About six weeks ago I had the privilege to photograph one of my favorite bands, Sloan, when they came to Portland. But as usual, we didn’t have much time. In fact, we couldn’t get all four of them in one place at the same time. So I came up with a plan to photograph them each individually and combine the images into one portrait. I borrowed each of the band members for a couple of minutes during their sound check, and shot the portraits right next to the stage.

I think the concept suits the band really well, as all four of them are distinct individuals within the band, but contribute pretty much equally to every album. I had intended to give each of the band members one quadrant of the space (in a 2×2 pattern) but when I started to put them together it didn’t look right. Kind of dumb, to be honest. So I tried layering them in thin horizontal strips and … it clicked!

Most, if not all, well-known musicians cannot be reached directly. Between label reps, publicist, managers, and tour managers, even independent artists have at least one—and usually two or three—layer of insulation from their fans and the media. That generally makes their life easier, as someone can filter the things that don't need the artist's personal attention and deal with the →

Japandroids was in Portland at the end of November at the tail end of their 2009 North American tour, the one that replaced the tour they had to cancel on Day 2 when Brian woke up with a perforated ulcer. That set the band back four or five months, but they're back on track now, rocking as hard as ever. And →

Po' Girl are one of those bands that is constantly touring. They're officially based in Vancouver, but I'm not sure they even have a real residence there. Their travels bring them down the West Coast on a semi-regular basis, and I had the chance to make some portraits of the two central members, Allison Russell (above, at left) and Awna Teixeira, →

Vancouver's Dan Mangan has the reputation of being the nicest guy on the Canadian music scene these days. I only met him once, last year in Portland, but he certainly lived up to that rep. And he's talented too: among other accolades, Dan recently won the $25,000 XM Satellite Radio Verge Music award for Artist of the Year. We made this →

I'm really pleased with the results of my photo shoot with (two-thirds of) No Kids after their show in Portland in October. We only got Nick and Julia because Justin is spending some time in Germany this fall. I was fortunate to find a school bus parked next door to the venue, and it seemed strangely appropriate for a band called →

I photographed and interviewed Amy Millan tonight for an upcoming feature on Northwest CanCon. The interview was great, but as usual the photo session was ultra brief (1:37 from her first frame to her last, and I don't think she had another 30 seconds to spare). I'm headed back to the venue in a few minutes to shoot some live →

Back in 2007 Jeremy Fisher's homemade video for "Cigarette" went viral on YouTube, and now it has been viewed more than 2 million times. Jeremy's music is upbeat and infectious, and he's a cool guy. On some of his earliest tours, he crossed North America by bicycle. Crazy! I had the chance to interview and photograph him last year before →

Photos of Hayden performing at the Aladdin Theatre in Portland in June 2008. Click the thumbnails to view the images.

Back in March I had the opportunity to interview and photograph Vancouver rockers Mother Mother when they were in town opening for Sam Roberts. It was great to talk to lead singer Ryan Guldemond before the show, and then after photographing their set I managed to pull all five band members together for a lightning-fast three-minute portrait session. Click on the →