Electronic Saviors
The electronic Saviors Project
A Six Album Evolution of Art & Music
Electronic Saviors: Industrial Music to Cure Cancer was started by my good friend Jim Semonik in 2008. Jim was battling a very deadly form of stage 2B colorectal cancer at the time, and it was out of both his passion for music and his need to give back that Electronic Saviors was born.
Thankfully, Jim beat the disease, and every few years he managed to pull together numerous Industrial bands and artists to create each of these (currently six) impressive volumes of music and healing. Carried by both Metropolis Records and Distortion Productions, the proceeds from album sales are donated to various cancer support charities and GoFundMe campaigns to provide a real impact for the people who need it most.
Jim decided to bring a close to the Electronic Saviors saga with the sixth and final album, Reflection. For more information on Electronic Saviors please visit www.electronicsaviors.com.
I collaborated with fellow Illustrator Jeff Confer on the illustration, design, packaging, and promotional material for each of these volumes since the beginning. This project is truly an amalgamation of many incredible talents.
Client - Metropolis Records, Distortion Productions
Art Direction - Jeff Confer
Graphic Design - Samantha Johnson
Album Arwork for All 6 Volumes:
Original Line Art by Jeff Confer
Digital Coloring by Samantha Johnson
Vol. vi: reflection - 2020
As the final album in the series, Reflection has a peaceful, if not bitter sweet mood. Stormy skies have parted to reveal a stunning sunset and dazzling aurora borealis. The land is green and once more full of hope and the promise of new life as our hero quietly contemplates all that he has won, and all that he has lost.
A Cyborg Reflects - Original pencil drawing by Jeff Confer.
We ended up scrapping the gear staff from Jeff’s original drawing. Jim really wanted a glowing gear symbol in the sky behind the logo, and we felt the staff, while it provides a pleasing directional element in the sketch, would become too busy with the final render.
From the moment I saw Jeff’s concept, I knew the mood I wanted to capture
The soft roar of the storm, the splash of raindrops, the smell of wet earth, rain soaked fabric and wet chrome; I wanted our audience to feel the immense weight of the cyborg as he knelt, as well as the grief bearing down on him.
I gave my heart to each of these albums when it was time to add color to Jeff’s lines, but Remembrance perhaps went a step further.
I was still reeling from my own personal loss from the end of 2017, and the last two years seemed like a who’s who in celebrity deaths. One of my own heroes, David Bowie, passed in 2016, and I’d just recently listened to his final album nearly two years after its initial release. I was saving it because I knew this would be the last time I would hear his music for the first time.
Vol. v : remembrance - 2018
Each album cover brought unique challenges, but Vol. V presented the most. Nearly monochrome, rain, atmospheric mist, wet textures, and lots of tiny characters to boot; I certainly had my work cut out for me.
Remembering the Fallen - Original pencil Drawing by Jeff Confer.
Where as my line art is often hyper detailed, Jeff has a far more simplistic and graphic style. I can always rely on him to provide a dynamic composition and a strong sense for light and shadow.
Up until Retaliation, I only had one or two cyborgs to worry about. This time, Jim wanted an army. He also requested a rich galactic purple color palette.
Vol. iv: retaliation - 2016
By the fourth album, Electronic Saviors had amassed quite a following, many of whom had either lost someone to cancer, or were battling the beast themselves. Jim wanted Retaliation to give everyone a rallying battle cry to fight on.
“This is life. This is war. It’s what we’re fighting for!”
Leading the Charge - Yet another fabulous composition by Jeff.
It is hard to pick a favorite, but I feel Remission is something extra special. Aside from Jeff’s incredible composition, I love how he drew the cyborg’s face. The symmetry and sharp contours make it almost appear as three faces. It is a very powerful image and does well to embody the transformation of someone who is healing both physically and emotionally.
I also feel I made some tremendous breakthroughs with my colors on this piece. I was pushing my own boundaries quite a bit, trying new techniques and ignoring color gamuts in an attempt to do the pencils justice.
Vol. iii : remission - 2014
Shiny and Chrome! The faint landscape behind our victorious hero originated in Volume II. We felt this was a good choice, as it aids in adding a little more depth and texture, and it reminds us just how far the ailing cyborg has come since the previous two albums. He is once again whole.
Ascension to Victory - Original pencil drawing by Jeff Confer.
We knew there would be three gear staffs from the beginning, but the idea was to make the center staff shiny and renewed like our Cyborg, with rust falling away from the other two. Since I would have to render the entire staff as chrome, there really wasn’t much of a point for Jeff to draw it.
Recurrence features a woman cyborg as well as our stricken hero. She is a benevolent character and I painted her as a healer.
She makes another appearance in Volume IV bearing a gear staff and flag, however, her breasts were switched out for a flat chest plate. This was our attempt to include breast cancer survivors as well.
Vol. ii : recurrence - 2012
Electronic Saviors Volume II - I tried something different and created a vector piece from Jeff’s background. I wanted those graphic shadows to appear bold and flat instead of losing them to the gradation of painting. This of course made it easy to implement the background into the album art for Volume III.
At Peace in the Valley of Death - Original pencil drawing by Jeff Confer
Jim requested a scene inspired by the common depiction of Mary holding the dead body of Jesus, also known as a Pietà. Of course, our Cyborg hero isn’t dead, but he is gravely ill. The valley that surrounds him is a place of both peace and mourning. Each marker represents the memory of the cyborgs who have already passed.
Where it all Began
Electronic saviors volume 1
industrial music to cure cancer
Looking back on older work can often feel a little disheartening. I see so much I would do differently now. But part of the wonder of these albums is seeing how much I’ve grown over the 6 of them, even from album to album. Much of the same can be said for Jeff’s incredible lines, and the bands who managed to contribute to multiple volumes.
Vol. i - 2010
I was already familiar with coloring Jeff’s line art thanks to previous collaborations, but truly conquering his graphic shadows was something that would elude me until Volume III
An image born equal parts from the cyberpunk aesthetics of the Industrial Music scene and the physical and emotional distortion that so often accompanies cancer treatment, our partially dismantled hero makes for a gruesome album cover.
Cyborg Surgery - Original pencil Drawing by Jeff Confer
There were so many firsts. This was my first large project. Definitely my first album layout. Absolutely my first time sending files off to a printer for something that would be sold in stores.
Mistakes were made, lessons were learned, and art was created.
It was a hell of a ride.
I am proud of Jim for seeing this mega project through to the [bitter sweet] end, and all the artists who added their own flavor to the mix along the way.