- How to set up an EP concept (Alone concept)
Hi, I’m going to be talking about setting up narratives/concepts behind albums/EPs/any collection of work. This is going to be based on my personal preference, so if you’re looking for a diagnostic for good art, this isn’t it, but it might help you if you’re stuck on a narrative issue.
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Intro:
When strangers are interacting with a piece of art/ media, they’re ultimately looking for something to latch onto. That information that they can latch onto is oftentimes an essential guide through something that could otherwise be chaotic. Part of the experience of art is to create a linear narrative/ story, whether that story is self imposed or imposed by the author/ creator. This could be the story told throughout a song, a reflection of the artist’s life, or even a song that helps to encompass a feeling that the reader/consumer has had in their own life.
Long story short; it’s about story, vibes, and details for the listeners to catch onto.
I used these elements to impart that narrative into some EP visuals that I’m helping put together for a band I’m in named jojo reed.
Here is an example of how I went and did a write up based on a conversation that Katie and I had about the EP.
Alone EP Concept Idea:
The Narrative:
The idea is that a character (a woman with an embroidered shirt) is embroidering a tarp that has the title of the EP on it.
The woman’s shirt is covered in embroidery that is the same color as the thread that is being used for the tarp. There will also be what looks like a tattoo on the backside of her wrist that is the same color as the thread.
The subtext of this is that the same creative instinct and practice that went into creating the tarp (the EP), is the same as the practice that embroidered the shirt (her). To take this a step further, she has created herself through this practice, and it implies stitching oneself together (graphically your own flesh), and taking the negative energy behind self mutilation and turning it into the creative, healthy and beautiful release of art.
Extra Ideas from Katie and Kai:
It would be cool if we could incorporate forget-me-nots into the artwork, and possibly a white stargazer lily.
There should also be lyric sheets that look as though they’ve been sown into a different part of the tarp. One should be baring right, one in the middle, and one to the left.
We talked about layering morbid details into the art, but we still want to keep the visuals fairly wholesome. So for every 1 morbid detail, we want 9 cute/wholesome things.
What Kai would like:
I would love to use mixed mediums, like having the alone text be lifted from someone who actually did it.
I would love to have Xana be a model for this, and use that photo as a reference.
Would love to layer some homages to philly through the tarps and extra space in the lyric sheets. This could be street signs, cafe titles, references to philly based people we’re fans of. I feel like this would be best if it was intentionally subtle, blurred out, and far in the background.
I would also love to include auditory references to those things.
Current rough:
*this character is just for the rough draft.
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I hope that showing you some of the work behind something I’m doing is helping you with you’re own pursuits. Always feel free to reach out.
Kai Kiernan 