🎵 IT102: Art School Education
✏️ Brandon Land
🗓 19.03.21

Originally from Oklahoma and currently based in Oakland, CA, Brandon is an artist, illustrator, art director, hooper, zinester, pizza punk... whatever.

Hi Brandon. Can you tell us a little bit about your tape and your song selections?

Quarantine has me swimming in deep end of nostalgia, and I’ve been trying to channel that into my personal work. One of my favorite parts about writing is listening to bands or mixtapes that align with certain time periods.

In this mixtape, I’ll be focusing on those last few years of Art School and heading into the job market. Meeting new people, finding your tribe, getting excited about the possibilities to come. Completely content with being broke and bored. It almost felt like we were living out the plot to a 90s alternative kid movie or something.

What direction did you take with your cover art, and what was your process?

There were a few key discoveries back then that really molded my work into what it’s become. Jay Ryan gig posters and Jeffrey Brown comics were huge inspirations. They both had this sense of controlled chaos. A perfect combination of meticulously crafted compositions and messy environments which felt super vulnerable. Almost as if you were getting a peek into their personal lives.

What are your fave album covers, records with a great music and artwork combo, or musical projects with a visual component?

One of the more significant discoveries in art school. I found a used copy of this CD and 4 minute mile, which are both currently in my glove box.

This is the album my wife and I listened to on our first date. We got a hot chocolate, took a walk around campus, and hung out in her car listening to Amnesiac.

I bought this album while working at Starbucks. It completely transformed my perception of design. I wasn’t very technologically adept and didn’t own a computer. I was struggling in design school as a result. Seeing that hand-inked cover empowered me. I could do this.

A lot of the bands I gravitated toward were from neighboring states. Discovering the Crutchfield Sisters were from Wichita or The Get Up Kids being from Arkansas turned on a light in my head. Amazing talents can come from anywhere, and I could do this shit too? Sick!

One of my favorite memories from this period of life was seeing Waxahatchee and Swearin at a house show in OKC. I was completely blown away. Talk about talent!

Here’s a video: youtube.com/watch?v=CrREiXSr1E8