(2025) A while ago, the band “The Depression Club”, along with our mutual friend Thomas Franke, reached out to me. They were working on a new record and wanted me to create the artwork for the cover and inner sleeve, in collaboration with Thomas (a top photographer). I was open to this collab, as long as I could genuinely connect with their new music.
Turned out the music was great. Honestly, I’d listen to it even if I didn’t know the guys personally. And once I took in the full story the album tells, I was genuinely excited. I felt it. Each of the ten songs is a chapter of the overall story, and I loved the story. So yeah, let’s go!
I decided to create ten masks, each one corresponding to one of the ten tracks. That was quite a task, but totally worth it. After that, Thomas and I built a set representing the fictional Depression Club, complete with props and extras. Then it was Thomas’ turn, he shot ten photographs and merged them into a single image (mad skills). We had that image printed, and I painted over it.
The final result? The image you see when opening the record sleeve tells the full story of the album, from left to right, through ten connected scenes.
All in all, it was a great collaboration and the result speaks for itself. Thomas and I are proud of it, and, despite their name, the band is really happy with it. I’ve been truly depressed in the past, and still sometimes feel a bit heavy-hearted now and then. But what a blessing it is to be able to do this with my life. Blessed. ❤️
PS: So what’s “the story” actually about? Well, you’ll just have to go listen to the album. Spin it on Spotify, or even better, buy it from the band. You can do this on their Instagrampage.
With love,
STHOM
