Last week I had the exciting opportunity to meet up with the guys in the pop/rock outfit, Diamond to snap a few promo shots. The thing that makes this band so unique is the distance that spans between each of the four musicians on a regular basis. Sam and Brendan make up two fifths of the hardcore band, Trapped Under Ice who is constantly on the road playing city after city full of some seriously aggressive and supportive fans. Justin is based in Chicago, not on the road quite as often, but invests much of his time in a separate musical venture called Rites, and runs a full time design business. And when he isn’t writing for Diamond, David plays bass guitar in a little band called Terror. The legacy that Terror has established in the hardcore music scene goes deep and shows no signs of slowing… which means David too has his hands full.

Knowing all that, it should come as no surprise that these four dudes aren’t often in the same place at the same time. So when the TUI/Terror tour came through Chicago, we all saw a golden opportunity to get a camera lens in front of them.

The energy shared between the four is so apparent and outpouring, it made this photo shoot a breeze. There was no need for a theme for the shoot, or dependence on a studio lighting set up; the genuine positive attitude towards writing and performing music, collaboration among friends, and the general excitement to create that each member of the band embodies is the story that these photos are trying to tell.

Diamond has released five remarkably catchy songs, available for download at no cost here, http://photoboothrecords.bandcamp.com

I’ve had the pleasure of hearing some new material, and you can take my word for it that these songs get better and better with every new one they write. The energy they put into their music is reflected in direct proportion to the energy in the photos I took of them last week. The above shots are a small sample, and I’ll be posting the whole collection very, very soon!

I always put off uploading content to my computer for so long after an event. Went to see the Deftones, one of my all time favorite bands perform at the Riviera Theater in Chicago a couple weekends ago. Thought it might be fun to share a little bit of that here.

Above is their set opener, Diamond Eyes. Below that is the suspenseful lead up to the final few measures of a fan favorite, My Own Summer (Shove It).

It was the first time I had been to a show at the Riviera Theater, and I gotta say it wasn’t awesome. We were running a little late getting there, so I found out the hard way that this place is all stadium seating—at a rock show?—which means everyone had to ‘find a seat.’ This made it really hard to get a good view… normally we would squeeze our way to the best view of the house if it were all standing space.

Anyway, the sound was great and the band killed it—as always!

I shot Rites two months ago with two cameras around my neck. At one point I was shooting Ilford 3200-speed black and white film, the kind that is a bit more difficult to have developed. After sitting on the errand for a couple weeks longer than I should have, I finally dropped off my film at the Gamma Imaging Company on Lake and Desplaines (CHI) and 5 days later… gold!

The thing about 3200-speed film is it’s like grain city up in here. The film is more sensitive to light so you can shoot a little faster than normal and still get a decently-exposed shot. With these photos I still shot a little slower than I should have for 3200, so everything is a hair over exposed. But I’m still in love with the entire roll. A few selects are featured above, and I’ll soon have these and others clumped into the Rites photo shoot, featured currently in all vibrant color on my website.

As always, check these guys out – Rites is the band right now!

This is my first annual list of the top ten albums of the year that I just could not shake from my iPod. These bands either wrote the catchiest songs, composed the best album of their career, or went out with a bang this year (Daughters and Envy on the Coast, you will be missed). This list is restricted to only the albums released in 2010, and although Bring Me the Horizon should receive a special award for ‘Most Improved Band,’ I had Deftones’ masterpiece, Diamond Eyes on repeat for days at a time! These albums are each fantastic, so if you haven’t heard them yet, give them a chance in 2011.

1. Deftones Diamond Eyes
2. Circa Survive Blue Sky Noise
3. Four Year Strong Enemy of the World
4. Dillinger Escape Plan Option Paralysis
5. Circa Survive The Appendage
6. Periphery Self Titled
7. Envy on the Coast Lowcountry
8. Daughters Self Titled
9. Diamond Self Titled
10. Bring Me the Horizon There is a Hell…

Honorable Mentions:
1. A Day to Remember What Separates Me from You
2. The Devil Wears Prada Zombie EP
3. Wild Orchid Children …Are Alexander Supertramp
4. The Chariot Long Live
5. Linkin Park A Thousand Suns

With members from Anthrax, Fall Out Boy, and Every Time I Die, The Damned Things is one hell of a rock n’ roll power house! This afternoon they revealed the hilarious new music video to accompany their first single, We’ve Got A Situation Here. Super snappy tune—get into it!

Debut album, Ironiclast comes out December 14!

After four albums, and what seemed like a new lineup with each, Taking Back Sunday has taken back (ha!) their original lineup from the glory days of Tell All Your Friends. This sort of thing never happens, but I’m floored about it! The new track, Best Places to be a Mom (working title, but hopefully it sticks) should serve as a clue that the upcoming release is going to be everything the older fans had hoped for!

Good on ‘em.

Deftones premiere their brand new music video for You’ve Seen the Butcher today, and have absolutely killed it! With the release of Diamond Eyes earlier this summer, and all the deftly-produced videos following, the Deftones have made it very difficult to ignore them. I’ve held a very special place for this band for quite some time, and I’m thrilled to see they are holding strong in the absence of Chi.

If you haven’t seen the other videos from Diamond Eyes, check them all out here.

I was reading this article on Creative Review about new and refreshing record sleeves when I came across a striking new piece for the band COS/MES from long time favorite, Mario Hugo. Check out his new work, theres about six new bricks of gold up there!

Travelling through Europe on tour, Circa Survive sat down in the woods with SoundCloud to perform a few acoustic songs and answer questions sent in by fans. Charming and Fall-y, these videos have put me in a good mood this afternoon! Make sure to check out the entire session here.

One thing’s for sure, this session with Circa Survive is so refreshing after Kanye’s confusing Cremaster Cycle rip off.

First of all, thrilled about the upcoming The Chariot album release, Long Live. Secondly, today the band premiere the first single off the album titled David De La Hoz, via an excellently inventive live, one-take video. Super creative, just as these dudes consistently are!

Check out The Chariot’s myspace page if you haven’t heard them.