I just returned with the rest of The West End Sound from our short UK tour (minus our most important member, Joe Cassady, who we left to wander the Netherlands for an additional week) and MAN, do we all wish we were extending our stay with him!!

I was hoping I’d have time/internet access to be able to post stories and photos while I was there in the midst of it all, however- that just didn’t happen- despite the addition of UK cellular/data access to my plan- the green-lamb-dotted highlands were not too good for my cell phone reception. So- I shall post now, three days after my return and finally (mostly) recovered from a nasty case of jetlag!



We arrived in Manchester (via Helsinki) at 5ish on Saturday, 8/1 where we crammed way too many people and musical instruments into Victoria’s adorable Mini… buzzed around the city and out into the countryside for our first show at the Bulls Head in Tintwhistle!! The place was amazing – not only did the whole village come to see the Yankees, but the pub was one of the most charming, old places I’ve ever been… a great place for us to start. The owner was proud to have the New Yorkers ROCK the joint and happy to talk our ears off about the pub’s history- which we thoroughly enjoyed (and, through his accent, I think we got MOST of :) )

The History: The Bull’s Head was registered as a pub since 1425, the building is old enough to be listed in the Doomsday Book and it was the hangout of some famous highwayman whose name I don’t recall and, to the shock of the pub owner, didn’t recognize in the first place. Apparently, he was like the “Bob Dylan" of horseback robbery... 

Overall, it was a nice relaxing evening reuniting with Vic and Bob, whom we've missed dearly, and making a few new friends as well.. including the many taxidermied creatures that decorated the walls of the Bulls Head. I especially enjoyed the sheepdog pup that had run of the pup and had fun imagining him biting the ankles of the local drunks to herd them out at closing time.




We spent the next two days stumbling around Manchester sightseeing, drinking and waiting for Shu to arrive (the elusive West End Sound guitar player.)  Vic and Bob were happy to show us around to all thier favorite spots, whcih included Castlefields, many pubs and the best port-o-john Bobby's has ever set foot into.

When Shu finally arrived on Monday, we headed to Vic and Bobby's local for a few pints and some delicious fish & chips.  After a few pints it didn't take much convincing to get Bobby to ride the "big wheel" with the tourists. :)









 Manchester was good to us, except for the car rental morons. :)

Off to SCOTLAND and BELLADRUM!!
 
 
 

I made some slideshows and videos to go along with Shu's set.at the Kampo-Bahal Gallery. Each song was a new theme. It was really exciting to get to explore a new way to show my visual art... it was also a lot more work that I expected it to be!  :) well, WELL worth it though.  I expect to be doing some more collaborative work like this in the future with Shu and Joe Cassady.. with, of course, more time to prepare!

In addition to the imagery, I was invited to sing back-up with Shu and special guest, Joe Cassady ,on Joe's song "Find My Way Home."

As a member of A.C.E. (The Art Community of Easton), I get the privilege of using their Farmer's Market tent to amuse myself and others :) For the July 4th tent, I went down and set up a photo booth complete with dilapidated barn background and plenty of "farmer" props, including overalls, a pitchfork and lots of hats.

Well, I just got my first feature in an online Mag called The Alternate Root, it begins on page 78 of the Summer 2009 issue... I have the interview pasted below, but you definitely have to check out the whole thing on the site to see the pictures, layout and supremely cool format they use for the publication :)

TAR:  How would you compare photography, as an artform, to music?

MM:  Photography is very concrete, compared to music. You are capturing the real, the material and sort of trying to spiritualize it through the way you present its image. Music is completely the opposite, is sort of lassoing sounds and feelings and trying to make them sensible on a material level. When I photograph musicians I try to find the spirit I hear in their music in their image—it’s always there somewhere.

TAR:  How long have you been studying photography?

MM:  Photography has been a hobby/interest of mine since high school.  In college my artistic studies were more focused on three dimensional arts but I think that the goal of any art is to bring the forth dimension out of your subject. Once you have figured out a way to do that it’s easily transferrable, I think.

(Joe Cassady)

TAR:  Do you prefer to shoot digital or 35mm?  How about B&W vs color?

MM:  I work with a variety of cameras and accessories; Everything from the highest quality digital cameras to the typical 35mm to old plastic cameras that shoot 120mm portrait film. I have standard lenses and some weird ones too. Every camera and every lens has something different to offer. One lens that I have particularly fell in love with recently is a “Lens Baby,” you can control image distortion and get some really wacky depth of field through it. 

I must admit that most of the time anymore, I am shooting digital with a Nikon D80… there are advantages to film, but often times they cannot outweigh the cost and time effectiveness of digital photography. 

I shoot both black & white and color. Many times I do prefer black and white for it’s traditional, dramatic feel. I am a big fan of high contrast when shooting in low lit, live music scenes- which usually works better in black & white.

(Brian Molnar)

TAR:  Describe a typical set up before you begin to shoot pictures…do you prefer to shoot candid photos or posed portraits?

MM:  Set up isn’t really a huge physical process. I prefer when the universe has already done the set-up work for me. It’s easier that way—a lot less heavy lifting—and also comes out with a more authentic feel, which is what I prefer. I try to prepare more mentally, do some background research on people I haven’t shot before, talk to them about what they expect to see in the end result, what kind of photos they like to see of themselves and what places they feel comfortable in. It’s always good to have this info in the back of my mind when shooting either candid or posed portraits. Once I feel prepared, I can go to the location with just a few things and start shooting in minutes.

I definitely prefer candid shots… even when I do posed shots I find myself trying to find those candid moments.  The beginning of the shoot is not where I get the good images… it’s when the musicians have relaxed in front of the camera and start interacting with each other in a less guarded manner and they can sort of ignore me that I get my best work. To this end, I try to give little direction on “how to pose.” Rather than “place your arm here, look that way,” etc., It’s more like placing people in a scene and documenting them there. Everybody wears a mask most of the time in public, but everybody takes it off when they get home. If you somehow make them feel at home, you can catch them without that mask for a split second and that is when you see their spirit. Most of the time, that’s what you want, but every now and then there’s the case where you realize you should wait for them to put the mask back on!

TAR:  Do you have a favorite photo that you've taken?

MM:  One of my favorite music photos is of a guitar. I used a slow shutter and captured a lot of movement and light. I just really like the energy that the photo has. The electric guitar is transformed into something that looks more like ghostly neon lights than a musical instrument.

TAR:  Any photographers that have greatly influenced your style?

MM:  No. I can’t say I have been influenced by any photographer. I definitely have a style, but every shoot is different and I try to be influenced by what I am shooting… I think about what I want the images to make the viewer feel or what kind of feelings my subjects are trying to portray. Everybody is a photographer of sorts with his or her own eye and have a huge base of influence to draw upon. The difference between the practicing photographer and everyone else is that we try to hold on and enhance those images and impressions everybody gets. That’s the difference between photography and most other arts: photo is a very realistic medium. When you listen to Beethoven or look at a Jackson Pollock, I think it’s pretty clear that those sense impressions are not typical of the human experience. Photography, though is very democratic—it makes use of the experiences of the normal human eye.  

I really love working with musicians. It gives a purpose and direction to the work. In addition to shooting bands and trying to capture that live energy- I have had the opportunity to combine my photography and video images into a backdrop for live music.  This is an exciting new outlet for me that I first did with Shu Nakamura in a gallery he played at in SOHO. It is a way to further connect the ethereal essence of music with the physical human eye. I got the set list ahead of time and had different themes for each song. It was much more work than I had expected when I signed on, but well worth it. I have plans with Joe Cassady to work up visual art for one of his shows this summer.

(Bethany Saint Smith)

TAR:  Tell us about some of the musicians you have photographed.

TAR:  What would a typical indie artist in the NYC area expect to pay for a session with Melissa Masser?

MM:  A typical shoot is usually $100-$300, this includes all Photoshop editing and access to all original sized files.