This is a music video I helped shoot and edit. Directed by Sam Miller of Onlych1ld.

YACHT rocks.

or rather, Electro-rocks. Band members Jona Bechtolt, Claire Evans, Rob “Bobby Birdman” Kieswetter, Jeffrey Brodsky and Katy Davidson turn the stage into fire and burns it down during their shows. They are one of those bands you just need to see LIVE as their studio albums (while also highly energetic) just doesn’t do the justice to witnessing them firsthand in front of your face. Rolling Stone mag declared on their new album “Shangri-La” that they “split the difference between Talking Heads and electro pop, and make a breakthrough album of digital ear candy.? Well said.

They performed a sold out show at the Larimer Lounge in Denver, CO on 3/3/12, a small intimate venue known for its incredible roster of underground bands. After the show, I managed to patiently wait for lead vocalist Claire Evans to let me steal her for a minute long portrait session. Well worth the wait. Love shooting subjects who have a natural stage presence. Translates nicely to photography.

Also added a video performance of their track “Psychic City” from the album See Mystery Lights. Its shaky and distorted (no mono on me that night or rode mic) but it really shows off the band’s incredible stage presence.

Awhile back I shot “The Rapture” for the Denver Post’s music blog Reverb. Opening band was “Snake Rattle Rattle Snake”, one Denver’s most recent rock bands to gain popularity. Lead singer Hayley Helmerick’s ethereal voice combined with dual tribal percussionists lends a sound that can only be described as ” a vital combination of spooky surf band, haunted carnival rock and Siouxsie Sioux fronting a pre-synth-driven New Order.”

The Rapture, touring off their latest album release, brought the dance party. For the better part of a decade, they have been blending electroclash synth rock with notes of funk and jazz. The band has been through their share of highs and lows, and while they haven’t really lived up to their fanbase exepctations, they still can blow your ear drums out with groovy punk revival dance rock.

One of Denver’s favorite iconic bands over the past 2 decades has been Slim Cessna’s Auto Club. While members have changed over the years, the band centers around Slim Cessna with Jay Munly, Rev. Dwight Pentacost, Chadzilla, Ordy Garrison, Shane Trost, & John Rumley as ongoing members. While broadly labeled as alternative country with strong styles of americana, country blues, southern gospel, and gothabilly, they are the archetype for the alt country rock scene flourishing in Denver.

Known for their engaging, riveting, and often humorous live performances, they have been labeled by punk rock legend Jello Biafra as the “country band that plays the bar at the end of the world.” Their charismatic front men often reach out for audience participation as they sing their jubilant and/or sorrowful anthems on everything from alcoholism, violence, depression, salvation and growing up somewhere between heaven and hell. If they ever come to your city, this is one live show not to be missed.

These photos were from two live shows that they asked me to shoot awhile back, at both the Bluebird Theater and the famous Redrocks Amphitheater.