Wilmington breweries are teaming up with local artists and bands, with cool results

Ever since breweries started opening up in force around the Wilmington area about a decade ago, they've made room for local artists.

Often, that has taken the form of local art on the walls, like at Flytrap Brewing on North Fourth Street, or in the tunes provided by a plethora of area bands and musicians.

Recently, however, collaborations between Wilmington artists and Wilmington breweries have begun to involve the beer itself.

In June, for example, the New Anthem Brewing Project, which has locations on Dock and Greenfield streets, released the first in what will eventually be a series of four fruited sour ales in cans designed by Wilmington artist Greyson Davis, who also goes by the names Haji P and Happyfangs.

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Davis said New Anthem co-owner and head of brewing operations Aaron Skiles sent him a message "out of the blue" asking if Davis would design some beer cans for New Anthem.

"For me it was a bucket list thing," Davis said. "Get my art on a beer can."

Davis said that Skiles basically just told him the the names of the beers and what's in them, and let him take it from there.

For "Then the Sounds Roll In," a blueberry guava sour ale released in June, Davis came up with the character of an animated guava fruit wearing headphones, since all of New Anthem's beers are named after song lyrics.

For "Miles Ahead Of You⁣," a sour ale with lime and apricot, he added one of his trademark gold teeth to the can character's toothy grin, along with a cheeky butt (another one of his trademarks) on the back of the can.

"I hear people say, 'Wait, does that can have a butt on it?'" Davis said. "Getting a smile is always a goal of my art, and I've definitely gotten lots of smiles."

New Anthem teams up with four other artists in addition to Davis for various beer can designs, Skiles said, adding that the artists were recommended to the brewery by Jake Motsinger of Memory Lane Comics downtown.

"We'd been trying to do for four or five years," Skiles said. "We put it on the back burner, during COVID, but I was like, 'We gotta tell a better story with our cans.'"

Original designs by local artists helps New Anthem's beers stand out, he said, but it's also about strengthening the brand's ties to Wilmington.

"Ultimately, it's going to help us sell beer, but it's a tremendous amount about community," Skiles said. "If we can put a little money in someone's wallet and make what we do authentic and local, it's a win, win, win all over."

It's not just visual artists that local breweries are looking to work with.

Earlier this summer, Edward Teach Brewing on North Fourth Street released a summer beer called Beach Goth that was a team-up with wide-touring Wilmington hard rock act He Is Legend and the DSSOLVR brewery in Asheville.

He Is Legend frontman Schuylar Croom said the band had been talking to DSSOLVR about doing a beer release tied to the band's upcoming album in October.

The timing for that didn't quite work out, he said. But when Edward Teach reached out to him about doing a beer release, "I linked them up in an email" and the light, summery Beach Goth was born. The skull-heavy can design resembles a concert poster for a metal show.

"I joke around being a beach goth, you know, wearing cut off jorts to the beach," Croom said. "I didn't think the name would stick, but they said, 'No it has to be that.'"

The beer has been sold in stores and bars all over North Carolina.

"We had people all over the country asking how to get it, even some people in Europe," Croom said.

He Is Legend isn't the first Wilmington band to team up with a local brewery. A few years ago, Wilmington rockers ASG collaborated with the Wilmington Brewing Co. for the Day's Work Session IPA.

"We're definitely in that time when collaboration is key," Croom said. "It was a fun thing. I mean, it was mainly for exposure. We got a case of beer out of it."

Exposure for He Is Legend, and the brewery gets to have its name associated with a cool, popular band. Or, in New Anthem's case, to have beer in cans that look cooler than they might otherwise.

"I give Aaron all the props in the world," Davis said of New Anthem owner Skiles. "He pulled together multiple communities. The beer scene is its own community, and so is the art community."

"These cans are part of Wilmington," he added. "It's not just a random Rolling Rock label."

Contact John Staton at 910-343-2343 or John.Staton@StarNewsOnline.com. 

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Wilmington breweries team up with artists, bands like He Is Legend