Aaron Tanner

Last updated
Aaron Tanner
Born1976 (age 48–49)
Evansville, Indiana, United States
Known for Graphic design
Notable worksee Bibliography
Website www.aarontanner.com

Aaron Tanner is an American graphic designer, author, archivist, and musician who creates coffee table books on underground bands and artists. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Career

Raised in the Midwest, Tanner drew inspiration from everyday visuals including the logos on railroad cars, matchbook advertisements, and other regional imagery. His design work gained recognition within the underground music scene, leading to him becoming Ween's resident designer in 2002, a role he has held for more than two decades. [4]

In 2014, while compiling a book on the Pixies, Tanner discovered that the visual archives of many underground bands had not been formally published. He subsequently founded Melodic Virtue, an independent publisher “dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacies of underground bands through limited-run coffee table books.” [5] Through Melodic Virtue, he has curated and released visual histories featuring rare photographs, artwork, and memorabilia. [1] [2] [6] His publications include books on The Residents, Butthole Surfers, Ministry, Face to Face, and Cardiacs. [3] [7]

Tanner was a founding member of the instrumental group Stationary Odyssey alongside Brett Siler. The band released four albums before disbanding. Their final release was a split 7" single with Joey Santiago and David Lovering of the Pixies. [8] [9] He later formed the noise rock group Off-Ox [10] and has collaborated musically with Nick Rhodes (Duran Duran), [11] Rob Crow (Pinback), [11] Roy Mayorga (Ministry), [11] and Zach Hill [12] and Spencer Seim (Hella). [13]

Achievements

His work in publishing has been added to the libraries and permanent collections of the Smithsonian, The Museum of Modern Art, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and The Punk Rock Museum. [1] Butthole Surfers: What Does Regret Mean? was named LA Weekly ’s Book of the Month in 2019. [14]

Bibliography

Discography

With Byre

With Off-Ox

With Star Stunted

References

  1. 1 2 3 Martin, John (2023-11-06). "Backstage Pass". Evansville Living Magazine. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  2. 1 2 Mykals, Kat (2022-11-30). "IN Artist Goes from Freelancer to Publisher of Coffee Table Books". WOMI Owensboro. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  3. 1 2 Shtreis, Irina (2022-02-03). "The Residents: A Sight For Sore Eyes Vol. 1 – book review". Louder Than War. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  4. ↑ Hq, Tvd (2023-06-16). "TVD Radar: The Residents: A Sight for Sore Eyes Vol. 2 visual history book in stores 8/11". The Vinyl District. Retrieved 2024-11-21.
  5. ↑ Burton-Jernigan, Rayonna (2024-03-06). "Q&A: Local man's publishing company highlights independent rock bands". www.aol.com. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
  6. ↑ "Butthole Surfers: What Does Regret Mean?: by Aaron Tanner". Spectrum Culture. 2019-03-13. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  7. ↑ Saldaña, Hector. "Shocking: Butthole Surfers get a coffee table book". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  8. ↑ Weber, Trisha (2012-05-15). "For the Record". Evansville Living Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  9. ↑ "Stationary Odyssey split 7" with Pixies project". nuvo.net. 28 November 2011. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
  10. 1 2 "Berserker IV Feature – Off-Ox". hipindetroit.com. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Mykals, Kat (2024-02-08). "Indiana Man to Co-Release Cover of The Residents' 'Mahogany Wood'". 103GBF. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  12. 1 2 "New 'visual history' book celebrates 50 years of the Residents! Sneak peek and exclusive premiere!". DangerousMinds. 2021-12-15. Retrieved 2024-03-10.
  13. 1 2 HUNTER, NIKK (2018-11-22). "FOCUS // A history of Rob Crow's many (many) musical projects". Fecking Bahamas. Retrieved 2024-03-12.
  14. ↑ "Book of the Month: Butthole Surfers: What Does Regret Mean? – LA Weekly". laweekly.com.
  15. ↑ Harris, Gerrod (2017-12-01). "SPILL BOOKS: AARON TANNER – FACE TO FACE: 25 YEARS OF SOCAL PUNK, THE VISUAL HISTORY". The Spill Magazine. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  16. ↑ "This punk band turned 25 years of music into a 200-page coffee table book". Orange County Register. 2018-01-03. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  17. ↑ "The Quietus | Features | Books | I Am Reality: Butthole Surfers In Coffee Table Book Shocker". The Quietus. 17 March 2019. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  18. ↑ Blabbermouth (2019-10-29). "MINISTRY's AL JOURGENSEN Announces In-Store Signing Of 'Ministry: Prescripture' Alongside Author AARON TANNER". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  19. ↑ "Lil BUB: The Earth Years Book and Music Project to Feature Jack Black, El-P, Thurston Moore".
  20. ↑ "The Residents' New Book Illustrates 50 Years of Art-Rock Weirdness". KQED. 2022-01-10. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  21. ↑ staff, Treble (2023-06-15). "New The Residents book, A Sight for Sore Eyes Vol. 2 due this summer". Treble. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  22. ↑ Illezca, Damian (2023-07-18). "Rockaxis | preparan-libro-de-the-residents—a-sight-for-sore-eyes-vol—2-". Rockaxis. Retrieved 2024-01-14.
  23. ↑ Ewing, Jerry (2024-10-02). "Fully authorised visual history of Cardiacs to be published". Louder. Retrieved 2024-10-02.
  24. ↑ Doyle, Abbey. "15 things to do in Evansville area this weekend". Courier & Press. Retrieved 2024-08-25.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.