This piece was originally featured in AM02 — Issue Two of Ascribe. Click here to read it alongside the rest of the issue.
“I am a full time creative visualist who specializes in photography and videography. I have
spent the past 5 years of my life growing on the road and capturing moments of some of
my favorite people and when I am home I use those skills to help in creative direction with
artists, whether that be through promo photo shoots, album artwork, or music videos.”
How did you get your start in music photography, videography, and creative direction?
I was introduced to the possibility of a career in the music industry by getting involved in my local music scene and I still wouldn’t have it any other way. I made a lot of friends who played music in Las Vegas and made more friends in the touring bands that came through the city. I realized that there was a need for someone to document bands and I started doing it just because I wanted to help my friends and travel with them! That evolved into being a full-time touring creative and branching into doing conceptualization and production on artwork and music videos as well!
Your work has a really distinct style to it — if you had to describe it to someone in three words, what would they be?
Vivid, Dramatic, and Filmic. Vivid, because I love to choose colors and tones that are a little bit of an exaggeration of real life.
When did you begin touring? How did that come about?
I began touring in January of 2018! So it has officially been five full years! Like I mentioned before, I was very involved in my local scene and once I mentioned that I had an interest in it, my friends who were in bands in my city started taking me out. I did a few one week regional shows with some friends actually Tour Managing AND doing photography for them. My first full US tour was actually with my roommates’ band ALURA so that made it even more comfortable. Just got to explore the whole country for 6 weeks with the people I already knew well and lived with.
What does an average day look like for you while on tour?
I try to wake up before noon, hoping that there’s a coffee shop within walking distance of the venue. Usually, there’s a group of very like-minded individuals who want to do the same thing. So we’ll go get our coffee and hang out until load in. Usually, the bands I’m with start loading in around noon, so I’ll enter the venue at the time, figure out where the green rooms are, see if I was able to score an office space for the day and if not claim the first table I see as my workspace for the morning. I usually try to finish editing my photos after the show so I don’t have as much to do in the day time, and I’ll work on organizing my footage for videos in the day time or get caught up on any emails! I consider 12-3 my office time, everyone is usually busy doing something and I get to catch up! I also use this time to beat everyone else to a shower. At 3/4 usually, my bands will soundcheck so I go and hang out with them during that time and get ready for VIP. I also help run VIP meet and greets on tour, so I get prepped for that and then oversee the VIP sessions and make sure all of the guests in VIP get in and out smoothly! Once the show starts, its time to just buckle in and hang out until it is my set time. I’ll shoot some photos and videos in the green room before the set, shoot our show, and then immediately dump my memory cards onto my laptop and start editing to get those photos ready for my artists and their team to have by the next day. I usually wrap that up around midnight & spend the rest of the night hanging out with my crew and the band on the bus until bedtime!
Do you have any pre-show rituals or creative routines that put you in the right headspace to work?
Some days especially when touring, it gets very difficult to get into a creative headspace. When it’s more difficult I just try my best to go out there and do something different. Being around people I like who play music that they love makes it so much easier for me to do my job. My biggest motivator is just being around people who are also doing what they love. It’s also silly, but I will usually chug a red bull or a coke right before a set as well to try to keep me going during that hour or so.
Do you have any particular spots you get excited to visit whenever you’re on tour?
I used to HATE New York, because it was SO overwhelming but now it’s one of my favorite places to visit for the day. It’s fast paced, I can walk quickly to coffee or pizza and the pace of the city is just amazing for me. I also really love the Pacific Northwest and have a lot of friends in Portland specifically, who will always come out to visit me, or go on a walk of the city with me to get some food. I realize, my favorite “places” on tour are actually not because of the place at all, it’s because of the familiarity and friendships I have.
On the other hand, what’s one spot that you’d love to visit on tour one day?
I am looking forward to visiting so many cities in Europe and the UK this year since I haven’t been yet. Really want to go to Barcelona and London, so fingers crossed!
On a larger scale outside of tour, what kind of creative projects are your favorite to work on?
I love conceptualizing music videos. Sometimes that is really hard, especially when it feels like every idea has already been done, but sometimes you strike gold and get to think of a new way to approach things or collaborate with artists who’s ideas are so far out there that its really like a breath of fresh air. For example, music videos from the band AVOID including “Hostage At A Beach House Party,” “Whatever,” “My World,” were all projects I got to conceptualize and turned out incredibly unique.
Sometimes creatives get faced with photos and videos that can be challenging to edit. How do you typically go about tackling those tougher edits?
With touring creation this is an especially hard thing to tackle. Sometimes you are greeted with all of your least favorite conditions in a venue, low-ceilings, a pillar in the middle of the room, bad lighting, no haze, no barricade, and just are forced to try to make it work. I try not to be hard on myself when I get into my editing room and am not LOVING what I captured on one specific night, on tour you’re doing so much everyday and turning around content every single day as well, so it’s easy to feel like you’re in a rut. I try to remind myself that I’m there for a reason and if I’m having a night where none of my usual techniques are working, I try something entirely different and off the wall & just warn my artist that “hey, the conditions for me last night were really hard so I tried something entirely different” and hope for the best! Even if it means delivering less photos. On the more creative side when I’m at home, giving myself proper time before a deadline is so important to saving myself in that situation. When editing someones promos or a music video and feeling like it isn’t quite there yet is absolutely a discouraging feeling,but having the time to step away from the computer and find something that does inspire me has really helped. I often look to other friends in the creative world and draw inspiration from them and try to recreate those looks in my own style.
We’re in an era where being a creative in the music industry is more accessible and diverse than ever before. What do you hope to see as the scene continues to grow, behind the scenes from an industry perspective?
I really hope more bands can find a way to do more interesting behind-the-scenes/documentary-style videos. It’s hard especially with short form content like tik tok being the top thing that everyone including me right now loves. But finding new takes on showing those real moments behind the scene would be so cool. Huge shout out to Bring Me The Horizon and their team, who absolutely crushes it at this. I also think having the space to collaborate with other creators on a tour is huge, whether they were brought out for another band on the tour or being in the position to have a dedicated Photographer and a dedicated videographer on a tour and finding a way for that collaboration to work. It’s so cool to have other people who get it alongside you.
How do you stay in touch with your local music scene?
I try to go to shows when I am at home and support my friends whenever I get a chance! Even if I’m not shooting and just going to hang out.
What’s the most rewarding part of touring, in your opinion?
Getting to do something that so many people won’t get to is so incredibly humbling, it really makes you appreciate it. Like, so many people wish they could travel, and I get to do it for a living with friends and document the whole thing?! It’s crazy.
What’s one piece from your camera gear setup that you can’t live without?
Right now it would have to be my 24-70mm lens. Or my flash. Really saves me when I’m in awful conditions.
If you could go back and give yourself one piece advice for your first tour, what would it be?
Value yourself more and also, DRAMAMINE. I get so incredibly car sick, I would have to lay down or force myself to sleep whenever we are moving. But on a serious note, I toured for free and for a literal $100 a week for the first year plus of my career just because I wanted to be there so badly. If I could go back and tell myself just to ask for a little bit more I think it would have helped my confidence as I grew within my career.
Who are your bucket list artists to work with one day?
Bring Me The Horizon, Halsey, would LOVE to shoot Sleep Token again, and The 1975.
What’s your favorite part about touring?
The chaos. I thrive in it. Waking up in a new place everyday with no clue where I am really just gets me excited. Staying up too late at night just telling stories with the bands and crew while we are driving too. I cannot explain it.
What would you recommend people do if they’d like to join the touring industry one day?
Make good connections/friendships and always be willing to learn and do more. Being a good person who is great to be around will do great things for you in the long run. I have gotten quite a few gigs and tours off of just being a cool person to be around. You can be the greatest at your job but if you can’t live with other people peacefully then touring just won’t work out. I also always try to help out my crew with anything they need. They’re working hard so picking up food or just making sure they have what they need to keep morale kicking is so important to me.
