I’ve always been inspired by Storm Thorgerson’s work, even before I knew who he was. I remember being a little kid and staring at Pink Floyd album covers, realizing that design was what I wanted to do. I saw Aztek’s album layout as an opportunity to inject a little of that influence into one of my own designs. Aztek is a large, intimidating figure and I wanted to convey that against the backdrop of religious imagery. The first thing I had to do was find the right chapel. Detroit has some of the most amazing churches in the Midwest and I spent a couple days narrowing down the ones we were going to shoot. After a day of shooting and sifting through photos I decided to run with the Sweetest Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church located at 4440 Russell st.
The artwork for Muse’s “Absolution” became the direct inspiration and starting point for the album. I wanted to take that concept and apply it to ‘Tek. My spin on it is taking the inherent Roman Catholic upbringing we experience as Mexican-American children and putting it on its head. My brothers and sisters were all baptized Catholic, as was I. They went through catechism and all the other religious rituals I somehow avoided. This image was my way of saying we are all on the same level as the church. In our music (Aztek and I) we address the silliness surrounding the whole charade of organized religion. I see this image as a direct confrontation with who and what we are “supposed” to be.
Muse-Absolution
You can follow Aztek on twitter: https://twitter.com/aztekthebarfly
His music can be purchased at: http://aztekthebarfly.bandcamp.com/
Also available for download/stream on Amazon, Itunes, Spotify, etc
Storm Thorgerson and church info:
