joshsisk.com

3 recent portraits from my studio. Click to see them bigger, and get in touch if you would like to pose for me.

A few recent publications… John Gallagher (Dying Fetus) in Decibel, Rye Rye in the Stranger, and Santigold on Rollingstone.com.

Sunday I checked out Santigold (formly Santogold, but she apparently had some legal trouble with that infomercial guy of the same name) and Trouble Andrew at the Rams Head. It was a good time… my friend Jahphet (from the Death Set) is in her touring band, which was awesome to see. Also, I always get a kick out of her two dancers… they have been with her for awhile, at least since I saw here at SXSW two years ago and they are awesome.

Check out the whole Santigold / Trouble Andrew set here. You can also check out her video for LES Artistes, one of my favorite songs by her.

Maryland Death Fest 2009 was amazing. I only was there for one day, but it was incredible! So many bands… I never expected to see Bolt Thrower, ever! Much less with Pig Destroyer, Napalm Death and Wolves In The Throne Room! Not to mention Misery Index, Birdflesh… too many bands to name, really. Also the festival was very well run, which was impressive for just how big the scope of it all was. So many metalheads in one place and there were not really any major problems, at least not that I heard about… congratulations to everyone involved at MDF and Sonar!

Click here to see the rest of my Maryland Death Fest 2009 photos. Or, click here to to see a Slideshow from Maryland Death Fest 2009.

The other day, I checked out Lady Sovereign’s show at Sonar with Hollywood Holt and Chester French. It was pretty fun, I actually though the standout of the night was actually Hollywood Holt… that dude seems like he is gonna break soon, at least judging by his stage persona.

Check out the full set here!

Sunday, Dan Deacon and his Ensemble rolled back into the area (along with Future Islands and Teeth Mountain). It was awesome to see so many friends playing on the big stage at the 9:30 Club. It was especially great to see Denny Bowen (of Double Dagger, Smart Growth fame, and part of the Ensemble) up there, as I have known Denny for years, and used to have his high school bands playing in the basement of my old house, the Dirtfarm. Such a good show, so great to see Dan’s songs performed with instrumentation, and to see him work his showmanship magic on such a huge crowd, and a “professional” space.

Future Islands and Teeth Mountain were really good as well, I was especially taken by Teeth Mountain, their set really benefited from the big sound that is possible at a venue like the 9:30.

More Dan Deacon Ensemble photos here!

Dan Deacon photo in German magazine Intro. Claire Huxtable in URB magazine. Both on newstands now.

View the whole set here. The show was fun, though I miss the days that Mastodon and Kylesa hung out in my house with my old roommate Sonny and played sold out shows at the Velvet Lounge vs sold out shows at the 9:30 Club. Still, times change and both bands are still very talented… I’ll never like Mastodon’s new sound as much as their earlier work, but it suits them and has obviously won them alot of fans, so more power to them.

My friend Chase Lisbon, noted erotic photographer (for nerve.com and his own site, supercult.com) had his first ever gallery show last weekend in Philly. It was pretty great, over a hundred of his amazing photos were on display and more than 500 people came! Check out my photos from the show and afterparty here.

Third time I have seen Frodus this season, and they are still really awesome. Sick Weapons were really good as well… a Baltimore band to watch. Click here for the rest of the photos…

This year’s MICA-sponsored experimental fashion show was a lot of fun… luchadors, strongmen, swashbuckling pirate fights, and a lot of cool clothes… in a new gallery venue right next to the Wind-Up Space. Click here for some more photos…

Amanda, Cali, Sarah, Ally.

I have been shooting SO MUCH. Not enough time to even look at all the photos, much less post them, I apologize. This is the first of a few “catch up posts” I will be posting, just tryin’ to throw up a small segment of what I have been working on… Click on them for larger versions, and also if you want to see more from the same sets…

 
Fan Death Records founders, Baltimore promoter & DJ Jay Rags

 
Scary River promo shots, DJ Death Set (Johnny Siera) @ Sorted!

 
the Mishaps, the Gunslingers (both at the Talking Head)

 
Hollywood @ the Talking Head, Rusko w/ Rod Azlan @ Hour Haus

 
Michael, the Beach.

Agoraphobic Nosebleed in Decibel, Martyn in KMag and DJ Broadcast magazines. Also, check out Earplug’s SXSW write-up featuring my photos, and a small shot of the Death Set in XLR8R.

B Magazine also ran one of my shots of Dan Deacon on the cover:

A text recap may or not be coming soon but here is the photo recap…

diplo & kid cudi @ mad decent blowout

des ark

thunderheist

the golden filter

lady sovereign

frodus

milemarker

 
ponytail, kanye west

 
mad decent, thou

 
DJ Sega, Annihilation Time/bridge party

Click here for the rest of my SXSW photos

Look for the new issue of CMJ, coming out next month. I have the cover and two shots of Dan on the inside.

ALSO! Listen to Dan’s new album Bromst on NPR’s site. The whole album! It’s not even out yet.

This month in XLR8R (#125, the March issue), I have a 8-page spread about Dan Deacon, a photo of Dutch dubstep artist Martyn, and then a contributor profile of myself (featuring a photo of me by my Dad!). Should be on newstands now! Pick it up.

From a photo shoot I did for them and Relapse Records.

Pig Destroyer shot in the Grindcore issue, on newstands now. You can look at the original shot here.

This weekend I went to the big ears music fest in knoxville. I saw so many artists, but the highlights were: philip glass, michael gira (swans, angels of light), christian fennesz (performing with a variety of collaborators), negativland (performing It’s All In Your Head FM), dan deacon and the baltimore round robin (ed schrader, cex, smart growth, adventure, dj dog dick, height)… It was a really great festival, small, low key, with the emphasis on the music and the artists and not a million sponsorships. Seriously, it was a great event and I really hope the organizers can keep it up with this level of quality in the future! Don’t miss out next year!

Oh yeah, and here is the full Big Ears set!