A few people know that prior to starting MTA I used to do a lot of nerd event coverage, especially in the realm of music. I covered a good chunk of the Texas nerd music scene for quite a few years, both in photo and video forms. But since we’re not having shows or cons for the foreseeable future I thought it would be to revisit some of my favorite pics from the archives.
Nerdcore Dayz - March 14, 2018
During SXSW our good friend Vincent “DJ R.O.C.K.M.A.N.” Banks will put on a number of unofficial nerdcore shows in various places. With a number of our friends coming into town to play plus all of our local peeps it’s pretty easy to put together a solid lineup.
The reason why I really like this one is how it’s a bunch of artists having fun performing for their friends. I mean if Megaran, Creative Mind Frame, Lilypad, and Bitforce aren’t obviously having fun on stage there's a problem.
Dozen Street - November 4, 2017
This was the first time I had actually got to see Crunk Witch play live. And boy do they bring a good time. Dozen Street is pretty small overall so I did have to work to get good shots but not get in the way of the fans. With that it did allow Brandon to get into the crowd and interact with people. When he saw my camera he came up and I was able to get that shot. For such a dark venue the Fuji X-T2 did a fantastic job allowing me to get this.
Austin Nerd Cave 2017 - May 13, 2017
This was a small nerd event put on by the Austin Toy Museum. At this point I only had the Fuji X-T2 for a month so I figured it would make for a good test. I was friends with a few of the musicians that were set to play that day. Which would include The Persona. So I had a good idea of what his stage presence would be like. Plus I was super familiar with the venue so I knew what would make for good shooting spots.
Early in his set I was right at the front of the stage so he saw me and came up. When I took the pic I knew it was probably going to be pretty good. But once I got home to edit and looked at it on a larger monitor I went “HOLY SHIT THIS CAMERA CAN DO THAT?!?” I didn’t have to do any editing whatsoever to this one. I liked it so much I had a print made to hang in my living room.
San Japan X - September 1, 2017
Since I was attached to the Main Event crew I had free reign of the photo pit. The interesting piece this time around was that the stage had a runway. Which could help in getting some interesting sight lines. With All Off being a rock group I had a pretty good idea of how things would go during their set. So I figured being dead center in front of the runway at the start would be a good bet. And I was right.
San Japan 9 - September 3, 2016
The Bitforce boys were back again. Being really familiar with their material I knew how they worked. So I could pay more attention to where I was positioned in relation to the stage. With this pic I really liked how the lighting gave Marc a really cool silhouetting effect.
Classic Game Fest 2016 - July 30, 2016
I’ve covered Megaran quite a bit over the years. But this pic is probably the most “Megaran pic” I’ve ever captured of him. He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met and to this day remains the most positive epitome of “The Hustle” I’ve ever witnessed. I think this photo reflects all of that.
San Japan 8 - July 31, 2015
Two of my favorite artists, Ciaran Strange and Professor Shyguy performing together. This shot really encapsulates how they both work their stage presence. I’m glad they did the Mega Drive tour (which SJ was a part of) since I thought they were a good match.
Classic Game Fest 2014 - August 17, 2014
I’ve known Kenny Reichelderfer for quite some time since we were both part of the initial Arcade UFO crew. He had been a guitarist well before I met him. At some point I had told him about Descendants of Erdrick. He came to one of their shows and quickly got deep into the VGM scene. And eventually he was asked to join Gimmick! This pic is a really good example of the ‘concert portrait’ style I would utilize for some time.
San Japan 8 - July 31, 2015
Two of the titans of nerdcore on one stage: Richie Branson and Megaran. I don’t think this pic needs any more explanation than that.
Classic Game Fest 2014 - August 17, 2014
To this day I’m still not entirely sure how this picture happened. If you’ve ever seen Amanda Lepre perform on stage you know she’s pretty much a ball of energy. So that’s something you have to think through especially if your camera isn’t the greatest in low light situations. If I had to hazard a guess with the shutter speed (1/50th of a second), the lens focal length (110mm), and just how much she moves on stage has a lot to do with it. But I think this photo really captures her stage presence.
San Japan 8 - August 1, 2015
In a lot of venues I’ve shot at, typically the lighting is kind of “We don’t give a shit if you can see the drummer.” Thankfully the music crew that helps out with San Japan aren’t like that. Even with that depending on the band or the drum setup one could potentially be out of luck. Thankfully with Descendants of Erdrick I didn’t have to worry about that. And with that I was able to get this shot of Jim Watson applying his craft.
Party Madness 64 - October 11, 2014
If you’ve never seen Urizen play before then you need to reevaluate some decisions in your life. Their music is super fantastic and the performance is goofy in all the best sorts of ways. I mean they use a toilet paper gun to try to fight off a monster. How can you not like that?
Nerdcore Dayz - March 14, 2018
Not only was I using my X-T2 during Nerdcore Dayz but I was also using a Pentax ESII so I could shoot things on Illford HP5+ film. Did get quite a number of good pics with that. But one of my favorites is this one of EyeQ. If I had to describe his performance style it would be “taking people to church.” And I think that really shows here.
Final Thoughts
I never thought we’d all be in a timeline where we can’t have shows and events. But with all of the artists I know working hard to get their name out there before all of this (myself included) we may not quite take time to revisit the past. And realize that for some pieces we can say “Oh hey, this was quite good and still holds up.” Maybe now this is a good time to do that.
