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Steve Averill: U2's Joshua Tree is Still a Strong, Exciting, and Relevant Album

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Album art has always played an important role in how certain music was received. The best album covers are often as much a part of the whole work as the music itself. They are not only a marketing tool but an extension of artistic intent as well as they create a visual representation of the music i.e. it sets the stage for what the listeners would experience. Graphic designers have been creating works of art that obviously have transcended mere packaging. Every great album can be associated with an iconic identity. One of the most iconic album covers ever is U2's The Joshua Tree by graphic designer Steven Averill an album that this year is celebrating its 30th anniversary.

U2's long and illustrious career is characterized by enduring relationships either with the band's producers, musicians, the now former manager and with Steve Averill, the band's art director. Averill, not only gave the band its name, but he has helped forge the band's visual identity and aesthetics over the course of 35 years, starting from Boy up to Songs of Innocence after which he retired. His iconic covers set the visual tone for the ways U2 presented themselves with their records. For people who value the physical object of an album as much as the music inside the sleeve, Averill's work transformed the two pieces of glued cardboards into art objects.

30 years ago, the band released The Joshua Tree and it was U2's breakthrough into superstardom. It was a record full of great songs that were dense with political and religious subjects that were already present in the band's songwriting up to that point but in a different, deeper and more mature way. The songs were full of grace, subtlety, and beauty. And the record cover in a certain way reflected the newly found maturity and unspoken sentiments that were obvious in the music and the lyrics.

U2 are responsible for several genuinely iconic album covers but the Joshua Tree cover went to become one of the most iconic artworks in the history of popular music and the band and its entourage found the location by chance and the rest is history. The image of the tree was shot by another close associate of the band, photographer Anton Corbijn who traveled with them and Averill in December 1986 in search of the right spot for a photograph. Actually, it was Corbijn who had suggested the idea of the Joshua tree as a visual motif while venturing into the California desert. What they wanted to present was their experience of America and its contrasting sides—the clash between the desolation of the desert landscapes symbolizing the spiritual drought of the era and the idea of a nation of progress and oppression. The image of the Joshua Tree was a symbol of hope in a world in a turmoil.

30 years later, U2 will reissue an anniversary edition of this iconic album and will perform the album in its entirety this summer, and we spoke to Averill about his illustrious career as an art director and graphic designer for the band.

All About Jazz: Before you started working as a graphic designer, you sang in a punk band called The Radiators from Space. How has each experience of being in a band and a graphic designer informed your understanding of the other, music and visual arts?

Steve Averill: In truth I was a graphic designer long before I was in The Radiators from Space. The band had evolved from a glam rock band know as Greta Garbage and The Trash Cans. That was later followed by an electronic band called SM Corporation. I had created all the design elements for these bands. In truth, I had been working in an advertising agency since I was 19 and so my first actual album was for a charity album while working there. My outlook was always influenced by music and, to a degree, by the covers, posters and associated imagery from the music arena along with a myriad of other influences.

AAJ: What impact did punk have on you regarding visual arts and aesthetics?

SA: Punk was more of a confirmation of the DIY aspect of producing graphics. I had already in the 60's designed and produced a fanzine called Freep. So when the punk era arrived, which was really an extension of the hi-energy rock that had inspired me in the late 60s and early 70s. The MC5, the Velvet Underground, The Flamin' Groovies, The Stooges, early Alice Cooper, The Social Deviants, Pink Fairies as well as the harder UK 60s R'n' B bands. They were all part of that template. For instance, a band like the Deviants initially released their debut album themselves. They also had a political dimension to their music and attitude. So in 1977, I produced the first Irish punk fanzine called Raw Power, directly inspired by Sniffin' Glue. Later I became involved with the more substantial printed publication Heat. So the primary impact was the understanding that you had the means to do this yourself without the approval and authority of others.

AAJ: Is there an intersection where art and music meet?

SA: Certainly in terms of working with the music industry there is an obvious crossover. Though I would image that music inspired a lot of designers in many other areas other than those working directly on music related projects.

AAJ: How did you become interested in graphic design?

SA: I knew at the age of 12 that this was the area that I wanted to work in. When I graduated from Secondary School I found there were few outlets to develop that aspect. The National Art College told me that they taught fine art and sculpture not "commercial art." So I was advised to work in a printers. In the end, I worked for a year with a phototypesetting company. It had nothing to do with what I was interested in other than teaching me a little about typographical layout and proofreading. During this period I was lucky enough then to be offered a placement as junior in a top advertising agency. Over the next 20 years, I worked from that position to the creative director of an independent advertising agency. After that, the decision was made to set up a dedicated design consultancy where our main client base was within the entertainment sector.

AAJ:Who are some of the artists whose work you admired when you began with design?

SA: Without a doubt the humor and intelligence of Barney Bubbles were key. As was the work of 60's San Francisco graphic artist/illustrators like Rick Griffin, Mouse, and Kelly as well as London-based designers who were regularly produced strong covers for the likes of The Who, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones.

AAJ: How did you come to specialize in designing record sleeves?

SA: As mentioned above it was the area I most want to work in that combined a joint love of music and graphics. So the first serious involvement was in designing the sleeves for The Radiators from Space releases. This, in turn, led to working with U2 and a lot of the Irish bands of that time such as Something Happens, The Virgin Prunes, Cactus World News, The Hothouse Flowers, Aslan, An Emotional Fish, Clannad and later with bands like The Script.

AAJ: Please explain how you work with musicians to create album art and what direction do you seek from an artist in the process of creation?

SA: Each project usually has its own dynamic. Sometimes the brief is from a record label or management company. At other times the approach comes from the band or artist. It then depends on how literate the brief is. The best way is for a discussion to take place between the artist and the designer and for the artist to then give the designer the space to come up with a suitable solution. However, there can be many factors that can influence the outcome of such an interaction -specifically budget and timescale. You have to factor in how best to deliver a solution to a brief taking into account all the variables that can accompany an individual project. There have been occasions when the end result has been less that satisfactory for me when the direction of the design has been swayed because of external and subjective opinion.

AAJ: Which part of the design process do you enjoy the most?

SA: I enjoy the point where both the artist and designer can see something that they feel works which can often be very different from what the original intention was. Sometimes a concept just doesn't come together but sometimes another aspect of the process, the happy accident, can produce the desired visual result. I never decided about the typography or its placement until the cover image has been decided. It is then a case of carrying the theme through the rest of the design.

AAJ: You've been an integral part of the U2's visual identity from the band's earliest beginnings. One of the first tasks that your company Four5One Creative (and now renamed AMP Visuals) was the design of the album cover for U2's debut, Boy. How did your relationship with U2 begin?

SA: The initial contact was because of my involvement with The Radiators as mentioned above. It should be noted though that neither of the companies listed above were involved with the early U2 design projects. They were done by me in a freelance capacity. Both AMP Visual and Four 5 One came much later in the process. My brother was in the same year as Adam Clayton and he had told me that Adam was keen to talk to me about my involvement in the Radiators. Any discussion about getting involved with their graphics came later.

AAJ: Some bands decide they will stay the same visually and musically over the course of their entire careers while other bands consider their music will be more valued if they respond to changes both visually and musically. U2's music and visual identity basically have changed from record to record. So how did U2's artwork evolve over the years from your viewpoint?

SA: It was important for us that as the band was evolving as musicians and people that the graphics would also evolve. The way that the music had changed from, say, The Joshua Tree to Achtung Baby needed to be reflected in the graphic design. Hence the move from black and white to color photography. Anton was able to do a number of different session in different locations which gave us an amazing palate of imagery to work with when we started the Achtung Baby campaign.

AAJ: How integral is connecting with artists on a personal level as friends to your work?

SA: I don't think, for the most part, that you should ever consider the relationship as a friendship. It should always remain professional to allow for constructive criticism. You may, of course, have a friendship with a number of the artist on a personal level. On the occasion that friendships lasted longer that the professional side of a relationship.

AAJ: Please describe the process of working these people and how does an album cover get chosen and who makes the final decision?

SA: In the case of U2 in largely comes down to a combination of a select number of people that includes the band, management, photographer and ourselves. But, obviously, the band are the main decision makers. Since the Achtung Baby album, my colleague Shaughn McGrath was directly involved with the design process. That brought another perspective and set of opinion to the design. This helped to keep the process fresh from the design point of view.

AAJ: This year marks the 30th anniversary of The Joshua Tree album. Not only did you design the sleeves but you were there with the band at the photo session with Anton Corbijn on location in the desert that actually produced the iconic images. What can you tell me about the artwork that you created for this album?

SA: I was involved with a lot of the photo shoots with the band and that helped me to work closely with Anton Corbin. Anton always managed to get the best out of the band and there was a strong relationship based on respect between all of us involved in the album concepts. For The Joshua Tree, the working title was The Two Americas. The concept was to consider the real and mythical sides of America to find a place or space where these aspects could be seen to intertwine. From that the idea of visiting a 'ghost town' was one of the ideas that seemed to offer strong possibilities. To facilitate that a number of possible locations were considered and the abandoned town of Bodie in the Sierra Nevada Mountains was chosen. As was the Joshua Tree National Park, Death Valley, and Zabriskie Point. In the end, we didn't visit the former as instead when Anton spotted a lone Joshua tree, as they usual grew in groups, and it was decided to shoot there. The shots taken there were used on the inner sleeve and on the back cover.

AAJ: What is it about Anton Corbijn's photographs that the band regularly chooses both for the record sleeves or press photographs?

SA: He is perhaps the foremost music and portrait photographer and, from his days working for New Musical Express, was a person I wanted to work with so when the opportunity to suggest a photographer for the inside image on War came up he was my first choice. His imagery is both iconic and humanistic. This aspect of his work can also be seen in his photography for REM and Depeche Mode.

AAJ: What were you trying to achieve with the black and white photographs? To what extent did those photographs and design express the sentiments in the music?

SA: The end results amply underline both the creativity and empathy with the band's overall image and direction. Something that when viewed over a period of time and ably documents the way the particular band has grown and developed.

AAJ: How do you look back on the music on the album?

SA: It was and still is a strong, exciting and relevant album. The cover now seems to be perfectly in tune with its musical contents which was what we hoped would be the case when it was designed. A kind of mirror to the cinematic nature of the music.

AAJ: How did the success of the album and the widespread presence of the album's images influence the way you designed the band's post-Joshua work (and onward)?

SA: It didn't really influence the process as we knew we need to move on and continue to make the upcoming covers complement with the way the music might develop.

AAJ: What can you tell me about the Achtung Baby's artwork? On first glance, it seems like it was inspired by the Rolling Stones' Exile on Main Street collage.

SA: That there was so much new photography available from the various sessions that Anton had done with the band we soon decided that a single image, which Anton initially preferred, wasn't going to truly represent the change and diversity of the music.

AAJ: Of all the artwork that you have designed over the years, what are some of the personal highlights in your career?

SA: Well, that's always a hard one to answer but Boy, War, Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby all stand out as does the work I did with The Virgin Prunes and Gavin Friday and a number of other acts like Depeche Mode and Elvis Costello where I was either designer or art director.

AAJ: Is there a cover that you loved that never really resonated with the public?

SA: In some ways the first Radiators from Space EP that included "Television Screen" has become iconic but is not that well know, as neither was the band, by a wider public, especially outside of Ireland. Also, I liked the four different covers for separate territories designed for the Radiators album Trouble Pilgrim.

AAJ: The artwork with U2 was collected in a beautiful art book "Stealing Hearts at a Travelling Show" truly gives a front row seat to the band's visual history up to the first "Best of" compilation in 2000. Do you plan to expand the book at a foreseeable future to include all the great stuff that came afterward?

SA: At this point it is unlikely. That was done to coincide with an exhibition in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in Ohio. It was pretty costly to do and was self-produced. If a publisher came along and offered to fund a new expanded edition then that might be a different story.

AAJ: Do you think a U2 exhibition in the manner of David Bowie Is or the Stones and Pink Floyd exhibitions might be done?

SA: There has been a talk of that for some time and it may well happen at some time in the future.

AAJ: How do you see the album cover in today's digital world? Do you believe the evolution of digital music downloads is substantially impacting the perceived importance of album artwork?

SA: Even though the death of print has been predicted for the last 10 years or more we now have the resurgence of vinyl and even if you're releasing by download you still need a strong graphic to accompany that. Every act needs to have a strong identity, logo or image -so business as usual.

AAJ: After all these years, do you still get excited about graphic design?

SA: Absolutely, the joy of designing for music hasn't diminished even if the workload has to a certain degree. I try now to pick the ones I want to work on a bit more selectively now.

AAJ:What are your thoughts on the graphic design industry today and its current output?

SA: The creativity is still foremost and the opportunities to produce good work are wide and varied. Indeed, Shaughn has just designed the 30th edition of the Joshua Tree in several editions. These elaborate releases though tend to be for established artists with a proven back catalog and sales potential but the scope to produce relevant work is as great as ever and the DIY ethic is probably stronger than ever when the m means to market such the internet and vis downloading are pretty much open to everyone. That is both a good and a bad thing but makes for an interesting visual and musical marketplace.

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