Seventies-saturated underground rockers, Heronimus Fin, are gearing up for the release of their next full-length, The Pharmacist. The concept album follows the tragic life of an individual addicted to prescription drugs. The release comes in several different physical formats, all packed with detail, so we caught up with Jonathan Buxton about how their album design came to be…

The concept is based loosely on my own situation having been on prescription medication for 30+ years due to chronic migraines and now finding the medication has become the problem, the addiction…I think this has become a major issue for many people today who look for a solution to an ailment then the solution becomes the problem..ironic really!

We seriously rate the sparkly gold tape but why revert to this old format?

The very first Heronimus Fin album called The World According To.. released in 1994 initially came out as a cassette as that was all we could afford back then, what with all the downloading going on these days we thought it would be great for the Fin Fans to have a nice sparkly cassette to hold, there are of course some people who still possess walkmans, or players in their homes or cars, we might even kick off the cassette revolution…who knows.

Each order comes with ‘drugs’, what’s the meaning behind the gimmick?

Firstly need to clarify these are just tic tacs before the nation’s addicts start buying copies, hoping to get high. This idea came through our bass player Andy Cooke who’s very much into vinyl designer artists like Storm Thorgeson/Hipgnosis (Pink Floyd) etc where the theme of the album is carried through with extra give ways (you don’t get that on a download.eh)

What does the collection of symbols and letters on The Pharmacist’s cover mean?

The symbol on the front sleeve is for Fentynal, which although far stronger than morphine can be obtained on prescription, the most recent casualty being Prince. The shady character seen on the cover and running away on the inside sleeve is The Pharmacist (he could represent the official NHS guy or the dodgy internet suppliers, or even the guy who bends the rules to supply the rich and famous (see Michael Jackson/Marilyn Munroe etc) but that’s for the listener to decide ..I’m not telling..who is The Pharmacist?

Where did the idea for a ‘Listener Information Leaflet’ come from?

This is modeled on the information supplied with most medication available today, a warning sheet about possible side effects. Our sheet is a warning about possible side effects of listening to Heronimus Fin (could be addictive).

There’s so much detail in each of the physical formats, why was it important for the band to produce exciting, tangible products?

The album is what used to be commonly known as a concept album (or a story album), we’ve just extended the concept past the music/lyrics to the product itself plus of course the video/ called The Pharmacist. It is important when you purchase something to be able to see it, touch it, hold it..don’t you think?

Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about the record or physical products?

As record collectors ourselves we love to own/purchase limited edition and rare records, the first 300 LP’s will be just that, if we do another press there will be changes that will signify to the collector it is a second pressing. So our desire with all our releases is for them to be collectors items, some of our past releases never turn up for sale as they are so rare, what I can say is that this album has been produced and cut directly for vinyl and as a result musically and dynamically it bursts out of the grooves like no other rock album.