Gone Fishing. In Fiji.

I'm jack of this freezing Sydney weather - i'm off to Fiji.

I'll be out of radio contact for 7 days. See you on the other side.

Wons Phreely music video

A while back Wons Phreely hired out Cybele's studio to record some footage for the music video for his song Rules of Nature. Cybele and i make a brief appearance.

It's edited together from amateur footage of fans around the world singing the song (kinda like this Yeah Yeah Yeahs video). The footage of Wons was shot in the studio.

He's playing a number of shows around Sydney in the coming weeks. Details on his myspace.

The Cops and Sparkadia at The Annandale

Continuing my series of going to gigs and taking photos onstage and off (see Dappled Cities Fly and Red Riders plus Expatriate) here's The Cops and Sparkadia at The Annandale on the 6th July.

I've taken so many live concert pictures in my time i figure i might as well mix it up and get some candids of the acts offstage. It documents the gig a bit more thoroughly. I'm pretty friendly with all the bands so they're used to having me around, camera in hand.

The Cops and Sparkadia have just come off an exhaustive Australian tour, selling out pretty much every venue as they went.

I'd seen The Cops play an industry album launch show a month or so ago and was rather underwhelmed by their performance. But in front of a sold out Annandale crowd they really impressed with loads of energy and showmanship.

By them time they played "Call Me Anytime" the crowd was going bananas.

See more photos of The Cops and Sparkadia at The Annandale.

Live Earth Sydney : The Artists

Apart from a couple of acts i thought the lineup of Live Earth was rather underwhelming. Crowded House were an obvious highlight and had the entire stadium in the palm of their hand. It felt a bit like a homecoming as it was in Sydney they played the supposed farewell concert 10 years ago on the Opera House steps.

Being a Wolfmother tragic i also enjoyed their set, although it is getting a little tiresome seeing the same songs again and again. I look forward to them returning with something fresh.

Taking good pictures of the artists at an event like this is a pretty hard task. The stage is massive, so you're quite a distance from the performers,who are obscured by floor foldback speakers. Plus there's a camera on rails moving in front of your shots. Not to mention the 60 odd accredited photographers squeezed into the pit, making mobility nigh on impossible. So the photos are rather uninspiring.

Live Earth Sydney : The Crowd

Here's some photos of Live Earth in Sydney last weekend. This lot is of the crowd.

At a show of this size it's all about the crowd. There's nothing like singing "Weather With You" with 45000 people.

Impromptu House Party

After shooting Live Earth Sydney i arrived home on Saturday to find my housemate had some friends over. It was fairly tame until the lycra outfits came out. It inspired all sorts of dress ups and downs.

Belles Will Ring Drum Cover

I did a little photo shoot with Belles Will Ring last week which is on the cover of Drum Media this week.

It was a bit last minute, the only time everyone was available was 8.30pm the night before the cover artwork was due. We used the studio, with a couple of coloured lights on each side of the band. It was intended to give the photos a 60's sort of vibe, to complement the bands music.

The band are embarking on a tour, starting this weekend in Melbourne. Details are on their myspace.

Behind the Scenes with Operator Please

Here's a look behind the scenes of the music video shoot for Operator Please's Crash Tragic.

I've not spent a lot of time on film sets, so i was surprised at the scope of it all for a relatively simple video.

It makes me thankful i just deal in still pictures where there's not so many people and elaborate production involved.

It was all directed by Josh Logue from Mathematics.

The band's star continues to rise, with a leg up from Perez Hilton and the NME recently, they seem destined for big things.

Bandits party photos

I went to Bandits for the first time last week, on its one year anniversary.

Lost Valentinos played, people danced, drank, pashed and looked fashionable.

My photos are at NowNow or here at Boudist.

Friedrich Gray fashion show

I'd never photographed a fashion show before but always wanted to. So i was stoked when Dazed and Confused asked me to cover this Friedrich Gray fashion show. It was back in April, around fashion week time.

The venue was a lovely old church on Cleveland St called The Kirk. After the fashion parade a band played which contained a mix of members from Midnight Juggernauts, Lost Valentinos and Mercy Arms.

More photos in the Friedrich Gray fashion parade gallery.

Expatriate at The Gaelic Club

On Saturday night Expatriate headlined a sold out show at The Gaelic Club.

Similarly to the other week when Dappled Cities Fly and Red Riders played the Metro, this was another case of a Sydney band playing a triumphant sold out show in their hometown.

It feels like Expatriate have broken through the trendy indie band scene into a more mainstream following. The crowd wasn't the regular industry types and subdued cool kids, it was genuine fans who sung along to all the songs and bought the t-shirt at the end of the night. The band are played on Nova, get features in the Telegraph and tour with Simple Minds and Powderfinger. There seems to be a momentum pushing them beyond their Sydney inner city roots.

I spent a little time with the band before they went onstage. It was quite strange to discover them all warming up by singing in the ladies toilet backstage. It sounded great and was quite a privelege to get my own private performance.

I took a little video on my phone. Damian and Dave (the bassist) were singing by themselves when Ben came in to tell them Bit By Bats were almost finished their set.

See more photos in the Expatriate at The Gaelic gallery and plenty more Expatriate posts in the archives.

Marie Claire event photos

It's not just bands and parties that i photograph. Last week i shot a couple of events for Marie Claire including this Clinique sponsored workshop.