Soundscape Magazine issue #1

Here are my contributions (click for full size):

Athena live shot + CSC photo

Athena Interview and Promo Shot 

Feature on Cardiff Skateboard Club

Stay tuned for my NIN + Jane’s Addiction photos and more…

new portfolio

10 new photos – and a re-shuffle

once I’ve finished the mountains of work, I’ll get started on some photography blogs (including details on my new lens and use of a flash gun!)

2008 Summary

Total gigs/one day festivals shot – 47
Total (individual) bands shot – 137

Best shoots
Big Weekend, Cardiff – Biggest ever event I’ve done, huge acts, great lighting, fantastic day
The Music, Cardiff University – amazing feeling alone in a pit with a fantastic band
TheSprout.co.uk Battle of the Bands – meeting tons of new young bands, awesome
Innerpartysystem at Barfly – intense, with great support acts
The Red Festival + Battle – fantastic, huge events
The Academy Is… at Clwb Ifor Bach – so much fun!

Worst shoots
Anything in 10 Feet Tall – atrocious lighting
Spending hours in Barfly + Clwb – nearly collapsing under hopelessness

Best music
Dashboard Confessional
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly
The Music
Attack! Attack!
Jubilee
Caesars Rome
Johnny Foreigner
Vessels
Stray Borders
Nix Olympica

Worst music
The Maine
The Clay
The Automatic
MirrorView
Jizzwagon (as bad as they sound)
Some atrocious young bands who I won’t name

2008 – a year in photos

So, after shooting my last gig of the year a week ago, I thought I’d take a look back through my first full year of concert photography and pick out the highlights.

January

Only two gigs in January – Teen Spirit (with Saving Aimee, above) and Stray Borders at Tommy’s Bar – read my very first review here

February

From the dark of The Mentalists at Chapter to the light of Lemons in the Old Church Rooms and the warmth of Yeti (above) in Barfly to the fantastic Working Class Heroes in the same venue.

March

My biggest act to that date – Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly (above) in Spillers Records, where I became a regular during 2008 as well as a rather rowdy gig at Barfly with The Metros and The Clay (read the review)

April

The month of the photo pass! Dashboard Confessional (my first US band), Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly (with I Was A Cub Scout, above) and The Automatic. This month also held the first few round of theSprout.co.uk’s battle of the bands which I became involved with and met a good number of new bands.

May

The start of my exams prompted a slowdown, but that wasn’t enough to stop my half term exhausting me with the fantastic experience of helping to put on a gig with two of my favourite bands Vessels + Stray Borders. (See the blog) as well as attending Teen Spirit (with Mass Appeal above), Lightspeed Champion and the final of the Battle Of The Bands in the same month.

June

Again, hindered by two weeks of exams, I focused all my energies into the second half of the month to attend a number of gigs. The incredible set of The Music (above) produced fantastic photos, Attack! Attack! in Clwb Ifor Bach had me speechless and a spur-of-the-moment gig at Barfly with innerpartysystem and Caesars Rome rounded off a fantastic month.

July

A quiet month, despite being off school for all of it thanks to my exams, I still managed to fit in an all-day festival which had me simultaneously photographing it and running the main stage. Finishing off the month strongly again with a rather varied gig in Buffalo Bar and a fantastic set from Ulteria Motive (above)

August

Although it doesn’t look like it from my calendar, August was a packed month. The Big Weekend with a whole host of bands headlined by Ash, my first promo shoot (finally published here), another spur-of-the-moment gig with Future Of The Left, The Red Festival at the end of the month, which was a fantastic (very long and loud!) chance to improve my skills. The highlight of this month though was the above photo – Aaron North of Jubilee.

September

The start of a new school year, and only two gigs. The Red Festival again was another chance to improve my portfolio and skills (headlined by the fantastic Working Class Heroes) and another American band graced Cardiff – The Academy Is… (above) put on a show to burst your eardrums – from the crowd screaming.

October

Disappointingly only one proper gig throughout the whole of October, what was I doing? Vessels returned to Cardiff with the impressive Talons in tow. I also managed to see Attack! Attack! yet again in Spillers Records with a drastically different acoustic set (above). October was also the month I started using my new Canon 40D with impressive results.

November

Another pretty bare month, but with a few good shots from the 40D from both TheSprout.co.uk’s launch and the Outcry Collective gig with PublicAsylum and Monday Massacre (above).

December

With an epic amount of bands at The Red Battle final and a great couple of passes with The Futureheads and Attack! Attack!, a great way to end the year. To round it off, above is a look at things to come – more energy, wider angles, more awesomeness and more awesome bands like Ulteria Motive.

The Automatic, Viva Machine + Attack Attack review

(blog exclusive…)

Under threat of closure, The Point inhaled a last gasp of welsh music before it (like the wonderful Cardiff Coal Exchange which now has heartbreakingly been converted into luxury flats – for people with far too much money to have a soul…) undergoes a horrible and agonising death (not blaming anyone in any way… Cardiff County Council – well done electoral majority!). However, I did not attend this gig just to bemoan the declining number of beautiful venues in Cardiff, oh no. I came to witness the glorious rise of local band… (No, not that one) Attack Attack…

After visiting an American studio to record their debut album last year (much like Leeds band Vessels who are playing a GIITTV night this month – yes blatant plug, they are completely dissimilar), the band aim to build up a riotous fan base by supporting such a big Welsh name and touring later this year. With help from Lostprophets and including vocals from their frontman Ian Watkins, their style has been well structured combining complex musical structure with incredibly catchy pop songs. However, they carry no faux pop sound in the way of synthesizers and rip out a new texture of style with excellent thumping drums and powerful bass. The two vocalists of the band mirror and contrast at will, creating a brilliant dynamic that didn’t quite work with The Automatic’s original line-up. Their songwriting skill strays nowhere near the abstract concepts of The Automatic (yeah, c’mon – writing about monsters, what are you 6?) and the ever so popular emo style commonly found in similar Welsh bands. ‘Honesty’ is a brutally – uh – honest representation of realisation and astonishment where as ‘Lights Out’ portrays wistfulness and nostalgia. Both of these concepts seem intellectual, but that’s just the way I interpret them. Their lyrics are accented by brilliant instrumentals from all members and their live presence is full of vigour. Attack Attack are another excellent example of brilliant music attempting to escape the Cardiff music scene.

Viva Machine, Newport locals, however seem slightly more manufactured. They appear to have made a seamless transition from the dying pop group set up to the screaming-fan-drawing emo rock scene. Unlike the ‘butts’ and characteristic Valleys’ accents of Attack Attack, Viva Machine appear to be quintessentially non-Welsh. However, manufactured as they might be (I’m not saying they are necessarily pieced together – they just seem it) they still put on a good show and their music spikes through a cynic’s first impression. The charismatic falsetto-leaning lead singer bounds around the stage from mic to synths, his brilliant voice is enough to make the screaming audience intolerable. They create a strange sound for the Ziggy Stardust inspired ‘Death Star Trucker’. Their epic sound is derived from similar inspirations it seems; their MySpace declares that they are “LIGHT DARK SLOW FAST HAPPY SAD GLO SPACE ROCK” – see what I mean? With each drumbeat, they pound an omniscient sense of control over the baying crowd. Their strange sound began to play on my mind however. Each song builds up to a seemingly explosive chorus, yet, it is subdued somewhat. Despite their MySpace proclaiming that they’re only inspired by “Light, sound, colours and space” (very Ziggy Stardust) their subdued style makes the At the Drive-in fan in me restless. If only they would break free and go all out, but no, every chorus in every song holds back. Even if their instrumental breaks hold me on the edge of insane dance frenzy, it’s still too controlled and restricted. If or when they rip out of these confines, they could or will be brilliant. Await with baited breath, like they seem to be doing.

And so, it seems with so many gigs nowadays, the support acts display more interest than the headliners. The Automatic, thankfully, aren’t still the soulless indie band that left reviewers in 2006 screaming for release. Their new stuff is mildly interesting in its lack of mainstream restraint. They even seem to regret their past – looking strained whilst playing their oh-so popular hit ‘Monster’ and flashing annoyance when their mics are cut for the audience to yell the repetitive tagline at the top of their lungs. Still, besides this strange event, they do enjoy themselves playing through their new material. Their new addition (replacing the old ‘screaming retard’ colloquially put by a music appreciating friend of mine) seems to have an even more psychotic, but growing enigmatic quality which is interesting to watch over the mind-numbing boredom of album-tracks no one but die-hard fans know the words to. Despite what many people believe The Automatic to be – boring mainstream drivel – their new album shows potential and triumph. Is this the dawning of a new interest in Welsh music? Well, it’d be nice… let’s see what album #2 holds…