What Music Looks Like

Formed in Brighton and now largely based out of Bristol, post-punk outfit Squid have established themselves as one of the UK’s most inventive live bands. Ahead of their guest curation takeover at the 2026 edition of Bristol festival staple Simple Things, Arthur Leadbetter and Louis Borlase unpack the process of hand-selecting a lineup of friends and musical peers, and how playing in unique spaces - from churches to dive bars - dictates the sound and energy of live performance. We also dive into the stories behind their album artwork, including working with a Tokyo neuroscientist to decode MRI brainwaves for 2021’s Bright Green Field and the rich visual universe of 2025’s Cowards.Host: Paul WeedonMusic: Andy KellyArtwork & Design: Alex Vissaridis

What happens when an album campaign expands into an alternate reality of imagined 90s-style ads, brands and retro consoles? In this week's episode of What Music Looks Like, artist and art director Jonathan Zawada unpacks the extraordinary, sprawling visual universe behind The Avalanches’ No Bad Memories.Host: Paul WeedonMusic: Andy KellyArtwork & Design: Alex Vissaridis

From her 2010 debut Philharmonics to the recent The Meaning of Flowers, acclaimed singer, songwriter, and composer Agnes Obel has constructed an exceptionally intimate, timeless visual world that exists in direct conversation with her music. In this episode, she reflects on fifteen years of visual world-building and how her creative partnership with her husband, photographer and director Alex Brüel Flagstad, and graphic designer Andrea Caderin helps shape her visual world.Host: Paul WeedonMusic: Andy KellyArtwork & Design: Alex Vissaridis

Best known today for his sweeping orchestral scores for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and 007 Blood Stone, Ivor Novello-winning composer Richard Jacques began his career in-house at SEGA in the 1990s, soaking up influences from UK rave culture, acid jazz and hip-hop. In this episode, Richard reflects on three decades of visual world-building - from writing the upbeat pop joys of Sonic R on his kitchen table and making the legendary 'Everybody Jump Around' for Jet Set Radio, to pioneering in-car radio systems for Metropolis Street Racer and making gaming history at Abbey Road Studios with the sweeping orchestral score for 2001’s Headhunter. We also explore how the cyclic time-stretch on classic Akai samplers helped shape an entire era of music, and why revisiting electronic breaks on Denshattack! earlier this year marked a welcome return to familiar musical territory.Host: Paul WeedonMusic: Andy KellyArtwork & Design: Alex Vissaridis

Over the past two decades, Dutch rock band De Staat have earned a reputation as one of Europe’s most visually ambitious live acts. In this episode, we sit down with frontman and visual director Torre Florim to explore how their music videos have undergone a unique transitional process, translating from screen concepts into real-world, interactive live rituals. Where the viral 3D crowd simulation for 'Witch Doctor' continues to inspired audience-led circle pits that define their live shows, 'Kitty Kitty' has brought live split-screen camera setups into venues space, turning them into a kind of living, breathing performance art. This is the story of how a one-man musical project became an experimental, creative powerhouse.Host: Paul WeedonMusic: Andy KellyDesign & Artwork: Alex VissaridisPhotography: Kees de Klein

For their self-titled third record, Scottish alt-rock band Walt Disco sought to reinvent themselves almost entirely. Written against a backdrop of career crossroads, evolving personal identities,and singer Jocelyn Si’s journey navigating self-worth and gender dysphoria as a trans person, the album turns the disorientation of growing up into a liberated, fearlessly ambitious alt-rock statement.Moving away from over-complicated narrative concepts, the band immersed themselves in Glasgow’s thriving queer DIY art scene to create visuals rooted in industrial textures and subcultural irreverence. Here, singer Jocelyn Si, drummer Jack Martin, and graphic designer/art director Tom Joyes reflect on the creative process.Host: Paul WeedonMusic: Andy KellyDesign & Artwork: Alex Vissaridis

In this mini episode recorded at Bristol’s Encounters Film Festival, we sit down with director Oliver Laxe and composer David Letellier (Kangding Ray) following the UK premiere of Sirāt Live, a live AV reimagining of Laxe’s apocalyptic road movie Sirāt.The performance transforms the film into an immersive existential rave that sees Letellier performing a live electronic overhaul of his award-winning score while Laxe selects and mixes unseen film footage live on stage alongside him.Here, the duo discuss their early memories of music and design and the unique experience of translating a devastating, transcendental piece of filmmaking into a collective, euphoric live music experience.Host: Paul WeedonMusic: Andy KellyDesign & Artwork: Alex VissaridisPhotography: Tamara de la Fuente

Since their very first gig in 1994, director, filmmaker and visual director Adam Smith has worked with The Chemical Brothers, acting as the creative driving force behind their live visuals. Working alongside creative partner Marcus Lyall, he has constructed some of the most iconic live imagery in modern electronic music - from towering, laser-firing giant robots to catwalk-voguing pink figures and even helmed their stunning 2012 concert film Don't Think, which chronicles the duo's 2011 Fuji Rock Festival show. Here, we explore his unique creative partnership with the duo, alongside reflections on his recent collaboration with TOMORA - the madcap, ethereal pairing of Tom Rowlands and Aurora.Host: Paul WeedonMusic: Andy KellyDesign & Artwork: Alex Vissaridis

From 1984 to 1988, art director Laura LiPuma sat at the helm of Prince's visual identity, shaping the look and feel of his imperial run. This is the story of how a right-place, right-time lunch-hour miracle brought Laura face-to-face with Prince for the first time, and how their meeting would change the course of their respective careers.Host: Paul WeedonMusic: Andy KellyDesign & Artwork: Alex Vissaridis

In this mini episode, Deafheaven frontman George Clarke reflects on the unexpected visual legacy of 2013's Sunbather. From repeat collaborations with designer Nick Steinhardt to seeing their artwork serve as the basis for countless graphic designers' mood boards and even internet memes, we discuss the art of finding a balance between the grotesque tropes of metal and clean, minimal design. Host: Paul WeedonMusic: Andy KellyDesign and artwork: Alex Vissaridis