A few months ago we were brought to tears and awe by Rami Malek's performance as the highly-celebrated Freddie Mercury in the movie Bohemian Rhapsody. The movie was such an audience favorite that it played in the cinemas in Jakarta for months. Fans sang along as tears streamed down their faces to "Love Of My Life." For some of the older generation, watching the Live Aid scenes brought back memories of youth and hope. As the credits rolled to "Don't Stop Me Now," even the younger kids who came to watch Bohemian Rhapsody knew the words and sang along. It is not contested that Queen is a cultural phenomenon, and people of all ages can relate to their artistry.
My husband is a music teacher at British School Jakarta, so when he asked me to design a poster for their Performing Arts Department's Tribute To Queen concert, I have to admit I was crazy nervous! Not only was I pressured to do Queen creative justice, I had only received my iPad a few weeks beforehand and was only getting used to Procreate. I considered myself a traditionalist- pen, paper, pencil, eraser, Pantone, and a lot of material wastage was my medium.
Nevertheless, not wanting to miss this opportunity for practice and to personally pay tribute to one of the greatest bands ever, I spent hours, day and night for weeks to get used to a digital pad. I didn't watch anything but tutorials for days to get used to the brushes and features of the iPad and artistic programs available.
I listened to all the more mainstream Queen songs until I could memorise all the lyrics. Finding inspiration on what to draw wasn't hard, with lyrics like "...my only friend, through teenage nights..." how could I not forget the loneliness every teenager felt back in the days (the 2000's for me!) Limited internet, expensive SMS tariffs, drama unfolding behind everyone's backs and no Snapchat to publicise it... Limewire and Napster was a huge deal for me, but to have the necessary patience to download songs (that half the time weren't even the songs) and then spending a shitload of money on burning CDs didn't cut it for me. So I have to admit, 98.7 FM or Power 98 were my two favorite radio stations to listen to (for those who grew up in Singapore like me would know these two stations well!) I had a radio that played cassettes and cd's, it also had an antenna and FM, so it was my most prized possession every night before bed.
Who is the lady in a vintage comic-book space suit, riding a tiger, waving a war banner? In "Don't Stop Me Now," Freddie sings: "I'm a shooting star, leaping through the sky, Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity, I'm a racing car, passing by like Lady Godiva" Lady Godiva has always traditionally been depicted as a nude feminine figure riding a horse through an ancient city. I wanted to give her a more modern and empowering essence by making her a space explorer. As for the tiger- well idk about you but it seems like riding a tiger is a lot more bad-ass than a horse!
You would recognise the space suit from Tintin”s Adventures: Explorers On The Moon!
Being a shooting star and "defying the laws of gravity" resonated a lot with me all my life, and it started when I was still a student, still bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, hoping to make a difference in the world. The students at British School Jakarta are all talented and remarkable kids, the type of role-model kids I wished I could have been when I was still in school! For many, this concert was their last before graduating. Here is to good hopes and well-wishes to them and I hope everything about this concert is akin to a rocket ship, "travelling at the speed of light," taking them to a bright and promising future!
Finally, Freddie came to me almost immediately. I wanted to level him to Galileo Galilei, celebrated astronomer of his time, so to dress him in 16th Century lab-coat (lab coat?) and adding his signature quirk in the form of a crown was only befitting.
We produced 250 t-shirts for performers aged seven to 18. The performers include bands, solo singers, choirs, musical instrument ensemble groups, and dancers. They set up the stage so it seemed like we were in a concert looking up at our favorite band on stage performing for us. It was immense!
The concert was also choreographed and creatively adviced by duo Noel Sullivan and James Bennett. Noel himself starred as lead Galileo in the West End Production of We Will Rock You, bringing all of us even closer to Queen than we ever could! James's recent achievement was to choreograph the large cast that includes Taron Egerton in the new musical-biopic of Elton John, Rocketman.
Noel Sullivan performing with Brian May. I was secretly so jealous that the kids get to work with Noel and James…even with zero musical and zero dancing traits, I thought of ways to disguise my 30-year-old pregnant self as a student??
Noel and James <3 (I am such a fangirl!)
Pillars of society: Music teachers John Kinghorn and Steve Tomlinson flanked by James and Noel.
Some of the elements that didn't make it to the poster were inspired by Freddie's duet with David Bowie, Under Pressure. Both had symbolic ties to planetary bodies- Freddie to Mercury, when he said in the film that he will always look forward and never backwards, referencing to Mercury's retrograde direction, and Bowie to Mars. Sings to self "Is there a life on Mars???"
Here is a quick sketch that I hope to develop someday into something more. The simplicity of the composition and the weight of emotions it carries deserves more than just a couple of black lines and colors, so I'm hoping that with more practice, I'd be able to do these two planetary giants enough justice.
