Aaron Tanner is an American

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

, author, archivist, and musician who creates

coffee table book A coffee table book, also known as a cocktail table book, is an oversized, usually hard-covered book whose purpose is for display on a table intended for use in an area in which one entertains guests and which can serve to inspire conversation o ...

s on underground bands and artists.

Career

Aaron Tanner, who grew up in the Midwest, found inspiration in the everyday visuals around him, such as the logos on railroad cars, matchbook advertisements, and other regional imagery. His design experience soon gained him recognition within the underground music scene, ultimately leading to his role as Ween's resident designer in 2002, a position he has maintained for over two decades. While creating a book for

Pixies Pixies may refer to: * Plural of Pixie * Pixies (band) The Pixies are an American alternative rock band from Boston, Boston, Massachusetts, formed in 1986 by Black Francis (vocals, rhythm guitar, songwriter), Joey Santiago (lead guitar), Kim ...

in 2014, he realized that there are artists and bands whose works remained unpublished. He founded Melodic Virtue, an independent publisher "dedicated to preserving and promoting the legacies of underground bands through limited-run coffee table books," and began archiving materials and publishing visual histories featuring rare and unseen photos, artwork and other items. Since then, he has produced books on the following bands:

The Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vid ...

Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas, by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has ...

, Ministry, Face to Face, and

Cardiacs Cardiacs are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Kingston upon Thames by Tim Smith (Cardiacs), Tim Smith (guitar and lead vocals) and his brother Jim Smith (bassist), Jim (bass, backing vocals) in 1977 under the name Cardiac Arrest. One ...

. Tanner formed

Stationary Odyssey Stationary Odyssey was an American alternative rock band from Evansville, Indiana, United States, composed of Aaron Tanner and Brett Siler. Their debut EP, Komondor, was named one of the top 15 Most Important Releases of 2004 in Japan (Duotone R ...

with Brett Siler and released 4 albums before disbanding. Their last release was a split 7" single with

Joey Santiago Joseph Alberto Santiago (born June 10, 1965) is a Filipino-American guitarist and composer. Active since 1986, Santiago is best known as the co-founder and lead guitarist of the alternative rock band Pixies. After the band's breakup in 1993, ...

and

David Lovering David Sullivan Lovering (born December 6, 1961) is an American musician and magician. He is best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band Pixies, which he joined in 1986. After the band's breakup in 1993, Lovering drummed with severa ...

of the

. Since then, Tanner has founded the noise rock group Off-Ox and has recorded music with

Nick Rhodes Nick Rhodes (born Nicholas James Bates; 8 June 1962) is an English keyboardist and producer, best known as a founding member and the keyboardist of the band Duran Duran. He has also been the only constant member of the group since their 1978 ...

(

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

Rob Crow Robertdale Rulon Crow Jr. (born February 21, 1971) is an American singer and musician from San Diego, California, known for his involvement with the bands Pinback, Heavy Vegetable, Physics (band), Physics, Optiganally Yours, Goblin Cock, and Thi ...

(

Pinback Pinback is an American indie rock band from San Diego, California. The band was formed in 1998 by singers, songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Armistead Burwell Smith IV and Rob Crow, who have been its two constant members. They have releas ...

Roy Mayorga Roy Mayorga (born April 6, 1970) is an American musician, best known as the drummer of heavy metal bands Soulfly, Hellyeah and Stone Sour and is currently the drummer for the industrial metal band Ministry. Early life Mayorga was born in F ...

( Ministry), and

Zach Hill Zachary Charles Hill (born December 28, 1979) is an American multi-instrumentalist and visual artist. He is best known as the drummer and co-producer of the groups Death Grips, and the I.L.Y's, and as the drummer of math rock band Hella. Ear ...

and Spencer Seim ( Hella).

Achievements

His work has been added to the libraries and permanent collections of the Smithsonian,

The Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, and includes over 200,000 works of arc ...

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), also simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and the ...

, and The Punk Rock Museum. ''Butthole Surfers: What Does Regret Mean?'' was named ''

LA Weekly ''LA Weekly'' is a free weekly alternative newspaper in Los Angeles, California. The paper covers music, arts, film, theater, culture, and other local news in the Los Angeles area. ''LA Weekly'' was founded in 1978 by Jay Levin (among others), ...

''’s Book of the Month in 2019.

Bibliography

* ''

: A Visual History, Volume 1'' (Madtempest, 2014) * '' Face to Face: 25 Years of SoCal Punk'' (Melodic Virtue, 2017) * ''

: What Does Regret Mean?'' (Melodic Virtue, 2019) * '' Ministry: Prescripture'' (Melodic Virtue, 2019) * '' Lil Bub: The Earth Years'' (Melodic Virtue, 2021) * ''

: A Sight for Sore Eyes, Vol. 1'' (Melodic Virtue, 2022) * ''

: A Sight for Sore Eyes, Vol. 2'' (Melodic Virtue, 2023) * ''

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc ( ; ; – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the Coronation of the French monarch, coronation of Charles VII o ...

: A Window & A Mirror'' (Joyful Noise Recordings, 2024) * ''

: A Big Book and a Band and the Whole World Window'' (Melodic Virtue, 2025)

Discography

With Byre * ''Here in Dead Lights'' (May 15, 2018,

Joyful Noise Recordings Joyful Noise Recordings is an independent record label with headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana. The label was founded in 2003 in Bloomington, Indiana by Karl Hofstetter, who also played drums on several of the label's first releases. Joyful N ...

) With Off-Ox * ''Best Best Western'' (September 2, 2016, Au Fox Records) * ''Tender Titan'' (August 17, 2018, Au Fox Records) With Star Stunted * Star Stunted ''Santa Dog'' (April 15, 2022, Melodic Virtue) * Star Stunted II ''Mahogany Wood'' (March 8, 2024, Melodic Virtue)

References

External links

Official website

Rolling Stone: Interview with Gibby Haynes and Aaron Tanner
American graphic designers American writers about music Living people 1976 births American rock musicians {{improve categories, date=May 2024