All Together #7 was photographed by Jon Beckley at the Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain!
September 30, 2017
Meet Jon Beckley
Photographer Jon Beckley took photos for:
All Together Now #7 on 9/30/2017
All Together Now #5 on 5/27/2017
Artist Q&A:
Q: What do you try to achieve with your photographs?
A: I try to capture the emotion and feel of a performance which can be really hard as it needs to be single moment that not only shows the feeling of the performance, but ideally it’s also a good photograph which could stand on its’ own just for anyone looking at it.
Q: What’s the hardest part of shooting a live event?
A: Getting to know the performers and having everything click for that perfect moment. I try to line up my compositions and then watch them for a little bit, even in the space of a song you can get an idea of what they’ll do during the chorus or another major moment. But this also can change a lot during the course of a set and things can come back quickly so knowing when to shoot becomes almost a reflex.
Q: What’s your earliest memory with a camera?
A: It’s not actually with a physical camera, I started on this path via 3D modeling and animation when I was 12 and through those programs I had to control the camera position, settings, and lighting for the scene so it actually gave me a lot of skills that I’d later use in my photography. It wasn’t until I was 19 that I got my first camera and started experimenting with it.
Q: What drew you to photography?
A: Initially it was to create texture maps for my 3D work, but I quickly found that I could capture a scene almost instantly with the camera VS spending large amounts of time building it from scratch. Soon after I brought it to a Dresden Dolls show and I was hooked, concert photography is what really propelled me early on. I also had the benefit of being in art school at the time so I was able to dive in head first into it and had the help of some great professors.
Meet Field Day
Field Day performs on All Together Now #7 on September 30, 2017 at the Midway Cafe.
Field Day has become an unlikely upstart on the Boston club scene, playing rock music with scrappy hooks, dreamy harmonies, and irrepressible spirit. The band formed proverbially, in a basement, and unexpectedly, when its members were well into middle age. The chemistry is potent with songwriters Joan Anderman and Dan Zedek, bassist Phil Magnifico, and drummer Jefferson Riordan.
Joan Anderman was a neophyte, having left her longtime post as rock critic at The Boston Globe and set out to become a songwriter. Her former Globe colleague Dan Zedek, veteran of numerous college bands, was sitting on a stash of songs written in his head while riding the train to work. Original drummer John Kehe offered his gear-filled basement for weekend song circles, and it was clear these songs and these songwriters belonged together. Hear them at www.fielddaymusic.com.
Artist Q&A
Q: What’s one thing you’ve learned over time?
A: Conviction is everything: even when circumstances or one’s own shortcomings feel daunting, you have find a way to connect.
Q: What do you hope audience members experience or take away from this show?
A: It’s such a joy for us to play, and we hope that people at our shows take away some of that spirit.
Meet Amy Cook and The Grownup Noise
Dancer Amy Cook and Musician Paul Hansen perform for All Together Now #7 on September 30, 2017 at the Midway Cafe.
Dancer, actor, and Boston Native Amy Cook has a long involvement with artistic collaborations, including her work with the Grownup Noise. Through the Williams College Dance Company and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Theatre Program, she was cast in the second longest running outdoor drama in the US, Unto These Hills. This work fused Cherokee traditions with contemporary dance in a re-telling of the Trail of Tears, in collaboration with local Cherokee people.
Starting at the age of 3, Amy has studied and performed ballet, jazz, tap, modern, contemporary and African dance, including working directly with Séan Curran, Artistic Director of Séan Curran Company in New York, and Billy Siegenfeld, founder of the Jump Rhythm® Jazz Project in Chicago. In 2012, Amy got involved with the Jeannette Neill Dance Studio (JNDS) in Boston, MA and performed in over ten Repertory Concerts. Over the past five years, Amy has also performed in the annual collaborative showcases 12 Dancers Dancing…A Christmas in Cambridge and Dance for World Community Festival. Most recently, Amy has worked with Luminarium Dance Company.
Since releasing their self-titled debut in 2007, Boston’s The Grownup Noise have evolved into a rousing and innovative pop-music outfit, bridging the gap between Americana music and Indie Rock. With a genuine respect for every style of music, this band and its songwriter, Paul Hansen, are song obsessed. They celebrated their first official SXSW showcase in 2012 and their music has been featured on MTV, NPR, documentary films, and other TV shows, including 90210. People often ask about the meaning of the name. The Grownup Noise is something to rebel against, like fear, complacency, the closing of your heart, the stress of bills etc.
http://www.thegrownupnoise.com
Artist Quotes:
“I believe the more exposure we have to art, the more authentic our reactions to it become. The visceral, shared experiences artists create provide us with an opportunity to look inward…’Why am I crying?’ ‘Why was that so shocking to me?’ Something shifts inside us. We no longer want to judge the experience, we want to try an understand it.”
-Amy Cook
“I am excited to be part of the All Together Now family for many reasons, but perhaps most is my feeling that the arts inherently open a person’s mind. Far more than say, direct dialogue or preaching. I’ve seen it happen up close in my own life. If someone engages in art or music, absorbs it and thinks about it, it will have a positive, progressive, enlightened impact on all of their thinking.”
-Paul Hansen
Meet Tom Bianchi
Tom Bianchi performs for All Together Now #7 on September 30, 2017 at the Midway Cafe.
Armed with a 4 string bass a quick wit and an entertainment value that is uniquely all his own, Tom Bianchi as a solo artist or a band leader never lets and audience down with his ability to eclectically adapt to any situation. Each 24 Hour Tom performance is like a unique recipe. The ingredients are one part musicianship, one part host and storyteller, an eclectic mix of songs, add some humor and improvisation, mix well and enjoy. www.24hourtom.com
Tom Bianchi has made himself a well known icon of the music scene in Boston area as well as all throughout New England. Sharpening his teeth as a subway musician, and as part of the prestigious Quincy Market Street Performer’s program, he has played stages from the humble Park Street Train Station to historic Club Passim in Harvard Square and The Somerville Theater on many occasions.
Meet Wo Chan
Wo Chan performs for All Together Now #7 on September 30, 2017 at the Midway Cafe.
Wo Chan, aka Pearl Harbor, is a poet, writer, and drag artist. They have performed their work at Dixon Place, New York Live Arts, VOX Populi, and the Architectural Digest Expo. Wo is a standing member of Brooklyn-based drag/burlesque alliance Switch n’ Play. Wo holds honors from Kundiman, Lambda Literary, and the Asian American Writers Workshop. They are currently an MFA candidate in Poetry at NYU.
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