Independence 76 is an Americana rock band (with a touch of bluegrass) from Oklahoma City, OK. They brought a unique approach to their debut album “Magpie Parables”. The storyline of the album tells of a personal, emotional, mental struggle of the moral compromise of a civilian buying bombs for the Department of Defense. It’s a highly conceptual album that they felt couldn’t be fully expressed using conventional means to promote and market the album itself. G. Eddison, the lead singer, came to us looking for a unique approach to a website design that would be complementary to the maze-like intricacies of the search for truth in a post-9/11 America.
As one of the first band websites we’ve done, Back40 Design utilized some new features in the development of this website unique to the kind of needs a band may have. One of the really nice features is the use of a media player to download and play audio files. Independence 76 uses a-“maze”-ing hand-drawn artwork created by Ben Uelk at Maze Dojo in their album artwork. This recurrent motif is featured prominently in the website design and album artwork. In addition to the website design, Back40 created the overall promotional package design, including the Independence 76 logo, CD artwork, envelope cover art, digital booklet, and promotional stickers. This allowed us to maintain an overall consistent brand for the band.
Independence 76 also wanted to provide a model for album purchase that allowed a little more flexibility for distribution than the traditional model of album sales. Independence 76 provides two ways for web users to obtain their debut album “Magpie Parables”
- you can purchase the appropriately priced $19.76 deluxe edition, a physical copy of the CD with accompanying album artwork, design and layout by Back40 Design’s own Amy Sharp or
- you can also pay-what-you-want and download a digital version of the album, a new model in album sales that eschews the traditional record labels distribution model
Independence 76’s new website has proved to be a new and exciting venture for us and we look forward to more exciting opportunities to work with other creative professionals in new and exciting ways.
