Sound Breaking from PBS episode 8

Sound Breaking from PBS episode 7

Sound Breaking from PBS episode 6

Sound Breaking from PBS episode 4

Great series...

Sound Breaking from PBS episode 3

Sound Breaking from PBS Episode 2

Great Series: Soundbreaking Stories from the Cutting Edge of Recorded Music

Great Hank Shocklee Interview

Here's an interview with one of my good old friends, music producer, cultural critique, hustler, Hank Shocklee, the leader of the infamous Bomb Squad, who of course produced all the Public Enemy recordings I shot the covers on, not to mention countless other tracks and artists.

here's the blurb that came with the clip:

Public Enemy is without a doubt the most influential rap group of our planet. Thanks to Hank Shocklee. The founding member and legendary DJ/producer gives you an insight into the beginnings of P.E.. Whether it is the complementary combination of the voices of Chuck D. and Flavor Flav, or the legendary noisy and soulful sound design of Public Enemy, making rock 'n' roll by the means of hip hop - Shocklee's beats has always been balanced out ingeniously in order to be charged with fierce energy. Being a DJ the turntable have always been a fundamental part of the intrumentation. Moreover Hank Shocklee provides some really exquisite recipes for unique production results.

My Hank Shocklee photo at top of this post, shot in the jail in New Jersey, away from the set of "Black Steel In The Hour of Chaos" video shoot. circa 1988. (see the video below)



check Hanks main web presence at Shocklee.com

Double Check Your Head - Beastie Boys (+ some unpublished photos)

My friend Luke just found this blender photo including the LP cover I shot for the Beastie Boys "Check Your Head". Max Tannone formally known as "Minty Fresh Beats" has put together a pretty fucking cool Beastie Boys mash-up that actually mashes up some cuts from the Beastie Boys "Check Your Head" with other songs from the Beastie Boys "Check Your Head". Max also did the infamous Jadiohead mash-up.

Then I put two and two together and realized Max was a part of the softball game i played in all season that Adam Horovitz puts together. I had no idea that this is what he does. But may i say, not only is he nice with the mixing and mashing, but i'd be willing to say he's just as nice with his on the softball field.

That all said, let me throw in a few extra shots from that "Check Your Head" photo session we did the monday after Thanksgiving in 1991, purely on the strength. This was not an assignment, in fact the Beasties told me they already had a cover idea for the album done. I was in town visiting family for the holiday and went by to hang out with the Beasties at their G-Son studio after not seeing them since they left New York. We were playing basketball goofing around while listening to the album as they were working on sequencing or something. I was blown away and inspired, this being the 1st time hearing it and the 1st time they had picked up their own instruments in a long while. So before i got on the plane back to New York I set up the day to shoot them. We hung out, threw around a few ideas and came up with these great photos that have since become iconic. The original LP cover in fact came from a FAX i sent to them, previewing the prints i would put in the mail a few days later. The way i remember it, they were so late on the cover due to the switch and so stoked on the image, that they just used the fax!




the other ones you may have seen before:




Max's free "Double Check Your Head" downloads HERE http://www.doublecheckyourhead.com