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In a future live-music dystopia, everything you need to know about rock shows will be transmitted directly into your skull by way of a wireless cerebral widget, conceived by the ghost of Steve Jobs and bankrolled by LiveNation. Until then, the world has plenty to gain from gig posters—not only basic details about your favorite band’s upcoming show, but also a creative piece of standalone art that can complement or spin your impression of that band in unexpected directions.

As it happens, the Twin Cities are lousy with super-talented poster artists, many of whom are featured in the new book Gig Posters Volume 1: Rock Show Art Of The 21st Century, an oversized paperback tribute to the form. From tender indie strummers to audacious metal acts and everything in between, the book’s posters illuminate how the sometimes-staid connection between a band and its promotional identity is always ripe for interpretation, if not outright subversion. (Case in point: Amy Jo’s minimalist yet utterly sexy Detroit Cobras poster.) It’s also shitloads more entertaining than the average Ansel Adams coffee-table compendium.

Decider talked with some of the local Gig Posters artists, cribbing a few trade secrets while allowing them to plug their favorite clients. (They'll be available for further grilling at a special release party and poster sale at Magers & Quinn on June 14.)

Steve Tenebrini, Squad19
Preferred medium/tools: screenprinting, "whatever works"
Favorite rock client: "Cheap Trick. I've been a fan for a long time—since, like, 1985—so it was an honor to get to do something for them."
What makes a great gig poster: "They not only do their job as an advertisement for the event by grabbing my attention and delivering the proper information, but they succeed as standalone art. I've been turned on to many bands because of a gig poster."
 

David Witt, DWITT
Preferred medium/tools: hand-drawn ink on paper
Favorite rock client: "Ben Weaver has been a steady and enjoyable client for me. We approach each poster as a collaboration. He gives me some words to work with, and I get to take those words and do whatever I feel works."
What makes a great gig poster: "For me it has to be stopping power. The overall design has to be interesting enough for your eye to stop on it long enough for you to read the info. Bold and strong imagery works best, and the simpler the better. ... A great poster is one that looks exactly like the music sounds."

Adam Turman, AdamTurman.com
Preferred medium/tools: brush and ink, screenprinting
Favorite rock client: "One that stands out is Mydols from Detroit. Every poster I've done for them has been seamless in the process of a working relationship. I make a sketch, they say 'great' and we go to final and they are super-happy."
What makes a great gig poster: "A great poster is one that communicates the tone or mood of the band's music instantly...and anything with boobs on it."

Dale Flattum a.k.a. Tooth, Ramen Royale
Preferred medium/tools: scissors, computers, trash, scanners, glue-sticks, mental glue-sticks, moldy magazines, movies, cameras, Scotch tape, garbage disposals, Xerox machines, broken junk, Sharpies, optimism, caffeine
Favorite rock client: "Probably the Melvins, because I get to make big, dumb, goofy, ugly things and they seem to like them."
What makes a great gig poster: "It should confuse some people, anger some people, make a few people laugh, and hopefully remind anyone who's interested that a band is playing."



Michael Byzewski, Aesthetic Apparatus
Preferred medium/tools: horse guts, screenprinting, ghost tickling
Favorite rock client: "Too many to name a favorite. Let's just say 'the band that really liked the poster and was incredibly nice to us.'"
What makes a great gig poster: “Communicative plus visceral equals a great gig poster.”

Amy Jo, Who Made Who
Preferred medium/tools: collage, screenprinting
Favorite rock client: "Buffalo Killers—they are extraordinary musicians and great people."
What makes a great gig poster: "Danceability."






 

Mike Davis & Wes Winship, Burlesque Of North America
Preferred medium/tools: screenprinting
Favorite rock client: “Arcade Fire, ’cause they let us play basketball with them backstage at their shows.”
What makes a great gig poster: “Avoiding making it look like a gig poster. We never want to pigeonhole ourselves as ‘gig poster artists’ or get stuck in a rut of using the same images in the same layout with the same color schemes. It just gets boring.”"