I was approached by The Mission Creeps to shoot their new album cover and tour poster for their European tour. Some of my early work was shooting bands, so I relished the opportunity to work with a creative group of musicians. Album art was a big part of my childhood, both in complementing the musical experience while listening to my favorites from the 70s, and also inspiration to become a photographer myself.
The first steps for me in shooting any band are to see them in concert and then listen to their music. Nowadays, I also visit their website and/or myspace pages to get a feel for their personality.
I went to Plush in Tucson to hear the Creeps, and listened to their first two albums, Ghouls Among Us, and in sickness and in health - They have a great following and some great descriptions in the media. Since I'm more apt to describe in phtos than words, I'll quote some press:
Gonnzai Music Magazine, France
It's an open door to some orgasmic music, music that was made in the way Tarantino makes movies, millions of ideas put together reminding of what we love in music.
- Little Johnny Jet
The Santa Fe New Mexican
Imagine a blend of The Cramps, Joy Division, Tom Waits, and Ligntnin' Hopkins. Now drench it in blood and make it play a theremin - extremely well - at gunpoint. 'Nuff said.
- Rob DeWalt
San Francisco Bay Guardian
. . . combine surf rock, punk, and the Doors, topping it off with an eerie dosage of Ennio Morricone–inspired gunfight licks that fit seamlessly into the band's tales of desert-highway depravity
Phoenix New Times
The Mission Creeps: Oh, the horror-surf!
. . . this quartet oozes out reverb-heavy, slinky music in the fine tradition of “horror-surf” bands like The Cramps and the HorrorPops, creating a creepy, ambient vibe that would make the band’s songs at home on any Quinten Tarantino or neo-noir film soundtrack.
- Niki D'Andrea
Eugene Weekly (OR)
Case of the Zombies
. . . . James Arrr has the perfect voice for this genre of music — a little Elvis mixed with some Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash.
Tucson Weekly
Their haunted shed includes handy tools such as reverb-rich surf music, Phil Spector's wall of sound, R&B rave-ups, blues, honky-tonk, garage rock, psychedelia, exotica, sci-fi soundtrack music, sea chanteys and, well, punk and rockabilly.
- Gene Armstrong
So... I started thinking about location and what the band wants to portray to an international audience -- do we celebrate the US southwest or do we eliminate the reference? Do we go with ghost towns or post-industrial? Do we bring the surf theme to the forefront and gamble a location shoot on a Mexican beach on a dark, cloudy day? In the end, I decided to go with a catacomb type of feel. I wanted a post-industrial feel, but something that wasn't overly american. I felt that this concrete catacomb that was originally a copper smelter, abandoned almost 100 years ago, had a distinct feel that is reminiscent of Southern European burial galleries. This smelter is now used by many to play pick-up paintball games, so it has splotches of every color imaginable on the pourous concrete walls.
Travel to this remote location required 4wd, as there were two water deep crossings and some rough jeep trail. The band had a lot of confidence to set out on this journey without having seen the location, but were duly impressed when we arrived.
My goal was to use odd angles and uncommon lighting scenarios to create a sense of unease with the images. I mixed tungsten colored strobes with overhead sunlight to create deep blue backgrounds, and in post production, I changes saturation and contrast to increase the creepiness of the images. I wanted an unsettling set of photos that worked with the vibe of the band.
