24 April 2011 – Not too long ago I worked with the guys from Billy Talent and I decided to shoot a few extra shots for myself.

These are 2 different images of Ben and Jon together playing the fool. I like them a lot.

Nicest guys ever.

31 December 2009 – I normally find “BEST OF” lists kind of cheesy but for this entire year I have been thinking of what my favourite shows have been, not only from a work point of view but taking into account the entire experience including things like the sound, lighting, venue, crowd, set list and performance.

I am a really big lover of music, especially live music, and I have a pretty open mind as to what types of music I listen to but there are obviously preferences to what really gets my foot tapping and I feel honoured to have worked with some of my favourite bands this passed year. Some of the ones disappointed possibly because I might have built them up too much in my head, while some lived up to the expectations I had and then there were ones that completely blew my mind.

This is not a formal post and doesn’t necessarily include my best photos for the year but just a personal Top 10 live performances for this year. It was an INCREDIBLY year and it’s only a few hours away from being over so Happy New Year everyone. Thank you for the support this year. Hopefully 2010 will be even bigger and better. I’d love it if you took the time to let me know what your favourites were. Till then, have a super one. Marcus

01) Editors
Hop Farm Festival – 05 July 2009

02) Gaslight Anthem
London HMV Forum – 04 June 2009

03) Bloc Party
Brighton Centre – 24 October 2009

04) White Lies
Brixton Academy – 19 November 2009

05) Billy Talent
Brixton Academy – 01 November 2009

06) Rise Against
London Roundhouse – 06 March 2009

07) White Rabbits
Monte Water Rats – 18 November 2009

08) Kristopher Roe
Camden Underworld – 23 January 2009

09) Steel Panther
Shepherds Bush Empire – 16 September 2009

10) Juliette Lewis
The Lexington – 14 July 2009

10 November 2009 – Earlier this month I met up with Ben Kowalewicz, front man of Billy Talent before their show at Brixton Academy.

I’ve been a fan of his work since I heard my first Billy song a few years back and I had the pleasure of working with him earlier this year when they came out just before the launch of their latest album. Anyway, I was really overwhelmed last time because I was too excited but this time I was a lot more relaxed. I shoot and work with people in bands all the time but every now and then I do feel a little nervous especially when I am working with someone that I have looked up to for so long.

It was a pleasure working with him and unfortunately the inside and back area of the Academy isn’t the nicest place I have ever seen so we ended up keeping it simple and shooting inside one of the really small and narrow dressing rooms. There wasn’t much in there to work with but I moved the sofa to the one side in front of the cream wall and then used a single light to just capture the essence of Ben deep in thought which I feel is fitting seeing that he is the lyricist.

These are just 2 of the images I shot with him. Stayed for the show afterwards and it blew my mind.

Currently listening to : A Wilhelm Scream – Dreaming of Throwing Up.

01 November 2009 – Tonight was a good night. That’s the easiest way for me to describe my first experience of Billy Talent live.

I had shot a few portraits of Ben the front man earlier on the day which I will post in a few days. It was overwhelming for me because I am a big talent of their work and have been for a few years now. I work with a lot of bands almost everyday and some times I still cannot believe it when I get to work with a band that I really have a connection to. This was one of those exact experiences.

I battled to focus on shooting because I wanted to really just absorb the show and my work was done earlier that day with the portraits but I did take a few and then made my way to the side of the stage to just enjoy one of my favourite live shows. I knew it was going to be good but I didn’t think that the guys would sound so good live. I mean their presence on stage was incredible but they sounded amazing and so close to their recorded stuff.

The set included stuff through out the years but my highlights had to be Diamond on a Landmine and then the last song of the night Red Flag. Wow, I did a lot of foot tapping and singing along tonight. Like one of those fans I always stare at. Haha.

Ben finished introduced the last song of the night by saying “With the state that the world is in right now and all of us being able to be healthy, happy and all here together is just amazing and means the world to us. Thank you for giving a shit about our band. Life is too short so please make the most of it”. I love that.

These are a few of my favourites that I did manage to shoot. The light really did swap between ALL blue, ALL red or ALL yellow so I decided to shoot in Black and White which I don’t normally do but I think they work here.

I hope all of you are well. Marcus

Currently listening to : 3OH!3 – Don’t Trust Me.

09 June 2009 – The guys from Billy Talent were in London touring and I got to interview Ben (front man) and Jonathan (Bassist) on their up and coming album due next month (13 July 2009).

I was pretty nervous for this because I am quite a fan of the Talent but the guys were all super cool and I immediately felt comfortable with them and it really made my job easy and it’s always a good feeling for me when people I look up to are just cool normal guys. I had very little gear with me because I was shooting a live show that night and it all gets really heavy which sucked because I couldn’t do anything too creative considering the dark and dingy backstage area of the Camden Underworld so I just took these quick portraits of the guys but I think they are still quite rad because of the personalities in them. So technically they aren’t anything to brag about but I like them.