The Wanton Bishops are a two-piece blues and garage rock revival band from Beirut, Lebanon. They’ve been called “the rightful heirs to the Black Keys.” Their first album Sleep With The Lights On garnered a lot of success, with the band touring across the globe. Notably, they opened for big acts such as Guns N’ Roses and Lana Del Rey. As part of the Keeward Music Residency Program, we accompanied the Wanton Bishops on every step of their journey. Given that we had unlimited access to their creative process, we were able to translate their garage rock sound into a memorable visual universe.

How do you turn an unknown band into rock stars? By crafting a narrative around them. Our challenge was to bring all the pieces of the puzzle together, to appeal to a wider audience, and catch the attention of the press.When it came to the Wanton Bishop’s branding, we did not look to reinvent the wheel. We mixed the genre’s universal visual cues with the band’s unique personality to create a striking visual identity. Basically, we turned to what inspired them musically to inspire us visually. By looking to the works of illustrator Robert Crumb and tattoo artist Jerry Sailor, we got a solid grasp of the direction we should be taking. We then added textures, images and original illustrations to the mix.

The idea of a masculine rock duo with sex appeal was also a clear selling point that we capitalised on by referencing cues that stank of whiskey and bourbon. Their logo’s rough energy was translated onto concert posters, album covers, merchandise and various other promotional material. This project was a success. After 2 years of touring The Wanton Bishops signed to the Red Bull Music Label, and released their sophomore EP through it.