Let us celebrate your all-time favourite piece of music with an incredible bespoke artwork – made just for you.
Introducing…the Temple of Wax.
We all have a favourite vinyl record, right?
One that connects with us in a special way.
With our bespoke service, The Temple of Wax, we take that cherished vinyl record and transform it for you into a large-scale work of art that you can hang on your wall and enjoy every single day.
Complete Customisation
With the Temple of Wax, the world of vinyl is your oyster. Whatever you choose, we can transform – as a custom service just for you and in a size of your choice – into a huge three dimensional version for your walls at home or at work.
The finished artwork looks like a real record. It is circular. It is three dimensional. You can see all the detail in the grooves. It has a custom ultra-high-gloss finish that makes colours just ‘pop’.
The difference is that it is much bigger – a disc with a maximum diameter of up to 100cm (approximately 39 inches). The huge scale does something really quite incredible and dramatic to the original – like nothing you will have seen before.
Each large format artwork is made bespoke for you – a unique piece, personal to its owner.
You are the boss
You pick your favourite record
You choose a record – any record. It can be an LP, an EP, or a single. It can be 12 inches, 7 inches, or somewhere in between. It can be 45 rpm, 33 1/3 rpm or 78 rpm. It can be on black vinyl or coloured vinyl or even a picture disc. It doesn’t even need to be round.
It can be any subject of your liking – it is completely up to you. It could be:
- a lilac vinyl seven inch of Squeeze’s 1979 classic “Up The Junction”
- a black vinyl copy of “Good Vibrations” by the Beach Boys (with the swirling orange and yellow wave on the label)
- the Audio Fidelity pressing of Kate Bush’s Hounds of Love LP on purple marbled vinyl
- side one of Neil Young’s Harvest LP on Reprise
- Teenage Kicks by The Undertones – the original one, alongside
- a Japanese red vinyl seven inch bootleg of The Sex Pistols “God Save The Queen” on A&M
Equally it could something else entirely – from any genre of recorded music – classical, jazz, blues, anything…
Once you have made your choice, we then create – specifically for you – the large format three dimensional version.
Incredible sizes and high-gloss finish
We offer three standard sizes – a circular artwork with a 54cm (21 inch) diameter, a 75cm (29 inch) diameter and a larger version with a 100cm (39 inch) diameter.
These are big.
To put these sizes into context, the larger size occupies more than thirty times the surface area of a seven inch single, and over ten times the surface area of a 12 inch record.
Any size up to 100cm diameter is possible – please ask for a quote if you would like a non-standard size.
As part of the process, a large format image is fused onto coated aluminium, which is then cut to the shape of the record (usually circular, but any shape is possible in theory) and has an amazing ultra-high-gloss finish.
In the finished artwork you can see clearly the detail in the grooves, any messages in the run-out grooves (yours could be “a Porky Prime Cut”) and all the detail on the label.
Centre holes are cut out, adding to the 3D effect, whether it is an ‘old style’ seven inch single with a 1.5 inch centre hole or the small centre holes.
The finished disc looks incredible – like a huge shiny three dimensional version of the original – and custom made just for you.
Check these out
We road tested the concept with a few favourite records, including albums and singles by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, The Sex Pistols, The Undertones, The Clash and The Jam. We talk about three of these selections below.
They look amazing.
The Butterfly Collector
Fans of The Jam will need no introduction to this classic Paul Weller penned B-side from 1979. The Jam treated their fans with great respect, putting out singles with A- and B-sides that would not appear on albums. B-sides were often as good as the A-side. In my humble opinion, “The Butterfly Collector” is a perfect example, easily the equal of the A-side, “Strange Town”.
In the US, radio station promotional copies of “The Butterfly Collector” came with a white label on a beautiful golden yellow translucent vinyl.
We have this golden version in the huge 100 cm diameter version at the gallery, hanging directly on the wall, with no frame. One of the nice things about this enlarged version is that you can ‘read’ the vinyl. By this I mean that you can see clearly where the song goes from verse to chorus and back from the pattern in the grooves.
It Will Stand
Next up, we used a seven inch single with over fifty years on the clock – “It Will Stand” by The Showmen – released on the US Minit label in 1961. It is a soaring tribute to the enduring power of rock and roll, with an especially joyous lead vocal performance by General Norman Johnson (and yes, General was his first name).
He is probably best known for singing lead vocals for Chairmen of The Board – on tracks like “Give Me Just a Little More Time” – but that Showmen number grabs me by the guts each time I hear it. The colourful clock face on the Minit label is a nice visual touch, and it was an obvious personal candidate for me to celebrate in this ultra-large format.
We present “It Will Stand” in the 75cm diameter version at the gallery. Here’s a nice touch – where a single has an old style 1.5 inch diameter centre-hole, we cut this out as well, adding to the 3D effect.
This is bespoke to you, and the choice is completely yours.
Russian cold war X-ray discs? Not a problem.
The limited edition of The Flaming Lips Heady Fwends LP filled with human blood? Can do.
How about the Taxi Driver movie soundtrack LP on yellow vinyl ? Fine by us.
You want to cover your walls with huge versions of Bruce Springsteen’s best albums? All good.
It can be anything – as rare or as commonplace as you choose.
Like a Rolling Stone
Another road-test choice for us was a rare 1965 red vinyl promo seven inch of one of the greatest records of all time – “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan. For a record that defines the sixties, I love the fact that recording sessions for this track on 15/16 June 1965 took place right-slap-bang on the middle days of that middle month of the middle year of that incredible decade. It’s as if Dylan threw a dart and hit the dead-centre of the sixties with this colossus of a song.
I don’t think that many people have seen a mid-sixties coloured vinyl promo single, and I just felt that this was such a special version of the record that it deserved to be celebrated in its glorious and rare coloured variant. In the large format it just looks spectacular.
We present ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ in the 75cm diameter version at the gallery.
Framing options
Option 1: Frameless
In its standard format, the artwork is supplied unframed – but ready to hang straight on the wall. A 10mm deep aluminium subframe is fixed to the back of the aluminium disc, giving it its own structural rigidity, and enables you to hang it directly on the wall, without additional framing. Because of the subframe, the artwork appears to float 10mm from the wall, adding to the three dimensional effect.
The icing on the cake is the ultra-high-gloss surface, which is scratch resistant, fire resistant and water resistant. We offer free worldwide delivery on this format.
Option 2: White or black box frame
If you prefer your artwork behind glass, we offer a standard box frame in either white or black. Here the three dimensional artwork ‘floats’ inside the frame, creating a drop shadow, enhancing the 3D effect.
Alongside you can see two 75cm diameter pieces, one red vinyl, one black vinyl, in white box frames.
We have included the seven inch single to give you a sense of scale.
Please note that delivery charges apply with the framed versions to destinations outside the UK.
Prices
Specific sizes outside the above – please ask for a quote
Over to you
We have highlighted a few personal examples to illustrate the principle, but The Temple of Wax is very much about you.
We are here to create something very special and bespoke just for you, based on your choices.
We hope you commission us do this for you with one or two of the records that have meant something to you over the years.
Nuts and bolts. How to commission one.
There are a few simple steps to get you on your way to owning your very own bespoke artwork.
Please do call or email at any time if you have questions.
All our contact details are here.