Fremantle artist Tom Cleave was today confirmed as the third local Western Australian artist to have his design selected to be immortalised on cans of Otherside beer.

His work entitled ‘Distortion Salad’ will now feature on cans of Distortion Peach Sour as part of the brewery’s Creative Release.

Otherside’s Creative Release is a Tapped By Otherside initiative designed to provide career profiling opportunities for young, local creatives via a visual arts grant. Over 12 months four local artists will have their artwork featured on cans of beer for three months and receive a $1,000 visual arts grant, and a three-month artist residency at Freo.Social.

Tom’s piece, which he described as ‘a fruit bowl of distortion pedals’, was picked to adorn the can from an extensive field of submissions.

Commenting on his design, Tom said, “aside from the obvious connection between distortion pedals and a beer called ‘Distortion,’ this design ties to my own experience playing the guitar in the ‘90s.

“Distortion was this magical thing, you had to get all the pedals, try them all out to find the right one. There was a lot of experimentation with new and weird sounds and I thought it was similar to how craft breweries these days experiment and push the boundaries with what beer can be.”

The Distortion Peach Sour is as a refreshing, kettle sour that sits at 4.5%. According to Otherside Head Brewer Rhys Lopez, “it features a ‘silly’ amount of peach, is generously dry hopped with Galaxy (a variety of hop) and delivers exuberant tropical fruit aromas.”

Applications for the Creative Release visual arts grant are reviewed and selected by a panel of judges representing Otherside Brewing Co and Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA).

Otherside Brewing Co. General Manager Steve Finney said, “the quantity and calibre of submissions we continue to receive for the Creative Release are outstanding and make it very difficult for the judges to select just one winner.

“The Creative Release is one of our favourite initiatives. It brings together our passion for brewing and appreciation for the arts. Tom’s colourful design perfectly conveys the fruity palette and style of beer. It’s a striking design and looks great on cans of Distortion.” Mr Finney said.

Distortion will be available from at Otherside AGWA Live pop-up, Otherside Brewhouse and Freo.Social from 6 February and at various retailers from 10 February onwards.

Applications for the next Creative Release – Sabbath Stout – open Monday 10 February 2020 and must be submitted via the Tapped website at www.tappedbyotherside.com. Nominations will close at 5pm Sunday 29 March 2020.

Established in 2015, Tapped by Otherside is a fund, enabled by the sale of Otherside beer. It invests back onto WA’s creative industries through grants and platforms designed to support emerging talent with past winners including musician Stella Donnelly, band manager Kelsie Miller, film-maker Tom de Souza and many more.