Balance, Technology September 7, 2011

The Playlist: Graphic Designer & Art Photographer Paul Vanzella

Paul Vanzella—the multitalented designer, photographer, owner of Vanzella Graphic Design and co-founder of RedBubble—is clearly a busy man. Nevertheless, he’s agreed to create a very-chill new mix to help our Playlist series shift into autumn with ease. So grab your earphones and sit a spell to find a little inspiration all the way from his warehouse studio (below) in Melbourne, Australia.

What do you listen to while you work? Mainly ambient music—Brian Eno, Phillip Glass—sounds that permeate the atmosphere subliminally and operate sympathetically with the visuals I am working on. And also, if the mood shifts, I go to 50s and 60s orchestra music—love early Miles Davis, Julie London! And then, on the flip side, I can do Joy Division and The Smiths even.

How do you listen? I have a cool Bose system hooked up to my Mac. I love being in full control of the playlist and being able to change up the mood with quick clicks of the mouse.

Do you have any favorite music providers? Grooveshark, or even just the Ambient stations through iTunes.

Does music influence your work? Totally. For example, I shot “Twin Engines” in Arizona and worked on the image later in my studio back home in Melbourne. I was listening to Lisa Gerrard–the exact track was “Space Weaver” from her Silver Tree album. Her haunting, minimal sounds, almost like wind and voice sounding as one, resonated with the image—where I imagined the twin jet engines being some amazing speaker concoction/design and the sound projecting both quietly and formidably from the point of the engines.

Where do you find music recommendations? Lately, my colleague Lindsay Blamey (also an artist) recommends and finds a bit of music we both enjoy. 3RRR, a community radio station here in Melbourne, is a good source. Also, the lead guitarist in my band “The Greasy Hawaiians” is a great source of new music from soul to surf instrumentals and jazz, anything pre-1965 is usually on the cards.

If your work was a song or a musician, what or who would it be? I had to pin it down, it would be Brian Eno. Take “Thursday Afternoon,” for example—an amazing one-hour-and-5-second track that just takes you on an almost silent journey of sparse piano and washes of solid synth notes shifting from side to side. I think this piece answers your question perfectly. This is where sound and vision become one for me…almost to the point you are drawn into the image through sound in your head—the image speaks musical notation to me, especially the very clear light poles which almost emulate time signature. Here the music moves in and out of the landscape for me, touching each element along the way….

PAUL’S PLAYLIST

Giù la testa (Sucker’s Finale) (Lullaby for James Coburn), Temporary Soundmuseum

Family Song, Underground Family

Solar, Thunderball

Aisha’s Dream, Spacial

Alibaba, Karunesh

Albatros, Koehnke/Heimermann

God Is a DJ, Faithless

One Step Too Far, Faithless

All (Remix), Mint

Exploration, Bruno Coulais

Jeanne (Featuring Francoise Har), Air