Behind The Artworks: MAYPINE – Bend/Break (2018)

Brighton quintet MAYPINE are set to unveil their forthcoming record, ‘Bend/Break’, via self-release, on 6 th July. They declare that although they previously played material in a pop-punk vein, it should be considered their debut release. The band recently unveiled the atmospheric first video single from the EP. 'Give’ can be seen here, showcasing a strong aesthetic which permeates the whole campaign. Now vocalist Jase is here to tell us about the visual choices they made for the EP’s cover and beyond... 

“Following the illustrative/colourful style of our debut EP ‘In The Back of My Mind’, we wanted our the artwork of our second EP ‘Bend/Break’ to capture the atmosphere of our new sound. We felt like artwork based in photography was the way to go about this, which was slightly unknown territory to us as we’d never used photography in any of our branding before.

We gathered together some references of artwork that we liked and we then realised we liked a simple colour palette and artwork that had an abstracted figure or portrait.

Becky’s girlfriend Lucy had previously taken photos of us for promotional purposes as well as live photos, and understood where we were coming from in terms of what we were after. After experimenting with some images that she recently took of Becky in California, she came to us with a range of images that we thought could really suit ‘Bend/Break’. The high contrast between the white and black two halves of the EP cover reflect the title ‘Bend/Break’ and the elements of hope verses the moments of disparity on the record. The abstracted figure in the centre gives a slightly more personal and intriguing element to the cover, even more so as it’s a band member.

Lucy was particularly inspired by Ansel Adams’ work after spending time in Yosemite in California and visiting the Ansel Adams’ gallery, particularly using black and white landscapes - this can be seen mostly in the artwork for our latest single ‘Weather’.

The artwork for the single ‘Give’ follows a similar theme - two contrasting halves of red and black along with an abstract portrait of Becky in the centre. We wanted the release of ‘Give’ to have a very strong red and black aesthetic and the single artwork that Lucy created reflected this.

To ensure a cohesive brand, the physical versions of the EP and vinyl follow the simplified red, white and black colour palette, as well as the inclusion of the artwork for ‘Give’ as the background of the lyric book.

We can’t wait for people to see the hard work and thought that’s been put in to the artwork for the EP and vinyl and we hope that our listeners like it!”