Sometimes ten minutes is all you get to make your mark.  That is usually the case for Concert Photographer Amy Willard.  When shooting a band at a concert, she usually gets to shoot for the first three songs.  Fortunately, she thrives on this.  She believes “there is nothing more thrilling or rewarding than capturing the true essence of a performer in under 9.7 minutes.”

She answered some questions for me and explained how she got her start, and elaborated on this philosophy.

On your site you say that you have been into photography for a long time. Was it someone that helped you get into it or did you start on your own?

I remember my mom always making sure I had a disposable camera for school trips, so I think that really got me into taking photos.  Then my older brothers had taken photography courses when they were in high school and college.  My oldest brother was the one who actually gave me his old SLR for when I took my one and only photo class in high school.  He taught me the mechanics of the camera and said “go shoot” and everything just kind of blossomed from there. Read the rest of this entry →

Marc Armstead

I have had the honor to meet Marc while I was in LA. He is a true aspiring music who can put you in a state of wonder. His voice is very tender and soft and his words completely make you think about life. Marc’s connection to the guitar is simply amazing, because his skills and chord playing are smooth and emotional. I took some time to ask him a few questions and get his view on things in his life. I love his music, and I know you will too. This is my ARTIST OF THE WEEK!

1. Where are you from? What is your age?

I am from Redlands, California. I am 25.

2. When did you begin your music career?

I began to sing at the age of 2 in church. I have been singing since I can remember, and I play the guitar. Read the rest of this entry →

Singer/songwriter and musician Jeanna Murphy often mentions how music was a part of her life since childhood even though she had little training until she reached college and changed her major to music.  She stored music she heard from Disney films away in her mind to be able to deconstruct them and use what she learned later in her work.  You can hear these early influences on her debut album Magic which she is self-publishing.  In this interview, I ask about her start in music, her current album, and how her training affects her enjoyment of music.

On your website bio you tell about how you got into music as a child, but had no training in it.  You talk about listening to Disney records, mentally recording the sounds you heard only to use them later when you changed your major to music in 2000.  My question is, what was your major before and what was the inspiration behind switching to music?

In high school I was really into drama and choir.  I got into assistant directing and all that backstage stuff for a ton of our drama productions.  So, because I had no other ideas, I became a TV Production Technology major when I entered college in the fall of ‘99.  I thought it was going to be a bunch of directing and stage blocking…it was not.  It was a whole lot of info on cables and wires and lighting…it was very technical and not at all what I was interested in.  Read the rest of this entry →

Between Failures is an up and coming webcomic about a group of retail employees.  It’s filled with references to movies, music and video games and is reminiscent of movies like Clerks and Empire Records.  It’s writer and artist J.T. is a talented artist who puts a lot of work into the webcomic.  I asked him some questions about his experience working retail, his success as a webcomic artist and the music and art that inspires him.

Between Failures is based in a retail store.  What has your experience been in the retail industry?

I worked retail for many years.  My assumption is that my experience was typical.  Whether it was or not I really can’t say.  They tell me I have a unique reaction to the world, so maybe my experience was atypical, and I’ve been operating under a false pretense this whole time.  I guess it doesn’t matter either way really.  The long and the short of it was that people were angry all the time over what amounts to nothing.  The companies I worked for were controlled by faceless people who govern in a way that seems arbitrary.  It made me sick of humanity.  Eventually I came to a point where I couldn’t tolerate it anymore, so I walked away.  It all must have tainted me in some way though, since I’ve spent so much time essentially working through how I felt about all of it; through various forms of creative expression. Read the rest of this entry →