Thrive Records were an established major player in the music industry, having been co-founded by Warner/Sire main man Seymour Stein and industry veteran Ricardo Vinas. The label had put out a number of huge releases by names big in the dance scene such as Paul Oakenfold, John Digweed and more. At the time I was co-incidentally working for a number of established big record labels out of California and it seemed like on a daily basis I was taking a call on the phone with “someone in L.A.”.
Most projects for Thrive were of the graphic design and artworking variety. In most cases it would be work with supplied assets, expanding on original photography or illustration work provided. And in some cases certain releases would require full art direction and production as there would be minimal initial assets to work with. A whole series of covers were done for their “Mix” and “Anthems” series, much like the big music compilations you can find in a supermarket. One of the bigger projects was providing art direction for Foo Fighter‘s drummer Taylor Hawkins first solo release, corresponding with Hawkins at regular intervals for a cover design that hailed back to the days of 70s classic rock.
Overall it was a great insight to working in the mainstream music industry.