Empty Bottle | Heartbreaking Bravery

June 2, 2016

Splitting at the Break: The Live Photography of 2016’s First Half, Pt. V

After installments I, II, III, and IV, this site is officially caught up to the current release cycle in every coverage category: single streams, full streams, music videos, live videos, live photography, and the (usually weekly) Watch This series. Going forward, the goal will continue to be at least one post a day (a rough average that’s been maintained for two and a half years, despite some lengthy hiatuses). Expect live reviews to return to the fold as early as next week and for everything else to resume or continue its regular functionality. Thanks to anyone who stuck with this site through the early lulls in this year’s first half and thanks to the artists and venues who graciously allowed — and even encouraged — photography. Heartbreaking Bravery wouldn’t exist without you and I will continue to look for ways to pay you back in kind. Find the last packet of photos from the year so far below and explore all of the others via the hyperlinks up top or by simply scrolling down. Enjoy!

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June 2, 2016

Splitting at the Break: The Live Photography of 2016’s First Half, Pt. IV

Eternal Summers I

From January to the end of May, I put up thousands of miles travelling to see (and play) shows. Normally, the shows that happen at that intersection would be ignored on these pages as it feels self-promotional and this site was designed to more fully endorse the works of others. For both the live video recap and these galleries, I’ve made an exception for Jungles. The band’s an extraordinary live act that’s best served by their actual set (no photography or videos could do them justice because the areas beyond those mediums restrictions are where the band derives most of their strength). It’s a rare circumstance but considering their severe lack of name recognition stateside, placing them in these galleries felt more than appropriate. Click on to see a few photos of them and several others that I was fortunate enough to catch in the first half of 2016. Enjoy.

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June 2, 2016

Splitting at the Break: The Live Photography of 2016’s First Half, Pt. III

Throughout 2016’s opening two months, I was able to take in two surprisingly contained winter festivals in the upper Midwest: Madison, WI’s FRZN Fest and Chicago, IL’s Music Frozen Dancing. The former ran three days (I was in attendance for the bookends) at the High Noon Saloon while the latter took place outside of the Empty Bottle. Both boasted impressive lineups that reflected well on their venues and, to a larger extent, their cities. Those two fests were the year’s openers and they sent me scrambling for more shows to shoot and I was able to capitalize on several of those opportunities. Whether they were in a basement or at a historic club venue, if cameras were allowed, I’d have mine rolling. Several of the best photographs I managed to capture in that run of months can be found below. Enjoy.

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June 2, 2016

Splitting at the Break: The Live Photography of 2016’s First Half, Pt. II

Throughout the first six months, I was fortunate enough to catch (and photograph) the following acts: American Wrestlers, Palehound, Eternal Summers, Torres, Julien Baker, Charly Bliss, Muuy Biien, Meat Wave, The Spits Black Lips, Jungles, Mr. Martin & The Sensitive Guys, Bag-Dad, Haunter, Miserable Friend, Heavycritters, Yoko and the Oh No’s, PWR BTTM, Micah Schnabel (of Two Cow Garage), Dyke Drama, Potty Mouth, Beach Slang, Yowler, Eskimeaux, Frankie Cosmos, Oops, and Dilly Dally. All of that photography will be presented — as previously mentioned — through a five-part gallery. The second installment touches on more of the best selections from those sets. As always, the gallery can be accessed below. Enjoy.

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June 2, 2016

Splitting at the Break: The Live Photography of 2016’s First Half, Pt. I

Over the past six months, the site’s experienced a few hiatuses. While some of those hiatuses were due to personal reasons, the majority were because of long stretches of time spent on the road. During the course of those six months, I was fortunate enough to catch a small handful of shows (and play a few more). No live photography from 2016 has been posted (discounting the header photo that’s ran for the Told Slant feature spots and the Meat Wave photo that ran in conjuncture with the Live Videos segment) and below is a gallery — the first of five — designed to amend the oversight. Enjoy.

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May 30, 2016

Splitting at the Break: The Live Videos of 2016’s First Half

2016 is just about at its midway mark and there hasn’t been any live coverage on this site since before the year turned over. There have been a number of extenuating circumstances preventing the live documentation that has been captured this year from being posted (travel, time, other commitments, etc.) but that changes today. Below are ten video packets from ten shows that I was fortunate enough to catch — and shoot — this year.

Normally, as a general rule of thumb, I avoid posting anything from shows I play but am making an exception for the Jungles package because the band’s woefully under-represented in America for their undeniable strength as a live act. A few other packets may be missing an artist or two but what’s below is the vast majority of what I’ve seen over the past six months.

Whether it’s Meat Wave ripping through a crushing new song on a (freakishly sunny) winter day in Chicago, Beach Slang covering The Replacements two times over, or Torres making everyone’s hairs stand on end with an unforgettable one-song encore, these are worth a look and were a privilege to experience. A photo gallery will be coming within the next few days but for now, enjoy the footage.

American Wrestlers, Eternal Summers, Palehound, and Torres.

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Julien Baker and Charly Bliss.

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Muuy Biien, Meat Wave, The Spits, and Black Lips.

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Runners, Beech Creeps, and Heavy Times.

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Jungles.

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Mr. Martin & The Sensitive Guys, BAG-DAD, Haunter, Miserable Friend, and Heavycritters.

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Yoko and the Oh No’s and PWR BTTM.

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Micah Schnabel, Dyke Drama, Potty Mouth, and Beach Slang.

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Yowler, Eskimeaux, and Frankie Cosmos.

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Oops and Dilly Dally.

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February 22, 2016

2015: A Year’s Worth of Memories (Ryan Wizniak)

meatwave

As has been mentioned, multiple times over, few bands have had as large of an impact on the past several years of my life as Meat Wave. From the hundreds of listens I’ve given to their self-titled debut to their appearance at the first Heartbreaking Bravery showcase to their continued support of this site, it’s been a genuine privilege to have them as a part of my life. Delusion Moon was one of 2015’s fiercest records and the few times I got to see the band perform, I was always left floored. A large part of their draw has always been the frantic drum work of Ryan Wizniak (pictured above, bottom left). I’m thrilled to be bringing Wizniak into the fold of A Year’s Worth of Memories and I’m equally excited that he’s chosen to focus his piece on Meklbelly. Read it all below and remember to celebrate the people who continuously make a positive impact on your life.

Of all the fantastic music that came out in 2015, and there was a lot of it, my absolute favorite track was “Piss Wizard”, by Melkbelly. Recorded at Public House in Chicago and released via Automatic Recordings on piss-yellow and poo-brown 7”s, “Piss Wizard” is a truly unique slab of uncategorizable noise rock. Within its just over 7 minute running time it contains every aspect of what makes Melkbelly so great: super bizarre tones, excellent guitar interplay, a range of vocal stylings, absurd drums and dynamic bass playing that glues everything together.

One of my favorite things about Melkbelly is every song makes the listener feel like they are entering a living breathing place. “Piss Wizard” is a perfect example of this. The track starts with a vocal intro from Miranda [Winters] and as soon as the rest of the instruments join in it creates the feeling of being strapped into some deranged ride that has flown straight into a tornado. Eventually the track lets up just long enough for one to regain their senses before it blasts into an explosive ending.

My band got to play a few shows with Melkbelly at the end of our long tour this fall/winter. One of them was at this place in Ann Arbor called The Metal Frat and it turned out to be an actual fraternity focused on musicians and music lovers. It was totally surreal and a lot of fun. At one point in the night we went on a beer run and noticed the frat next door doing their initiations, which involved blindfolded people being thrown into the backs of cars and some sort of all night organ playing ritual. So wild!

The last show we played with them was our homecoming show in Chicago which also featured our good friends Sophagus and Rad Payoff at our favorite venue, the Empty Bottle. Between all four bands we managed to sell out the show. I couldn’t believe it! It was great way to close out the year.

-Ryan Wizniak

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December 27, 2015

2015: A Visual Retrospective, Vol. 7

PWR BTTM I

Throughout the course of 2015 I’ve been fortunate enough to attend upwards of 100 shows, festivals big and small, and spend approximately half a year living in a city that hosted a mind-boggling amount of quality shows on a nightly basis. To that end, it’s probably unsurprising that I wound up taking over 10,000 photos this year alone. Over the course of the next few days, this site will be running seven volumes of the shots that stood out as personal favorites, whether that was due to their composition, sentimental attachment, or an intangible emotional or intellectual response. It’s been an honor to be able to take even the smallest part in the ongoing sagas of the artists in the photographs below and an additional thanks is due to the venues that allowed me to shoot (as well as the people who encouraged me to keep shooting).

The preceding galleries can be accessed via these links:

2015: A Visual Retrospective, Vol. 1
2015: A Visual Retrospective, Vol. 2
2015: A Visual Retrospective, Vol. 3
2015: A Visual Retrospective, Vol. 4
2015: A Visual Retrospective, Vol. 5
2015: A Visual Retrospective, Vol. 6

Enjoy the gallery.

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