El Orbits – Promo Shots

Went out to 3700 Main to take some shots of The El Orbits for possible use on the upcoming new album as well as other promotional material.

Let me tell you, shooting for fun is one thing, shooting on spec is a different animal entirely. I shoot in my own particular style and “as my mood dictates.” I capitalize on opportune lighting and subject matter and I do it for my own pleasure.

Setting up a shot and trying for a specific effect combined with dealing with various personalities makes me edgy. Of course they’re all friends and that helps. But still, I get stage fright from behind the camera if that makes any sense.

I have a ton of photos to process this week. These two jumped out right off the bat:

We’ll see how they stand up after I’ve had a chance to more fully review what I’ve got.

Aqua Velva – Big Top

There are three things that make these photos exciting to me.


Click for full size


Click for full size

1. No flash IN THE BIG TOP. If you’ve ever been, you know what I’m talking about.
2. Shot using the 20mm f/1.8 lens. Problematic lens for me in the past.
3. You can see the face of each band member, including the drummer. No small thing.

Step aside Spinal Tap

Something many people may not know about the title track from my band’s CD “Loch Ness Monster” is that it was originally written and recorded as a heavy metal song.

Consider the review from the Houston Press that said:

The album opens with the wonderfully dark ode to the creature lurking beneath the murky waters of Loch Ness. Here the beast is less the benign and almost dopey plesiosaur used to sell trinkets to tourists and much more the accursed beast with “Huge red eye, long sharp tooth / slicing knives, ragged spines” which will drag you from the banks and tear you to pieces despite your screams and struggles. Nessie, indeed.

And that’s in reference to the acoustic folk version! The heavy metal version of Loch Ness Monster is a bonus hidden track at the end of the CD.

The origins of this song go back to when Greg Henkel came up with a band called Rocrament and wrote about 10-12 heavy metal songs and his brother, Jim Henkel, recorded them. Jim laid down all the tracks and mixed it in his home studio.

Recently, Greg has been working hard with a hand-picked group of musicians to bring Rocrament to the stage and his evil brilliant plan comes to fruition this Thursday night, June 21st at the Houston Continental Club.

Show time is around 10:30 and follows the regular Thursday night performance of Jim Henkel’s Beatles tribute band “Beetle.”

Only Greg knows for sure what this performance will entail, but early reports are of elaborate stage props and costumes. Greg let me know that Rocrament has about 45 minutes of live material so you won’t be out all night on a weeknight.

This is going to be a rock show for the ages!

Check out Rocrament’s Myspace page for more information.

Click here to hear the song “Rocrament” from the original CD.