Brian and his company Microdot have orchestrated huge photo shoots, everything you see on a microdot sleeve is real, its not pasted, its not photoshop'd, That in itself is reason to revisit his work. With creative budgets in decline, record companies going bust, no physical product released, digital technology making us work cheaper, faster and some times with less imagination...
Brian's record sleeves and CD's produced for the likes of Oasis and The Verve are included in the top 100 sleeves of all time.
 Is there a sense that you worked in a golden age for British Music.
 The nineties was an amazing time to be involved with the bands I worked with, as for golden age, I don’t know about that, half a dozen or so good bands doesn’t constitute a golden age, but it certainly was good fun.
Best decade for music and the best year ever ? (and why ?)
I think both the sixties and seventies were incredible decades for music. As a massive fan of both The Beatles and Sex Pistols I suppose I’m bound to say that, but there was so much good music during that period that it was self perpetuating, bands were feeding off each other – a lot of inspirational music is bound to have an effect. As for a particular year, I’d have to go for 1977, the punk explosion had a nuclear effect on not only music, but the way the industry worked.
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Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke is warning the music industry is on the brink of collapse, insisting young musicians should resist signing record deals because the major labels will "completely fold" within months. What do you think the future music industry is. ?
I’m sure Thom Yorke knows a lot more than me when it comes to the workings of the music industry, but I would be amazed if the major label system is defunct by the end of the year! Having said that the future undoubtedly lies with independent labels, bands releasing their own material and so on.
The majors have become dinosaurs, I don’t think they are about to become extinct, but they're over staffed and out of touch.
The digital revolution means communication is easier and quicker than ever, that coupled with the fact the recording process is infinitely cheaper and faster than say even 15 years ago bands don’t need a company that pays them poor royalties for their end of the bargain. The real danger bands face is lack of sales for music, whether signed to a major or releasing independently, file sharing and illegal downloads mean there simply isn’t the revenue there once was.
If you could have worked with any artists any time who would that have been ?
The Beatles, not only because I think they were amazing, but because of how prolific they were – they released 13 albums in 7 years, that is truly astonishing, especially when you look at the quality of the songs. Doing two album sleeves a year for a band who were massive all over the world would have been something else.
Have you ever turned down working with a band and why ?
A few times yes, I’ll not get into which bands they were, but sometimes there just isn’t any point an agency like Microdot working with certain bands because it would do neither party any good. I find it difficult to produce work I would be prepared to put my name to if I’m just not into the project.
Would you ever go back into artist management or set up a label ?
Band management is something I can live without, there are plans in place, however, for a Microdot record label, more details will be released soon.
Whats your top 5 sleeve designs ?
In no particular order...
Pink Floyd, Ummagumma. Sex Pistols, Never Mind The Bollocks. 10CC, How Dare You. Verve, A Storm In Heaven. Led Zep IV.
Best singer Liam or Richard ?
Tough question to answer, they are totally different but both brilliant. Oasis and The Verve were doing different things musically and I think each front man was perfect for their own band. Oasis without Liam singing is just unimaginable; likewise The Verve without Captain Rock just wouldn’t have made sense.
The rock n roll lifestyle has its excesses, can you tell us your No.1 rock n roll excess. (we know you dropped a rolls Royce in a swimming pool )
Back in the nineties it did get pretty wild at times, but I never viewed it as rock n roll excess, we were all on a rollercoaster just having a laugh. I sometimes think back and wonder how we ever got anything done, but the body of work we produced still stands the test of time so we couldn’t have been that hammered.
What 3 things do you think it takes to be a success ( in any walk of life )
I think you have to have a basic level of natural talent, an unswerving degree of self belief and you have to be prepared to work very hard – especially in a field as competitive as the arts.
How has the digital age effected what you do ?
It’s undoubtedly made the whole process faster, even when working on Oasis projects only 15 years ago we would have to have film from photo shoots processed, then printed, then scanned, then put together artwork, then have it couriered all over the world, a job that took three days can now be done in three hours. The creative element still remains the same, computers and digital cameras are after all just tools.
Has there been a time when you’ve been star struck ?
I wouldn’t say star struck, but I once photographed John McEnroe in his art gallery in New York and that was pretty amazing, equally meeting Johnny Cash in his dressing room at The Royal Albert Hall in 1997 was an experience I’ll never forget.
What advice would you give to the 17 yrd old Brian Cannon.
I wouldn’t change a thing from what actually happened, there’s no point looking back and having regrets, not that I regret anything anyway. Considering I was totally naive and didn’t have a clue what I was doing I think it all went pretty much to plan!
What does the future hold for Brian Cannon and Microdot ?
I want to continue working with bands and music projects I believe in, not only on an artwork level, but developing new talent via the proposed Microdot Recordings imprint. I’m also interested in widening the net and getting involved in non music projects if the brief is relevant to Microdot’s style and outlook.
2010 marks the 20th anniversary of the foundation of Microdot and I’ve put together an archive website showing some work highlights from the past two decades, I’d like to think in 2030 we’ll be celebrating another 20 years worth of great work.
1990 – 2010. Creating For 20 Years
www.microdotcreative.co.uk
brian@microdotcreative.co.uk
Story designed and edited by Craig Nelson: |
