Band Press Kit Photos

About six months ago I went in to my dentist for a regular check up. He's a music fan and collects guitars as well so we always have interesting conversations as his hands are shoved down my throat.

I told him all about OilCan Drive and, as I was right in the middle of making some headway with it six months ago, I told him, "OF COURSE I'll have the whole thing done in six months when I next see you."

But, of course, six months went by quickly and life, client work, and other things got in the way. Two weeks away from seeing him and I was nowhere near done with any aspect of the project.

For some reason I put the six months when I 'd see him next into my head as some sort of deadline. So, when that deadline was fast approaching I kind of freaked out. I raced to get some of the music done but nothing was feeling right. And then, when it was feeling right it took me five days to dial the drum sounds in. That self imposed deadline was coming up fast.

When I felt the art wouldn't be done for the books and covers in time I had some wild idea about making a quickly put together OilCan Drive press kit. It would mimic other press kits I had seen with a cover letter, band bio, an EP of music with three or four songs on it, and some photos of the band.

Most of the press kits I have seen (well, actually, I've only seen one in person) had a black and white photo as opposed to a color one. I thought it would be cool to have the OilCan Drive photos sport a sepia tone to convey that look of a retro-futuristic rock and roll western. I also thought it would be cool to put my cartoon characters in real backgrounds. I brainstormed for a bit and decided to take photos of a few of my favorite places to eat here in town. Armed with my camera I shot a bunch of photos of Deli Zone and Einstein's Bagels.

But, of course, things got in the way and, before I knew it, it was time to go see the dentist. I had blown my deadline and felt like I failed. Not that he seemed to mind. He liked the stuff I gave him last time and told me to keep going. I told him it wasn't done yet but I was working on it.

Maybe next time.

But, I did do these little test photos using some existing art with the photo backgrounds I shot. I really like the way they came out. I think when I have the time to do it I'd love to do individual photos of each band member in my favorite eateries. The thumbnailed ideas are sketched out. It's just a matter of finding some time to work them up into finished pieces.

But, I think I'll skip the self imposed deadlines this time. I have enough stress getting all of the client work I have done on time. I don't need to do it to myself as well.