Pete Fowler

Last updated

Pete Fowler
Born
Pete Fowler

1969
Cardiff, Wales
Known forillustration, drawing, painting, animation, printmaking, sculpture
Notable workArtwork for the Welsh band Super Furry Animals, Monsterism toys and goods

Pete Fowler (born 1969 in Cardiff) is a Welsh artist best known for his artwork for the Welsh band Super Furry Animals and his Monsterism toys and goods. [1] He is a freelance illustrator and "monster maker" [2] inspired by animals, music, folklore, myths, psychedelia and super nature. He has also worked on a number of other projects in the UK and Japan, such as television advertisements (Kia Picanto), as well as having art exhibitions in the UK and abroad.

Contents

Early life

Growing up in Cardiff before studying fine art at Falmouth University, Fowler was surrounded by music, but the sleeve imagery that made the greatest impact was that which adorned records by anarcho-punk band Crass. [6] Having graduated in 1991, Fowler moved to London, where he tried to make ends meet by producing artwork for T-shirts and nightclub backdrops, while also putting on small exhibitions of his work in bars. Word  spread quickly and it wasn’t long before Fowler received a phone call from Creation Records and an invitation to show his portfolio to the Super Furry Animals.  [6]

Monsterism

The majority of Fowler's art is made in a postmodern cartoon style and often revolves around a central narrative and features a recurring set of characters. The "monsters" Fowler creates all reside on "Monsterism Island". Fowler invents extensive back-stories for his characters; each has its own specific traits and levels of "monsterism". Fowler is most known for his designer toys of his characters, which he himself manufactures with his own company.

A CD called The Sounds of Monsterism Island was released in 2005 by Heavenly Records. [3] According to the press release, "The record is a compilation album that works as a soundtrack to the world of Monsterism. The album features psychedelic music from the '60s through to today, much of it unearthed and put on CD for the first time."[ citation needed ] In 2006, Fowler created a set of comics about Monsterism Island which have been featured in Vice Magazine . The second soundtrack to Monsterism Island, A Psychedelic Guide to Monsterism Island, was released in 2009 [4] and features mostly new compositions by a host of contemporary musicians.

Notable events

Fowler is one half of the deckshoegaze/cosmic disco outfit Seahawks who have released extensively on vinyl, CD and download since 2010 and have remixed a variety of bands as well as regularly DJing, with Fowler commonly playing the genres of 70's smooth rock, discoid and balearic debris. [5]

Collaborations

Fowler has worked with a myriad of different clients including Disney, Levi's, Lynx, AVG, Kia Motors, Paul Smith, Sony, EMI, Warner Brothers, Poweo, Hewlett Packard, Boxfresh, Vice Magazine, GQ, Volvic, Etnies, MTV, Konami, BMG, Island Records, Rough Trade, Aardman Animation, Unilever, Greenpeace, Redbull, Warp Films, Haiti Benefit, The co-operative, Future Publishing, Big Chill, Camp Bestival & Bestival, All Tomorrows Parties, Green Man, The Horrors, Clinic and Super Fury Animals [7]

Collaboration with Super Fury Animals

Gruff Rhys member of the band was introduced to some of Fowlers murals just after a tour in Japan and after being immersed in Japanese imagery seeing Fowlers work was a ‘Eureka moment’ [8]. Fowler and Super Furry Animals met as both Pete and Gruff Rhys were huge fans of each other and believed a collaboration would work due to an alignment of abstract art in terms of the designs of Fowlers work and the music the band created. Fowler worked on a myriad of pieces for the band including albums covers, single covers and figurines.

Radiator album

Fowlers most notable work is his work for Super Furry animals. His artwork for the front cover of one of the bands most famous albums ‘Radiator’.  The album released on August 25, 1997 [9] is one of the bands most sold albums with over 100,000 sales as of September, 2017 [10]. The artwork Fowler was inspired by the sinister undertones of Japanese Art an art style synonyms with much of Fowlers work. The sleeve originally had a bear-man facing an apparition in an opposing window but eventually became two bears, an evil one becoming a reflection of the good one. [11] Since the birth of the Album  the artwork for it has been sold on T-shirts and been made into posters.

Kia Motors Advert

Fowler worked with South Korean car company Kia in their advert promoting the new small model Kia Picanto in 2005. [12] The advert had a £15,000,000 budget and was directed by Pete Candeland who previously worked with animations for Gorriliaz. [12] Behind the advert was Fowler who designed the kia family of characters. [13] It was created in “claymation” - plasticine models brought to life by stop motion animation. The process took 3 months for only 30 seconds of footage and was hugely unique for a car company to advertise in this manner in a ‘less serious way’.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super Furry Animals</span> Welsh rock band

Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band formed in Cardiff in 1993. For the duration of their professional career, the band consisted of Gruff Rhys, Huw Bunford, Guto Pryce, Cian Ciaran, Dafydd Ieuan. An earlier incarnation of the band featured actor Rhys Ifans on lead vocals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gruff Rhys</span> Welsh musician and filmmaker born in 1970

Gruffudd Maredudd Bowen Rhys is a Welsh musician, composer, producer, filmmaker and author. He performs solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals, which obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He formed the electro-pop outfit Neon Neon with Boom Bip. Their album Stainless Style was nominated for the 2008 Nationwide Mercury Prize. He won the 2011 Welsh Music Prize for his album Hotel Shampoo, which was followed up by American Interior in 2014, accompanied by a film, a book and a mobile app. His most recent album, Sadness Sets Me Free, was released in 2024. He is considered a figurehead of the era known as Cool Cymru.

<i>Phantom Power</i> (Super Furry Animals album) Album by Super Furry Animals

Phantom Power is the sixth album by Welsh indie rock band Super Furry Animals, released on 21 July 2003 by Epic Records in the United Kingdom. The record was originally conceived as a ten-song concept album using D-A-D-D-A-D guitar tuning, but the band chose to abandon this idea during recording as they didn't want to constrain themselves. The group did attempt to create a "more coherent" album than their past efforts by choosing songs which worked well together. Phantom Power was recorded at the band's own studio, AV Happenings, in Cardiff with the Super Furries producing and engineering themselves for the first time. The album features a range of musical styles, from country rock to techno, although many of the tracks are based around the acoustic guitar. According to chief songwriter and vocalist Gruff Rhys, the album's lyrics deal with "broken relationships and war".

<i>Rings Around the World</i> Album by Super Furry Animals

Rings Around the World is the fifth studio album and the major label debut by Super Furry Animals. Released on 23 July 2001 by Epic Records in the United Kingdom, it was the first album by any artist to be simultaneously released on both audio CD and DVD. The record reached number 3 in the UK Albums Chart and includes the singles "Juxtapozed with U", "(Drawing) Rings Around the World" and "It's Not the End of the World?".

<i>Guerrilla</i> (album) 1999 studio album by Super Furry Animals

Guerrilla is the third studio album by Welsh rock band Super Furry Animals. The record was released on 14 June 1999 by Creation Records and peaked at number 10 in the UK Albums Chart. Guerrilla was conceived as a commercial 'pop' album and was produced by the band themselves, as regular producer Gorwel Owen felt exhausted after a busy schedule working for other bands. Recording took place at Real World Studios, Box, Wiltshire in mid-1998 with the group experimenting with a sampler for the first time and writing a number of songs in the studio. The band tried to create a 45-minute long, immediate sounding record, and therefore chose the upbeat songs from the 25 tracks which were recorded during sessions for the album. Guerrilla was chosen as the album's title as a pun on the group's name.

<i>Love Kraft</i> 2005 studio album by Super Furry Animals

Love Kraft is the seventh studio album by Welsh indie rock band Super Furry Animals, released on 22 August 2005 through Epic Records in the United Kingdom. The album was recorded in Spain with producer Mario Caldato Jr and was something of a departure for the band, with all members contributing songs and lead vocals alongside Gruff Rhys who had been main songwriter for the Super Furries until this point. In selecting tracks for Love Kraft a conscious effort was made by the band not to choose songs on their individual merit but rather to pick those which went well together in order to create as cohesive an album as possible. The album's name was taken from a sex shop, Love Craft, near the Cardiff offices of the Super Furries' management team and is also a nod to American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.

<i>Radiator</i> (album) 1997 studio album by Super Furry Animals

Radiator is the second studio album by Welsh alternative rock band Super Furry Animals. It was released in August 1997 by Creation Records, and later the same year in the United States under Flydaddy Records. It peaked at number eight on the UK Albums Chart. In 2005, it was reissued with a bonus disc of other tracks from the time.

<i>Candylion</i> 2007 studio album by Gruff Rhys

Candylion is the second solo album by Welsh musician and Super Furry Animals front-man Gruff Rhys. It was released on 8 January 2007 through Rough Trade Records and Team Love and peaked at number fifty on the UK Albums Chart. The album includes the singles "Candylion" and "Gyrru Gyrru Gyrru".

<i>Hey Venus!</i> 2007 studio album by Super Furry Animals

Hey Venus! is the eighth album by Welsh band Super Furry Animals. It was released on 27 August 2007 in the United Kingdom. Hey Venus! is the band's first full-length release on current label Rough Trade Records and, at just over 36 minutes, is also their shortest-running studio release. The title is taken from the first line of the song "Into the Night".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermann Loves Pauline</span> 1997 single by Super Furry Animals

"Hermann ♥'s Pauline" is the sixth single by Super Furry Animals and the first to be released from their second album Radiator. It reached #26 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in May 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The International Language of Screaming</span> 1997 single by Super Furry Animals

"The International Language of Screaming" is the second single from Super Furry Animals' album Radiator. It reached #24 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in July 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Play It Cool (song)</span> 1997 single by Super Furry Animals

"Play It Cool" is the third single from Super Furry Animals' album Radiator. It reached number 27 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in September 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demons (Super Furry Animals song)</span> 1997 single by Super Furry Animals

"Demons" is the fourth and final single from Super Furry Animals' album Radiator. It reached #27 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in November 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northern Lites</span> 1999 single by Super Furry Animals

"Northern Lites" is the ninth single by Super Furry Animals. It was the first single to be taken from the Guerrilla album and reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 10 May 1999. The song was written by singer Gruff Rhys and was inspired by the El Niño phenomenon. The track's title refers to the Aurora Borealis, a natural light display which the band were convinced they had seen prior to the song being written. Rhys wrote the melody for "Northern Lites" several years before it was completed but only decided on a calypso style after he wrote the lyrics. The steel drums on the track are played by keyboardist Cian Ciaran and were added on the spur of the moment after the group saw them "lying around" Real World Studios during recording.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fire in My Heart</span> 1999 single by Super Furry Animals

"Fire in My Heart" is the tenth single by Welsh rock band the Super Furry Animals. It was the second single to be taken from the group's 1999 album Guerrilla, and reached number 25 in the UK Singles Chart after its release on 9 August 1999. The track, originally titled "Heartburn", has been described by the band's singer Gruff Rhys as a country and western song with lyrics that offer "soul advice".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ysbeidiau Heulog</span> 2000 single by Super Furry Animals

"Ysbeidiau Heulog" is the twelfth single by Super Furry Animals. It was the only single to be taken from the album Mwng and was released as a limited edition 7" vinyl on the band's own Placid Casual label on 1 May 2000. It was the band's first single to chart outside the UK Singles Top 75 peaking at number 89. The Welsh language song has been described by singer Gruff Rhys as "throwaway pop" and likened to the music of ELO, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band and Os Mutantes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">(Drawing) Rings Around the World</span> Single by Super Furry Animals

"(Drawing) Rings Around the World" is a song by Super Furry Animals and was the second single taken from the band's fifth album, Rings Around the World. The track reached number 28 on the UK Singles Chart on release in October 2001. Singer Gruff Rhys has described the song as being about "rings of communication around the world. All the rings of pollution".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">It's Not the End of the World?</span> 2002 single by Super Furry Animals

"It's Not the End of the World?" is a song by Welsh band Super Furry Animals. It was the last single to be released from the Rings Around the World album and reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart on its release in January 2002. Singer Gruff Rhys has variously described the track as being about the extinction of mankind and as "a romantic song about growing old".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hello Sunshine (Super Furry Animals song)</span> 2003 single by Super Furry Animals

"Hello Sunshine" is a song by the Welsh band Super Furry Animals from their album Phantom Power. It was the seventeenth single released by the group and reached number 31 on the UK Singles Chart in October 2003.

<i>Dark Days/Light Years</i> 2009 studio album by Super Furry Animals

Dark Days/Light Years, the ninth and most recent studio album by Super Furry Animals, was digitally released at 8pm on 16 March 2009 via the band's website, with a physical release following on the 21st of April on Rough Trade Records. The album's title is taken from a lyric in the song "Moped Eyes".

References

  1. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1998). Grown Up All Wrong: 75 Great Rock and Pop Artists from Vaudeville to Techno. Harvard University Press. p. 177. ISBN   9780674443181 . Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "SHIFT | PEOPLE | PETE FOWLER". 12 March 2012. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  3. ↑ "Various - The Sounds of Monsterism Island Volume One". Discogs. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  4. ↑ "Various - A Psychedelic Guide to Monsterism Island". Discogs. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  5. ↑ "Pete Fowler & Ian Sargeant". Soho Radio London. Retrieved 14 August 2020.

6. https://longlivevinyl.net/2019/07/29/pete-fowler-interview-the-inspiration-behind-the-illustrator/

7. https://www.ba-reps.com/illustrators/pete-fowler

8. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/how-we-met-pete-fowler-gruff-rhys-1666063.html

9.  https://www.walesonline.co.uk/whats-on/music-nightlife-news/definitive-ranking-super-furry-animals-8737214  

10. https://bestsellingalbums.org/album/44791

11. https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/features/reference-points/pete-fowler-on-the-art-of-radiator

12. https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/kia-turns-animation-standout-15m-ad-push/214960

13. https://www.carpages.co.uk/kia/kia-rio-29-12-05.asp

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