Originally comprised of the three Hackney brothers - Bobby, Dannis and David, the band Death has to be the greatest musical re-discovery in recent history. Punk without even knowing it both sonically and symbolically, Death was doomed to obscurity when refusing Clive Davis' (of Columbia Records) request that they change their name. They pressed 500 copies of a 7 song EP on their own Tryangle records then disbanded the band by moving away from Detroit.
Brother David passed of cancer in 2000, but before his passing he urged his brothers to hold on to the master tapes, as one day "the world would coming looking for them."
David's prediction came true and more than thirty years later, thanks to the help of Drag City records, Death has been resurrected in the form of re-issue of the original 7 song EP, …For The Whole World To See. Death has since enjoyed a new found and quite unexpected bit of fame, the New York Times called them "the band that was punk before punk was punk," and Mos Def has a documentary about them in the works.
Uber hip music festival Fun Fun Fun in Austin hosted one of their select few reunion shows, I was lucky enough to hang with the guys before they hit the stage and shoot their set. Links to music and articles after the (hand developed)photos.
NYT Article.
Guardian UK.
Mos Def doco.
PEACE to you all!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Death Is The Most Important Band You Have Never Heard Of
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Back
Here is an outtake from my time in Austin shooting for the Living Canvas series. Troy's backpiece, which was done by the venerable Chris Trevino, is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Getting Back to Work
So, I have been focusing all my energy the last few weeks on my photo exhibition - printing, editing, mounting, promoting and the like. But now it is time to get back to what really matters, creating images!
I am starting to schedule more shoots for the "Living Canvas" series, which features the floating tattooed limbs. The other night though, just as I was somewhere in between waking life and sleep I was hit with a vision. I had to get up immediately and jot down what I saw, and all I can say about it now is "Adam and Eve." Not sure how it will be pulled off, but I am going to continue visualizing the image(s) and working on possible ways to make it a reality. The shot below is from a rough mockup I made yesterday for a necklace style piece that I saw in the vision.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Upper Haight Monthly Salon
So, this month is going to be the first Upper Haight Monthly Salon - which is a neighborhood artwalk with over 20 shops participating on Haight from Central to Stanyan. My work will be at C to the P and is featured on the artwalk. Flyers below...
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
Comp
Did a shoot yesterday at a rad shop over in the Mission, Tribus Vivas Dermafilia. The shop had a cool loft with a good view of 18th above the retail space. Special thanks to Wilson, Betto, Kyana and Lukas for being so awesome.
Please note that these are VERY rough and I just literally threw a few images onto one canvas for reference.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Lace Up
OK, a few things:
1. I have refreshed my personal website with new imagery, social media icons, and updated some of the copy. ryanchahanovich.com
2. Thanks to the venerable Hannah for lending her arm. The background image of the site, seen below, is another sneak peek into my floaters project which I have shoots scheduled today and tomorrow for.
5. I will also be making sched's for the Films, Music, and other Panels I will be attending, post those soon. For now, here is a link to free food at SXSW! 
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Coming Up
SXSW will be here with the quickness! I just got my shot list from the powers that be for Screenburn at Interactive. You can view my shot list sched here: http://sxsw2009.sched.org/rc_interactive_foto
I will also be putting together another sched of the Film and Music I will be catching, post that here in the next few days. One showcase I will NOT be missing is being put on by MeowPoww, Gin is arguably the hardest working girl in the industry:) Not to mention, Ume will be there and it is TOTALLY free.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Top tier
Seems a little early for an album of the year list I know, but the elite Rough Trade records must be looking to scoop everyone else by releaseing their top 50 list first. Two Austin bands made the top 15 - guess who?
Surprise, surprise - White Denim and the Black Angels! White Denim came in at number 4 (!) and the Angels placed at number 12. Scope the whole list here.
PEACE to you all!
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Straight out of Iran
The band Hypernova, now based out of NYC actually hails from Iran. Here is a great quote from a recent Wired interview:
"We came to the U.S. to show the world know that rock 'n' roll has no boundaries. The kids back home in Iran enjoy the same things that American kids enjoy. We are all one and in this cosmic mess together. We hope that our music can help bridge the cultural divide that exists between our respective nations. Music really does transcend all barriers." Well said.
Wired Story.
Hypernova Myspace.
PEACE to you all!
Monday, October 20, 2008
MF'in White Denim!
There are so few bands that give me goosebumps anymore, White Denim are one of those bands. They have finally released their first full length, Exposion, which you can buy DIRECTLY from the band at whitedenimmusic.com. This just may be my album of the year.
Here is the video for the tune Shake, Shake, Shake along with a few image comps of the band, shot at SXSW and Fun Fun Fun.
WHITE DENIM - Shake Shake Shake from ACIDBIRD on Vimeo.
PEACE to you all!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
New site!
OK, I have been nitpicking over this thing for way to long and have finally posted my new site:
ryanchahanovich.com
The new site is not a photo portfolio, but more of a feature of my creative professional services. Please give the site a look and let me know what you think. If for any reason it returns you to this blog it is because I just updated the DNS last night, and that can take up to 48 hours take effect, so just try again later. Thanks!
PEACE to you all!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Prepare to be amazed!
So I spend a lot of time at the Rayko photo center developing and printing my work. Yesterday, as I was washing a few prints and preparing to head home I noticed one of the most amazing images I had ever seen. I was in total disbelief that an image so beatiful was even possible, I mean WOW! Turns out the creator is a woman named Susan Sims-Hillbrand, I spoke with her a bit (after asking a few people if the print belonged to them!) and continued oogling over the piece.
Really, my head is swirling. I have been literally dreaming about similar images and filling the pages of my notebook with mockups of long exposure portraits full of depth and creative imagery. Seeing just one of her images filled me with such a spark of creative hope and confidence at the shear possibilities of light and film that I can hardly contain myself.
I am not going to post any of her images, rather I will send you to her website (which I spent hours on last night) so that you can enjoy the work for yourself.
The work of Susan Sims-Hillbrand
BTW, the piece that (almost literally) blew my mind is the last image in the Penlight 2006-2008 set. Enjoy!
PEACE to you all!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
KTU
The name is certainly a fitting title for these guys, as they generate a sound that is mountainous and awe inspiring. KTU is made up of heavyweight musicians Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson, XTC), Trey Gunn (King Crimson, John Paul Jones), and the Finnish virtuoso accordionist extraordinaire Kimmo Pohjonen.
Check out this vid of KTU tearing it up with their tune Absinth live in Sines, Portugal. You may notice a fourth member in the video, that is Sammuli. He is unfortunately no longer with the band, but is playing full time with the band Müm.
At about four minutes Trey kicks into a pretty incredible solo on his Warr guitar (touch sensitive guitar/bass), but if you notice the bass line is still going. Pat, while on drums has a loop of Trey's bass line loaded into a sampler which he fires off on the downbeat. Man, it blows my mind how good these guys are!
Unfortunately KTU have only done about 6 shows in the states, and I am not sure if they have plans for more in the future. They are working on an album now, and hopefully an international tour to follow. In the meantime, go pickup their live album from Amazon and prepare to be blown away...
PEACE to you all!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Welcome back, Zach!
I have been waiting for this day for a long time, and finally it has come. Mr Zach de le Rocha is back in full force, and with good company. One Day As A Lion is the the result of the collaboration between two of my favorite musicians in the world, Zach (Rage Against the Machine, DUH!) and Jon Theodore (The Mars Volta). Zach lays it down on vocals and keyboard while Jon kills it on the kit. The drum grooves seem deceptively simple at first, kick snare hat style, but as the song (Wild International) progresses Jon flashes his brilliance with some killer fills that are lightning fast and ferociously tight, so good!
Just hearing Zach's voice again takes me back to my formative early teen years stuck in suburban hell. His ferocity, flow, and poetic brilliance opened my eyes to the struggles of the world's peoples and helped break me out my protected little world-view.
Aside from being one of my dream duo's, they also got their name from an iconic black and white photo - how cool is that? This from their website:
“The name taken from the infamous 1970 black and white, captured by legendary Chicano photographer George Rodriguez featuring a center framed tag on a white wall in an unspecified section of Boyle Heights. It reads: ‘It’s better to live one day as a lion, than a thousand years as a lamb.’ This record is a stripped down attempt to realize this sentiment in sound.”
Well said. Now - go to their myspace page and listen to Wild International!
PEACE to you all.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Nels Cline at Stubbs
If you are in Austin tomorrow night - then you have a rare opportunity to witness a true guitar legend of our time WAIL up close and personal at Stubbs inside!
Shame on you if you don't go - especially when the cover is only $13. In case you haven't heard, aside from myriad other amazing projects - Nels is currently the guitarist in a little band called Wilco.
Sunday 7/13, Stubbs Inside, 8:00PM, $13
PEACE to you all!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
No One Plans Eleven
Ok, the Redneck Manifesto have been rocking my world for years. I was fortunate enough to see them twice the last time they were in the states, once at the Ritz (pre-Alamo) and again at Emo's inside. Good stuff, enjoy this video friends...
PEACE!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Co-Operative Recordings
Well, over the last month I have been working with four of my favorite people on a very special project, Co-Operative Recordings. We have some revolutionary thoughts on the future of the music business and what role small independent labels play in supporting artists.
Our business model is predicated upon Kevin Kelly's article entitled 1,000 true fans, which I thoroughly recommend any creative individual read. We will be printing limited hand numbered vinyl's for each of our artist's releases in addition to digital downloads.
We have a lot of great ideas in the works, and since we believe the future of any good business is transparency, we are already blogging about the process of starting a label - and we are well over 6-8 months away from being launched!
Keep in mind the blog is in an infantile state, but there is some content already up. Check out the CO-OP / REC blog.
PEACE!
