The Original Rockstar......

Fractured Mirror, a Man and His Mentor

This is a project I worked on with a very talented montage artist.  His name is Josh Morrissette and he happens to be my cousin.  Lucky me!!  He took my photography and this is what he did with it..........

...........it's magic!!

See you at the show!

Shooting Suicide in the Orchard, Good Times People, Good Times!!

Pretty Little Suicide: The act of self-indulgence amongst a scene to where the ruin of one's own interests is inevitable.

That's a quote from the cover of Pretty Little Suicide's first CD.  I like it.  In my mind it requires an icy cold spirit with depth, (no draft beer for this conversation), and company of equal depth to bat it around with for a while.  I'm up for the task, are you game?

Pretty Little Suicide was gigging at the Regal Beagle in, of all places, Indian Orchard, MA (I know, I'd never heard of it before either!), so I made the 2-hour trek out there to see what was up.   I'm still baffled at how this club scored a band of this caliber, but anyway.............. I'd seen them play before at a tiny little venue up at the beach where the acoustics were only so-so.  They sounded good then, I can only imagine what they'll sound like in this place!  I was hopeful this place would be bigger and it was.  I had their first CD and I knew they were top notch so the 2-hour drive was worth it, especially if I would be able to stretch out and get in a good shot or two--349 pictures later--I was able to do just that!!  These guys totally rocked the house!

There are four talented guys in this band:  Ed, JC, Mike and Izzy.  Ed is the lead singer and plays some great guitar as well.  He's got an awesome voice and obviously feels comfortable on stage.  He moves really well.

JC is on bass and does some vocals as well.  This guy is a great bass player and he, unlike most bass players, owns his part of the stage.  He moves and engages his audience.  He's a pleasure to watch.

Mike plays guitar and also does vocals.  As you can see, he's got some great moves and a style all his own...........rooooooockstaaaaaaaar............

Last, but certainly not least, there's Izzy.  Izzy is the band's Chilean-born, self-proclaimed porn-style drummer.  This boy's got it going on and there's no denying it.  He's a force to be reckoned with, that's for sure.  Hey.....don't comment on the accent, he doesn't have one.

Whatever your reason for venturing out to see a live performance, you've got to ask yourself one question.  What are you looking for from you rock-n-roll experience?  Are you out for an easy ride or do you want that edge?  These guys have an edge both musically and aesthetically.  In a word, they're cool. 

Pretty Little Suicide plays original music with less than a handful of covers thrown into the mix.  Even their selection of covers have that edge I was talking about.  They definitely put a PLS spin on things and make every song their own.  If you happen to get lucky and catch a show, what you'll get is a great performance by a group of really talented musicians.  It's a full-blown ear candy and eye candy experience. I guarantee you that you're in for one hell of a good time!

Theses guys are total Rockstars in my book!!!

This was a great time......see you at the next show!

Flesh and Metal, it's a Mardi Gras Party!!!

I was at Mardi Gras Multiclub in Cranston, RI last Saturday night.  Admittedly I don't get out much but WOW!  That place is a trip!!  Someone had tried to describe it to me prior to my going there and she said "Well, it's like Vegas".  Now I know exactly what she meant.  The neon in this place starts with the life-sized palm trees outside and just never ends as you move thru the 4 different clubs housed in this adult musical playground.  Let's just say that I'm glad I'm not paying their electric bill!

The building was visible from at least a 1/4 mile away and as we pulled up it was obvious that parking was not going to be an issue.  They have several free lots on the premises.  After paying the $8 cover to get into the complex we pushed thru the door and were instantly greeted with a deluge of more neon and a strong base beat.  Having never been there before, we had to stop a moment to get our vision in check.  The neon almost blinds you with overstimulation to the point where you feel like you are in a maze before your eyes finally adjust.  The layout includes Johnny Bahamas (dance club), The Diamond Rodeo (for country and western fans), and JR's Bourbon Street Rock House all on the first floor and then another dance club on the second level called The Monkey Bar.  We visited all of them before settling in at our final destination, JR's.  Thankfully, sound proofing between the rooms is excellent so that when you are doing the 2-step at the Rodeo you don't miss a beat from heavy metal crashing thru the walls.

We were there to see 2 bands.  Flesh and Blood (Poison Tribute) and Metal 101 so most of our time was spent at JR's.  From a performance perspective, it's a great venue for a band to play in.  There's a stage!!  That's always a plus!  You'll have to ask the musicians what their take on the acoustics of it all is though, that's not my area. 

Nice stage, huh?

Flesh and Blood

The lineup was a bit different than what I'm used to in that Flesh and Blood went on first and did a set and then alternated sets with Metal 101.  In short, neither headlined.  I've never seeen it done like that before but the audience wasn't phased in the least.

I've seen F and B on numerous occasions and I've got to tell you, the lead guitarist, Matt Forsyth, is one of the most talented musicians I've had the pleasure of witnessing.

Matt

He loves his audience and engages them from the moment he steps on stage until the last note is played.  This musician is a performer!!

Kevin Michael as Bret, gives an equally as engaging performance.  It's obvious he loves what he does.

Kevin

Jim Martinez

If you like Poison, you should check these guys out.  We had a great time!

Metal 101 was up next and this is virgin territory for me.  I'd never seen or shot this band before.  I wasn't familiar with how they moved on stage so I did a lot of running around because I couldn't anticipate their movements beforehand.

This band was hardcore heavy metal.  They were loud and, honestly, it's not my thing.  I don't feel qualified as a consumer to give an opinion on them from a musical standpoint, so I won't.  I will tell you that the venue was wall to wall people and there was a whole lotta head boppin' goin' on.  Everyone in the place seemed to know the words to every song they played.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that they were well received.  What the hell do I know?  I live under a rock. 

Performance.  Now there is a topic I can comment on.  This band had some serious hair!!!  Loving the hair!!!  Half of being a rockstar is looking the part............

This band moves well on stage, they completely engaged their audience and they were having a blast!

In my view these guys were Rockstars!!

Flesh and Metal, its a Mardi Gras party!!!  Does it get any better?

See you at the show!!

Hair!!

I'm in the middle of putting together a nice long post for you but for the time being I just had to share this image with you.  This guy is the lead singer in a 100-proof-head-banging heavy metal band and BOY does he have some hair!!!! 

It's just a tease, you can't even see his face, I know.  More to come, I promise!

Sometimes it is Just Black and White..............

I was thinking a lot about my images today.  I do that a lot.  I comb through them, play with the color or take the color out.  I like Sepia, black and white and this other scheme I ran into on my phone called "Ansel".  It's darker than traditional black and white and you can play with the intensity but I find I love it best "as is".  Not all photos look good in the scheme but the ones I've chosen below do.  I don't know what it is about them, do you?

In some bw's it lends a youthful appearance to the subject.  I find it does that in all three of the images I selected.  The general audience wouldn't know that unless they knew the subjects personally or unless I offered the color version of the selections.  I'm choosing not to offer the color versions because I want the viewer to immerse themselves in the images as I've presented them.  We'll save color for another day. 

It also adds a vintage appeal and a depth of some unnamed emotion.  I can't quite put my finger on it but I know I like it.  I also like it because of it's simplicity.  You don't really have to think it out too much.  Just look, zone out, whatever.  It's just that simple.  Color gives your mind more to think about and process. 

That's the way I see it.  See you at the show!!

Let's Get This Party Started

Let's get this party started!  At long last the blog is born!  Long overdue but here we go!  Point...focus...shoot!

I'm not a musician and I don't play one on TV.  Hell, whether I'm actually qualified to call myself a photographer is open for debate as well!  I do know that I love taking pictures and I guess if you love what you're doing, you really can't go wrong.  Yes, I love taking pictures but not just any pictures but pictures of musicians and bands.  To get right down to it, I love taking pictures of top notch musicians who perform.  Theatrical rock bands do it best.  The costumes, make-up and lighting capture well.  Couple that with a true performer who knows how to move and, more importantly, who knows how to connect and BOOM!  You've got magic!  I love it!! I just can't get enough!

I started out years ago with a garden variety point and shoot.  I shot anything and everything but I could never achieve the quality image I was looking for so I upgraded to a fancy digital SLR with more features than I could possibly ever use!  I fell in love and never looked back!  On the advice and invitation of a friend I started shooting his band and that led to other picture taking opportunities.  That little piece of advice opened up a whole new world for me and I can't thank him enough!

Why band photography?  Its about the performance.  It's about the movement.  It's literally poetry in motion for me.  I take stills and some short clip video but what I love is capturing motion in the still shot.  When you look at the picture I want you to feel the movement in it.  It's a moment in mid-air.  For example, look at his hair in this picture.........

I love how it's moving, like it's blowing in the wind.  In this next one, look at the smoke and how it billows.  Look at how the heat of the color red accentuates the smoke.  Look at his facial expresion, do you wonder what he's thinking? 

Well, I was there and I know what he was thinking but, hey, I can't give away all the secrets!!

This last picture was a recent find.  It was buried in literally hundreds, maybe even over a thousand pictures of this one band.  I was searching for the right images to post in this first blog and this one just jumped out of the file at me.  At little editing, change in color scheme to enhance things a bit and....well.....I'll let you make up your mind...........

Personally, I find it hysterical!  Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!  See you at the show!!!!!

-Michelle