Steve Averill (born 1950) is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

graphic artist, art director, writer, musician, and former punk rock vocalist. He, along with his company, AMP Visual (previously Four5One Creative), has designed all the album covers for the Irish band U2. Averill also brainstormed the name "U2" that the group selected for themselves.

Life

Averill was educated at Mount Temple School in

Clontarf, Dublin Clontarf () is a largely affluent coastal suburb on the Northside of Dublin in the city's Dublin 3 postal district. Historically there were two centres of population, one on the coast towards the city, and the fishing village of Clontarf Sheds, ...

. His parents thought his interest in musical acts such as,

The Tornados The Tornados (The Tornadoes in North America) were an English instrumental rock group of the 1960s that acted as backing group for many of record producer Joe Meek's productions and also for singer Billy Fury. They enjoyed several chart hits ...

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and

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were all just noise. Even at the age of twelve he was interested in the album cover art. Averill had a short career as the singer Steve Rapid in Ireland's first punk band The Radiators from Space who were not very highly thought of by the musical establishment. The Radiators developed from Averill's involvement with Pete Holidai in two earlier bands: Greta Garbage and the Trashcans. Averill remained with the band from their inception in September 1976 until August 1977 when the other members moved to London. His last gig (during this period of the Radiators) was at Ireland's first outdoor rock concert in

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known as D ...

on August 21 with

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

. He designed the Radiator's first single cover that helped them secure a record deal with

Chiswick Records Chiswick Records was a British independent record label. Established in 1975, Chiswick was the "first true ' indie' label to be established in Britain for nearly a decade". The label has been described as "significant" in the " punk era". It re ...

. Averill realized his vocal limitations and wanted to express himself through art and design. He considered himself ''a tone-deaf singer with no musical talent'' so he returned to his graphic designer job at a Dublin advertising company Arrow Publishing and after their demise worked at The Creative Department.

U2 connection

It was Averill who suggested U2 as the name of the Irish group then known as "The Hype". After working at Helmes Advertising agency Averill would leave to start Averill Brophy Associates & later Four5One Creative, which before he left changed their name to AMP Creative. During his design career, he worked for several of Ireland's musical acts, such as, The

Dubliners ''Dubliners'' is a collection of fifteen short stories by James Joyce, first published in 1914. It presents a naturalistic depiction of Irish middle class life in and around Dublin in the early years of the 20th century. The stories were writt ...

Hothouse Flowers Hothouse Flowers are an Irish rock band that combine traditional Irish music with influences from soul, gospel, and rock. Formed in 1985 in Dublin, they started as street performers. Their first album, ''People'' (1988), was the most successf ...

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and

Clannad Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including f ...

; and international acts like

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

and

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

. Published to coincide with the February 2003 opening of the

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's U2 exhibition ''In The Name Of Love'', a book ''Stealing Hearts At A Travelling Show'' shows U2 collaboration in the design work by Averill and Shaughn McGrath from 1980 to 2003.

Influences

In September 2016, Averill referenced the artist Russell Mills as a source of current inspiration for the web project Just Six Degrees. "I have long been aware and an admirer of the work of Russell Mills. From his early work with

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

- both the album cover designs as well as their book More Dark Than Shark - through to his gallery installations and his work with

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

. So it was a pleasure to meet him in person when we shared a stage at the recent Offset event in Dublin. The real inspiration came from meeting and talking to Russell and being able to hear him talk about the ideas and thought processes behind his work and to then see some of his work close up at the accompanying exhibition. But it was from the man himself and his attitude to his work and life that I drew some personal motivation."

References

External links

*
The Radiators (from Space)
IrishRock.org
Steve Averill's ''AllMusic'' creditsInterview: Four5One Talks To Interference
{{DEFAULTSORT:Averill, Steve 1950 births People educated at Mount Temple Comprehensive School Irish musicians Irish designers U2 Living people Musicians from Dublin (city) The Radiators from Space members