The art for the new cover was born from the multiple interviews we did with various musicians around Venice. With each conversation, it became apparent that the intersection between art and music was distinct and unavoidable.
Music has inherent within it a visual component. Although the sound may enter your ears it is processed by your mind with visuals. It was this concept that drove the idea to create a piece of art that would somehow combine the visual with music.
I reached out to a friend and lyricist, Will Keane, who had recently visited Venice Beach from Ireland, and asked if he could write a song from a visitor's point of view. Once he sent me the lyrics for "Dogtown's the Place" Venice came into sharp focus for me. The musical component of this town has always been a fabulous gumbo pot of rock, blues, punk, surf, jazz and a whole lotta cayenne to spice it up. Of course, the lyrics could never capture all of that but they represent the spirit of the people.
With that in mind, I decided to render the energy of the creative community in an abstract way. The center of the painting is the spiritual vortex that so many believe exists within Venice. The vortex is the pulsing creative heart of our community. The lyrics overlay that, they are the surface or the outcome of our creativity. The lyrics represent what people see when they visit Venice – the by-product of our free expression.
And that... is called driving the concept.