All New Ed Schrader Show, Episode 1 with Dina Kelberman & DDM!

All New Ed Schrader Show Episode 1 : 2016/02/10
All New Ed Schrader Show Episode 1 : 2016/02/10
All New Ed Schrader Show Episode 1 : 2016/02/10
All New Ed Schrader Show Episode 1 : 2016/02/10

SEE ALL THE PHOTOS HERE

This week marked the relaunch of a Baltimore institution: the Ed Schrader Show! Long before Ed helmed Ed Schrader’s Music Beat, he was known for hosting the always-unpredictable Ed Schrader Show, a live talk show held at various spots around Baltimore. The show would present various notable (and often unsung) people of Baltimore and sitting them down for a chat with Ed in his unique interview style.

After taking some time to focus on music pursuits, this week Ed brought the show back to Metro Gallery and interviewed artist Dina Kelberman (check out her project I‘m Google) and rapper DDM (who is also in the stellar group Bond Street District), both long-time members of the creative scene here in Baltimore.

It was a great show, full of funny moments as well as heartfelt, insightful ones. I’ll add a podcast link here when it goes up- this is just the first in a monthly series of new shows, so you can come to Metro Gallery in march for next month’s taping.

Ed Schrader, Kevin Sherry & Cats on the Lake.

Ed Schrader & Kevin Sherry making Cats On The Lake shirts
Ed Schrader & Kevin Sherry making Cats On The Lake shirts
Ed Schrader & Kevin Sherry making Cats On The Lake shirts
Ed Schrader & Kevin Sherry making Cats On The Lake shirts

This was a fun shoot. Ed texted me to ask if I wanted to take photos of him and Kevin making ‘Cats on the Lake’ shirts for a City Paper story. Since that’s not the norm, the subject assigning you the photo, I cleared it with the paper and – yep – it was indeed a story. So one afternoon I went over to Kevin’s house/studio and hung with them as they joked, made shirts, and Kevin’s roommate made dinner. You can see his legs in a few of the photos.

READ THE CITY PAPER ARTICLE HERE.

SEE ALL THE CATS ON THE LAKE PHOTOS FEATURING ED SCHRADER AND KEVIN SHERRY HERE.

Dan Deacon: Reflektor Tour 2014 @ Verizon Center

Dan Deacon @ Verizon Center
Dan Deacon @ Verizon Center
Dan Deacon @ Verizon Center
Dan Deacon @ Verizon Center
Wham City members Robby Rackleff & April Camlin lead the crowd in interpretive dance.
Dan Deacon @ Verizon Center

The other day I shot Dan Deacon and Arcade Fire for the Washington Post at their Verizon Center stop of the Reflektor tour. I initially was a little worried that the show would be a little empty, or that the crowd wouldn’t ‘get’ Dan’s typical group-participation antics. I was wrong – though it took a minute for the large venue to fill in, it eventually got packed in there and it seemed like everyone was super happy to join in with Dan.

Some funny moments of the show for me: at these big shows, photographers always have media handlers who take you where you are supposed to be. However, since Dan set up at front of house to play, they were like “wow, I don’t know what’s going on, just do your thing,” which rarely happens. Also, was surprised to find that grindcore legend Scott Hull was in attendance. He asked me what Dan Deacon was all about, I tried to explain it, and assumed it wouldn’t be to his taste… but he loved his show!

See all the Dan Deacon : Reflektor Tour @ Verizon Center photos here!
See all the Arcade Fire photos from Reflektor Tour here!

Dan Deacon for City Paper.

Dan Deacon City Paper cover

I shot Dan Deacon for last week’s City Paper cover story, which highlighted his new album, America. We shot on his roof, and in his studio, with one of his flags behind him (the flags are the cover of the record and he is having them made to be included with the album!). I’m scared of heights, so the roof shoot was harrowing, but I think it came out pretty well.

Here are all the shots from this shoot, including many which didn’t make the story: Continue reading

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).

Continue reading

Dan Deacon Ensemble, Celebration, Matmos @ Ottobar.

Dan Deacon Ensemble @ Ottobar
Dan Deacon Ensemble @ Ottobar
Dan Deacon Ensemble @ Ottobar
Dan Deacon Ensemble @ Ottobar   Dan Deacon Ensemble @ Ottobar
Celebration @ Ottobar
Celebration @ Ottobar   Matmos @ Ottobar

Awesome show, from beginning to end. 3 very different, yet complimentary Baltimore music groups, all on one bill! A great weekend for the Ottobar, who also hosted a sold out Wye Oak show the following night… anyway…

I have seen Matmos several times, and they are always different. This night, they chose to create a droning/grooving sort of atmosphere with a Caribbean (to my uninformed ears) feeling type of beat, very noddable and swayable. One of their songs got pretty minimal industrial, again to my uniformed ears, and I would SWEAR that on one song they used the same sample as Ministry does on one of their “Land of Rape And Honey” era records… but maybe I am just a goth.

Celebration remains one of my absolute favorite bands to see live in Baltimore… I love their old material and their newer stuff is growing on me more and more now that I have seen it played live a few times. Their set has morphed into only having one or two songs from the “The Modern Tribe” era, and they are still a treat to watch.

Dan Deacon used this show to introduce his new five piece ensemble (who I have posted about here recently) , and I really enjoyed the additional instrumentation. I think it worked best on the newer songs, ones that I assume were written for this group, but even on the classic Deacon songs, I think they added alot, especially the dual percussion. Live drums really can create a feeling like nothing else. The crowd seemed to agree, they went CRAZY, which is too be expected, and it was a really really fun set. Somehow I managed to stick it out the whole time at the front… a bit of a while since I managed that, but I was having a blast!

See the rest of the photos here!

Dan Deacon Ensemble.

Dan Deacon Ensemble.
Dan Deacon Ensemble.
Dan Deacon.

Dan had me shoot a few photos last month, to go out along with the announcement of the new Dan Deacon Ensemble, the planned new record, and his signing to Domino Records. Above are a few of my favorites from the session.

Along with Dan, the other members of the Ensemble are:

– Denny Bowen (Double Dagger, Roomrunner)
– Chester Gwazda (Nuclear Power Pants)
– Jordan Kasey (Zomes)
– David Jacober (Dope Body)

Click here to see more photos from this session.

Dan Deacon, Future Islands, Ed Schrader’s Music Beat @ Current Gallery.

Dan Deacon @ Current
Ed Schrader's Music Beat @ Current   Future Islands @ Current
Future Islands @ Current
Dan Deacon @ Current   Future Islands @ Current
Ed Schrader's Music Beat @ Current
Dan Deacon @ Current   Dan Deacon @ Current

What a fun show! A combination “back to school”/”Dan’s birthday” show, 350 or so people packed into the parking lot behind Current Gallery at 6pm sharp and got to see great sets by 3 local acts. What Cheer Brigade also played, and were great! They are a 12+ piece brass band from Rhode Island… really fun to see live. They stressed that everyone should be there on time or they would be sold out, which ruled, show started on time, ended on time. The rain managed to MOSTLY hold off, and we got to see an acapella performance by Future Islands after Garrett’s laptop shorted out from the drizzle… hopefully it’s okay. All fun!

Wham City Comedy Tour first night!

Wham City Comedy Tour.
Wham City Comedy Tour.    Wham City Comedy Tour.
Wham City Comedy Tour.
Wham City Comedy Tour.    Wham City Comedy Tour.

Me and Michael Byrne went to the opening night of the Wham City Comedy Tour, a DIY night of comedy, skits, music, video and performance art by the Wham City Collective (and friends). Wham City is a (mostly) Baltimore-based group of artists in all media, including Dan Deacon, Ed Schrader, Dina Kelberman, Connor Kizer, Adam Endres, and many more.

Since it was the first night (and, as I found out later, the first time the whole program was performed in it’s entirety), there were a few timing issues and a few off beats, but all in all it was really entertaining… the various pieces that were performed managed to change moods, from absurd slapstick, to bleak dark comedy, to wry intellectual wit. For every gag that fell flat, there were several that hit hard and I don’t think anyone there could say they didn’t laugh out loud many times. The first leg of the tour is done, but they are going out on another soon! Check them out!

Read the SPIN review here | See the full photo set here, with NEW stuff I just uploaded!

Whartscape 2010.

double dagger @ whartscape 2010.
Dan Deacon Ensemble @ whartscape 2010.   Ed Schrader @ whartscape 2010.
Sick Weapons @ whartscape 2010.
Gravebangers @ whartscape 2010.   beach house @ whartscape 2010.
dope body @ whartscape 2010.
universal order of armageddon @ whartscape 2010.   Wye Oak @ whartscape 2010.
arab on radar @ whartscape 2010.

I finally uploaded the last of my pics from Whartscape 2010! This year (probably the last) was great fun, even with a few setbacks – probably my favorite one so far. Arab on Radar, the Oxes (who I missed), and Universal Order of Armageddon all did reunions. Lil B the Based God played. So much sweat was excuded and so many beverages were consumed.

Click here to see all of my Whartscape 2010 photos. (newest ones at the top)

The Very Last Whartscape.

GUEST POST BY MICHAEL BYRNE. This was written for a lifestyle magazine, but it didn’t end up running so I figured I would share it here. Words by Michael, photos by me. Very soon after posting this I will also post my “my favorite shots from Whartscape” post, too!

This was it: the very last Whartscape after five oven-hot years in downtown Baltimore celebrating weird, “weird,” and occasional masturbation, but far more pure awesome underground don’t-give-a-fuck music via the all growed up warehouse nuts of Wham City. There’ve been five of these things, growing (mostly) every year, but this was my third. And best. And loudest. And, holy sweet damn, the hottest. I mean, last Saturday night in a warehouse listening to one of the planet’s best ever hardcore bands, it was even too hot to drink a beer.

Why was this the best? The short answers are Universal Order of Armageddon (see above) and Arab On Radar, both reunited after being presumed dead for 16 and 8 years, respectively. The Oxes were back, performing in the midst of a light rail thruway. Bmore rappers Get Em Mamis made the boys and girls hearts turn to sauce. Squealcore unit Ponytail gave what’s rumored to be its last ever show. And that’s not even talking about who knows how many awesome smaller Baltimore bands that you don’t even know about because you don’t live here.

Sunday almost got trashed totally by a quick moving and brutal storm, shredding at least one of the outdoor parking lot stage canopies. But the Whammers and their legion of volunteers (crew of volunteers?) had it moved in like an hour indoors to air conditioning and the amazing feel-it-in-your-bones sound system of the mammoth Sonar club, who’d basically just said “sure” and scrambled up a bunch of bartenders and a door guy. Bummer it got shut down after some metalcore twerp in another room pulled a fire alarm.

Yeah, there was art-shock stuff and even some neon. (Ear Pwr needs to stop, now, please.) And maybe this is what you think of when you think of Baltimore, some paradise of Casio-toting neutrinos with shitty attitudes about people that don’t have _that_ on vinyl or maybe know how to and enjoy playing guitar. Nah, you’ve got it wrong. There’s so much here and those shitty neutrinos are really only like three dudes that can’t get laid.

How’s DJ Dog Dick on one side making splattertronic noise crunk, cave creature Hollywood making guitar war, Dan Deacon himself with full live ensemble making avant-garde future-pop dance music. I could go on. And on. So I will just a little below, with some help from Baltimore’s finest photog, Josh Sisk.

gravebangers @ whartscape 2010.

This crew is called Gravebangers and a bystander remembers it as “a bunch of people in shock makeup, with inverted crosses, screaming like banshees in between songs. The songs were. . . not rapping but not exactly singing. And about a variety of things including Alex Proyas’ Dark City.” I missed it, alas. Figure its at least 100 degrees in that room.

arab on radar @ whartscape 2010.

When Arab On Radar came on stage, my superfan buddy Dave and I were sitting down sort of in the back, taking it easy because it was around 100 degrees and the breeze wasn’t helping much. Now, Dave is a pretty shy computer hacker kind of guy and he’d resigned to sitting and enjoying the noise-rock deity do its thing from afar. But I swear, it was like watching a junky staring down a bag of rock. Finally, thank god, he went for it and charged down into the mass throng of kids and oldsters and its suffocating pit–and I didn’t see him again that night.

health @ whartscape 2010.

After the thunderstorm came through, bands got split between the warehouse stages and Sonar. Health got sent to the warehouse stages because (I imagine) Health just makes more sense there with the more avant and party and whathaveyou stuff. Anyhow, apparently they had a hissy fit and insisted in playing the “real club,” thus shortening Beach House’s set time. Whatever.

I’d really like to like ‘em but honestly this kind of shit feels like avant-garde-slash-noise art cherry-picking. They’re like the Radiohead of the underground DIY scene. They’re too slick and come off as cheap.

lightning bolt @ whartscape 2010.

I feel like a amateur but I’d never seen Lightning Bolt before. Black Pus, once, last year–but not the pair together. What can I say? I couldn’t stop watching Brian Chippendale drum. It’s like. . . like, dunno, watching a gunfighter shoot off the Sheriff’s badge, and then watch him shoot the buttons off every jacket in town in one mean loud go of it.

Their racket sounds ecstatic and dynamic, and actual songs or movements come together making Lightning Bolt-the-experience actually have some sonic purpose. Apparently, they also stopped playing on the floor which is a really good thing because Josh barely got into and out of the pit with his body and camera in reasonable shape. Thanks buddy.

lower dens @ whartscape 2010.

This is the former folk songwriter Jana Hunter’s new lo-fi rock band, and they are fucking great. Gritty atmosphere, melodies that work like Xanax straight to the spine, and that voice. Oh my, that voice, a sort of androgynous beautiful to make Antony cock an ear, at least. Buy Lower Dens’ new record, right now–it’s called Twin Hand Movement.

Le sigh, I’m now blushing.

nadastrom @ whartscape 2010.

Dave Nada used to play in hardcore bands around here back when. Then he started making Baltimore club music, like new-school heavy party jams using, like, Twisted Sister samples. Now, he’s in a duo with Matt Nordstrom making all-in heavy-as-lead party house music for every cool dance label around.

universal order of armageddon @ whartscape 2010.

I’m 30-years-old and grew up between Detroit and Colorado. I dunno if that’s an excuse for being 16 years late to the Universal Order of Armageddon hardcore doomsday party but, no matter, I witnessed the first reunion of the Maryland force-of-nature since disbanding in 2004. What can I say? I can’t imagine it being any more intense back then. I thought blood was about to burst out of Colin Seven’s neck and it’d hose off the room only to evaporate in blood steam and we’d be thrashing around a warehouse sauna of the Most Real. From now on when I see guitarist Tonie Joy lurking around Baltimore, I’m going to have to do a little bow or something. Again: I had no idea.

This reunion happened in New York too. Sucks if you missed it.

sick weapons @ whartscape 2010.

Sick Weapons are apparently breaking up and that’s a bummer. They’re one of the finest punk bands to come from this city in who knows how long, and Ellie is best frontwoman you might never have the privilege of thrashing around a mosh pit to. They’ve got a first and last record coming out on Reptilian very soon and you should at least hunt it down.

celebration @ whartscape 2010.

Celebration used to be a pretty big deal in indieland, all palling around with TV On the Radio back in the day. Now, they stick close to home, release music according to the tarot, exist as all-around awesome hippies, and play these incredible shows of gut-soul meets spirit-rock. Their songs are this mix of joy, nostalgia, and wanting a thing back that maybe you just can’t have. Celebration’s new songs are all free, so go here now: celebrationelectrictarot.com. Anyhow, their setlist was all-new last weekend and they were great. I hope all those songs are on that site soon.

dan deacon crowd @ whartscape 2010.

Dan Deacon isn’t the only person that made this happen, but he’s the main one. Here’s a couple of kids dancing down an aisle in the crowd at his performance.

Dan Deacon Ensemble, Future Islands, Teeth Mountain @ 9:30 Club

Dan Deacon Ensemble @ 9:30 Club
Future Islands @ 9:30 Club   Dan Deacon Ensemble @ 9:30 Club
Dan Deacon Ensemble crowd.
Teeth Mountain @ 9:30 Club   Future Islands crowd.
Dan Deacon Ensemble @ 9:30 Club   Dan Deacon Ensemble @ 9:30 Club

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!

Big Ears Experimental Music Festival 2009, Knoxville.

michael gira @ big ears.   fennesz (with sparklehorse) @ big ears.
big ears.   matmos @ big ears.
matmos @ big ears.   DJ Dog Dick / Baltimore Round Robin @ big ears.

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!

Dan Deacon & Jimmy Joe Roche @ Zodiac.

jimmy joe roche.

dan deacon.

Art collective Wham City has been regularly having shows at it’s space Zodiac (formerly a resteraunt, right next to the Club Charles)… last week I stopped in to check out Dan Deacon performing some newer material and the new piece by Jimmy Joe Roche. Also performing was Adventure, (who has a split LP out now with Dan), but I didn’t get any photos during his set.

Jimmy Joe Roche (co-creator of last years’ Ultimate Reality performance piece/DVD and wicked Magic: the Gathering player)’s piece was CRAZY and deserves a special mention : he had loops of millisecond samples from metal songs, and video loops of various satanic imagery, all hooked up to a laptop… and a EKG, attached to his forehead. The EKG recorded electrical activity in his brain, and would make changes to both the audio and video images as his mood changed. Since he was thrashing in place and basically freaking out, you can imagine there was ALOT of activity! It was pretty awesome and really appealled to the dormant headbanger lobe of my brain.

full set here!

Look out for the upcoming XLR8R feature on Dan Deacon, with photos by yours truly, for his appearance on Andrew WK’s new talk show, and for his new record BROMST.