Next comes the music enthusiast Jonny Nolan.
- Freelance music and portrait photographer and videographer
- Worked with a variety of clients such as Nettwerk Music, Communion Records, DHP Family, gigwise.com, Bristol In Stereo Magazine and Nuclear Blast Records.
- Photographed the likes of The Kaiser Chiefs, Ed O’Brien (of Radiohead fame), Idles, Royal Blood, Yonaka, beabodabee, The Orielles among many others.
Hey Jonny, so what led you up to kind of doing the degree in photography?
Growing up, my mum was a prolific holiday photo book album maker. And so, when I hit my teenage years and got way more awkward and self-aware, I wanted to take control of my image a bit more and wanted no one to take my photo. So, taking the camera myself was my form of power, controlling what little I could at that age. That must’ve been when I was around 14 years old, and it’s just been going ever since.
Have you got any specific story or highlight in your career so far?
I suppose it was probably my first moment where I raised the camera and got to photograph one of my heroes growing up, and that was the Kaiser Chiefs at a local festival called CarFest North. I reached out to a publication in Liverpool for it. It was such a surreal experience because they were my second ever gig I went to, I must have been like 10 or 11 years old when that happened, and to then about 10 years later be able to raise my camera and see Ricky Wilson on the other side which was such a surreal moment at the time, I was pinching myself throughout the entire gig.
And how do you feel going to university as opposed to starting your career straight away has impacted you?
For some people like me it changed my life, and I will be forever grateful to Trudie Ballantyne, Matthew Murray and all of the team of the Editorial and Advertising Photography. They were wonderful and I am a much better person and photographer as a result of my three years there. Maybe for some people, they didn’t really take on board a lot of the lessons and realistically could have saved them themselves the tuition fees; they were already on the trajectory that they were all they were set on, it was just a case of with the university maybe speeding up that process a bit quicker.
Can you tell me a little bit more about, from doing the degree to building a network and getting to all the work you’ve done, how did you get to that level?
Essentially, it started by me just messing around really with my camera and just basically asking people. My tutor, Matthew Murray, was actually the one to sort of encourage me to get into music because I was always the one raising my hand and answering to who was trying to say, oh, this is a certain musician, this is Radiohead, that’s Nick Cave, this kind of thing. Matthew basically said, “Jonny, you know every single person I bring up, why the hell aren’t you doing this?”. And so, it was at that sort of point I sort of discovered the Frog & Fiddle and reached out to my best friend, my childhood best friend, Jo Jameson, who at the time was a medical student and very much into the Bristol underground scene – it just sort of went from there really. In the case of contacts through friends such as Jo and people I met along the way like Olly Roylance who was a booker at the Frog & Fiddle at the time and it just sort of snowballed from there.
I found that particularly with both the Cheltenham and Bristol scenes when I first started around 2018, were quite relaxed and it was mostly just a case of a very DIY approach to everything. There was a certain sense of freedom that anything could be possible and I suppose we were quite young and naive at the time and I say this as only a 25 year-old, so Christ knows what happens next.
I think the best example of this would be with an artist called Lynks. Essentially, it started as a drag project and it just sort of evolved from that little idea in the creator’s head. I was actually at one of the first gigs that Lynks ever did and it was essentially this really weird party that happened in a friend Jo’s living room at the time and it was just one of the strangest and most chaotic nights of my life. I have a handful of photos of that night and I just wonder how did that even happen?
It’s was just like little random events where I got connected to people say like Lynks, it just sort of got me the confidence to sort of reach out to various people and eventually get up the courage to email Bristol In Stereo; encountering the editor at the time, Loki, I think their name was, and just the whole team at Bristol In Stereo sort of put me into a more professional and a higher level of music industry personnel rather than just ones that were organised in the Frog & Fiddle.
They actually got me into venues such as SWX, O2 Academy and the Louisiana. I just sort of started meeting people from there and bands such as VALERAS, Superlove and VUKOVI were the main ones that I managed to get connected with in those early days – and it’s just been fantastic to see them grow. Whenever I’ve seen them at later dates, it’s always just been a really nice thing to say, “Oh yeah, I remember seeing you and can we go have a drink” kind of thing.
It essentially was a period of me going from that weird little introverted kid who started at university then slowly came out of his my shell and be a bit more gregarious and outgoing. That was obviously the key of what changed my fortunes really, just having that confidence to go up to someone, be it at an event, a gig or whatever, and just say I can help you, can you give me that chance kind of thing. Also, having a similar sort of approach when coming to email with people. It’s just all about confidence, really.
What do you think it takes to be a music photographer or videographer these days?
First and foremost, you have to love it, because if you wanted to come in for this for the money then I’d sort of laugh you out of the room, especially when you start out. Most of the time it’s not even taking the photos or attending the gigs it’s more about making those connections and being genuine and sincere.
Never try to expect anything and try to be your best to be kind and empathetic, you never know where the conversation might lead you. Never dismiss the random either, there are certain events that have happened just out of the blue. My dad is a vet and owns a practice local to us, and one day, the marketing manager of a major independent record label, came in with his dogs, and Dad basically said, “Oh, you work in the music industry, right? I’ll just go and get your dog’s vaccines and please can you have a look at my son’s website whilst I do that”. So eventually he asked for my email and we set up meetings after for on and off for about 18 months, at this point and it is a really, really fruitful relationship that I have with a label just because of the off chance of a marketing manager just coming in to my dad’s practice and making that connection. And so, always be open to the random I always say.
When you start out and most of the time it’s not even taking the photos or attending the gigs it’s more about making those connections, being genuine and sincere.
What would you say to future musicians and managers if they were thinking of working with a photographer or videographer?
We are also artists as well, it’s a simple matter of respect. It’s all about respecting the craft of each and every person in our industry, and it’s something I firmly believe in.
I think it’s a case of just appreciating that this is someone’s time and effort going into collaborating with you. They could quite easily just be working a job in another industry that would probably pay a lot more, but if they’re anything like me, you’re doing this because they love the music industry and the art form of music.
They generally want to help and to make something cool with someone. They appreciate working in a different art form and I think that’s something that can be exploited by some people.
So, what motivates you as a music photographer?
For me, it’s just simply my love of music. It’s always something that I’ve gotten from my Dad in particular, he was a huge fan of the late great radio DJ John Peel back in the day, playing anything from Bob Marley, Chic, The Rolling Stones, Blondie, Al Green and Aretha Franklin. Just the constant urge to try and find the next interesting musician or band rubbed off on me.
A few things I’ve experienced in my life so far have given me such pleasure as being able to say, “Oh I’m seeing this really cool band tonight, do you want to join me?” Kind of thing. It’s highly personal to me and yeah it is just a genuinely fun industry to be a member of, and I’m very lucky to be a part of and I hope to continue to be a part of going forward.
What are some like highlights of your 2022, and what are your plans for the rest of this year?
I’d probably say it would be starting to get to know a brilliant young artist who was just signed about a year ago to Scruff of the Neck called Bex. She is a wonderful talent in the punk space, like think Kathleen Hannah mixed with Wargasm and Iggy Pop. She’s wonderful and it’s just been great to see her grow and for her to be kind enough to have me along for a chunk of that ride.
Also just being able to experiment more with the video side of things. A good example is meeting an Irish folk pop musician called Seba Safe. He and his record label invited me to film a day of recording of his EP which came out earlier this summer. Being allowed to make work in that relaxed environment is much more intimate, meaningful and personal to everyone. It’s just sort of a privilege that I’ve done people that thought it gives me that kind of trust that I’m allowed in those situations to take that not many people would see otherwise.
I always prefer working behind the scenes because everyone’s generally more relaxed and able to have a proper conversation that’s not just about what they’re working on. We’re able to chat about what’s going on in their lives and, what’s influencing them and why they’re doing it. It’s always a privilege to be involved in those conversations and to build up a face-to-face relationship rather than just, oh, you’re just a faceless and emotionless entity on the other side of the screen.
For future plans, I’m going to be working with Bex at YNOT Festival and that’s up in Derbyshire. I’m also currently in the application phase of Arts Council funding towards a project with my journalist friend, Patrick Hudson, about the late Liverpudlian sculptor called Arthur Dooley. Who had a very lively life and left behind a body of work that is highly under appreciated outside of a certain generation of scousers. I’m currently ironing out the last bits of the application for that funding so hopefully by September sort of time I should have news that we have the funding to do this project. Yeah, that really, as well as just trying to keep up with the music side of things. I’m very keen to become a bit more portrait-orientated as a part of what needs to expand my portfolio.
What would you like to see going forward?
Equity, equality and empathy. Empathy because not everyone knows what someone’s going through and that might affect their work. Equity because everyone at the bottom needs to be paid more and there needs to be better protections for practitioners starting out to experiment and find their voices, be it through videography, photography or music. I’d fully recommend anyone to pay attention to the Music Venue Trust and their goals of trying to get massive venues to give a proportion of tickets in arenas to be donated to smaller venues to help them survive through the cost of living crisis at the moment, allowing them to better support those starting out. And equality because we have to be more inclusive. I’m very fortunate to be a white man from a middle-class family and there needs to be more opportunities for women and people of colour. I’ve only ever been in the same pit as two or three photographers at most who are women this has to change.
I’d fully recommend anyone to pay attention to the Music Venue Alliance and their goals of trying to get massive venues to give a proportion of tickets in arenas to be donated to smaller venues to help them survive through the cost of living crisis at the moment.
Have you got any like recommendations, artist/ song recommendations that you’ve like experienced that you’d like to share?
I’ve already mentioned them, but Lynks is amazing. I recently saw them perform at 2000 Trees. It was the first time I saw them in about 18 months and the show has improved so much – I’m so proud of them. All of the time, effort and rehearsal that goes into that process, it’s just amazing to see it all pay off. The choreography, the singing and the crowd work have improved so much! It’s truly incredible.
Second, Sun King. They’re from York and criminally unknown. They are an early 70s, late 60s rock pop band, think a mix of the white album era Beatles with early Scissor Sisters. Stop what you’re doing and go listen to ‘All or Nothing’ or ‘Domino’ by them right now!
My third recommendation is Opus Kink. They have a song called ‘Chains’, which is one of my favourite songs of the year so far, very cool ska/jazz rock project that is like Madness’ unhinged kid locked in a recording studio unsupervised.
And finally, English Teacher. English Teacher are another Yorkshire band, this time from Leeds. There’s a lot of momentum behind them at the moment as they prepare to release their debut album and they are just the most interesting band I’ve come across in years. I’ve not been as excited about a band as I am about English Teacher since Wolf Alice first came onto the scene.
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