What (Life, LIVE) is about:
Imagine being a musician, sound or lighting engineer, manager or promoter on the road. You will instantly think of travelling the world, meeting amazing people, boozy nights, fun times living your passion. A lot of this is true, but working with bands I realised it wasn’t all that glamorous. Being on the road is not all that much different from any day-to-day job.
You get in, wait hours, do your thing, pack up and you’re off to a 13 hour ride in a minivan with 10 other people, heading to the next city where you do the same shit all over again. This can take from a couple of days right up to a matter of years. It’s a day-to-day job in a bubble. A bubble you can’t really escape, because you love it. You’re tired of waiting around at airports, customs, waiting to get in, to soundcheck, to finally make your way to the stage. But then comes that moment when you feel like everything really is possible, and you make the audience feel the same way. The moment when you’re reminded why you’re actually putting up with all the rest.
I found this fascinating and it made me want to show what wasn’t necessarily obvious to the public: that touring is hard work by dedicated people who have decided to follow their passion, even though most of the time it’s not going to pay their rent.
This book of photographs is an ode to all those crazy people who’ve decided to live their lives in this weirdly extraordinary bubble.
Why I need your help:
I need your support to be able to print the book.
Bands who’ve shared insights of their tour:
- Alt-J (UK)
- B.Fleischmann (AT)
- Bear’s Den (UK)
- Bid Deal (UK)
- Clock Opera (UK)
- Dirty Beaches (CA)
- Efterklang (DK)
- Fanfarlo (UK)
- Hot Panda (CA)
- Howler (USA)
- Isbells (BE)
- Jesse Hughes (USA)
- Kill it Kid (UK)
- Lanterns on The Lake (UK)
- My Brightest Diamond (USA)
- Nelson Can (DK)
- Nils Frahm (DE)
- NO (USA)
- Oscar & The Wolf (BE)
- Radical Face (USA)
- S.C.U.M (UK)
- The Slow Show (UK)
- Sòley (ISL)
- Summit (CH)
- Tommigun (BE)
- The Whip (UK)
- Yann Tiersen (FR)
- and many engineers, promoters, journalists and managers.