Russell Mills
Encyclopedia
Russell Mills is a British artist who was born in Ripon
, Yorkshire
, UK in 1952. He paints, creates multimedia installations, designs stage sets and lighting and has produced record covers and book covers for Brian Eno
, the Cocteau Twins
,Michael Nyman
, David Sylvian
, Peter Gabriel
, and Nine Inch Nails
.
As a recording artist he has collaborated with many musicians, for example David Sylvian
, Ian McCulloch
and Peter Gabriel
. He has released 2 CDs with his recording project Undark, one of them on the British ambient
label Em:t Records
.
He is Visiting Tutor at the Royal College of Art
. Visiting Professor at the Glasgow School of Art
and regularly lectures in universities in the UK and abroad.
's "vocal" albums (and side projects with 801
, Cluster
and others) as a capstone to his artistic training, in the manner of a final thesis. The collected illustrations were later published as a book, More Dark Than Shark
, which has long been out of print and difficult to obtain.
The general style of the illustrations is a combination of pen and pencil sketching with pastels and watercolor paints used for coloration. Human figures, animals, and room interiors are frequently depicted, all of which are noticeably absent from later work. Elements of Mills' "collage
" style begin to emerge with the incorporation of materials such as fabrics and metals into the drawn/painted work.
Notable album covers include:
An analysis of the symbolic meaning of the elements used to create the cover for Roger Eno's Between Tides appears in the 1999 book 100 Best Album Covers, edited by Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell (of the design group Hipgnosis
.)
in 1994. He was commissioned to create the entire visual world of The Downward Spiral
, beginning with the artwork for that album's cover and booklet, and extending to all of the associated singles (including March of the Pigs
and Closer to God
), the remix collection Further Down the Spiral
, the 1997 videocassette compilation Closure
, the 2004 Deluxe Edition and DualDisc re-releases of The Downward Spiral, (which was accompanied by several new Mills compositions downloadable from Nine Inch Nails' website), and various promotional materials.
These interrelated works contain Mills' heaviest use of organic materials to depict a sense of fragility and decay. Animal skeletons, sets of teeth, blood, feathers, and dead insects are liberally embedded in the canvases. In some pieces, materials have been affixed and then exposed to water or chemical elements, so that their decay is literally imprinted on the surface of the artwork.
Mills still uses hand-drawn or -painted imagery, but as often as not it is scanned into the computer and treated as another malleable collage element. Images of water and sky are frequently seen, and a cooler color palette often prevails (in contrast to an earlier reliance on earth tones).
Negative space is still a rarity in Mills' compositions. It is worth noting that many of the musicians who choose Mills as an illustrator compose music that is "ambient
" to varying degrees. Many of the album covers visually reflect this, in that they can be viewed quickly for an overall emotional impression, while intense perusal reveals many painstakingly layered details.
Notable album covers from 1995 to the present include:
Both albums originated from Mills "collecting sounds" from musicians, many of whose albums he has illustrated. He then collaged the organic and electronic sounds into ambient pieces (with one or two vocal "songs" per album), with varying degrees of collaboration with the originating artists.
Featured contributors to Undark (aka "Undark One: Strange Familiar"):
Featured contributors to Pearl + Umbra:
Ripon
Ripon is a cathedral city, market town and successor parish in the Borough of Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England, located at the confluence of two streams of the River Ure in the form of the Laver and Skell. The city is noted for its main feature the Ripon Cathedral which is architecturally...
, Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...
, UK in 1952. He paints, creates multimedia installations, designs stage sets and lighting and has produced record covers and book covers for Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, the Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
,Michael Nyman
Michael Nyman
Michael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
, David Sylvian
David Sylvian
David Sylvian is an English singer-songwriter and musician who came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and main songwriter in the group Japan...
, Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
, and Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
.
As a recording artist he has collaborated with many musicians, for example David Sylvian
David Sylvian
David Sylvian is an English singer-songwriter and musician who came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and main songwriter in the group Japan...
, Ian McCulloch
Ian McCulloch (singer)
Ian Stephen McCulloch is an English singer, born in Liverpool, and is best known as the frontman for the rock group Echo & the Bunnymen.-Career:...
and Peter Gabriel
Peter Gabriel
Peter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
. He has released 2 CDs with his recording project Undark, one of them on the British ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
label Em:t Records
Em:t Records
Em:t Records was a British record label, based in Nottingham, which specialized in ambient electronic music. They were active from 1994 to 1998, and after a period of bankruptcy, re-established themselves in 2003 under new ownership and management...
.
He is Visiting Tutor at the Royal College of Art
Royal College of Art
The Royal College of Art is an art school located in London, United Kingdom. It is the world’s only wholly postgraduate university of art and design, offering the degrees of Master of Arts , Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy...
. Visiting Professor at the Glasgow School of Art
Glasgow School of Art
Glasgow School of Art is one of only two independent art schools in Scotland, situated in the Garnethill area of Glasgow.-History:It was founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Government School of Design. In 1853, it changed its name to The Glasgow School of Art. Initially it was located at 12 Ingram...
and regularly lectures in universities in the UK and abroad.
Early work
While in art school in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Mills interpreted and illustrated the lyrics of Brian EnoBrian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
's "vocal" albums (and side projects with 801
801 (band)
801 were an English experimental rock band that were originally formed in 1976 for three live concerts by*Phil Manzanera *Brian Eno...
, Cluster
Cluster (band)
Cluster is a German experimental musical group who influenced the development of contemporary popular electronic and ambient music. They have recorded albums in a wide variety of styles ranging from experimental music to progressive rock, all of which had an avant-garde edge. Cluster has been...
and others) as a capstone to his artistic training, in the manner of a final thesis. The collected illustrations were later published as a book, More Dark Than Shark
More Dark Than Shark
More Dark Than Shark is a 1986 book by Brian Eno and Russell Mills. It features the lyrics to Eno's songs, each accompanied by an artwork inspired by the song's lyrics by Mills...
, which has long been out of print and difficult to obtain.
The general style of the illustrations is a combination of pen and pencil sketching with pastels and watercolor paints used for coloration. Human figures, animals, and room interiors are frequently depicted, all of which are noticeably absent from later work. Elements of Mills' "collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
" style begin to emerge with the incorporation of materials such as fabrics and metals into the drawn/painted work.
Emergence as music packaging designer
In the 1980s, Russell Mills began receiving commissions to design record album covers and associated packaging. Stylistically, his work at this time became much more abstract, abandoning figurative representation in favor of symbolic allusions. He regularly treated the canvas as a sculptural plane, with materials such as metals, powders, bones, feathers, beeswax, fabric, wires, animal skins and papers embedded in thick paints and pastes. Works of this period generally occupy the entirety of the canvas with little or no "negative space" left.Notable album covers include:
- Roger EnoRoger EnoRoger Eugene Eno was born in Woodbridge, England in 1959. He is known primarily as an ambient composer.He began euphonium lessons at twelve and at sixteen entered Colchester College to study music...
, Between Tides - JapanJapan (band)Japan were a British New Wave group, formed in 1974 in Catford, South London. The band achieved success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when they were often associated with the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement .- History :The band began as a group of friends...
, Exorcising Ghosts - Harold BuddHarold BuddHarold Budd is an American ambient/avant-garde composer and poet. Born in Los Angeles, he was raised in the Mojave Desert, and was inspired at an early age by the humming tone caused by wind blown across telephone wires....
and Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, The PearlThe Pearl (album)The Pearl is an LP by ambient musicians Harold Budd and Brian Eno, which was released in 1984. This album is similar to Budd and Eno’s previous collaboration Ambient 2: The Plateaux of Mirror, consisting mostly of subtly treated piano textures, but this time with more pronounced electronic... - Roger EnoRoger EnoRoger Eugene Eno was born in Woodbridge, England in 1959. He is known primarily as an ambient composer.He began euphonium lessons at twelve and at sixteen entered Colchester College to study music...
, Voices - David SylvianDavid SylvianDavid Sylvian is an English singer-songwriter and musician who came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and main songwriter in the group Japan...
, Gone to Earth - Michael BrookMichael BrookMichael Brook is a Canadian guitarist, inventor, producer, and film music composer. He plays in many genres, including rock, electronica, world music, minimalism and film scores....
, Hybrid - Nine Inch NailsNine Inch NailsNine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
, The Downward SpiralThe Downward SpiralThe Downward Spiral is the second studio album by American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released March 8, 1994, on Interscope Records. It is a concept album detailing the destruction of a man, from the beginning of his "downward spiral" to his climactic attempt at suicide... - The Overload (illustration for the Talking HeadsTalking HeadsTalking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...
song in their book, What the Songs Look Like)
An analysis of the symbolic meaning of the elements used to create the cover for Roger Eno's Between Tides appears in the 1999 book 100 Best Album Covers, edited by Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell (of the design group Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis
Hipgnosis was a British art design group that specialized in creating cover art for the albums of rock musicians and bands, most notably Pink Floyd, T.Rex, The Pretty Things, UFO, 10cc, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Scorpions, Yes, The Alan Parsons Project, Genesis, Peter Gabriel, ELO and XTC...
.)
Work with Nine Inch Nails
Russell Mills is arguably most widely known for his work with Nine Inch NailsNine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
in 1994. He was commissioned to create the entire visual world of The Downward Spiral
The Downward Spiral
The Downward Spiral is the second studio album by American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released March 8, 1994, on Interscope Records. It is a concept album detailing the destruction of a man, from the beginning of his "downward spiral" to his climactic attempt at suicide...
, beginning with the artwork for that album's cover and booklet, and extending to all of the associated singles (including March of the Pigs
March of the Pigs
"March of the Pigs" is a song written by Trent Reznor of American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails. It was released in 1994 as the first single from The Downward Spiral , the second album by Nine Inch Nails.-The song:...
and Closer to God
Closer to God
"Closer" is a song written by Trent Reznor and featured on the 1994 Nine Inch Nails album The Downward Spiral. In mid-1994, the song was released as the second single from the album. Most versions of the single are titled "Closer to God", a rare example in music of a single's title differing from...
), the remix collection Further Down the Spiral
Further Down the Spiral
Further Down the Spiral is a remix album by Nine Inch Nails, and was released on June 1, 1995. It is the tenth official Nine Inch Nails release and is the companion remix disc to The Downward Spiral...
, the 1997 videocassette compilation Closure
Closure (Nine Inch Nails VHS)
Closure is a double VHS set by Nine Inch Nails released in 1997. Closure is the 12th official Nine Inch Nails release. It consists of one tape of live concert and behind-the-scenes footage from the Self-Destruct tour and one tape of music videos....
, the 2004 Deluxe Edition and DualDisc re-releases of The Downward Spiral, (which was accompanied by several new Mills compositions downloadable from Nine Inch Nails' website), and various promotional materials.
These interrelated works contain Mills' heaviest use of organic materials to depict a sense of fragility and decay. Animal skeletons, sets of teeth, blood, feathers, and dead insects are liberally embedded in the canvases. In some pieces, materials have been affixed and then exposed to water or chemical elements, so that their decay is literally imprinted on the surface of the artwork.
Advent of digital design
From the later 1990s to the present, Mills' work has again evolved to a new style, made possible by the advent of computer design applications such as PhotoShop. The "collage" aesthetic is still frequently seen, but now in a virtual/digital form, with many abutting and overlapping semi-transparent images, often cropped into crisp, aligned rectangles.Mills still uses hand-drawn or -painted imagery, but as often as not it is scanned into the computer and treated as another malleable collage element. Images of water and sky are frequently seen, and a cooler color palette often prevails (in contrast to an earlier reliance on earth tones).
Negative space is still a rarity in Mills' compositions. It is worth noting that many of the musicians who choose Mills as an illustrator compose music that is "ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
" to varying degrees. Many of the album covers visually reflect this, in that they can be viewed quickly for an overall emotional impression, while intense perusal reveals many painstakingly layered details.
Notable album covers from 1995 to the present include:
- Ocean of Sound and Haunted Weather, both compiled by David ToopDavid ToopDavid Toop is an English musician and author, and as of 2001 was visiting Research Fellow in the Media School at London College of Communication. He was notably a member of The Flying Lizards. He was a prominent contributor to the British magazine The Face. He is a regular contributor to The Wire,...
- Miles DavisMiles DavisMiles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, Panthalassa (reinterpretations) - Cocteau TwinsCocteau TwinsCocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
, BBC Sessions - David SylvianDavid SylvianDavid Sylvian is an English singer-songwriter and musician who came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and main songwriter in the group Japan...
, Dead Bees on a Cake and associated singles - Bill LaswellBill LaswellBill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
, "Operazone" - Michael NymanMichael NymanMichael Laurence Nyman, CBE is an English composer of minimalist music, pianist, librettist and musicologist, known for the many film scores he wrote during his lengthy collaboration with the filmmaker Peter Greenaway, and his multi-platinum soundtrack album to Jane Campion's The Piano...
2005 reissues (several albums)
Music
In addition to soundtracking several multimedia exhibits (see below), Russell Mills has released two albums to date:- Russell Mills : Undark (1996) (re-released in 2000 as "Undark One: Strange Familiar")
- Russell Mills / Undark : Pearl + Umbra (1999) (rereleased in 2000 as "Undark Two: Pearl + Umbra")
Both albums originated from Mills "collecting sounds" from musicians, many of whose albums he has illustrated. He then collaged the organic and electronic sounds into ambient pieces (with one or two vocal "songs" per album), with varying degrees of collaboration with the originating artists.
Featured contributors to Undark (aka "Undark One: Strange Familiar"):
- Michael BrookMichael BrookMichael Brook is a Canadian guitarist, inventor, producer, and film music composer. He plays in many genres, including rock, electronica, world music, minimalism and film scores....
- Declan Colgan
- Hywel Davies
- The EdgeThe EdgeDavid Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
(of U2U2U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
) - Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
- Roger EnoRoger EnoRoger Eugene Eno was born in Woodbridge, England in 1959. He is known primarily as an ambient composer.He began euphonium lessons at twelve and at sixteen entered Colchester College to study music...
- Robin GuthrieRobin GuthrieRobin Guthrie is a musician best known as co-founder of the Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has played guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums and other musical instruments, in addition to programming, sampling and sound processing...
(of Cocteau TwinsCocteau TwinsCocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
) - Bill LaswellBill LaswellBill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
- Kevin ShieldsKevin ShieldsKevin Patrick Shields is an American-born, Irish vocalist, guitarist, and producer of alternative rock band My Bloody Valentine....
(of My Bloody Valentine) - Tom Smyth & Will Joss (credited as "Miasma" on the original 1996 em:t release)
Featured contributors to Pearl + Umbra:
- Ildefonso Aguilar
- Samuel Aguilar
- John Aitken
- Eraldo BernocchiEraldo BernocchiEraldo Bernocchi is an Italian musician, producer and sound designer.-History:Bernocchi's musical career started around 1977 at the age of 14, when Eraldo started playing guitar with independent punk bands. In short order though, he found that he felt the medium was too limited and he started...
- Michael BrookMichael BrookMichael Brook is a Canadian guitarist, inventor, producer, and film music composer. He plays in many genres, including rock, electronica, world music, minimalism and film scores....
- Harold BuddHarold BuddHarold Budd is an American ambient/avant-garde composer and poet. Born in Los Angeles, he was raised in the Mojave Desert, and was inspired at an early age by the humming tone caused by wind blown across telephone wires....
- Mark Clifford (of SeefeelSeefeelSeefeel are a British electronic/post-rock band formed in the early 1990s. They are currently signed to Warp Records.-Biography:Seefeel formed during 1992 in London, England; with Mark Clifford on guitar, Mark Van Hoen on bass, Justin Fletcher on drums and Sarah Peacock on vocals and guitar. During...
) - Declan Colgan
- Huw Costin
- Sussan DeyhimSussan DeyhimSussan Deyhim is an Iranian singer, composer and dancer.Born in Tehran, her career began as a dancer with Iran's Pars National Ballet company...
- Brian EnoBrian EnoBrian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
- Roger EnoRoger EnoRoger Eugene Eno was born in Woodbridge, England in 1959. He is known primarily as an ambient composer.He began euphonium lessons at twelve and at sixteen entered Colchester College to study music...
- Mike Fearon
- Ali Foster
- Peter GabrielPeter GabrielPeter Brian Gabriel is an English singer, musician, and songwriter who rose to fame as the lead vocalist and flautist of the progressive rock group Genesis. After leaving Genesis, Gabriel went on to a successful solo career...
- Robin GuthrieRobin GuthrieRobin Guthrie is a musician best known as co-founder of the Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has played guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, drums and other musical instruments, in addition to programming, sampling and sound processing...
(of Cocteau TwinsCocteau TwinsCocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
) - Graham HaynesGraham HaynesGraham Haynes is an American cornetist, trumpeter and composer, the son of jazz drummer Roy Haynes....
- Derek Hook
- Bill LaswellBill LaswellBill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....
- Graham Lewis
- Hamish Mackintosh
- Ian McCullough
- Tony McSweeney
- Ann Mills
- Sam Mills
- Thurston MooreThurston MooreThurston Joseph Moore is an American musician best known as a singer, songwriter and guitarist of Sonic Youth. He has also participated in many solo and group collaborations outside of Sonic Youth, as well as running the Ecstatic Peace! record label...
(of Sonic YouthSonic YouthSonic Youth is an American alternative rock band from New York City, formed in 1981. The current lineup consists of Thurston Moore , Kim Gordon , Lee Ranaldo , Steve Shelley , and Mark Ibold .In their early career, Sonic Youth was associated with the No Wave art and music scene in New York City...
) - Paul SchützePaul SchützePaul Schütze is an Australian artist resident in London. Over thirty years his work has spanned composition, performance, installation, video, printmaking and photography....
- David SylvianDavid SylvianDavid Sylvian is an English singer-songwriter and musician who came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead vocalist and main songwriter in the group Japan...
- Clodagh SimondsClodagh SimondsClodagh Simonds Clodagh; , is an Irish musician, songwriter and singer. She was born in Banbridge, Co. Down, Northern Ireland, UK and raised and educated in Killiney, Co...
- Tom Smyth
- Mitsuo Tate
- Jonny Tomlinson
- Emma TownshendEmma TownshendEmma Townshend is an English writer, journalist, musician and lecturer, and the elder daughter of The Who's Pete Townshend. She has taught courses since being a postgraduate at Cambridge in 1994, most recently for the Department of Continuing Education in Oxford.Townshend also appears as a regular...
- Ian Walton
- Hector ZazouHector ZazouHector Zazou was a prolific French composer and record producer who worked with, produced, and collaborated with an international array of recording artists...
Multimedia soundtracks
- Measured in Shadows (1995, with Ian Walton & Big Block 454)
- Republic of Thorns (2001, with Ian Walton & Paul Farley)
- Cleave / Soft Bullets (2002, with Mike Fearon)