This week I interviewed Ig handle: @terriblyawesomecovers !

1. Tell me a little about yourself:

“My name is Luke. I’m 40 and work in finance. Since I was a very young kid, I’ve been obsessed with music. I grew up with an older brother (nine years my senior) who’s also a massive music fan. So my earliest musical memories where of sneaking into his bedroom while he was at track practice to pour over his cassette collection. Mostly heavy metal and early rap – but also lots of new wave, r&b, and classic rock. His interest in so many different genres of music made a big impact on me in terms of being openminded to all types of music. Since sneaking tapes out of his room was often too risky, I would usually just stare at the covers and imagine what the music must sound like. This cultivated an early appreciation for not just the sounds – but also the visual aspect – of albums.”

2. How did you come up with the concept of your instagram?

” I worked at a record store during (and slightly beyond) college. We took in a lot of used product – which means *a lot* of weird, random records. Over the years I began to identify the aesthetic that I would later dub “terribly awesome.” While there’s not one set formula for what it is, it’s essentially any cover that – on the surface – shouldn’t work but due to either the artist’s naïveté, chutzpah, or pure outlandishness somehow transcends its inherent limitations and becomes something amazing in its own right. A close friend and I would eventually refine the definition as we began sending covers back and forth to each other via text, always trying to one up the other with the most terribly awesome example. Eventually talk turned to starting an Instagram page dedicated to the covers since we assumed there were others out there who enjoyed (or would enjoy) them as well. After a bit of research and finding it to be pretty much an untapped theme on IG, the page was born. Now, here’s a common misconception about TAC: I am not simply making fun of the covers/artists (though, admittedly, that’s often a component), I’m celebrating them. I genuinely love all of the covers I post. When I first started the page, I received a lot of submissions of purely bad/ugly/tasteless album covers and, while I’ve always appreciated the engagement, that’s never what the page has been about. There’s plenty of straight up bad covers out there. But the “terribly awesome” cover is a magical blend – a unicorn in a forest of banality. That’s what makes them special and worth celebrating!”

3. What are your top 3 favorite terribly awesome album covers and why?

1.)” Kenny Loggins – “Keep the Fire”. It was my first post and the cover that started it all. If there’s a terribly awesome template, it’s Kenny Loggins grasping a glowing light orb while wearing a white silk robe on the shores of a fantasy ocean…during a meteor shower. It’s a 10/10.

 2.) Michael Henderson – “Slingshot”. This is a perfect example of someone feeling themselves just a *bit* too much. The Speedo, the full torso body hair, the fact that he’s midway through taking off a jacket (even though he’s at the beach in the middle of the day). All combine for an exquisite representation of “so bad, it’s good.” Plus the post’s caption was authored by OldSchoolDads, an IG hero of mine and a big part of the inspiration behind the page. So it holds a special place with me.

3.) Dee D. Jackson – “Cosmic Curves“. The 70’s “Cosmic Disco” scene was a real hotbed for terribly awesome cover art, but for my money, Dee D. takes the prize for the most eye catching. She’s emerging from the center of the Milky Way galaxy in a form fitted, bedazzled, black vinyl jumpsuit with matching silver gloves and cape while shooting rays of starlight from her gloved fingertips. Her oddly blank facial expression, the soft filter on the photo, and the neon laser lettering of the album title are only a few of the finer details on this stellar cover. “

4.  What is a random fact about yourself that not a lot of people know.

“I gestated for 10 months rather than the normal 9 and was born exactly one month late on my mother’s birthday. “

5. Do you have any exciting events or news that you would like to share?

“I have my continued weekly post collaborations with the incredible Emil Amos of Holy Sons, Grails, Lilacs & Champagne. He’s my favorite artist currently making music so that’s been some real dream fulfillment for me. I also have a series of playlists on my Spotify and Apple Music pages that I update semi regularly. Some based solely around the TerriblyAwesomeCovers page and others that focus on specific genres I enjoy. Mostly, I’d just like to welcome any readers to come and check out the page. I feel like I’ve cultivated an amazing group of followers who are hilarious and well informed. Engaging with them in the comment section – whether roasting or toasting the covers, swapping jokes or sharing knowledge – is really what makes the page so much fun. Hope to see you there! “

If you like more information about Luke his Ig handle is https://www.instagram.com/terriblyawesomecovers/