Behind The Artwork: Seven Stories High - Deadweight (2017)

“Deadweight is based on the Greek myth of King Midas, who is given the power to turn everything to gold with a touch, which then backfires when he turns his daughter into gold. Our adaption of this focuses on struggles of mental health,” declares Seven Stories High vocalist Rhys Hyett-Ferrier, speaking of their sophomore EP ‘Deadweight’. Sonically the band, who are influenced by State Champs, The Wonder Years and Four Year Strong, describe the release as “almost split in two – half follows a fast up-beat Pop Punk feel, which gets people dancing and jumping around. The other is heavier - fuller sounding and darker in feel, which you can chant and scream along to.” Yet, the EP flows as one piece of music, with each track written to fit the narrative, whilst being open enough to interpretation for listeners to make a personal connection. In support of the release, the band reveal how the artwork came together…

“We came up with the concept of writing the EP around the story of King Midas very early on. Once the four songs were finished and ready to record, we started to swap ideas about artwork. We started off with a rose, purely because of its visual appeal. This was hand-drawn by local artist, Sarah Davies (check out her art here: www.instagram.com/artsarahlouise). The plan was to edit the design to make it seem as if it was turning to gold. We eventually decided the rose was too arbitrary and didn't really relate to the EP but the piece inspired us to put more focus on how the EP looks and conveys the song themes through visual cues.

The next design was an image of a hand positioned as if it was dropping something. It was sketched by our friend Carys Jane Williams (you can find more from her here: www.instagram.com/carysdoodles). This went on to become the cover art for our single, APATHY (www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_U5BwJ58kU). We were really pleased with how powerfully the suggestion of release and conviction was conveyed simply by the positioning of the hand. In order to further push the King Midas narrative and tie the single into the EP, we made the hand gold and showcased it on a plain canvas. The artwork to APATHY really paved the way for the design of the final DEADWEIGHT EP cover. We knew fairly quickly that the crown would really tie everything together as well as being a striking image to stand alone on a plain canvas. We emailed several sketches back and forth until we had an image we were happy with. Working with the rose and hand designs before moving on to the crown allowed us to establish a style and direction prior to designing the crown. This meant that the design process was quick and purposeful.

Within the physical copies of the EP is a quote which encompasses the meaning of the artwork, but the only way to get your hands on that is to pick up a copy here: WWW.SEVENSTORIESHIGH.BANDCAMP.COM