Sonny Kay is a visual artist and musician.

Biography

Kay was born in London, England on March 13, 1972, and raised in various locations including the UK, Barcelona (Spain), and Johannesburg (South Africa). His family relocated first to Los Angeles in 1979, and then to Colorado in 1987. He is the son of "

Spaghetti Western The Spaghetti Western is a broad subgenre of Western films produced in Europe. It emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's film-making style and international box-office success. The term was used by foreign critics because most o ...

" film director, Gilbert Lee Kay (aka José Briz). In 1993, Sonny founded the cult independent record label

Gold Standard Laboratories Gold Standard Laboratories or GSL was an independent record label which was founded in 1993 in Boulder, Colorado by Sonny Kay. In 2000, it was relocated to San Diego, California, United States, and two years later, to Los Angeles. It was headqu ...

, known also as GSL, while attending the University of Colorado at Boulder. During that time he was a member of the pre-

screamo Screamo (also referred to as skramz) is an aggressive subgenre of emo that emerged in the early 1990s and emphasizes "willfully experimental dissonance and dynamics".Jason Heller, "Feast of Reason". ''Denver Westword'', June 20, 2002Access date: ...

band Angel Hair (

Gravity Records Gravity is an underground independent record label from San Diego.Trevor Kelley, "California Screaming". ''Alternative Press'' 17 (2003), pp. 84-86. It was formed in 1991 by Matt Anderson, a member of the influential underground band Heroin. It ...

). In 1996, Kay (and GSL) relocated to Berkeley, California. By this time, he was vocalist with the influential "proto-futuristic" punk band,

The VSS The VSS was an American rock band from Boulder, Colorado, United States. History The VSS formed in 1995 after the breakup of the hardcore group Angel Hair. Vocalist Sonny Kay and guitarist Josh Hughes had both played in Angel Hair; the rest of ...

. Kay founded the independent music distributor Bottlenekk Distribution in 1996, which resulted in a rapid acceleration in releases and notoriety for GSL. The label soon became synonymous with bands such as

The Locust The Locust was an American hardcore punk band from San Diego, California, known for their mix of grindcore aggression and new wave experimentation. The band has been noted for their use of insect costumes when performing live. History Prio ...

!!! !!! ( ), also known as Chk Chk Chk, is an American rock band from Sacramento, California, formed in 1996 by lead singer Nic Offer. Members of !!! came from other local bands such as the Yah Mos, Black Liquorice and Pope Smashers. They are curr ...

, and

The Mars Volta The Mars Volta is an American progressive rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2001. The band's only constant members are Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, producer, direction) and Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals, lyrics), whose partnership forms ...

. Kay moved to San Diego in 2001 and to Los Angeles in 2003. Between 2003 and 2006 he was vocalist for the punk band Year Future. After GSL ceased operations in October 2007, Kay began devoting his time to making art and graphic design. From 2008 until 2013 he was creative director of Rodriguez Lopez Productions, a record label dedicated to releasing the works of guitarist

Omar Rodríguez-López Omar Alfredo Rodríguez-López (born September 1, 1975) is an American guitarist and songwriter. He has formed or played in several bands, including the Mars Volta, At the Drive-In, Antemasque, and Bosnian Rainbows. He was the bassist for the ...

and various other artists related to

, as well as its "parent" company,

Sargent House Sargent House is an American management company and record label based in Los Angeles. It was founded in June 2006 by Cathy Pellow, who is a music video commissioner for Atlantic Records and also owns a music video production company called Ref ...

. Kay's digital collage illustrations and/or graphic design have appeared on album sleeves for artists including

(for whom he designed over 25 albums),

RX Bandits Rx Bandits are an American four-piece band based in Seal Beach, California, United States. The band formed in 1995 in Orange County, California. They have appeared on the Vans Warped Tour, at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Coachella Valle ...

, Zu,

Shooter Jennings Waylon Albright "Shooter" Jennings (born May 19, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He is the only son of country singers Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter. In a career spanning over two decades, Shooter Jenni ...

, Le Butcherettes,

The Glitch Mob The Glitch Mob is an American electronic music trio from Los Angeles, California. It consists of edIT (Edward Ma), Boreta (Justin Boreta) and Ooah (Josh Mayer). Chris Martins of '' LA Weekly'' noted that they "have undoubtedly found the largest ...

Red Sparowes Red Sparowes is an American, Los Angeles-based post-rock band, comprising current and former members of Isis, Marriages, The Nocturnes, Halifax Pier, Angel Hair and Pleasure Forever. Their sound is characteristic of soundscape-influenced expe ...

And So I Watch You From Afar or AND may refer to: Logic, grammar, and computing * Conjunction (grammar), connecting two words, phrases, or clauses * Logical conjunction in mathematical logic, notated as "∧", "⋅", "&", or simple juxtaposition * Bitwise AND, a boolea ...

Thavius Beck Thavius Beck (born July 31, 1979) is an American record producer and rapper. He has been a member of Global Phlowtations and Lab Waste. He has also put out solo releases under the moniker Adlib. He is a certified trainer of Ableton Live. Biograp ...

The Drowning Men The Drowning Men is an American indie-rock quintet from Oceanside, California. The members are Nato Bardeen (vocals, keyboards, guitar, mandolin), James Smith (lead guitar, vocals), Todd Eisenkerch (bass, vocals), Rory Dolan (percussion), and G ...

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific out ...

Bosnian Rainbows Bosnian Rainbows was an American art rock band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 2012. The band consists of former the Mars Volta members Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, backing vocals) and Deantoni Parks (drums, keyboards), alongside Le Butcherette ...

311 311 may refer to: * 311 (number), a natural number * AD 311, a year of the Julian calendar, in the fourth century AD * 311 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 311 (band), an American band ** ''311'' (album), band 311's self-titled album ...

and others. In November 2010, Kay and painter Jeff Jordan presented a joint show of their work in Los Angeles, entitled Parallel Universes. Kay was also a member of the bands Savalas (1991–1992), Subpoena the Past (1997–1999), and Optional Body (2008). He is credited with backing vocals on early releases by the San Diego grindcore band,

Cattle Decapitation Cattle Decapitation is an American deathgrind band from San Diego, California, formed in 1996. The band's current lineup includes vocalist Travis Ryan, guitarists Josh Elmore and Belisario Dimuzio, bassist Olivier Pinard, and drummer David McGr ...

. In 2007, Kay appeared in the feature film,

The Sentimental Engine Slayer ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, written and directed by Omar Rodriguez Lopez. Kay's IMDB page also credits him with production design and title design for the film. In 2017, Kay's first book, ''Headspaces: Surrealistic Album Art & Collage by Sonny Kay'' was published by

Bob Rob Medina Robert "Bob Rob" Medina is an American artist, author, musician and educator. In 1988, Medina founded the Denver-based punk/hardcore record label, Donut Crew Records, releasing the ''Colorado Crew'' series of compilation 7-inch EPs featuring Th ...

's Robot Enemy Publications.

References

External links

*
InstagramArtistaday.comInterview with Sonny Kay from Conversations with Bianca blogInterview with Sonny Kay from Sound Bites Dog E-Zine
Living people American graphic designers American rock singers American record producers 1972 births 21st-century American singers {{graphic-designer-stub