UnCovered: Australian Rockers THE FAIM Dissect Their “Saints of the Sinners” Single Artwork

Perth, Australia-based rock quartet, The Faim, are making waves with their quick upwards momentum. The band’s debut single “Saints of the Sinners” — which can be heard below and via most digital retailers — was co-written with Pete Wentz and produced by John Feldmann. The group also recently signed to BMG worldwide and has upcoming Spring UK shows with Lower Than Atlantis, plus a mini-trek across Australia and New Zealand with Sleeping With Sirens.

After hearing the song, and bassist/keyboardist Stephen Beerkens commenting on the single (“‘Saints Of The Sinners’ is about making your mark in the world, and not letting anyone stand in the way of where you want to be. It brings out the youth-fuelled rebellion of the voice in all of us that wants to be heard.”) we were curious to learn more about the track’s single artwork.

What was the inspiration for the single’s cover artwork?
Stephen Beerkens: The inspiration for the artwork derived from who we are as band, the style of our music, and our musical influences. Our aim was to combine all of these into something bold which catches the eye of those who see it.

Your new single cover is crazy-cool. Tell us about the artist and how you found him/her?
Beerkens: The designer was Taylor Bringuel (Vice President, Creative at BMG). We met together over a meal and discussed our vision for the band and the direction that we wanted to head in. Since then, we’ve been working together to create this vision for the band.

Did the artist who did the cover art hear the song beforehand? Or, what kind of input did you give him/her?
Beerkens: Yes, it certainly helped that Taylor had time to live with the song, and also know where the song sat stylistically in relation to the rest of our upcoming music. Some of the input that we gave was that we wanted the artwork to not only represent our single “Saints of the Sinners”, but also tie in with the rest of our music. It had to be a simple, but effective design to work alongside the diversity of our upcoming songs.

Have you ever purchased an album solely because of its album artwork? If yes, did the music live up to the artwork?
Beerkens: Artwork that stands out definitely draws your attention to the album, especially when there are so many different albums out there. I’ve never purchased an album solely based on the artwork, but the best of albums always have artwork which reflects the music in a strong, eye-catching way.

With the increasing popularity of digital music, most fans view artwork as just pixels on a screen. Why did you feel the artwork was important?
Beerkens: The artwork is so important as it’s the first thing the listener sees. Strong artwork can spark that initial interest in the listener, before they even press play on the song.

When people look at the single cover artwork, what do you want them to see/think?
Beerkens: When people look at the artwork, we want them to see the youthful side of the band through the burnt yellow colour, but also the mature artistic side of our music through the grey coloured swirls. We want the listener to be intrigued by what the sound of the single could be just by looking at the artwork.

Was the album art influenced by any of the themes explored on the band’s album?
Beerkens: Most definitely! Our upcoming music is so diverse in sound and isn’t constricted to a certain genre. This was a huge influence of the choice of colours in the artwork, the dissimilar colours representing the diversity of our sound.

How do you think the album art will affect the listener’s perception of your album?
Beerkens: We hope that the artwork will add a new layer to the way people perceive the song. It’s another ingredient that, when combined with the music, can create a whole new outlook on the song.

Watch the band’s music video for their “Saints of the Sinners” single here.

We were also afforded some time with BMG’s Creative VP, Taylor Bringuel (who designed the artwork) to answer some additional questions about the cover’s creation process.

Help us understand the creative process. How did you first envision the single cover concept?
Taylor: It was very collaborative. The band and I met while they were in LA to discuss the project and the themes they wanted to convey visually through their artwork. We started by talking about color, tone, textures and how we wanted the design to be bold enough to match the intensity of the song. The final artwork that made the cut was the very first concept I laid out for them. We all fell in love with it instantly and thought it was a perfect fit for the song.

What were the mediums used, how long did it take, and how did you get to the final concept?
Taylor: The artwork was created primarily in Photoshop and Illustrator and only took about 4 hours from start to finish. I think it came together so easily because we were all on the same page and had the same vision for the project. I did mock up two alternate designs that you may see on future releases.

Any fun stories during the cover’s creation? Any versions that were canned in favour of the final?
Taylor: The way we ended up with the gold theme is kind of a funny story. We were trying to decide on a color that fit the band and their personalities. We knew we wanted a color that could be used throughout all future artwork and would ultimately end up being synonymous with the band. While we were eating, I noticed Josh Raven (lead vocals) staring into a candle on the table and all of a sudden we all just looked up and yelled “GOLD.” That’s when we knew we had our color.