Radio Free Silver Lake

This Ain't a Scene Show: Meet the Photographers

Compiled by Jackie Lam

 

Hey kids! So as you've been hearing from us all week, this Saturday, May 12th is This Ain't a Scene, a special photo exhibit and show at 1650 Gallery in Echo Park on the music community of East L.A. It features a curated, inspiring collection of images from both veteran and new music photographers, short live acoustic sets by  Rob Danson from Death to Anders, Kelli Noftle from Miniature Soap (and formerly Walking Sleep), Andrew Spitser from Radars to the Sky, Ryan Fuller of Fort King, and The Smugg Brothers.

The show goes from 8 pm - midnight, with music beginning at 9 pm.

To get to know the artists whose work will be included in the show a little better, we present to you mini photographer profiles. Hope you to see you Saturday!

 

____________________________________________________________________

 Miriam Brummel

website: Even Keel Imagery
 

How did you get started doing music photography?
I love seeing live music and I love taking photographs. Doing music photography was the natural course of action. I started taking photos of my friends and family who make music, and now I'm out several times a week shooting shows. It's exactly how I want to contribute to and be involved with the East LA music community.

What do you think makes East LA a special place for music?
Everyone gets so excited for festivals like SXSW to come around, but the Los Angeles music scene is essentially one non-stop music festival. We have such a mass and variety of musicians and venues in LA, consequently there is always something of interest and fun happening. East LA is particularly special because of the strong DIY presence.

Show Spotlight: 'This Ain't a Scene': Photography Exhibition and Live Sets from Rob Danson, Kelly Noftle, Andrew Spitser, Ryan Fuller of Fort King and The Smugg Brothers

By Kathryn Pinto

Radio Free Silver Lake is proud to present "This Ain't a Scene," a photography exhibition that opens with live music from some of RFSL's favorite musical acts  Saturday May 12 at 1650 Gallery in Echo Park. The exhibition is a tribute to the vibrant music scene on the east side of Los Angeles, and to the photographers who capture and document these gigs, many these artist have contributed to Radio Free Silver Lake. Preview the exhibition at the 1650 Gallery site. Participating photographers include:
Sterling Andrews, Miriam Brummel, Levent  Buyukgural, Zoe-Ruth Erwin, Michele Evans, Gabriela Gonzalez, Michael  Gomez Burton, Olivia Hemaratanatorn, Ben Hoste, Angela Holtzen, Jeff  Koga, Rollence Patugan, Carl Pocket, Timothy Norris, Laurie Scavo, & George Tapia

LIVE ACOUSTIC SETS BY:
Rob Danson from Death to Anders
Kelli Noftle from Miniature Soap (and formerly Walking Sleep)
Andrew Spitser from Radars to the Sky
Ryan Fuller of Fort King
and The Smugg Brothers

Join us for the opening night reception SATURDAY, MAY 12, 2012 from 8:00pm - 12:00am at 1650 Gallery, Echo Park, 1650 Echo Park Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90026.

Photography Show Friday by Jeff Koga, Laurie Scavo and Sterling Andrews

By Kathryn Pinto
Tomorrow night beginning at 8:00 PM Ballard's Framing in Echo Park presents a three person photography show spotlighting the work of Jeff Koga, Laurie Scavo and Sterling Andrews. If you know an image of a Silver Lake band, there's a very good chance the photograph was taken by one of these artists. You probably know these photos from web sites or music blogs, but this exhibition is a really great chance to see these phototgraphs presented as a body of work in a gallery setting.

The exhibition is RFSL contributor Laurie Scavo's first in Los Angeles and Koga's first show in more than a year. The show will feature new photos of Warpaint, The Henry Clay People, the Airborne Toxic Event, Silversun Pickups and more. The opening reception is a free event with in-store performances by the Parson Red Heads (in their last Los Angeles performance before decamping for Portland), Ferraby Lionheart and Special Guests.

This gallery exhibition opens Friday, September 24 and runs through October 16. The opening reception will take place Friday September 24 from 8:00pm to midnight. Ballard's Artwork Framing & Gallery is located in beautiful Echo Park next to the Gold Room at 1568 W. Sunset Blvd., Echo Park, CA 90026. For more information call (818) 468.5315 or visit www.ballardsartworkframing.com/.

Profile: Benjamin Hoste, This Ain't a Scene

by Kathryn Pinto
(Photos by Benjamin Hoste)

Ben Hoste is the kind of guy who will stop you mid-flip through a vinyl bin and say, “Wait. Stop. You really need to buy this record. Do you know these guys?” and then launch into a genealogy of all current and previous members going back four band generations. Hoste needs you to know this band, and he doesn’t reserve his enthusiasm just for the ladies. (Although when I observed him at the opening of SNAP, his photography show at Origami Vinyl, last Sunday the particular girl browsing the record bin was very easy on the eyes.)

Recently Hoste launched one of the freshest additions to the LA music blog lineup, This Ain’t a Scene. “Interviewing singers from some of the best bands in the Silver lake music scene,” Volume One is composed of twelve issues, each devoted to a band member interviewed and photographed by Hoste in the singer’s home, most recently Corinne Dinner of the Hectors.

Photographer Profile: Laurie Scavo

by Joe Fielder

Denver transplant Laurie Scavo recently joined the ranks of excellent music photographers covering the Los Angeles scene like Jeff Koga, Sterling Andrews, Zoe-Ruth Erwin, Simon Cardoza, and Benjamin Hoste. So we wanted to ask her a few questions about starting up and coming to LA, as well as show off a few of our favorite pics from her, y'know, oeuvre.

Welcome to LA! What brought you here? How are you liking it?

Thanks for the welcome! Since college, moving to LA has always been an elusive goal of mine. I think that I wasn't supposed to end up here until I had a direction and grew-up a little. Now that I am out of my soul-searching 20s, and photography has become a driving force in everything I do, I can honestly say that this city was worth the wait. I LOVE LA so much. Everything is better than I imagined. Is that really possible?!

Photographer Profile: Zoe-Ruth Erwin

by Joe Fielder

Local music photographer Zoe-Ruth Erwin recently sent us a series of photo diaries as she toured with Death to Anders down to SXSW, so we checked in with her with a few questions about how she got started and why she does what she does (so well).

 

How did you start taking photos? And doing music photography?

 

The way the whole obsession of photography started for me was extremely unconventional and, in fact, had very little to do with an inherent interest in photography. About two years ago, I had a dream about a woman named Laurie, who had been like a second mother to me between the ages of ten and fifteen. I hadn't spoken with her in several years and, as a result of the dream, felt compelled to call her and see how she was doing. However, when I finally got her on the phone, she informed me that she had terminal cancer which she had been battling for five years or so, and that she only had a couple of months to live.

 

After hanging up the phone, I sobbed uncontrollably for hours. My makeup was smeared all over my face and clothes. My eyes were ten-feet thick. It looked as though someone had beaten the living shit out of me. After three or four hours, this strange calm came over me. And, for no reason at all, I had this strange urge to pick up a camera and photograph my face just as it was. I wanted to know and remember exactly what primal emotional pain really looked like.