Glasgow artist creates Fratellis mural in Waverley Market for National Album Day

A Glasgow artist has had his mural of The Fratelli’s first album plastered in Edinburgh’s Waverley Market to celebrate National Album Day today, October 15.

Gerry Gapinski from Glasgow painted the mural of the Fratelli’s debut album, Costello Music, at Avalanche Records in the Waverley Market, reimagining it in the style of a Jack Vettriano painting.

National Album Day is a project by Bowers & Wilkins and BBC Sounds - returning for its fifth edition today - and is celebrating this year’s theme of ‘debut albums’.

Costello Music was the debut album of The Fratelli’s - bringing us the national treasure that is Chelsea Dagger and shooting the band to fame. Famously the album had a pin-up style artwork to match the themes of the album.

The new take by Glaswegian artist Gapinski, which was unveiled today outside of Avalanche Records store in Edinburgh’s Waverley Centre, combines the pin-up styling with elements from the renowned Scottish artist, Jack Vettriano.

The mural resembles Vettriano’s iconic ‘Singing Butler’ work - and was created using spray paint and hand cut stencils.

Frontman Jon Fratelli said: “We’re really pleased Costello Music has been chosen to be part of National Album Day – for us recording an actual album with an incredible producer in a studio that we’re still not sure really exists all felt magical enough.

“To see it for sale in the record stores that we’d spent half our lives in was surreal. To hear that people were actually buying copies was just about the best news we’d ever heard.

“The artwork for the album almost perfectly captured the character of the band and the music at that time.

“Reimagining it in the style of Jack Vettriano makes sense to me and we are all really happy with the result – it’s a clever interpretation and we feel honoured to have been chosen for the mural.

“If it encourages people to pick up an album, whether it’s ours or someone they maybe haven’t really heard before, then that’s great.

“Whatever the art form, an artist being influenced or inspired by something we created is always a good thing.”

The Fratelli’s 2006 debut was chosen by Avalanche Records owner Kevin Buckle because of the iconic artwork – and the album’s continued popularity among record-buyers of all ages.

Artist Gerry Gapinski said: “I was asked to reimagine The Fratellis’ debut album, Costello Music. The image I painted is a play on Jack Vettriano’s famous painting, The Singing Butler.

“The idea was to present the butler and the maid having a party on the beach, listening to The Fratellis, after their classical dancing employers had left the beach. A contrast between high culture and popular culture in a musical sense.

“This contrast is mirrored by the stencil graffiti art style I used to paint it, in contrast to the classical painting style of Vettriano’s original painting. I decided in the design stage I would try to keep the vintage, ‘pin-up’ feel of the original Fratellis album cover, so there would be a connection and continuity with it, that hopefully folk could recognise.”

The album delivered a series of hit singles and set the band on their way to international stardom, which continues to this day – their most recent record Half Drunk Under A Full Moon delivered hugely in both critical acclaim and commercial success.

The band plays the OVO Hydro with the Kaiser Chiefs in Glasgow on November 11, with tickets on sale now.