This Is A Time For Taking It Slow...

These past two weeks have sucked so bad. So so bad. I pulled a muscle in my leg really badly, to the point where I've been limping for two weeks. And then today, to top everything off, I lost my job. And I haven't been able to produce new prints since this time (I'm making new ones tomorrow so I will have some real posts up). I've got to deal with my Chemisty class soon, I've missed way too many classes. I'm just totally frazzled and fucked up. My love life, which is pretty non-existing, has still been a bit weird. Things are just out of hand at the moment. I just want to quit for a while. But I'll try to be here tomorrow. Hopefully. Wish me luck.

Taset Of Chaos....Weeks Later!

I guess I should start off with my story on how I was able to even take these shots. I've been working for STIM TV MUSIC now since November of last year. I haven't mentioned them yet, becuase well, it'd feel like I'm pressing them on you guys. STIM TV is a online TV station that plays music videos by unsigned, small label, and little promoted bands. It's a great place....anywho....

STIM TV is a sponsor of Taste Of Chaos. So Sarah (my friend, my compardre....and my boss) asked me to hand out flyers and stickers to the people in the crowd and I'd get a free ticket. Sweet. I love free shows. I told her I'd take some pictures from the crowd that I could send to her (mainly because her boyfriend is the bass player for Thrice...he's the guy at the top). So after handing out flyers and stickers for a bit, I started walking into the venue and security stopped me. They pointed to my camera bag and asked what it was. I said it was just my camera and some film. After searching it, they told me that I couldn't bring it in because it was a professional camera.

Damn, I thought, I was hoping to get a good shot of Eddie. That's when I got real lucky. The security guard asked me if I was shooting for someone. I thought for a second....well, in a way, I am. I'm shooting for Sarah who works for STIM TV. The security guard said to go in and wait at the booth, they'll be someone there for me. When I got in there, one of the heads of promotion there started asking me some questions. Who are you with? You're not on the list, is there someting wrong? I just said, "Hey, my boss at STIM thought I could shoot a few shots for her and send them to her, if I can't, no biggie." But the guy was real cool, he said he'd be back. After a few minutes, he handed me a photo pass. Whoa. Didn't expect that.


So, by chance of luck, I got to shoot my first credentialed show. And what a rush.

What I have here is only a small selection of shots I got off, but I really did love everything I got to shoot. I wasn't into the music that much (with one exception), but Atreyu, Story Of The Year, Millionare, Dredg and Thrice were all so much fun to shoot. Of course, there were difficulites (mainly stemming from the fact that these men could not stand still for a shot). But I got some great photos (the one below is one I changed a bit in photoshop, but it works better that way).


But there has been one band I've wanted to promote for a while: Thrice. Sarah got me real hooked into them when she said she was dating one of them. Whoever Sarah dates, I usually get into their music. Maybe it's because I feel I have a personal connection with them now, or I'm just so damn jealous of whoever she dates...heh. But anywho, the first time I heard Thrice was a few years back, when they were mostly a hardcore band (not my favorite genre at all). I didn't really take to them, so I never really thought about them again. Cut to this past month:

They truely put on a holy shit performance. I came out of their part of the show completely wowed and a fan for life. I already had their newest CD "Vheissu" on mp3s, but I bought it there too, for I wanted to give this band my support. Here are a few brilliant tracks from the album:

Between The End And Where We Lie
Music Box
The Earth Will Shake

Check this band out, it's totally worth it. I'll have more photos up soon, plus I'm shooting The Stills on Tuesday, so I'll have stuff from that also.

Weeeeeird....

I was trolling Gorilla Vs. Bear, trying to see if maybe I could find some cool music when I came apon a photo and a name I found familiar.....Jencey.

Now, at first, I thought it couldn't be the same person. Then I looked for a better picture. And then I saw where they were from and I knew it to be the same person. Jencey, keyboardist/vocalist for Smile Smile is the same Jencey that used to play for The Currents. I made a post about The Currents a while back, but I'll repost the songs because I posted them when I was using sendfile.com and they do suck pretty bad.

Surf's Up
You're The One
I'm Not Crazy
I Believe In The Radio

If there's more demand for songs, I will post more. I have a whole album that went unreleased and a ton of demos. The Currents (mainly Chriss Voss) ran a great web board. As you posted more on it, you'd get points to download demos that he and the band had made. It created a pretty cool community. And the whole band posted (including Jencey) there, so you could get input from anyone. Anywho, I downloaded the few Smile Smile songs that are out there and they're so damn good. I definitely give props to Jencey to moving on to another great band. But I so miss The Currents. They were a band I could have seen going somewhere. *Sigh*

EDIT!

I just found Chris Voss' new band! Handclaps & Harmonies is a very 60's Beatlish style power pop band. Definitely check them out. Especially "Be With You"...I wish it was downloadable.