Leif Podhajsky

LEIF

BY BIMO D. PRAKOSO

THE MAN BEHIND THE COVER

PODHAJSKY

THE MAN BEHIND THE COVER

Published by Tuttle Publishing, an imprint of Periplus Editions (HK) Ltd, with editorial offices at 364 Innovation Drive, North Clarendon, Vermont 05759, USA, and 61 Tai Seng Avenue #02-12, Singapore 534167.

Text by Bimo Dwianugrah Photograps are taken from the website Library of Congress Control Number 00112233 Design: Bimo Dwianugrah Prakoso Printed in Jakarta

THE MAN BEHIND THE COVER

Leif Podhajsky

INTRODUCTION

01 - 02

THE MAN BEHIND THE COVER

03 - 04

SPECTRAL EXPLANATION

05 - 06

INTERVIEW - (FALL/WINTER 2013)

TA BLE OF C ON TEN TS

27 - 28

TAME IMPALA’S ALBUMS COVER

09 - 16

CLOUD CONTROL’S ALBUM COVER

17 - 20

LYKKE LI’S ALBUM COVER

21 - 24

LEIF PODHAJSKY INTRODUCTION

R

oaming through the recurring visual themes of alternate realities, organic symmetry, and the forces of nature, Berlin-based artist Leif Podhajsky’s works are an illustrative attempt to connect the viewer to a wider matter at hand. “I create work that explores themes of connectedness, the relevance of nature, spectral and the psychedelic or altered experience,” he explains. “By utilising these subjects I am attempting to coerce the viewer into a realignment with themselves and their surroundings.”

Having created cover art for releases from ethereal songstress Lykke Li to Australian lo-fi band Tame Impala and the Warp Records label, Podhajsky has always had strong ties to musicians, insisting that the influence of music has become an integral part of his working process. Besides curating a heavily surrealist blog in his own time entitled Visual Melt, Podhajsky is now set to embark on sculptural pieces and more motion-based work.

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THE MAN BEHIND THE COVER

L

eif Podhajsky’s instantly recognisable album artwork has become a beacon of success for the likes of Lykke Li, Tame Impala and new breakthroughs Young Magic. His artwork has been propped up on desks by ‘Late Night’ hosts Fallon and Letterman.

His success, his Midas touch is rare in the industry; Leif himself has a hard time explaining it.

“I don’t really know” says Podhajsky of the secret to his success “I think my work speaks to people on a deeper level without them knowing it. The concepts I explore like love, fear, and magic, the relevance of nature, balance and connectedness are universal to all humans and I believe we have lost touch with a lot of these in our modern lives. We’re all secretly searching for answers to true happiness and contentment.”

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His kaleidoscopic, psychedelic artwork seems at once to reference a time long since passed and yet is utterly modern. It’s a style that clearly borrows influence from the more analogue decades without being derivative, much like many of the musicians his artwork supports.

But it’s a style which only emerged after serious introspection: “There was a real juncture in my life when my style started to en-root. I was working a crappy job as a web designer. I had had enough. I quit and started my own design studio. It gave my brain and heart room to breathe from the pressures of ordinary social obligation. I just kept developing my own personal style and eventually just let it wash over me” he says.

His dedication to the form is far more than an ode to the 70s. In fact, thematical-

ly his use of pattern, recursion, symmetry and repetition seems to have led him to a similar aesthetic conclusion completely independently.

“These elements offer balance, love and an array of ancient knowledge which is lurking just outside of what we call reality” he describes, “I’ve had moments where I have felt a part of every living thing that exists and that’s ever existed, experienced such clarity and beauty that it shatters what you thought was possible. This is what I use to shape my work, trying to hang on and remember these sorts of moments.”

Being drawn naturally to the music means that the design process comes much more organically: “Ideally I like to spend a lot of time with the music working out a story and concept which I can capture the whole albums feel and flow.” says Leif on the creative process “I think that’s the hardest part, creating one image which encompasses an entire album of story and emotion. The visual sense plays a significant role in how we judge and assess things in this clutter filled world. So no matter if it’s physical or digital, an image will tell the viewer something about what the band stands for, what the music will feel like. It’s an idea, an ethos, a visual identity for musical journeys.”

These elements offer balance, love and an array of ancient knowledge which is lurking just outside of what we call reality.

Despite being a self-confessed purist, there’s still hope - still a need for good album artwork - whether that consists of pixels or ink, large or small, he concludes: “creating art (whether it be music or visual) which has essence and makes us think is key, not just to selling records but shaping a world in which we want to live.”

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Stratus Fog Series, Mixed Media, 2012

SPECTRAL Unsaturated colors such as pink, or purple variations such as magenta, are absent.

EXPLANATION

S

pectrum is a condition or value that is not limited to a specific set of values but can vary infinitely within a continum. The visible spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to, can be detected by, the human eye.

The spectrum does not, however, contain all the colors that the human eyes and brain can distinguish. Unsaturated colors such as pink, or purple variations such as magenta, are absent, for example, because they can be made only by a mix of multiple wavelengths.

Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelength is called visible light or simply light. A typical human eye will respond to wavelengths from about 390 to 750 nm.

In terms of frequency, this corresponds to a band in the vicinity of 400-790 THz. A light-adapted eye generally has its maximum sensitivity at around 555 nm 540 THz. In the green region of the optical spectrum.

Visible wavelengths pass through the “optical window”, the region of the electromagnetic spectrum which allows wavelengths to pass largely unattenuated through the Earth’s atmosphere. An example of this phenomenon is that clean air scatters blue light more that red wavelengths, and so the midday sky appears light or dark blue.

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ALBUMS

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TAME IMPALA

INNERSPEAKER

• T HE M A N B E H I N D TH E C OV ER

I NNERS P EAKER

TAME IMPALA

It Is Not Meant To Be 5:21 Desire Be Desire Go

4:26 Alter Ego

4:48 Lucidity 4:31 Why Won’t You Make Up Your Mind 3:19 Solitude Is Bliss 3:56 Island Walking 3:04 Jeremy’s Storm 5:29 Expectation 6:02 The Bold Arrow Of Time 3:48 Runway, Houses, City, Clouds 7:15 I Don’t Really Mind 3:48

A1

IND/AUS/UK

ABOUT THE ALBUM

I nnerspeaker features an image of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina, United States.

The original image has been digitally altered using the Droste effect in recursion to make it appear as if the image continues into itself, creating a distinctly psychedelic feeling reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s album cover for Ummagumma.

The album cover for Innerspeaker was nominated for an ARIA Award in 2010 for Best Cover Art. “I think it’s pretty important that you have the right image for people to associate with the sound. Especially the colours. With the Innerspeaker cover we worked with a graphic artist for a long time to get the right shapes and colours, t” Said Kevin Parker, the vocalist of Tame Impala.

...and Leif Podhajsky is an artist we found who has an amazing eye for weird cosmic art.

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TAME IM

LONE

MPALA

ERISM

ABOUT THE ALBUM

The image for Lonerism was personally

taken by Kevin Parker with a Diana F camera and edited by Podhajsky. Lonerism features a vintage image of the Jardin du Luxembourg in Paris, France. This image ties into the themes of isolation of Lonerism with a metal gate separating the viewer from the people in the Gardens. The red splotch in the corner of the image was actually an error caused by Parker incorrectly winding the film.

The meaning behind the image was also lost on some people, which Parker went into detail and “I didn’t know whether people were going to get what the picture was getting at.

Which was great in the end because I love that people can look at that picture and just see a picture of some people and think, “What’s the big deal?”, and some people can see the meaning; the separation of the person looking through the fence.”

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• T HE M A N B EH I N D TH E C OV ER

L ONERI S M

TAME IMPALA

Be Above It 3:22 Endors Toi

3:07 Apocalypse Dreams 5:57 Mind Mischief 4:32 Music To Walk Home By 5:12 Why Won’t They Talk To Me 4:46 Feels Like We Only Go Backwards 3:13 Keep On Lying 5:55 Elephant 3:33 She Just Won’t Believe Me 0:57 Nothing That Has...

6:01 Sun’s Coming Up (Lambingtons) 5:20

A2

IND/AUS/UK

ABOUT THE ALBUM The story behind Dream Cave’s title is surprisingly straightforward: a cave in the English countryside was where Cloud Control put the dreamy title track to tape. It’s a strange and wonderful psych-pop journey with memorable songwriting, soaring hooks and expansive instrumentation.

It’s also an exercise in introspection that sees vocalist Alister Wright dissecting his darker side - “I could beat myself down/ You don’t need to bother”, he sings on hymnal lead single ‘Dojo Rising’.

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• T HE M A N B E H I N D T H E C OV ER

DREAMC AVE

Scream Rave 1:48 Dojo Rising

4:20 Promises

3:23 Moonrabbit 3:43 Island Living 3:35 The Smoke, The Feeling 4:35 Scar 3:43 Happy Birthday 3:09 Ice Age Heatwave 4:00 Tombstone 6:05 Dream Cave 6:08

A3

IND/AUS/UK

K Y L E K I L

L Y K K E I L

• T HE M A N B E H I N D TH E C OV ER

LY K K E

WOU NDED RHYMES

L I

Youth Knows No Pain 2:51 I Follow Rivers 3:22 Love Out Of Lust 4:44 Unrequited Love 3:12 Get Some 3:22 Rich Kids Blues 3:04 Sadness Is A Blessing 4:01 I Know Places 4:30 Jerome 3:15 Silent My Song 5:25

A4

IND/AUS/UK

ABOUT THE ALBUM Monochrome, atmospheric and sparse, it neatly echoed the shift in her music. It makes a significant contribution to the user’s understanding of the article, which could not practically be conveyed by words alone. The image is placed in the infobox at the top of the article discussing the work, to show the primary visual image associated with the work, and to help the user quickly identify the work and know they have found what they are looking for. Use for this purpose does not compete with the purposes of the original artwork, namely the artist’s providing graphic design services to music concerns and in turn marketing music to the public. The artwork recently got best new album sleave in NME magazine.

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INTERVIEW

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to help each other. It’s about connecting with each other — focusing on humanistic elements — rather than power, money and greed.

Q & A

Leif Podhajsky With Sabrina Y. Smith New York

1. If you could collaborate creatively with anyone, who would it be? God. 2. What is your message through creation?

It’s about exploring and expressing myself — trying to come up with the answers to the world and trying to convey those messages in the best way possible. Through encompassing myself, I can encompass a lot of other universal themes — love, fear, fitting into this world — trying to make sense of it all. I feel like we’re really far from where we should be as a species. When I create, it’s an attempt to find ways for myself and maybe for others, too. I don’t have all the answers but the will to explore them.

3. What direction do you think we — humanity — should be taking? We should get more in touch with nature. There needs to be more emphasis on people and less on larger entities such as government, corporations, etc. Step back and recognize that we are all the same, and it is in our own benefit

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4. One of your biggest inspirations is nature, yet you choose to live in London — one of the most unnatural and chaotic environments. Why? It’s testing myself. If you come to the place that’s the most fucked up, you have a chance to change that in some way or experience the other side of it, which gives you a perspective on a larger spectrum of things. I like the feeling of being caught up in it all — experiencing different situations and knowing the unexpected, whether good or bad, can happen at any time.

5. Where is your most inspirational place?

Within myself. It’s not a geographical place, it’s a state of being. When you’re happy inside yourself, it doesn’t matter where you are. I also love to go back to the place where I grew up in Byron Bay (Australia) — it’s the most beautiful, isolated and complete place.

6. How did you transition from tangible mediums to digital work? I always loved computers. I remember playing computer games and being so mesmerized by them — it’s some form of escapism. I did graphic design, which led the way to what I’m doing now. I feel that there is so much to still explore in the digital world. It’s a relatively new medium that hasn’t fully been tapped into; it’s still in the developing phase. The balance between graphic design and art is becoming smaller and smaller… I think about it like electronic music when it first came out and people didn’t know what to think of it and how to label it: not playing instruments, but just controlling machines — is it really music? Now, 20 years later,

electronic music is totally integrated into the whole of the music world and society.

Digital art is similar in that way — it’s a new form of expression, still figuring its own definition.

7. What is the first step in your creative process? I usually start with a concept, then forget about it, then come back to it and experiment. If it’s for a musician/record label, listening to the music is a big part of it, talking to the artist and getting their ideas and take on it. Then go back, play, experiment. The magic happens when I’m not thinking about it so much. I clear my mind as much as possible, let it flow and throw things together — it’s the best way to get it out of its shell and into the world.

and just finished album artwork for FOALS, BONOBO and Cloud Control. And lastly, continuing work on a range of silk scarves I will be releasing.

11. What is your definition of success? I’m still trying to work out what it means for me, but I think it’s about feeling happy and content — excited and inspired about what you’re doing.

12. The one thing you can’t do without?

Love. It keeps us going. When there’s nothing else, but there is that — feeling love, whatever form that may be — and everything is fucking amazing.

13. What would you imagine your last words to be? (Silence)

8. How do you know when a piece is done?

I get to a point where composition is nearly done. The last phase for me is always adjusting the color, which in turn guides me to a new composition. When I’ve found the perfect balance between the two, then I know it’s finished. And then I move on.

9. Do you have a favorite work? Which one?

It’s always changing, but I still think the Tame Impala Innerspeaker album cover is one of my favorites. It took me in a totally new direction with my work, and, in many ways, it started my career in the album artwork world. People strongly responded — and still do — to it. It was also the most difficult piece I had ever done; it pushed me to my limits and so, in that sense, is a pivotal work.

10. What are you working on right now? Any exciting future projects? I just finished some designs for Nike. It’s quite different from what I usually do, yet the work definitely still holds my flavor. I also wrapped up a music video for UK-band Mount Kimbie

It’s about exploring and expressing myself and trying to come up with the answers to the world and trying to convey those messages in the best way possible.

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Leif Podhajsky is a Melbourne based creative director and artist. His work shows a a fresh approach to the psychedelic mind and preconceptions of these altered experiences.

2012 XL RECORDINGS LTD LC: 05667 ONE CODRINGTON MEWS LONDON W11 2EH THE MAN BEHIND THE COVER - LEIF PODHAJSKY BOOK WWW.LEIFPODHAJSKY.COM WWW.XLRECORDINGS.COM

Leif combines a perfect infusion of photography, art and post process manipulation.