I was thrilled that my old Petoskey friend Randall Erno asked me to photograph his newest musical project, MEGAskyfish, this past weekend. The members have been evolving, and they are now a six-piece! Randy and I go back to the days of ‘02, when our friend group was heavily into music / local concerts. Although many of us scattered about the country after graduation, Randall has worked the hardest at promoting the “231″ music scene.

Other things that made me happy about this project: (1) I hadn’t touched my digital camera since October!! (2) I’ve tried several times to do promos for various bands – but the scheduling never worked out until now! (I hope to do more in the future). (3) This is one of my favorite photographic locations.

Here are my favorite group shots… I took some individuals on film, but they’re at the lab… which for a change, is not me!!

Jimmy Eat World: Movielike

This example, although not literal in that I didn’t move to NY, I believe universally describes why so many of my friends and I moved away from the Midwest. It doesn’t matter how many people told me I grew up in the most beautiful town: if I didn’t go out into the world to compare it, I couldn’t appreciate it.

“Waiting to see a sign that they’ve seen the best already”

The Head and the Heart: Ghosts (Live on KEXP)

This song works on a couple levels: the first being that the band is made up of Seattle transplants, and most of their songs are based on that experience. Secondly, this clip was recorded at KEXP. My first job in Seattle was driving to schools up to an hour away each morning to do portraits. I tuned into John in the Morning on KEXP every trip and the quality of music programming helped make me feel like I made the right choice in moving out here.

My favorite lyrics from this song are:
“Is it any wonder why we all leave home?
People say, “I knew you when you were six years old”
And you say, “But I’ve changed, I’ve changed, I’ve changed, I’ve changed.”

It puzzles me that people often point out how different I am than I used to be: why wouldn’t I be? I don’t want to remain stagnent: I want to always improve. That’s why I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to change locations a few times in my life already.

Great Lakes Myth Society: Across The Bridge (live)

And lastly, I had to include a song showing that I am quite excited to return back to my home state. The snow is cold, but the people are warm. I could have chosen any number of their songs; but this one brings back childhood memories of living near Mackinaw. I look forward to seeing some of the national & state parks that I took for granted and never got around to visiting!

So here’s a fun story about Laura, my maid of honor, for those who may not already know it.  It was the summer of  2008 – Laura and I were living together (for the second time) in Grand Rapids, and I talked her into coming to a rock concert with me (my second-favorite activity).  I had previously made friends with the band, Pensive (in fact Pat and Hope were just in Seattle), so we walked around the back of the venue to say hi to them as they were unloading for the show.  They introduced us to Mickey (aka Mike), their new drummer for the tour, and… I can’t really put in to words what happened next.  Laura and Mike were seriously inseparable from that moment on.  It was sad when she left later that year to go live with him in New Jersey… but it was also one of those blessings in disguise, because it put me in the position to be ready to move somewhere new – and now we’re both engaged!!  I just wish we weren’t on opposite coasts

Laura’s fiance Mickey Fox has been quite successful in his drumming career the past few years:  most notably, for contributing to Tommy Lee’s latest album.  He’s working on a new website, and had a photo-shoot this past weekend.  The following images were captured on Laura’s coolpix so that they would have something to post while waiting to get the professional images back.  Laura asked if I would lend a hand with editing, and it was fun to play with someone else’s images.

Now, normally I’m always preaching “less is more” when it comes to Photoshop.  However, band/music promos need to be a bit more theatrical in order to get people’s attention.  Here are the before-and-after images… darkened and dirtied.

I did get a chance to get out and have a little fun on Tuesday.  I was chosen by one of my all-time favorite bands, Saves The Day, to photograph their live show at The Showbox Sodo.  Even better? – They were on tour with Motion City Soundtrack, Say Anything, and Valencia.  The line-up was very nostalgic for me: right after graduating high school, my friends and I saw Saves The Day open for Green Day and Blink-182.   Then in college, my new friends and I used to follow Motion City to every city from Chicago to Detroit.  A band called JamisonParker opened up for them on one tour, and that’s where the Say Anything connection comes in – Parker is now in their lineup, as is Kenny from the Starting Line!  Yeah, I was basically reliving 2002-2004, some of my favorite years.

So now you’ll understand why I had such a hard time narrowing these images down.  Enjoy – and expect a couple more to pop up on flickr.

Valencia

Saves The Day

Motion City Soundtrack

Say Anything

PS:  Max (Say Anything) and Sherri (Eisley) are my favorite celeb couple, ever.

I really appreciated that they played two brand new songs.  They keep getting more and more creative!  Now someone sign them to a label, please.
Julio, Pat, and Hope:  Thanks for spending time with me on your day off.  I hope we meet again soon!