Mercury Prize concept artwork

The Mercury Prize is a music award held in London, and awards an album from British musicians each year. The awards are a great way to spotlight rising talent, often recognising musicians outside the mainstream. I was interested in the creative process that went into the Mercury Prize albums – the hard graft of creating the music – and the relationship that these creators had with their music. What I wanted to spotlight was the personal and raw process of creating music, i.e. the way it feels to draw out a song gradually, scratching out chords and lyrics in your bedroom, rather than amplified in the glory of recognition at the awards. I created a series of concept illustrations, using interview transcripts, to explore this idea. Each illustration is based on a quote from an unsigned or recently signed musician, including Elias Bender Rønnenfe (of Iceage) and Mikaela Straus (a.k.a. King Princess).