Elton John's Cock -
Design for a CD Single
What do you consider when designing anything ?
My approach can be divided into just two: do the opposite and do the appropriate. Blur has a distinct but varied visual identity, from the early days by Stylorouge and to the later days when they use Banksy and Graham’s artwork. Mixing and matching visual styles are always fun.
Who's your favorite member of Blur ?
For his cavalier attitude and extracurricular activities alone, it has to be Alex.
What's your favourite photo of the band ? Please link
This one - Just the sight of seeing them back together again!
Least favourite Blur song and why
It’s a three-way-tie between Mr Robinson’s Quango, Top Man and Crazy Beat. I don’t know why, but I find them incredibly annoying. The former even more so, because it interrupted the flow of two of my favorite Blur songs – The Universal and He Thought of Cars.
Any last words ?
Thank you so much for the opportunity! Love your site!
Vintage styled Blur poster design
Blur poster with retro pixels
Japanese-styled replica poster design
To see more of Andrew's Blur graphic designs, browse his gallery at andy2519.deviantart.com Liked this BlurBalls feature ? Please comment (no fancy sign ups required) below, share it within your circles, tweet it, link it up!
Blur bass player Alex James says that that best thing the band ever did was split up and that Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher are now best mates who smoke cigars together.
Blur bass player Alex James says that that best thing the band ever did was split up and that Damon Albarn and Noel Gallagher are now best mates who smoke cigars together.
Speaking ahead of Blur's gig at IMMA, Dublin on Thursday, August 1st with support from Bat for Lashes and The Strypes, James told Today FM's Ray D'Arcy about his new life as a cheesemaker and farmer.
"Blur came to an end in 2003 and at that point we'd been doing the same thing for 15 years and after that amount of time it does become cyclical," he said. "We needed to go off and do other things.
"We've all worked with other people since then. I think splitting up was the best thing we ever did."
During the interview, D'Arcy recalled having the old Blur vs Oasis argument with his friends "in Snaffles Nightclub in Kildare" and asked James who did he think eventually won The Battle of Britpop.
"It's funny because these days Damon and Noel are best mates," James said. "They go off and smoke cigars together. I think we realised we were all on the same side eventually."
The 44-year-old father of five now lives on a farm in Berkshire and makes cheese. "People throw cheese at me when I'm on stage. Some musicians get underwear," he said.
"Ireland is a fantastic place for cheese. I was over there last year looking at Bries.
"There are so many great Irish cheeses. Did you know Brie was invented in Ireland? The French monks took it back to Normandy. They stole it!"
Asked what was the most rock `n' roll thing he'd ever done, James said, "We sent a spaceship to Mars."
(Source) Blur Tour 2013 - Full dates and rundown HERE Blur @ Coachella- video and image gallery HERE
Alex James was featured on a few media outlets this June, and it's not a surprise he had some new things to say about Blur and the band's future, new songs, recording sessions and his new Big Feastival event in partnership with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver.
In the RadioTimes interview, Alex mentioned how The Big Feastival "currently has all his attention, but since Blur played in Hyde Park during London 2012, the full band has started touring again."
“We did a bit of recording in Hong Kong and it was brilliant,” says James, “but I don’t know what it is yet. The festival has been the main focus for me. The rest of Blur could also make an appearance at The Big Feastival this year. Graham came [to The Big Feastival] last year. They‘re all invited,” says James. Rizzle Kicks will be one of the guest stars in the music and food festival this year.
Alex James was also quoted in a Contact Music article saying that the "Blur recording sessions went well". BANG Showbiz exclusively reports that Alex said: ''We had a few days off in Hong Kong and thought, 'What the hell, let's go to the studio.' It went very well. The opportunity came and we took it. Any chance to get together and make music is very welcome. It was absolutely brilliant. We were just jamming, but it was good. I hope it happens.''
He also remarked: ''The big bands are getting bigger and bigger and the small ones are disappearing altogether. I think it's very hard to be in an indie band anymore. I think Blur would struggle if we were just starting out now. It's a very different climate.''
Blur forum member '101reykjavik' says: "Alex unfortunately is the one I take least notice of when it comes to pronouncements about the future of Blur. A litany of past quotes 'hoping' something will happen in some respect or other, which in the past have tended to amount to very little."
"If Damon said 'I hope it happens' I would sit up and take notice, but I wouldn't expect Damon to ever make that sort of public statement. Plus Alex arguably has the most need for Blur activity so always seems to be putting the most hopeful spin on things."
Another forum member '2-J' added: "For better or worse, Damon would really undermine his forthcoming solo album (due 2014) if he were to be too committal about Blur."
There has been many arguments as to whether Blur will indeed go forwards with their new album this year. Some say that Damon Albarn will not delay the recording any further after their massive 2013 world tour; some speculate that the Blur frontman will change his mind and focus on side-projects instead of making new music for Blur.
No news about the new album had been announced this month. Blur will continue their world tour and perform in Finland this week. Jamie Oliver and Alex James present The Big Feastival, a feel good festival of food and music for all the family on August 31 – September 1. For more info and tickets, click here.
Damon Albarn was recently interviewed by music magazine Rolling Stone about Blur, his new solo album and on Oasis. The interview was conducted before Blur's performance in the music festival Coachella 2013, California USA.
Damon Albarn is hours away from the first U.S. Blur show in years, but as he kicks back on a hotel patio overlooking a golf course near Coachella, his mind drifts to other things. Like the record he made with Bobby Womack, before the soul legend almost died last year. "He's OK," Albarn says, taking a sip of green tea. "We've actually just confirmed to play Glastonbury – he's got incredible spirit, you know?" Or his spectacular Peking-opera-inspired Monkey: Journey to the West, which is coming to New York's Lincoln Center in July after an acclaimed run in London.
"The exciting thing about productions is they change every time," he says. "I'll have the perspective this time to actually see if it's any good." And he's definitely psyched about his first solo record, which he recently wrapped with XL Records boss Richard Russell. "Richard does the rhythmic side, and I do everything else," Albarn says. "It's sort of folk soul."
Albarn plans to hit the road behind the LP, playing songs drawn from his entire career, including Blur and Gorillaz, for the first time. And a new Blur LP, which the band would record between festival gigs in Europe this summer, is a definite possibility. "We've got a couple of occasions when we're stuck in the middle of nowhere," he says. "So we might make the record in a week. If we can, it would be nice."
What drives you to take on all these different projects? There's Blur; Gorillaz; the Good, the Bad and the Queen; two operas; and way more. I get bored extremely easily. Blur was definitely my Nineties, Gorillaz was my 2000s, and then I've done a lot of different stuff this decade.
How connected do you feel to songs you wrote, at this point, decades ago? I enjoy playing them. A lot of the songs were quite dystopian in their worldview. And a lot of that stuff is much more pressing now than it was then. It seemed like the future then, and now it just seems like every day. So I can kind of get into it.
Is there a song that you think was especially prescient? A song like [1995's] "The Universal," which sings about, "This is the next century, where the universal's free . . . satellites in every home . . . "
Blur is one of the biggest bands of all time in England, but the tune the band is best known for in America is "Song 2," which is pretty uncharacteristic. What's it like to have that in your pocket? The reaction to that song must be so intense. The "woo-hoo" one, yes. Well, thank god! It really is guaranteed to make the whole place explode. Unfortunately, it's only two minutes.
In some ways Gorillaz are a bigger band in America than Blur. Oh much bigger, yeah. It would be nice to play "Clint Eastwood" and "Feel Good Inc." with Blur, but I can't. They won't play them with me! [Laughs] But I've just finished a solo record – when I go tour that, I'll play play stuff from all my different bands.
What's the record like? I've been making it with [XL Records chief] Richard Russell. We worked together on the Bobby Womack record, and really enjoy working together. He's done spectacularly well as a music mogul, but I think he wants to focus his energy on producing records. Making a solo record is can be such a disaster, so I thought if we're going to make a record with my name on it, I should get someone to really produce it – take that responsibility away from myself. Richard does the kind of rhythmic side of it and I do everything else.
How is Bobby doing? He's not the healthiest of guys, but he's able to do gigs and he's got incredible spirit. He doesn't let anything keep him down too long, you know? As soon as he opens his mouth and that voice comes out, he's just transported. It's such a magnificent voice.
What did you learn from that last huge, spectacular tour you did with Gorillaz in 2010? That was the most expensive tour of all time. I had 70 musicians. I toured around the world, played massive venues all around the world. I made about 20 pounds by the end of it [laughs], so I won't be going on another of those. It was incredible fun, I loved doing it, but economically it was an absolute fucking disaster.
Tell me about the opera – the footage I saw online looked incredible. It's very eccentric. It's colorful and youthful and fantastic for kids. I mean it's just a brilliant thing for kids. My daughter was inspired enough by it to start learning Mandarin after she watched it. And it's got this wonderful sort of anti-hero monkey who's just so irreverent and almost . . . amoral [laughs]. Kids love a character like that.
What kind of research went into it? I had four very interesting journeys across China. Like two weeks at a time. We were taken to some very rural, untouched places far away from the crazy commercial growth aspect of China. Back to places that felt positively medieval. I listened to a lot of traditional music, too. One day I had lunch with a music professor in Beijing and I quite earnestly sat down with him and said, "So what advice can you give me as to how to approach this?" And he took me into this library and there were like 1000 books of Chinese folk music notated and said, "Well, you either do it that way or just . . . do it instinctively." So I went for the latter.
The Stone Roses are also playing tonight. Are they friends? We're not friends, but I know them. We Brits always stick together. And all of the animosity of the Nineties is gone. I mean, I was playing "Tender" with Noel [Gallagher] at the Albert Hall two weeks ago, with Paul Weller on the drums. It's all in the past now.
Julia Aurea Stein is a talented artist from Brazil who creates some of the most detailed, colourful and snappy drawings of Blur's Graham Coxon and Damon Albarn that we have seen. Many of her works feature and were inspired by musical icons including The Beatles, Peter Gabriel, various Gorillaz characters and the two main members of Blur. We interviewed her recently about her love of art, coffee, TV, Graham Coxon and Blur.
'Abandon Us In Love' - Julia Aurea Stein
How did you first get into Blur ?
Oh, haha! Came across them through a bit of a random reference really! It was this friend of mine from the Genesis community (I am a fan of Genesis also) who introduced me to Blur! Round 2009 I believe, I watched Clockwork Orange for the first time and being a fan of Kubrick I loved it. I told this one friend from the community I had seen and loved it, and so he sent me this link, and it was The Universal clip! Ta-da! Adored it and asked him right away who those were, he explained it was his favourite clip from the nineties and that he very much enjoyed Blur back then. And so that was it! I was introduced then, and from then on I got to explore and discover and love!
Why did you start drawing Damon Albarn and Graham Coxon ?
You know, that's a funny question...I’m not sure why I kept drawing them, and Graham in particular...But it was an experiment at first. Come to think of it, the first one of my "idols" that I ventured doodling was Peter Gabriel. I'd never before tried drawing The Beatles nor Joni nor any other because I never felt secure enough about my drawings to try drawing people who I admire so much...
But back in 2010, I was given a sketchbook for a university assignment to try and represent music or "sound" graphically. This was where the Coffee & TV and The Universal doodles came from! I ended up liking the results of those sketches as I was very much into Blur and Graham, especially those days when it seemed only natural that I continue doodling them.
'Graham Doodle'
And I think I found drawing Graham fun, as I was just so exposed to so much about and on him, it came out naturally and I suppose it sort of turned into a habit, really! I grew accustomed to my style and felt comfortable drawing him, in a way. Tell me about your style - how would you describe your art ? Hmm, I don't know really, I've been drawing ever since I can remember! It's sort of a vital activity for me really, it's my major outlet...I've no pretensions about or with it though as well...It's just the way I express myself when I feel the urge to. As for my style...I don't know how I could explain it much too. It has changed considerably throughout the years. As I've never had any methodological or you know, any kind of education or guidelines in terms of drawing technique and such. Sometimes I am afraid that my style and my "art" is just purely amateurish expressions, though I did acquire a certain background in university here and there...
'Damon and Graham II'
What influenced your art ? Tell us about your biggest influences. I believe that my parents and my musical and artistic childhood background have been the major influences in my art. Both my parents were into quite a "hippie-sh" "alternative" scenario when younger. My mother is very skilled at handicrafts, for as long as I can remember she's been drawing her mandalas and making her mobiles and kaleidoscopes; And my father is mad about music, he's like a walking encyclopaedia on almost every band from the beginning of the past century up to the early eighties. For as long as I can remember he has been playing his guitars!
As I was brought up in that atmosphere, it's only natural that reminiscences of those influences would find their way out through my own style...The thing with the patterns and arabesques and such I love to draw so much, for instance, that's something that remits to those roots and infancy imprints.
'Coffee and TV' (top); 'Oochy Woochy' (bottom)
Your drawings are so colorful ! Do you color them by hand or by computer ?
It depends. Depends on my mood, on what I mean for the piece, as in whether it's a free piece or for a university commission. I used to colour all by hand, up until a couple of years ago when I started playing around with vectors, and I got to use them instead for colours.
I scanning the original pencil work and colour it in with vector patches. I'm keen on experimenting more with watercolour these days though. It's been long I don't use it and I used to love it as a child. Vectors are very practical, for I like plain opaque shades and vectors give the work a more defined and solid look, whereas paintbrush or colouring by hand provides a more irregular touch, which is nice too.
Damon Albarn doodles ; Graham Coxon doodles
How long do you take to draw each piece ? It's so detailed!
Again that depends. Sometimes I get to draw some very quick sketches in less than an hour, and I am very satisfied with them. But I must say that happens rather seldom. I usually take ages for drawing. You know, when I'm in the mood and inspired, provided I have a record playing on the background, I can and will spend the day at my desk doodling away.
To draw a piece such as the posters I drew of Blur and Graham for Coffee & TV, Bonfires and so, I take around a week or so to get done with the pencil drawings alone, and colouring them must take some good three to five days in the very least as well. It usually takes several sketches for me to get to the one composition I find acceptable. For instance, for the drawing of Graham and Damon I drew three different versions for every small picture, till I got to one I actually liked!
Damon or Graham ?
Easy: Graham all the way! No doubt.
'Bonfires' (top); 'Love Travels' (bottom)
Your favourite Blur song and album ?
Hmm, that's a bit tricky...I can't pick only one favourite! That's cruel! But for a few, some of my most beloved tunes would be: Peach, Luminous, Inertia, Oily Water, Tender, You're So Great, She's So High, Bang, Mellow Song...Agh! Too many others to be fair!
Same for albums, can't name my one favourite. But my top three would be 13, the self-titled and Modern Life Is Rubbish, followed by Leisure!
Final words ?
Well, it's been a pleasure answering the questions for you! Thanks for contacting me and featuring my silly doodles! Cheers! Check out more of Julia Aurea Stein's fabulous Blur illustrations on her Flickr page (we can't get enough of this set) and on her Deviantart page.
