I want to put together a photography "tour" from MN to Los Angeles and back. My goal is to shoot shows, bands, and any other interested persons in many new locations en route to a brief stay in LA before returning home and shooting some more while on the way back.
I wouldn't mind discovering some sweet new music while on the road, and I think great out-of-town bands trading shows with awesome Minneapolis bands that I know would be a pretty nice thing to see more of. Plus you'd obviously be getting some great photos from one of the best concert photographers in the Twin Cities.
So if you live anywhere west of the Mississippi River or know any bands or persons who may be interested in hiring me for around the cost of gas, food, and a place for me to crash in your town, I'm down for it if it all links up into a tour!
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And now, story time for those of you who like to read:
I spent much of my Sunday during Memorial Day weekend at a grad party for Pony from The Melismatics. She had just finished up school for massage therapy, and there were plenty of her family and friends over at the relatively chill but enjoyable party.
In the evening, Charles and Christy from Ouija Radio arrived, and eventually Christy and I struck up a conversation about her time spent with The Von Bondies on their recent European tour. She joined the band a little over a year ago as a full-time member and they had just recently released their new album, so The Von Bondies have been out pushing hard with touring and such.
There were many highs and lows for The Von Bondies on the month-long European tour, one that left the band exhausted from a constant schedule of appearances and shows with little to no sleep. But one of the things that really struck me was how Christy approached her occasional free time after shows and during visits to cities in Europe.
Christy made a point of it to have the locals guide her to some of the best local shows around town, and then soaked in all of the atmosphere of the scene that she could. Basically, she discovered some great bands that may have otherwise never crossed paths with her or The Von Bondies.
It may not seem like that complicated of an idea, but making a point of it to get out and see bands is what got me to where I am today. In 3 1/2+ years of capturing the Minneapolis/St. Paul music scene, I have shot hundreds of bands and developed a portfolio the likes of which makes me probably one of the best concert photographers around town. And I've discovered a plethora of great Twin Cities bands and other people I'm proud to call friends of mine.
But that's just here in the Twin Cities. Though I constantly tout our local music scene and its wide array of awesome bands, Christy made me realize that there's probably hundreds of great local bands scattered throughout dozens of music scenes waiting to be discovered by people outside of their town.
I have seen my fair share of smaller out-of-town acts, but that's usually because they're playing here in the Twin Cities. What about the bands who are still floating under the radar and haven't gone more than 100 (or even 10) miles beyond their city limits yet? I'm almost wondering if those are actually the really good rock and roll acts too, because — for example — even though probably a majority of the bands I've seen from Chicago were pretty lame, all of them were touring acts. So there's clearly potential to find untapped, unknown bands in new places.
You might ask, "Why not just read some stuff online and learn about music that way?" Because that's not how I approach discovering new music. I'm a see-it-to-believe-it kind of guy, and more often than not I like to be completely oblivious to a band's sound and style before I see them for the first time so I can get a "pure" first exposure. If you have a bad night, tough luck, but you should know that the best bands can still make their off nights look and sound pretty damn good.
This is the photographer in me speaking, but I want overt emotion, excitement, and awesomeness in any band I see. Subtlety and a reserved attitude is fine in small doses, but if you're putting me to sleep by your third song you're probably not the right band for me to begin with. That's not to say that bands like that are bad, but if you know my top 16 favorite Twin Cities acts (in alphabetical order)...
Ari Herstand
Catchpenny
Charlz Newman
Lynhurst
MC/VL
ReadyGoes
Roster McCabe
Sick of Sarah
So It Goes
The Alarmists
The Debut
The Invincible Kids
The Melismatics
The Wannabe Hasbeens
This World Fair
White Light Riot
...you'll realize that they all know how to completely rock your face off when necessary. Awesome bands make for awesome photography, and when the music and lighting is good, I'll shoot at a break-neck pace all night.
Anyways, what I'm getting at here is, I want to see and shoot some new music. New faces in new places. I want a taste of the local music scenes elsewhere so that I can bring that knowledge back to Minneapolis and spread it around. I want to find bands that might be perfect to have trade shows with a band like The Debut or ReadyGoes, for example. And I want to capture some kickass photography in great out-of-town local venues that I've never even heard of.
Money's not my motivation with this, cause all I'd need to get from doing this is traveling money and a place to crash at to cover my costs. Rather, I want to create mutual benefits in that I'll gain exposure in your town and vice versa. After all, if great bands can tour, then why not a great photographer?
My route would ideally follow a logical path from MN to LA and back. Whether it involves hitting up the Pacific northwest, heading down into the southern states, or just cutting straight through the Plains and the Rockies, I'm fine with taking any reasonable path in or out. Heck, if I really want to make my dad jealous, the route to LA could involve a significant amount of time on good ol' Route 66 if that'd work out for it.
I have no time frame on this yet, as I'm still waiting to hear any offers obviously. But spread the word around: Mike Minehart wants to go on a photography tour. I've even made a poster for you to show to people. How convenient!
If that isn't one of the cheesiest things I've ever created, then I don't know what is. Then again, strange things do tend to happen at... 5 AM?! Wow, I guess I really lost track of time while working on that...
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