Dive: notes from the music underground

The Gag Reel -- Nekromantix, Koffin Kats, Chop Tops after party

"The Gag Reel" is going to be a new category of outtakes and behind the scenes shots, and will go up...whenever I feel like it. And have material.

And oh LORD do I have material from Sunday night. And some of it I can even show in public. ;-)

We went to the Kats' hotel after the last stop on the Nekromantix/Koffin Kats/Chop Tops tour. Several locals in attendance, including Johnny from Stitch Hopeless and the Sea Legs, and their manager, who graciously hosted all of us drunken buffoons; Nick and Juan from the Limit Club; and Paul Roman from The Quakes. Sinner from the Chop Tops popped in for a bit, and of course, the Koffin Kats and their road guys Joey and Michael (E-Ball Walls little bro.)

Let me explain what I didn't know before this. We had a band in Tucson named the Demon City Wreckers, whose singer, Jason Blood, passed away about a year ago. Apparently one of the ways the boys pay tribute to him (and there are many) is to drop their pants? I don't know why, as I never met the man -- DCW were on my list of bands to see...but I never made it in time. But suffice it to say there's a hella lot of love for the guy around these parts. And that it is often expressed in very strange ways still a mystery to me.

So, here are a few of my favorites of the night:

Oops...just realized Tommy was sort of exposing himself in the deleted photo. My bad.

A few observations:

This was just wrong. You have a beautiful girl on the bed, posing provocatively, and the boys are...horsing around, oblivious. Guys...what's up with that?

Vic was really impressed with the strength of the guy lifting him. None of the rest of us were.

Every time I get out my camera, someone in the Koffin Kats starts taking clothes off.

And I think we know the REAL reason Vic likes to head butt things and make himself bleed -- chicks dig it. And he digs that they dig it, from the look on his face.

All photos copyright 2007 DianaPrice.com. All rights reserved. No use without permission. (All images can be clicked to open pop up of  full size image)

Making of the SxHxSxLx album cover

I'm doing my first cut edit of the Stitch Hopeless and the Sea Legs shoot last weekend, and of course I'm looking for the technical stuff and trying to find the best shot. But I also find myself waxing a bit poetic about the medium of photography in general, and having one of those moments when I realize how much I love it. I mean really, really love it.

I love the feeling of capturing a moment, or a place or a person in a way that really shows something about them -- in that little fraction of a second in time -- and freezing that moment for eternity. And once I capture a little piece of that person, I sorta can't help but fall in love in a way. Annie Leibovitz noted this same phenomenon when she said, "A thing that you see in my pictures is that I was not afraid to fall in love with these people."

Yeah...I totally get that. I know exactly what she means.

And, you know, the thing with these guys, is they're not just a band, but a traveling party of close knit people. Every time they play, they bring a whole crowd with them. And the thing I have discovered in the last week or two, is that that crowd is not "fans" but friends.

For the record, let it be known when you mix copious amounts of alcohol and rowdy Irish boys, beer will be spilled and glassware broken. Thanks to the Pub and Grub for allowing me to shoot from behind the bar and Hollywood Alley for putting up with our jackassery, and being the coolest fucking bar on the planet.

So anyway, enough soppy, sentimental bullshit. Here are a few outtakes