Paul Weldon
Having trained as an architect in the early 1960s, Toronto-based keyboardist Paul Weldon formed a band in 1966 with jamming partner Larry Evoy, bringing in guitarist Danny Marks. They called the band Edward Bear after the bear that inspired Winnie the Pooh, and signed to Capitol Records in 1969. “Once we began playing regularly I had to take a break from architecture and I decided to pursue another interest, graphic design,” he says. “I found a lot of work designing all sorts of things for music groups, recording studios, record companies and so on.” Indeed, the band’s first single off their second album, ‘You Can’t Deny It’, included a cover designed by Paul.
In 1971 and 1972 Paul designed covers for the Crowbar album ‘Bad Manors’, for Everyday People’s debut album, and for the ‘America Eats Its Young’ cover for Funkadelic. Through mutual contacts Paul was contacted by Ray Danniels and Vic Wilson, who asked if he could design a logo for the newly created Moon Records. He went on to produce a cover for Rush’s first album. “We agreed on a concept and an approach,” he says. “In Rush’s early days they didn’t have much money and so I kept it to a 2 colour job (black and red).”
Since then, Paul has expanded his portfolio to include corporate and industrial graphics, and he has lived through the many evolutions of media, not least the advent of digital techniques and the rise of the now-ubiquitous Internet. He’s kept his hand in music – these days, Paul plays piano in the T. O. Trio, a jazz combo with Alan Sumpter on bass and Craig Barrett on drums. “We play for events and clubs in Toronto,” he says.