I still think it’s magic that there’s any image at all after the moment passes.
What a long strange trip it’s been, indeed. From the back rooms of Danceteria in New York where Madonna gave her first performance for Haoui Montaug’s No Enteindes cabaret, captured here moments before she went onstage. She had a way with her, and she could always find us a smoke and was up for a dance upstairs on the second floor after the show. She said she was gonna make it big, and she was right. Good on ya, Madge.
We all made up bands for beer money in those days. The Beastie Boys were my friends, and we formed several including The Bad Breakers, The Three Bad Jewish Brothers, and 5 Piece Chicken Dinner ( a “country” band). Celluloid tried to sign The Three Bad Jewish Bros, but we just thought it was too much of a joke.
Later, The Beasties made their first video on Long Beach in Long island, and we all stayed at Rick Rubin’s parent’s house before we spent a long day in the blazing sun. Seen in a quiet moment here, the lads spent the day being chased by girls and shot out of cannons or some such.
By this time, Rick had started Def Jam with Russell Simmons in his dorm room and then out of his apartment, also shown here. Empires were being built, cheeseburgers were being eaten, beer helmets were all the rage.
In London it was a more serious scene. In his Lancaster Rd. HQ. Joe Strummer would, late each night, steal away from the party upstairs to his basement bunker, and with the guests still drinking around the table above, he would begin his process. Rolls of paper, like Kerouac, spooled through his old typewriter. This night, I plucked up the courage to follow him, possibly buoyed by the jazz woodbines, and take only one frame in the darkness trying not to spook the muse. Sometimes one shot is all you need.
That darn muse is elusive. The years went by and the scenes changed. Hip-hop became blue chip, and it lost its allure, at least for me. Fast forward to The Gallagher brothers of Oasis whom I met while they toured with the Black Crowes. Though lost on many in the US, Liam Gallagher’s thousand yard stare was like lightning in a bottle and to capture it on film was harder than it looks.
I really believe in music, and I’m fiercely loyal to my bands. MGMT showed up in my office with a shoe box full of influences. We made album covers, and I began shooting them. When it came time to shoot the latest campaign, they asked me to shoot. For years, I delineated the line between my art direction and my photography. Now the lines are being blurred, and I’m having a great time shooting again. I appreciate Andrew and Ben giving me a shove. Check MGMT out on tour this summer and make up your own mind.
The magic reaction between the silver, light, and chemicals has been replaced with a communion of numbers in the digital age. The alchemy now has to come from the subject and the photographer.
I still believe in the transformative power of music and art. Everyone has a camera now, but not everyone is a photographer. It’s not enough just to say you were there; it’s what you have to say that counts. The fight goes on, and on, and on, till the proverbial break of dawn.
––Josh Cheuse, Jersey City, June 2010
