Here’s a snippet from a great interview with one of my favorite local concert poster artists, James Flames. It’s posted at The Truckshop Community Radio News:
Q: When creating your posters for bands, do you actually listen to music? Does the music from the band often inspire the poster?
A: I always listen to music, pretty much when I’m doing anything. Either that, or talk radio. But I’d say99% of the time, my ears need to be distracted. So yeah, I definitely listen to albums by the bands that I’m working for as I draw – and when I’m sketching and getting the concepts together, I also read lyrics, watch video by the band, and listen to music of other bands that inspired them. All that usually really helps solidify a concept and direction – it’s very important to me that each poster works specially for a band and the people who dig that band. Then, once I got everything down, I’ll listen to anything while I finish the rest of the drawing and printing.