Kenami

The world of music can be a very repetitious place. Most people enter it to escape repetition but it can all be summed up to: drive for hours, load in, sound check, eat, lie down, stretch, play a gig, load out, and repeat, repeat, repeat. It’s a life everyone dreams of having but it’s also one where you can get burned out, and in a quicker fashion then most would expect. What helps to make this life easier is human interaction. Familiar faces, passing along stories, and simply telling a joke is enough to get someone through a day, sometimes even numerous days. Working with musicians is something I love doing because that human aspect is something that I love providing, especially when I can also have a camera in my hands. Recently I got to spend time with Australian band Gold Fields, one of the standout bands of 2013 so far. I’ve shot them on two previous occasions at Bowery Ballroom, one time while they supported Diamond Rings and when the other was when they headlined an MTV showcase), both times I left really impressed with what the band delivered and this lead to me becoming really excited when they invited me to photograph them during the hours before their gig at Irving Plaza, where they played with local band Lovelife in support of Electronic duo Capital Cities.

My interaction with the band was a lot sparser then I anticipated but my experiences working with bands helped me navigate that aspect of the day they were still coming down from jet lag and were on autopilot towards preparing for their gig. Despite that though they were still very welcoming and genuinely happy to see me. Mark (vocalist) told me about his interest in photography and the great deal he found on a vintage camera at a thrift shop. Vin (guitars) and Rob (keyboards) were focused on perfecting their instruments for the show while the roadies of all three acts brought in trunk after trunk of gear. Being at a music venue before a gig is a great and peculiar feeling; it’s emptier but still busy, it’s almost as though the main room of a venue is always alive one way or another. I photographed the bands soundcheck and grabbed lunch with them at a nearby Chipotle where they recanted some stories about touring Australia and the UK. After our short lunch it was right to the venue to prep for the show. When it came to photographing their live gig I knew that I wanted to take a different and less conventional approach (in relation to the previous times I photographed the band). Something a lot of photographers get hung up on is clarity and framing, two very important factors when it comes to photography. With Gold Fields set at Irving I wanted to shake things up a bit and I decided to utilize their unique lighting to make this happen. The band love having lights behind them but at vast levels that causes the quartet to become consumed by light as they move vigorously on stage. I really wanted to capture the energy of a Gold Fields show as opposed to their handsome faces, especially since I had a strong sense of been there/done that.

I’m happy with what I got, with concert photography I feel it’s very important to capture the truest representation of a bands show, whether it’s something the photographer (in this case myself) enjoys or not. Luckily along with being brilliant people the members of Gold Fields are also brilliant musicians and seeing them perform again was a real treat. They put their all into their shows and you can just tell that they’re more interested in having the time of their lives as opposed to what some guy in a suit thinks of them, I definitely think you’ll be hearing about them one way or another if you haven’t yet. Enjoy my photos with my day with Gold Fields below.

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Soundcheck (Gold Fields)

Lovelife

Gold Fields

Capital Cities (Headlining Act)

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Be sure to check out Gold Fields debut album, Black Sun, which is out now.

(Also be sure to check out the pages of both Lovelife & Capital Cities)

Thank you for reading and be sure to share this Tumblr page with you’re friends, dogs, cats, shop worker, ex girlfriend, dolphin, pretty much anyone who enjoys music and awesomeness. Remember that If you want to experience more of what I have to say than be sure to click the follow button which looks like a cross on the top right corner of this page. Also be sure to follow me on twitter and to check out full galleries of my photography on flickr.

I’ve been noted towards calling 2013 the year of Australian musicians but I think it’s safe to say that the Swedes are also sharing that spotlight. Some examples of this have been my love for The Hives growing, a fascination with a new rock band called The Fume, and falling back in love with my favorite ABBA single; and now I can add an accumulation of interest, respect, and love towards Swedish indie band Shout Out Louds to that mix. They’re a band that has been quite legendary here in NYC, in a cult esque way but a massive way as well. When I was in college people loved them and I would hear people play their music between The Xx and Arcade Fire in the drawing rooms all the time. They’ve also sold out every NYC gig they’ve had since I was a student; something that definitely makes it hard to ignore a band that I barely knew anything about. This time around the band were back in NYC to support their new album, Optica. They already sold out Music Hall of Williamsburg earlier this year but they definitely loved being here so much that they knew they had to come back before the years end.

I went into this gig immensely tired and in a mood of “ugh I do not want to be around people” but once the gig kicked in most of those feelings went out the window. That’s something that I love that about shows, outside life just doesn’t matter anymore; only the music does and the people on stage producing it. Opening act Haerts were quite good (yes that is how their band name is spelled) and had a very fitting sound to accompany Shout Out Louds. Their (Shout Out Louds) stage set up was quite a spectacle, in a subtler way then I’m used to. The band were pretty much encased within these street lamps and performed as colors completely washed over them from overhead, making it so that the only luminosity that they got was from the street lamps which shone over them and around their sides; it was an interesting take on backlighting that I quite enjoyed seeing; I love interesting lighting. Bass player Ted Malmros was the most fun to watch on stage, the way he moved left and right (along with the childlike smile he wore on his face) certainly bolstered the great and distinct sound that Shout Out Louds brought with them to New York. Be sure to enjoy my photos from the band gigs below.

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Haerts

Shout Out Louds

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Be sure to check out Shout Out Louds single, Blue Ice, taken from their new album, Optica, which is out now.

Thanks for reading and be sure to share this Tumblr page with you’re friends, dogs, cats, shop worker, ex girlfriend, dolphin, pretty much anyone who enjoys music and awesomeness. Remember that If you want to experience more of what I have to say than be sure to click the follow button which looks like a cross on the top right corner of this page. Also be sure to follow me on twitter and to check out full galleries of my photography on flickr.