the photography:

Portrait #23 is Steve

when i started this project i was going to photograph only the people i knew. well i broke out of that slump with Bob. when i started this project i was going to only use my 50mm 1.4 prime lens. well i broke that lens 10 minutes after shooting Andrew. i guess things are always going to be different than the way you envision them. the best advice i can give? sometimes you gotta let it go, sometimes you gotta go with the flow. speaking of which,

holy shit.

i just went with the flow and i photographed Mr. Steve Albini. did i mention holy shit? steve is one of those “holier-than-thou” (and i mean that in a wayne and garth “we’re not worthy” sorta way, not in a “hey man, albini’s stuck up” sorta way. cause he’s not. he’s a sweetheart) musical figures whose bands, writings, productions, and quotes speak for themselves. without gushing too much, steve is somewhat responsible and/or has had a hand influencing much of the indie (and not so indie, does anyone remember Nirvana?) post punk rock you hear. bands like Big Black, Rapeman, and his latest (although they have been a band for more than 10 years) Shellac set a tone for many a young kid listening to music that doesn’t get played in the radio. this weekend i went to a set of hometown saturday-night-and-a-sunday-matinee Shellac shows. after sweating his ass off on stage, steve was kind enough to spend a quick spell in front of my camera. the first half of the pics are from the beginning of the sunday matinee show (which was indeed kid friendly). the second half are just steve being steve. it was awesome. thanks steve for being a nice dude. and thanks for gracing us with your music and criticism and wit and production and…. sorry, i was just gushing. my bad. SIDE NOTE: i shot this series entirely with my Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM which is the second fastest wide angle in the Canon arsenal. i bought this lens second behind the EF 24-105 4L USM that came with my 5D. i love it. i hadn’t used it in ages. in a rare act of OCD, these photos are being displayed in chronological order. DOUBLE SIDE NOTE: i was just informed, via a note from my own personal editor Vann, via Twitter: “I desrv a producers credit for tickts & making u go to the show. Also I’m fairly sure u wouldn’t have be born w/out me either ”

entire post produced by @vmg2. thnx 4 tha tix.

the music:
jawbox is one of two bands to leave dischord records for a major label. it’s probably one of the most unforgiveable acts that an indie band can do. leave a powerhouse underground indie label for the big time? and a righteous and ethical label to boot. but you know what? “selling out” allowed for j. robbins to create the music that he wanted to create for not only jawbox but also for many of the bands that j. recorded as a recording engineer and record producer. did jawbox make any more money on atlantic? who knows. but disoto records bought back the two atlantic recordings and have re-released them. that’s totally awesome. artists should have control over what happens to their art no matter what. this song pretty much sums up the pace, urgency, and power of jawbox. one of my big regrets in my late teens was not taking someone up on the chance to see them live. damn damn damn.

the photography:

Portrait #20 is tom

i met tom sometime around 3 years ago when i was helping to run a small art space out in cicero, illinois. one of tom’s bands, The Collections of Colonies of Bees, played our first ever show. it was awesome. my mannequin, Todd, was on the speaker riser behind tom (who plays a rhodes piano amongst other things…) and at some point during the night, the music got so loud that Todd slipped off the speaker and crashed from a height of about 4 feet onto poor tom’s head. it was awful. but did tom miss a beat? not even close. he kept playing through like nothing had happened. it was amazing to witness. and the only damage done? poor Todd’s head split open and his eyes fell out. tom? not a scratch (although i did not check for bruising). so when i got a message from tom asking me to help out and take photos of his current (the bees are not dead, tom’s in a couple of bands) project, All Tiny Creatures, i jumped at the chance to hang out with the kids from wisconsin. it was definitely fun. the first three of these photos are from the ATC shoot (and i know i’m breaking my own rule of doing all of these photos with a prime 50mm lens) and the last three are from an early dinner we had after the shoot. thanks to tom and the kids for being around. make art.

the music:
the figgs from saratoga springs new york are one of the best live bands to never be seen by the masses. these guys bring the rock like very few acts out there. as a three-piece, the figgs slugged through new england and the mid-atlantic for much of the 90′s and 00′s without hitting it big. an early major record deal gone sour, critical acclaim without record sales, amazing live shows seen by packed house in boston, hartford, and albany, and not a whole lot to show for it except some of the best records ever made. they know how good they are, and that’s all that matters. side note: i totally designed a t-shirt for them in 2001. amazing. they rule.

the photography:
“when in rome” is a phrase i use very often with not only photography but also with music. while i spent much of my week running around the javits center on the west side of manhattan, the rest of the week was spent kicking around brooklyn and queens. when i travel within the US., i like to listen to local music which in the case of new york, can be found on my ipod. when i was walking around williamsburg one afternoon, i ran into the lead singer of les savy fav which happened to be the band that was playing on my ipod at the not 20 minutes before. it was quite a simple twist of fate. i was pretty happy and shocked. we didn’t talk to each other or interact in any way as he was walking his dog with his wife and their child. running into tim harrington was a sign that i would be comfortable and at peace with new york. this is something i had yet to feel as a grown adult. it was soothing to know that nyc was on my side and down the road, maybe we could become friends.

the music:
gigantic hand are a band from brooklyn that features my friend edmund on guitar. i caught their set at Public Assembly in williamsburg last thursday night. it was fantastic. it’s great to see a group of guys get back to what they love, loud, build-them-up-only-to-break-them-down pop songs. lots of strumming. lots of great drumming. lots of fun. rock and roll indeed.