Greg Garcia Photography

ROCKSTAR Billboard Pose

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The boys in front of my image of the boys on a billboard. #James Kottak #Rudy Sarzo #Ripper Owens #Teddy ZigZag #Keri Kelli

ROCKSTAR INTERVIEWS

RockStar Interviews -From bands like Ozzy Osbourne, Dio, Quiet Riot, WhiteSnake, Judas Priest, Alice Cooper, Slash's Snakepit, Scorpions, the Cult and Guns n Roses.... Rudy Sarzo, James Kottak, Keri Kelli, Tim "Ripper" Owens and Teddy ZigZag Andreadis talk about music, Rock & Roll and project RockStar and their upcoming tour of Russia.

Saints of the Underground

By Madina

Images Greg Garcia Photography

The King Mixers

The King Mixers at the Fox and Hounds English Pub in studio City. I believe they play there every friday night. I recommend having a few pints and checking them out if you’re ever in the area.

The King Mixers

After our Crafter Guitar shoot, I called up some friends in the area and we ended up at the Fox & Hounds. The Fox and Hounds English pub is a Studio City, California landmark where British Ex-pats join the young locals (and wayward visitors who stumble upon it) for pints, darts and sports from around the world. This evening, The King Mixers were playing. This band took their time getting started but when they did, I was really glad we stumbled in. These guys play Beatles, Cars, Queen and an amazing version of Baba O’ Riley by the Who. When they play, they do not merely “cover” the songs, they interpret the songs with their own piss and vinegar. I thoroughly enjoyed these guys and I would recommend checking them out if you’re ever in the area.

METAVENGE

Orange County Band Photographer Greg Garcia Shoots Metavenge
Metavenge shot in San Pedro with a Canon 5D, Strobe and Brolly.

Metavenge from Houston Texas. I got the opportunity to see these guys perform after the shoot and they are heavy, hard and shove their music right down your throat. You’ll definitely be hearing about these guys in the future.

We shot in San Pedro and in typical fashion, not free of incident. We arrived, late afternoon, scoped out the area, and set up to shoot. Within minutes, not even ten frames into the shoot, security stopped the shoot. I was escorted by security to see the Regional Director or something like that. By the time we got to the office, there wasn’t anyone to talk to and the Security officer kinda shrugged his shoulders and said I couldn’t shoot there. Meanwhile, the band’s manager called me on the cell phone and in code, we were able to communicate to move the equipment around the hill and behind a wall where security won’t be able to see us. Security escorted me back to where we were originally shooting and I kinda dismissed it like they had to get going to their show. Once security was out of sight, I bolted over to the guys and finished the shoot. As you can see, we were racing daylight. This was one of the last shots of the day. The guys were great and we got some great shots. Of course I had to harass them for not warning me about Security. “How could you guys not see him...? He had to cross a parking lot and a grass field to get to us!” I guess they were just too into the staring down the camera.

Red 9 - Last Mistake

Steven Adler

Orange County Band Photographer Shoots Steven Adler of Guns & Roses for Peace Calendar
Shot at Backline Rehearsal Studios with a Nikon FA on Fuji Reala Film. Three strobes with a brolly and colored gels were used for this capture. This was shot right before rehearsal for Adler’s Appetite.

This was shot as a promotional calendar piece and advertisement for Peace Drums. Steven was passed out in a van in the parking lot 20 minutes before this shot was taken. They had just gotten into town from Las Vegas. Steven lit up and turned it on as soon as he saw the lights, he was ready to roll. We quickly shot a couple rolls of Fuji Reala using a Nikon FA and strobe. This was not the shot featured in the Calendar but I thought it kinda captured a different mood for Steven.

Warrant - Crafter Guitars USA

Orange County Band Photographer Greg Garcia Shoots Warrant for Crafter Guitars
Joey Allen and Robert Mason were shot with the Canon 5D and multiple strobe.

Tonight I shot Joey Allen and Robert Mason from Warrant for Crafter Guitars. This is a promotional endorsement for Crafter Guitars USA out of Virginia. This shoot went about as smoothly as they go, even with all the friday night traffic to get to Burbank from OC. Rob Shean assisted me on this shoot to ensure a speedy set up and tear down. This was shot at their rehearsal studio, the last 30 minutes of their scheduled rehearsal. When we arrived, they were outside taking a smoke break. We were greeted and introduced, then escorted to the rehearsal room. The plan was to set up while they were rehearsing their final set. Everything timed out perfectly. They finished the last song and we were ready to shoot. We shot a variety of poses for about twenty minutes, wrapped, and got on with our Friday night. I love it when a plan comes together...

Poogie Bell

Poogie Bell photographed at the Vault in long Beach. Canon 10D and multiple strobe.

Every now and then you get a stressful, nightmare shoot. This was one of them. This was Murphy’s Law in full swing. Let me just say upfront, Poogie was awesome! This was a promotional shoot for Poogie’s cymbal endorsement and was shot at the Vault in Long Beach. The plan was to get some live shots at sound check before their show. Everything was arranged with the venue and the light man to run lights to look like show while I got my shots. That seemed simple enough, right? I arrived at the venue at the scheduled time and there’s no band, no Poogie. Apparently his flight from Pittsburgh had been delayed. I waited two hours and I asked the cymbal rep, what are we going to do? His answer was pretty much, wait a little longer and shoot what you can. We were about fifteen minutes from doors opening when they finally arrive. Of course they need to sound check so they get onstage and the monitors do not work. So now the sound guy is pissed and doesn’t want anybody on the stage. The house is screaming they need to close the stage curtains because they need to open the doors. I’m getting nervous so I start unpacking all my cases for lighting and start setting up for another back up plan. I knew once they close that curtain, that stage is dark. All the front lighting is outside the curtain line. They close the curtain and the band is ready to go to the hotel. I’m feverishly trying to set up lights to get some shots. I lit Poogie with an umbrella from the front, I put light with a red gel on a boom overhead and I threw a blue light behind him aiming at the curtain. Meanwhile, Poogie’s band mates are yelling “C’mon! Let’s go! Bus is leaving…” I told Poogie, just a few shots and you’re outta here… I’m set, ready to go. Let’s go… Poogie sat down; wearing the shirt he was traveling in and I said, just play. It wasn’t but a few seconds before the stage manager stormed the stage furious because doors were open but I had already gotten my handful of shots. I’m not exactly sure what Poogie is so happy about in this shot. Maybe he could see behind me and new I was about to get my head chopped off. I don’t know but it works for me. Istanbul chose to run a different image at NAMM and I’ve included that image as well. All in a days work, right?

Orange County Photographer Shoots Poogie Bell at the Vault in Long Beach

Jimmy Camp

Orange County Photographer Greg Garcia Shoots Jimmy Camp for New Record

This is my long time friend, recording artist and political insider, Jimmy Camp. We shot this in his living room for his album “Captain America”. From what I understand, “Captain America” is the first Album to be recorded entirely on an iPod. You can view a “making of...” movie about this on Jimmy’s website: www.jimmycamp.com.

Goldfinger

Orange County Band Photographer Greg Garcia Shoots Goldfinger at the Glass House
Shot with the Nikon FA and available light. I do not remember the film stock. I should re-scan the original negative. This scan is a much more blocked up than the prints that came from this negative. I’ll put that on my “to-do” list...

Hmmm. I think this was at the Glass House. This is going back a few years around the time Britney Spears first single ...Baby One More Time came out. I think this is the drummer. He’s wearing a schoolgirl skirt and he started dancing around the stage like Britney Spears in the video. There was a point when he was dancing on top of the rack you see in the background and I knew, he’s gotta come down some how. So I got ready. I’m sure I was shooting my trusty Nikon FA at the time. Y’know, manual crank, no motor drive etc… You get one shot and I got it. He took an amazing leap. Click!

Billy G. Wrant

Orange County Band Photographer Greg Garcia Shoots Billy G. Wrant of D-Cup
Billy was shot with the Canon 5D and JTL MobileLight & Brolly behind Perry’s Pizza in Newport Beach.

My long time friend Ky, rang me up that he needed images to send for a band audition. This was obviously one of the more serious shots. There are some more shots that are a lot more fun that I’m sure will make it here soon. This was shot in a back ally in Newport Beach.

Hear Kitty Kitty


Orange County Band Photographer Greg Garcia Shoots Hear Kitty Kitty

Hear Kitty Kitty shot in Jay's driveway in Torrance. This was shot with multiple strobe, brolly and warming filters. Captured with the Canon 5D and 5D Mark II. This image has been mocked up for their upcoming show at House of Blues May 10th. This was a fun and kick back shoot. I was going to blog about it but Julie and Nikita expressed the vibe of shoot so well, on the Hear Kitty Kitty blog, I stole it! See below.

hi!! what up?!
well! we just shot this super rad photo set with greg garcia friday.

Photoshoots: This past Friday HKK went to Jay's house in Torrance and shot a whole bunch of promos for Jackson Guitars, HipTrix and Pickworld (our proud endorsers). Beer, vintage cars, carne asada, a pit bull named Bronco=awesome. Thanks to Greg Garcia for his photography skills, Jay for letting us overrun his home with clothes and glitter, and to Danielle for hair and makeup and glitter.