Behind The Scenes at Split Chain’s First Headline Show /  by William Green

Jasmine from Epitaph Records asked if I’d be down to shoot Split Chain’s first U.S. headline show at TV Eye.

I said yes, but only if I could spend the whole day with them. I get a little nervous before things like this; I tend to go all in with people right away, and sometimes that energy can be a lot. But they were totally on the same page. I wanted to cram everyone into the photo booth, but it was sadly out of order.

Earlier in the day, we’d joked about stage dives and how some people just don’t get stage etiquette.

Sure enough, once the band got on, two kids started aimlessly wandering the stage like they thought they were part of the show. Eventually one guy got the memo, I pointed to one of them and said, “See that dude? He’s your responsibility. Keep him off stage.” He just smiled and went, “Got it.”

 

Behind The Scenes w/ Midwife /  by William Green

I spent the night with Midwife at Elsewhere, documenting their set as they opened for Blood Incantation. Midwife, the project of multi instrumentalist Madeline Johnston, is known for creating what she calls heaven metal, a blend of slow burning shoegaze, ambient drone, and intimate vocals that feel devotional.

For this post I’m showcasing a portrait of Midwife printed on found end sheets from a discarded book I picked up off the street, the texture and age of the paper matching the worn, cinematic world their music lives in. I’ve also included video footage from the performance, where Midwife played in front of a projection screen glowing with 16mm film textures that flickered across the room and wrapped their sound in moving light.

JPEGmafia “Lay down my life tour” NYC /  by William Green

I woke up to a text at 4am from Kat letting me know that the venue was not going to let us do video as we originally planned, So I got out of bed and started to unpack all the VHS cameras and rebuild my gig bag to be more photo focused. I did keep my PXL2000 and Ruvi in my bag incase there was a moment we could do some video which is what the tour bus clip below is from.

Behind The Scenes w/ Swedish House Mafia /  by William Green

My buddy Dimitri hit me up a few days ago and asked if I wanted to come shoot the Swedish House Mafia show with some of my weird old cameras. I’ve got a bad habit of overplanning and flaking, so I said yes immediately and asked when it was, turns out, it was that night at Brooklyn Mirage. I tossed a few of my old Panasonics and a Fisher-Price PXL2000 into a bag (yes, the toy video camera), then headed out to meet him. We grabbed burgers at a spot near his place, then swung by the groups hotel down by the bottom of Central Park. From there, we all commuted to the venue in Brooklyn together.

Sidequest to Maklemore's House /  by William Green

Redbull flew me out to Seattle to shoot a small annual music fest they put on.

After landing, I posted that I’d be around if anyone wanted to link up. A guy I’d chatted with a few times hit me up and offered me a ride from the airport, I said yes. After he picked me up, we grabbed some pizza, and he casually mentioned that he’s in a sobriety group with Macklemore.

Then he asked if I’d be down to take some portraits of him. I said sure, as long as he was open to it. An hour later, we were at his place, and I had my camera out, making portraits.

Lil Mosey Vs Seattle /  by William Green

Twenty hours ago Red Bull flew me out to Seattle to shoot Lil Mosey headlining their breakout underground event they throw each year. The energy was amazing. The lineup was Lil Mosey, Young Nudy, Ghoulavelii and a bunch of DJ’s. The crowd matched that energy tenfold. Bras on stage, bottles flying, kids climbing speakers, kids chasing Moseys car as they pulled out to leaved the venue.

Here’s some photos I took from the nite, Im at the airport about to board the plane to head back to New York.

Behind The Scenes "spin the block” by 22gz ft. Kodak Black /  by William Green

My buddy over at Atlantic Records hit me up to shoot some behind-the-scenes stuff for a music video. I asked who it was for, and when he said Kodak Black and 22Gz, I immediately asked for the address. Turns out, it was at a laundromat just down the street from me.

The moment I showed up, it was already a whole scene, neighborhood kids spotted the security crew wearing Kodak’s brand, and word spread quick. At one point, the director turned to the crowd and said, “Y’all can be in the background, but if it gets too rowdy, the cops will shut us down.” Some 16-year-old fired back, “If they shut down the video, we’ll shut down the block,” then casually lifted his shirt to flash a glock in his waistband.

Later, I was talking to Kodak about a mutual we both know from Florida, the guy who did his face tats when he was just a kid. Kodak smiled, said “That’s my boy,” and pulled me into a hug. I think we were all a little surprised by that one, even his security gave a glance.