Dan Deacon portraits for XLR8R Magazine.

Dan Deacon.   Dan Deacon.   Dan Deacon.

I shot these with Dan in his house in… 2009? Wow. Don’t know why I never posted these. These were for XLR8R Magazine, which no longer exists in printed form (RIP). The fabric in the background is the fabric that was used (he had it hand-made) for the tent that is on the cover of Bromst (which was photographed by the lovely & talented Baltimore photographer Frank Hamilton).

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War On Women – in the studio.

War On Women.
War On Women.   War On Women.   War On Women.
War On Women.

Baltimore band War On Women stopped into my studio the other day… we didn’t have much time but we had a fun shoot, I think some of these may end up on their new record, but I am not 100% sure. Get in touch if your band needs promo photos or the like.

Volta Bureau portraits.

Volta Bureau
Volta Bureau

A few weeks back, I shot some portraits/promo shots for my friends, DC-based group Volta Bureau (featuring Will Eastman, OutputMessage, and Micah Vellian), to help promote their first release, Hope. Did you know they are named after a historical place in DC?

You can see more of my photos of Volta Bureau (and many others) in my Portraits & Promo Shots gallery.

In the Studio : James Nasty, Mickey Fortune.

James Nasty
Mickey Fortune / Oh Snap!   James Nasty   Mickey Fortune / Oh Snap!
Mickey Fortune / Oh Snap!

I’ve done a few promo shoots in my studio lately for some Baltimore electronic music producers. Check out my Portraits & Promo Shots set on Flickr for more shots of them, and others. And contact me if you are interested in getting some portraits, head shots, or promo shots done!

Portrait Session : Rogue.

Rogue
Rogue

A couple of weeks ago I did a portrait session for Bmore Original recording artist Rogue. It was a lot of fun, I haven’t been shooting as many promo shots or portraits lately since I have been going to so many shows… it’s something I need to start doing more of again. Pictured are a few shots from the session.

Crazy Monkey Clothing Company catalog shots.

Crazy Monkey Clothing Company

I shot a few catalog/promo shots for my friend Joey B’s clothing line, Crazy Monkey Clothing Company. We did these real quick in my studio, he just needed basic shots to throw up on his web store, but I think they came out okay. I’ll link the web store here once they launch it.

See the whole Crazy Monkey Clothing Company set here.

The Gift.

The Gift
The Gift

Last month I took some photos for the Washington DC band The Gift. They are a great band, and comprised of three old friends. Henry was in Exosus, who I put out a record for in some mist-shrouded past, Beck was in Turboslut, and Mikey was in one of my favorite hardcore/punk bands from Maryland, Tradition Dies Here (among many other pursuits they’ve all been a part of). It was fun doing these shoots, even though making a “band photo” can sometimes be really ridiculous.

Speaking of which, we shot the group photos in the Black Cat before they opened, and while there, the most amazing thing happened. Apparently, Henry had told Mikey previously that “nothing he did could shock him”… so Mikey thought about it, came up with something, and revealed it to Henry during the shoot. And that is how I came to be present when Mikey showed Henry that he had gotten a HUGE photo realistic tattoo of Henry’s face on his upper thigh. Wow.

PS – Their debut record “Mostly In Sickness” comes out in January.

See the whole The Gift photo set here.

Dave Nada’s Moombahton Massive

Dave Nada's Moombahton Massive

This was awhile ago, but just now getting to it… my good friend Dave Nada just moved to LA to further his production career, and he threw a big Moombahton dance party at U Street Music Hall in DC to celebrate. They have a no-photo policy there, but I had like 10 minutes between the two sets I was shooting that night to run over and get a few quick snaps of the artists who were performing, including Matt Nordstrom, DJ Ayres, Jesse Tittsworth, Dave Nada himself and more… We literally snapped these on the street in front of U Hall, with people weaving through us on their way to go out to dinner or the clubs, then after 10 minutes I hauled ass back to 930 to shoot Die Antwoord! Fun stuff.

Good luck in LA Dave, though I know you don’t need it!

View all the photos from the set here | View all my photos of Dave Nada from over the years here

balmer odds & ends.

been shooting a lot lately… here are a few shots i like:

murder city devils @ sonar
murder city devils @ sonar.

i haven’t seen this band – one of my favorite bands – since… 2000? 2001? I saw them on tour on in name and blood in new orleans. they played with zeke who was (i think) a stoner-y rock band that incorporated clog dancing into their set. even though the dudes in mcd tried unsuccessfully to pick up my then-girlfriend in front of me, they were still awesome. i don’t know how much longer this reunion tour lasts, but go see them if you get a chance.

benny stixx @ no rule
benny stixx @ no rule.
i shot benny recently for his label, bmore original, and wanted to go see him spin. it was a good time, AND he has a new record coming out really soon. get it from bmore original.

unruly records & bmore original + no rule fam
unruly + bmore original + no rule fam.
while benny was spinning, DJ Excel from bmore original brought it to my attention just how many baltimore club & hip-hop artists were in the room… so we origanized a quick group shot. from L to R: booman, chris brooks, scottie b, dj excel, rogue, cullen stalin, jimmy jones, derek from unruly, emmy, kw griff

on that same tip, here is a shot from a week earlier of scottie b and dan deacon, two of baltimore’s most influential artists:
scottie b & dan deacon @ no rule.

vincent black shadow

vincent black shadow - adam.       vincent black shadow - dirck.
vincent black shadow - dan.       vincent black shadow - rufus.

i shot these for Vincent Black Shadow’s upcoming album Baltamont, which is now cancelled since they broke up. look them up if you haven’t hard them, they were a really good noisy punk/rock band.