Features
Designing Pas/Cal's World
By Keith N. Dusenberry
Dec 14, 2005, 23:40

Designing Pas/Cal's World

New York designer Sean McCabe, who has created album covers for Interpol and Spoon among others, came to PAS/CAL as just a big fan. Then, after brunching with two of the band’s members via a mutual friend a few years ago, McCabe became the man behind the group’s intricate look. For most bands, the visual aspect (album covers, T-shirts, posters) of music is an afterthought; for PAS/CAL, imagery is a vitally important element of their immersed-in-an-idealized-world-unto-themselves appeal. Here, McCabe reveals the story behind PAS/CAL’s visual style and their complex Christmas album cover [pictured above]:

“I believe the overall look and visual aesthetic of PAS/CAL is really the sole result of all the individuals in the band and myself, plus whatever friends, family members and lovers we ask to help us out at any given time … A good
example of this collaborative spirit was when we decided to release the first split 12” for Romantic Air last holiday season … PAS/CAL were interested in doing a special holiday release [with NY band Asobi Seksu] …

I had an instant vision of replicating both bands as characters in some fictional ‘60s Rankin Bass animated holiday special. I explained my idea to each band, and was quite honestly given a lot of perplexed looks — and rightfully so, as I had never created anything like this before, not to mention tried anything on the level of technical artistry and time it would take to actually make something as it eventually ended up being.

So the visual concept was initially created by me, but then I had to sit down and make the damn thing. I was at a loss and overwhelmed. I realized I needed help. I rented DVDs of those old Rudolph specials and Gene and I watched and studied them, and all along I tried to figure out how we were going to do this. What ended up happening is probably the single most amazing experience in generosity and collaboration I have ever experienced professionally.

We realized I could not do everything myself, like I often do, so Gene, Bem, my girlfriend Annie and a friend of Asobi’s (Jenna, who happened to be a pastry chef — perfect for making a gingerbread house), all worked for two solid months making everything you see in that photograph on the cover.
 
We made everything from scratch, down to exact replicas of both bands’ instruments and clothing. Each figure was sculpted by hand, clothed and outfitted with their respective instruments and each one stood about six inches tall. A month and a half was spent just making these elements, every waking moment, evening and weekend, until we had everything made. We then constructed a set on my kitchen table, I lit the entire scene, photographed it and we all crossed our fingers. Once I got the film back, I then proceeded to paint in the background and falling snow and began to design and assemble all the elements together in the package, all along with input from Gene, Bem and Annie … I ended up taking all the photos, making the typefaces from scratch by hand, and designing the entire package — but I firmly believe credit goes to all of us who worked on it.

The most amazing aspect to this long story is that none of us got paid to do this — it was a true labor of love, not to mention a phenomenal effort and attention to detail. All this, from the recording of the music down to every last detail in the packaging went into creating a special and lovingly handcrafted product. I challenge anyone to name ANY bands working today that would have the patience, sincerity and talent to pull that off. It shows you how much PAS/CAL, Asobi Seksu, our friends and loved ones and I care about such assumedly trivial things. We ended up making something that we would actually want to buy. I have never been more proud.”  | RDW

To see more of Sean’s work, visit: wider-than-pictures.com.



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