The Oh! Gravity cover…it’s a curious, gripping piece of art.
It tells many stories.
Stories that only the creator could tell.
I was intrigued by the unusual and I decided to contact Joshua Levy, the artist, to get his stories, thoughts and ideas on his creation.
In an odd paradox (since I was barely involved in this interview…it was all Josh) this is probably the most personal interview I have ever done.
Enjoy.
Land of Broken Hearts (LOBH): Can you tell us a bit about the album cover history and art?
Joshua: I am currently an In-House Art Director and Illustrator for Columbia and Epic Records in New York City. I also work freelance if the project is right.
I’ve been making this style of ink drawings since around 1998. They are drawn up quite large on Acid Free Strathmore- most are 19×24″. The trick to these drawings is that they are not made with a pen or brush, but the ink droppers that come on small bottles of Higgins Ink.
For “Oh Gravity” they were scanned in and then collaged together in Photoshop along with portraits of the band that they oversaw. Album art is a lost art that I really believe needs to get back…so I worked late night hours to give the fans what they deserve. I can’t tell you how many albums I pick up and I’m like, “That’s it? Where’s all the art???” You know the story.
The whole cover gets unfolded as a poster…
The cover collage keeps going and it’s an overwhelmingly intense 6 cd panels.
A giant maze, it’ll give you something to look at throughout the entire album.
Unfortunately I can’t show you, you’ll have to wait for the album to come out – it’s just around the corner now! I can say it’s their best album to date.
The band really wanted a hand drawn natural feel to this cover but also wanted themselves to be on the cover.
I flew out to San Diego to meet the band in person and there we went through a number of styles and directions for the cover. Really nice out there in San Diego. We also discussed the upcoming photoshoot I directed with Jeremy Cowart, which was a blast. He’s a great photographer. I heard some early cuts in the studio and it just blew me away. It took about a month for us to decide to use the ink drawings and then I had to get it right. A lot of the imagery on the album are objects and symbols that I have used for sometime now… boats, birds, skulls, water, etc. These can sometimes be interpreted in a number of ways- such as the skulls may really be rocks on the beach getting kicked up by waves. A lot of objects, characters and creatures make up other objects and symbols when you start to really look at the big picture. It means that we are all one- the world is one together…How making a big mistake in life can trigger an instant-karmic avalanche, so keep it cool.
Life is a giant network, a coaster, and sometimes you just have to hang on and pray that it’s all going to be alright.
I usually do these drawings when confused or down & out.
The ink allows me to get out my frustrations, everyday pressures and the weight of the world. When starting these drawings, I’m not specifically saying to myself, “Now I’m going to draw this specifically”…it just comes out of me, naturally.
Kind of like Keith Richards and a guitar.
Not all the drawings are gold, I take a lot of chances… and I’d say more then half get thrown out. But, please don’t raid my garbage.
(There wasn’t much I could say after that. He pretty much answered everything I wanted to know. I did want to dig a bit deeper into the art, so I asked him the following questions:
LOBH: What was it like working with the guys?
Joshua: The guys were an absolute pleasure to work with. Really some of the best clients I’ve had. It’s nice when the work and people involved all click. Also, they have a good eye for changes – which helps a lot! They really helped make the piece better with their suggestions (most clients kill a nice piece of art).
LOBH: Where do you get your influences for your drawings?
Joshua: Good Music and Life
LOBH: What is the old man in the top right hand corner doing? We’ve all been discussing it and the general consensus seems to be that he is…um…”relieving himself”. Is that correct?
Joshua: Oh boy, glad we had this talk!!! Nope – the Doo-Dah Man takes a wrong turn!!!
He’s the guy who sings “the camptown races” song… on the way home from the track he steps into the wrong neighborhood, sort of a Candyland gone bad.
He’s actually jumping over the river, or a dam…the dam has sort of a carnival face painted on it.
There’s a dinosaur with a tambourine next to him shakin away…kind of like running through the evil forest in the wizard of oz. [In fact] the original drawing actually has a Tin Man on the bottom right corner.
LOBH: Why is the drawing of Jon crying?
Joshuah: Everyone is crying- letting out any pain or happiness. Crying is not necessarily a bad thing- also if no one was crying, what would that giant body of water be made out of?
There’s water throughout pouring down to the Ocean.
LOBH: There has been some confusion with the different faces on the album. I can tell who Jon and Tim are but I have a difficult time with the rest. Could you clear that up for me?
Joshua: Yes, the face confusion!
This will all clear up with the special glasses that come with the first printing of the disc…put on the glasses at the start of the album and the whole picture changes, clearing up who’s who- Just Kidding!
Jerome is up at the top getting hit by a wave next to the title.
Chad is between Jon (middle) and Tim who’s under the “Dirty Second Hands” and to the right of the hand trying to catch a serpent.
Drew is under the left wing of the giant bird and/or eye, just above Jon.
Things to look for: The bottom left “boy” with the Switchfoot bolt tattoo, represents the child, the dreamer- the whole cover is coming out of his mind.
This is no one specific.
Then there’s the big person on the right bottom- almost like when the ship hits the coast/cliff in “King Kong” and its kind of like a face carved in the cliff holding back the land and trees from the over-powering ocean- Maybe Mother Earth.
There’s a Magician, Windmills, a dinosaur playing the tamborine, and also… an appearance by the floating cloud-like “Spirit of Picasso” (made that up), who seems frightened by the Bird.
Jon is a big Picasso fan and requested this face be recreated for the cover.
The hand holding the boat up is a reference that everything will be safe and calm- everything is cool even though things might seem like a disaster. I have used these boats- up and down- depending on how my life is going at the time.
Right now things couldn’t be better so the boat is upright.
Sometimes I’ll have boats in every direction- means I’m confused and have no clue whether things are all good or not.
At the time of drawing up the cover, I had just got back from the shoot with the band, and honestly it’s a really good time for Switchfoot – they are in good spirits.
This is their time.
Awhile back, LOBH conducted a special interview with Joshua Levy, the designer of the Oh! Gravity album cover. We discussed the cover art, skulls on a beach, the Doo-Dah man, Jon’s love of Picasso and many more topics of interest. The interview went extremely well, and while I knew Joshua was designing the inside of the CD, I didn’t have any plans to interview him again.
But then Oh! Gravity arrived in the mail. WOW. The artwork that decorated the inside of the CD blew me away…it was intricate, imaginative, complex and thought-provoking. I knew I had to schedule another interview with Joshua right way to get (once again) the story behind the art. Joshua was kind enough to oblige and the following interview took place! Enjoy!
Land of Broken Hearts (LOBH): Thanks again for conducting yet another interview with us! Since our last interview, I took a look at all your ink drawings on your site and I noticed your ink drawing titled “Clan of the Waterwheel” was included in the album art. How much of the art was pre-existing work and how much was brand new?
Joshua Levy: Probably about 50/50- Originally the package was to be a digipak with a poster that slid out the side, but the label ended up taking it back to a jewel case. I had been illustrating the poster as if the cover art was twice the size and filled up the entire bottom with a fold in the middle…re-illustrating at the 11th hour forced me to use more pre-existing art than I had planned… but it ended up SOOOO much more intricate and a LOT more fun. You are actually getting more than double the amount of art.
LOBH: The artwork is SO complex… how long did it take you to draw?
Joshua: It seems like a lifetime ago already. The cover took the longest…the band was very specific on how they wanted to appear. After that it all came together quickly…I’d say about 2 weeks all together.
LOBH: The thing I like about the art is that I notice something new every time I look at it. Are there a few hidden things that you stuck in that we should look for?
Joshua: Ahhh, there is soo much in there…not sure what you see and what will take you a few days/weeks to see…Chinese Dragons, Mickey Mouse Soda Pop, lots of hidden lyrics or titles, Space Invader type aliens, Hawaiin skull rocks, surfers getting swallowed up by big fish…all that good stuff…I think you can really just use your imagination and things start to take shape!
LOBH: I can guarantee I’ll spend many an hour studying it! What is your favorite part of the artwork?
Joshua: My 3 favorite sections are repeated on the flipside-all of which was hand drawn in ink- that’s not a font kids!
A. The American Indian “Gravity” dream catcher, with sixties eyeball headband, chicks, and emotional elephant.
B. Big Fish swallows surfer, creates big wave and kicks up skull rocks onto the beach.
C. Bird in flight, eye of God, in a frame above my name.
LOBH: So actually HAND WROTE all the words? That’s not a font?
Joshua: Everything except the lyrics were all hand written in ink- it was a challenge cause they kept changing the credits!! Like 5 times…
LOBH: What was the Switchfoot guys reaction to your work?
Joshua: They have repeatedly said it is their favorite album art so far! Thanks guys! I am too having fun with it, finding hidden things I’ve long forgotten about.
LOBH: I know what you mean! I love it because you’ve got the CD to listen to and that’s great, but you also have the art that you can just spend hours looking at. It’s like a double feature! One of the portions of the artwork that really caught my eye was the whale that you mentioned above. What is the significance of that drawing?
Joshua: Ahh big fish mentioned above….just got back from Hawaii and started back into the album art, and that piece came to me…says that we’re not always in charge and bigger things in the world can have their way with us- you think you are riding the wave of life, so smooth and in tune… enough to make Kelley Slater jealous- and bam! the wave gets you and life takes an unexpected turn.
LOBH: I noticed you have included a lot of ladders and eyes in the art. What does that symbolize?
Joshua: Ladders all go back to Chutes and Ladders…the ups and downs of life. The eyeballs- well- they can mean a LOT of things- the governments watching Big Brother scenario- or maybe there is just so much to see in life that you really have to have eyes everywhere to soak it all in….or maybe the eyes represent all of your senses and intuitions….is that guy staring at me from behind my head…or maybe I’m the short kid on the block- like exotic animals that have the big eyes on their wings to scare away predators.
LOBH: I noticed all the song titles are worked into the art…does the rest of the artwork relate to parts in the songs?
Joshua: Everything that’s in there relates to the tunes in some way…it’s an entire universe in there and the album is life.
LOBH: What is one thing about the artwork (either the creation of or the artwork itself) that would surprise people?
Joshua: It is all done with ink on paper scanned in- and shrunk all the way down- the actual drawings are a lot bigger and then collaged together. At some point, if there is enough interest, I will have a showing of the unused art, as well as the pieces in their individual forms…most likely in NYC. If anyone is interested in buying the originals that make up the big collage please contact me through my website.
LOBH: What is something that you want people to take away from your artwork?
Joshua: I just want them to have some fun while they are listening to the record…escape the ordinary day and sit back and get lost in it all.
LOBH: And that is exactly what I plan on doing right now. Joshua thanks again for your time! I hope you have a great holiday!
Joshua: Have a good one and Happy New Year to the entire Switchfoot community!
Interested in checking out more of Joshua’s work? Click here! joshualevy.com