Cheryl Spelts | Photo Blog » Musicians and Bands

Feeling the love… Tod Burr, Lara Johnston, & Casey Abrams

Cheryl Spelts — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 23:48:49 +0000

I want to post some support for two people I know, and one I don’t – but all three have some very cool footage on national TV this week!

First up is Tod Burr, also known as drumtech! I first became aware of him while he was on tour with INXS – and more recently I saw him with one of his own bands, Merle Jagger, out in a dusty bar in the middle of the desert. It was so much fun! He’s brilliant, and talented, and hot – which is a pretty good combination. And he’s in a new commercial for Lexus! When I first saw the finished commercial I thought it was all faked, but turns out it’s real – and he’s part of the team who made it happen. And he’s wearing black nail polish in a Lexus commercial, which is a whole new level of hotness!

Second, I have to give a shout out to Lara Johnston! I shot her backstage at Rock the Cradle, in 2008, and at the time she was just the freshest, sweetest thing – and a true talent! Well she’s back! She was on last night’s American Idol, and she got a golden ticket, which means we get to see her again at the next level. The footage of her is a little short, but hopefully that just means they’re saving her for better things later in the season!

And third, here’s another American Idol contestant – one I’ve never met – but he lives in Idyllwild, and attended Idyllwild Arts, and he’s talented, so I’m feeling the love for Casey Abrams…

A Little Update…

Cheryl Spelts — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 15:41:49 +0000

A site called Mystic Metal in Australia did an interview with Tracii Guns back in August, and included some of my images of him and his band, LA Guns. I love the image of Tracii they chose, so I’m glad they gave me an excuse to use it again, in this post!

And in June The Quietus did a really interesting interview with Tracii, and included one of my images of LA Guns.

Then in October, Loud Magazine, in Australia, did an interview with Tracii, and ran the same image of the band.

And one final, little, silly tidbit… I love that my name is showing up on sites like bestbuy.com, cduniverse.com, fye.com, pricegrabber.com, buy.com, artistdirect.com, sears.com, and dozens of other big sites because of this CD – it’s fun!

LA Guns “Shrinking Violet” Deluxe CD Cover

Cheryl Spelts — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 09:44:49 +0000

If you know me, then you know CD covers are my ultimate goal. The very idea of one of my images on a CD cover makes me happy!

And I’ve had some success in that arena – I did a couple of beautiful CD single covers for Marty Casey, and a CD single cover for Lukas Rossi – as well as two CD covers for an indie band back in the late 1990′s. But somehow, a full-length CD by a major band hadn’t come my way yet… until last summer!

I’d shot LA Guns live in concert and backstage several times in 2008 and early 2009, so when they called late in the summer of 2009, I was there! We shot the images in and around, and behind a rehearsal studio in North Hollywood, on the day before the band left on tour. Beautiful images. Some of my favorite images ever of the band.

It was nearly a full year later before I held the actual CD in my hands – but was it ever worth the wait! It’s a beautiful CD, and I’m totally thrilled with the way my images were used. Favored Nations’ graphic artist, Maria Villar, really did a bang up job! When you open the cover, and pop out the CD, you’re immediately hit with one of my images – it’s big and bold and backlit and beautiful!

And another of my images is on the back cover.

A little about LA Guns… The band was formed in the mid-1980′s by Tracii Guns, and at one point merged with a band called Hollywood Rose led by Axl Rose, to become a new band called Guns N’ Roses. Tracii eventually reformed LA Guns, and in 1989 they had a platinum album with Cocked & Loaded, and their single, “The Balled of Jayne” peaked at #33 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 1999, former Love/Hate singer Jizzy Pearl joined LA Guns, and with former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke producing, the group released the album, Shrinking Violet.

In 2006 bassist Jeremy Guns joined LA Guns, and in 2007, drummer Chad Stewart joined the band. This CD is actually a Deluxe Reissue of the 1999 CD – but it also contains five bonus live tracks with the current line up – which is why they needed new artwork – and why I got the call!

Seeing my name alongside Tracii Guns and Steve Vai and Gilby Clarke in the credits? That’s just the best! But perhaps even better is that in Tracii’s “Thanxs” section, he spells my name as Cheryl Speltz – instead of Spelts. My name is spelled correctly in the credits – it’s only spelled creatively in Tracii’s section – and I gotta say, when a guitar god with a name ending in two i’s gets creative with my name, it’s just fine!

>> LA Guns in North Hollywood
>> Marty Casey – I See Stars
>> Marty Casey – Crime of Fashion
>> Lukas Rossi – So This Is Christmas

Marty Casey’s “Crime of Fashion” CD

Cheryl Spelts — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 05:38:21 +0000

I’ve been such a bad blogger this year! So much has happened, that I haven’t mentioned. It’s partially due to the fact that when you’re working with musicians and record companies there can be a delay between shooting an artist, and then seeing the final CD debut. But I also have to admit that I’m just behind… So I’ll try to rectify that a bit now – with another CD that debuted this year, with one of my images on the cover!

Marty Casey released the CD single, Crime of Fashion in the late Spring, and it’s only available with a purchase from his Silver Elements Jewelry line – available at silverelementscollection.com. You can hear a clip of the song at Silver Elements Collection: Music – just click on the song title on that page, and then in the popup window, click on the sound icon!

We actually shot the cover last summer, in an elevator in a swanky hotel on the Sunset Strip – can you guess which one? The shiny textured metallic wall may offer a bit of a clue!

My images have appeared on four CDs in the last two years – and of those images this one is definitely the closest to my fine art work. I’ve always been attracted to multiple and long exposures! And I love that Marty is brave enough as an artist to go a little wild with me, and make an image like this happen – and I love it even more that he chose it for his CD cover. Says a lot about him as an artist!

>> Marty Casey – I See Stars
>> LA Guns – Shrinking Violet
>> Lukas Rossi – So This Is Christmas

I found myself on eBay!

Cheryl Spelts — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:12:06 +0000

Seriously! I found myself on eBay! I was trying to find a magazine article that came out in June, so that I could finally blog it, and while searching I also found a reference to a CD cover I shot – on eBay – and as silly as it sounds, it made me super happy! I haven’t seen the actual physical CD myself yet, so even though I knew my images were used on the liner, it doesn’t really feel real until I can hold it in my hands – you know? But somehow, seeing my name listed in the credits for the CD, on this eBay listing, just made it all feel a little more real. Besides, have you really arrived as a photographer if you’ve never found yourself on eBay?

So here’s the article – it’s from All Access Magazine, the June issue – and they used some of my images of LA Guns in the article – which is very cool! And it’s a real printed magazine, not just online, which is doubly cool in my world.
Music, Musicians and Myths: by Kim Thore for All Access Magazine – June 3, 2010

And while we’re at it, here’s a link to an Italian music site called SpazioRock, that also has an interview with Tracii Guns – and uses one of my images.
Interview with Tracii Guns: by Daniele Carlucci for SpazioRock – May 27, 2010

I can’t wait to get a copy of the actual Shrinking Violet CD and see my images in person! But until then, it’s cool to stumble across my credit in a listing anywhere – even eBay – I’ll take it!

Shrinking Violet by LA Guns, was released by Favored Nations, and is available now on iTunes and at Amazon.com!

LA Guns in North Hollywood

Cheryl Spelts — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 13:29:17 +0000

Ryan Star’s Breathe

Cheryl Spelts — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:14:54 +0000

I’ve blogged in the past about how few artists are creating art that references the housing crisis – and that’s still the case – but a musician I love has just released a video that shows another current crisis – unemployment.

I was at a private VIP event with Ryan Star last December – I was there shooting, and dropped a piece of equipment during the space between two songs, and so of course everyone in the very small room had to turn to see who the dork was who was making noise during his set! Well Ryan made the most of it, and made a joke at my expense and then dedicated the next song to me, and it was this song, Breathe, and it was the first time I’d heard it, and I fell instantly in love.

Real love, truly madly deeply. It’s a great song! And the video is moving. It’s so moving it debuted on CNN this week – way to go Ryan!

Watch the video!

If I made music videos…

Cheryl Spelts — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:15:53 +0000

If I made music, it would sound like this, and if I made music videos, they would look like this… It’s Pearl Jam’s latest video, shot at a secret show in Seattle by Cameron Crowe last May.

The Fixer
Pearl Jam
2009

YouTube – Pearl Jam – The Fixer
Rolling Stone on The Fixer video

Icon vs Icon

Cheryl Spelts — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 15:15:00 +0000

Last week online pop culture magazine, Icon vs Icon published a great new interview with Marty Casey – and with it they debuted some images of mine that have never been seen before.

http://www.iconvsicon.com/2009/08/08/marty-casey-talks-lovehammers-explosive-new-album-heavy-crown/

Shot last fall in San Juan Capistrano, the session yielded one truly iconic image – and of course Icon vs Icon chose that one for their headline image! It’s also the primary image on myspace.com/martycasey and it’s the very first image in my portfolio at cherylspelts.com. Iconic is an understatement – of all the images I’ve shot of Marty, it’s the one in my opinion, that best encapsulates who he is – if any one image can do that… It’s pretty and gritty, and complex, and mysterious and yet still wide open.

But that image, as great as it is, has been seen before… The fun part this week is the new stuff! Icon vs Icon used four never-before-seen images, but there are even more in the slideshow!

I’d like to thank Jason Price at Icon vs Icon… Jason, you rock!

Falling in Love at First Listen

Cheryl Spelts — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 18:54:00 +0000

I have an admission to make. As much as I love music – and I really really love it – I don’t pay much attention to the lyrics, and I almost never fall in love with a song on first listen. A musician once told me that he’d been the same way, once upon a time, but he grew out of it. I never have, so I guess that makes me a bit unsophisticated, and I guess I can live with that!

It doesn’t mean I don’t listen to the singer – I do! In fact, it’s the voice that draws me in – I never quite connect to pure instrumentals – I want a singer! It’s just that while I may be able to sing along to every word, if you ask me the name of the song, or what the song is about, or to repeat even one line of lyrics, I won’t be able to. I can love the voice, but the words won’t always register with me.

As for almost never falling in love with a song on first listen, I think that’s more common. And when I do fall in love the first time I hear a song, I know I’ll love it forever and it’s bound to become one of my all-time favorites.

I’m telling you all that to set up this – I fell in love this week on first listen – to three songs! And I actually know some of the lyrics…

Lovehammers released their latest CD yesterday, Heavy Crown, and yes I was really looking forward to it – and I knew I’d love it. How could I not? Especially since it has several songs on it that I already knew and loved – Driving Blind and That’s Life are fairly new, but Eyes Can’t See and Velvet are acoustic versions of songs that appeared on previous Lovehammers’ CDs and Guns was released a couple of weeks ago – so I already knew five out of the thirteen songs. Plus, this is a band that I fell in love with before Rock Star: INXS even started. I was doing research on the singers on the show, for ROCKBAND.COM, and found clips of all their songs – and I fell hard.

But even with that kind of love built up for years, you never know? And even though I’d been hearing through the grapevine that it was their best work yet, still, you never know. New music, new direction, maybe I’ll love it, but not REALLY love it?

Then I heard it! And the first time through Neverfall, Oh My Baby, and Honest I’ll Wait just nestled into my heart and head, blissfully…

Honest I’ll Wait soars, beautifully. It’s like nothing I’ve ever heard from this band. It’s a new direction for sure, but it feels so right, it feels meant to be.

Oh My Baby is hot! The lyrics are a total turn on! Yes, the lyrics! Plus it’s fun to sing along with. My favorite line, “Oh my baby’s so extreme. She’s exactly…. just like me.” Love that moment! And the guitars on the chorus are beautiful – so beautiful.

But my big initial love was and is Neverfall. It makes me want to put down the top on my car, blow a kiss and slam a door, and take off. I haven’t quite figured out the lyrics yet – and I may never – it’s one of those songs that makes me feel. It’s an anthem, for sure and I have a feeling the song will always remind me of summer, of right now. At least I hope so!

And one last song I have to mention – Black Angel didn’t hit me initially, but it’s hitting me now, big time. It has a really retro feel to it. Makes me want to go to a concert and see it done live. And the bridge? Hypnotic, for sure!

And the best part? Falling in love at first listen is only stage one. I have so much more to discover in these songs. Good music is like that…

On iTunes, Lately…

Cheryl Spelts — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 01:20:00 +0000

Lovehammers released their latest single today on iTunes – it’s the first single off their upcoming CD, Heavy Crown. It’s been so long since we’ve had new Lovehammers’ music, I’m very very happy to have something new from them!

And Ryan Star released his long awaited EP, Last Train Home, earlier this month – you can hear a snippet of one of my favorite of his songs, Right Now, during commercials for the new NBC show, The Philanthropist. The full EP is only $3.99 on iTunes and features four songs and two videos.

And finally, I’m linking to Tamar Kaprelian‘s A New Day, just because it’s been my favorite song this summer and she deserves more exposure, so pass it on!

PS: Happy birthday and happy traveling to my brother Michael today!

ETA on 7/7/2009: Guess this should be PSS maybe? But Dino from the Lovehammers posted on RockBandLounge.com over the weekend about the single… http://www.rockbandlounge.com/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=1&topic_id=11274

What I’ve been listening to…

Cheryl Spelts — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 08:23:00 +0000

I seem to have a thing for female voices lately – and these two songs are the two that I keep looping, over and over. I do that when I really love a song, listen to it again and again…

A New Day
Tamar Kaprelian
2008
the lyrics…

.

Let Go
Frou Frou
2004
the lyrics…

Merry Christmas, 2008

Cheryl Spelts — Wed, 24 Dec 2008 17:04:00 +0000

Merry Christmas Everyone! One of my favorite musicians, JD Fortune, just posted an acoustic version of Silent Night that is simple and honest and really beautiful. It’s the perfect thing to listen to on this Christmas Eve!

The coming year should be fabulous for JD – he has a solo album coming out in early 2009 – and there are rumors that he may tour. I hope so! But I absolutely love that with all that going on, he made a simple recording with just him and a guitar and a favorite Christmas carol, and posted it today. Just very, very cool!

I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas!

CD Covers and Magazine Features

Cheryl Spelts — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:52:00 +0000

It’s been a good couple of weeks! Late last month Lukas Rossi released a holiday CD single with one of my images on the cover, and this week a CD single from Marty Casey surfaced, also with one of my images on the cover.

It’s only available as a complimentary gift, if you buy a piece from his Silver Elements Collection, and there are limited quantities, so if you want one, you might want to act soon. It’s a beautiful song – one of my all-time favorites – I loop it over and over!

My big goal, career-wise, is CD covers and magazine features. I remember when I first started seriously studying photography, I wanted to shoot features for People Magazine. I loved their 50 Most Beautiful People issue, and how they did beauty shots for each of the celebrities chosen – but they weren’t standard beauty shots, they told stories! There was an artistic element that I loved. Then later I gravitated toward Vanity Fair. But my real love was always Rolling Stone. THAT is what I wanted to do!

And then CD covers? That’s an even bigger high for someone with a fine art background! I love doing the commercial stuff – especially when it’s edgy, and beautiful, and fun. But when I get to combine that kind of commercial work, with what my artistic impulses lead me to, and there are no limits? Simply put, that’s what I was meant to do.

So here’s to more CD covers and magazine features in 2009 – I’m ready!

Lukas Rossi | So This Is Christmas

Cheryl Spelts — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:30:00 +0000

Lukas Rossi just released a new Christmas EP – available for digital download on Amazon.com – and the cover features one of my images. The EP features two new songs, War Is Over and Revolving Doors, and you can listen to a preview of both on the site, and then download for $1.98.

Lukas has amazing eyes – they tell stories – and the image they chose really shows them off. We got a lot of really good stuff in that session, but this particular image is just special. It was a good choice and I’m glad it’s getting a wider audience!

Edited on 12/6/2008 to add that it’s now available on iTunes as well! Just search for Lukas Rossi, and you’ll find it!

Ryan Star, Right Now

Cheryl Spelts — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 02:35:00 +0000

I’ve never posted a video before on my blog, but this one is pretty special. It’s one of my favorite artists – Ryan Star – and it was just released today!

Visually the video is beautiful, but more importantly the song is amazing. I’ve been looping Right Now over and over, ever since I first heard it. And it’s Ryan Star – what more could you ask for?

Stars Down in SEE Magazine

Cheryl Spelts — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 03:47:00 +0000

SEE Magazine – a weekly printed magazine in Edmonton, Ontario, Canada – recently did an article on Lukas Rossi and his new band, Stars Down, and it featured one of my images. And it’s currently also available online! You have to click on the image to make it bigger, but it looks good!

http://www.seemagazine.com/article/music/music-previews/wheres-rossi-now/

From the article…

Forced to define “rock star,” he says it’s someone who affects people with their music, writes honest songs, and reaches deep within to express something true to them and their fans. All of which Rossi is attempting to do with his new project, Stars Down.

I like that definition! And I love seeing my work in print…

Chad Stewart in Hollywood

Cheryl Spelts — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:19:00 +0000

Last week I got to do a quick photo shoot with Chad Stewart of L.A. Guns, in downtown Hollywood. Chad has also played with Stimulator, Faster Pussycat, Motochrist, and The Gilby Clarke Band. You can check him out at http://www.myspace.com/chadwick_stewart

Marty Casey in San Juan Capistrano

Cheryl Spelts — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:17:00 +0000

Can you ever have too much Marty Casey? I think not! The image above was shot in San Juan Capistrano last month, and as of today it’s one of the images rotating through on the front page of martycasey.com.

There are a few more of my images rotating through too. More, more, more on those later…

Edited to Add: As of October 21st, the image above is also the main image on Marty Casey’s MySpace Site – and the redesign is stunning! Kudos to his design team! http://www.myspace.com/martycasey

Stars Down in Los Angeles

Cheryl Spelts — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:58:00 +0000

I posted a little tease last week, but here’s more form my session with Lukas Rossi and Stars Down for RBL. We shot it in late June on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles – so if you know the area, you may recognize some of the locations…

The full slide show is at http://www.rockbandlounge.com/news/2008-07-stars-down/ – and it’s definitely worth viewing there! It’s big and bold and beautiful! And if you have any comments or questions, there’s a discussion thread on RBL at http://rockbandlounge.com/forum/topic.asp?topic_id=7184