Wired for Melbourne Sound opens 28 September, an exhibition that will see NGV Studio transformed into a recording space where a new EP will be recorded by a ‘super group’ of Melbourne musicians. The EP produced will feature in Melbourne Now. Here, Lauren Bamford discusses her involvement in the project.
There is a thriving independent music scene in Melbourne, including many bands and artists that the majority of the population would have never heard of. Now, I’m not blaming you for that, it’s just the way it is. However for many of the artists involved, this doesn’t slow down the constant routine of writing, recording, performing and releasing new music. If the underground music scene of Melbourne is anything, it’s prolific. And it always has been. Having the opportunity to share my work of recent years at Wired for Melbourne Sound, is one of the highlights of my career so far.
As a photographer working in Melbourne, a lot of the work I do is based around creating images to accompany the release of a new album, be it for a press release, a magazine article or the albums artwork. This is a field of work I feel very at home in, and have been developing since I was a teenager. Over time, I have made many friends in the scene, and have had the pleasure of working with them multiple times over a number of album releases.
One example of this is Melbourne musician, Amaya Laucirica. With a new album soon to be released, we headed out to the gardens of the Heide Museum of Modern Art in Balwyn, to create some new portraits for the promotion of the album. There were no grand plans or concepts, just beautiful settings allowing the shoot to unfold naturally. In situations like this, I still like to shoot Polaroids on my medium format camera – you get the instant gratification of digital, but with a quality and colour that can’t be mimicked.
Earlier this year, I enjoyed one of the perks of the independent Melbourne music scene. To celebrate their engagement, Martin Frawley and Julia McFarlane of Twerps, held a gig in their backyard where some local bands along with visiting American band, Real Estate played till the sun went down. This shot is of the band, Free Time, fronted by Dion Nania, formerly of Panel of Judges, Scott & Charlene’s Wedding, Hi God People et al. Since relocating to New York City, where Free Time are based, Dion pulled together a hybrid version of the band, with local Melbourne musicians Julian Patterson (The Ancients, Mum Smokes, Minimum Chips, Kes Band) and Ian Wadley (Mad Nanna, St Helens, Bird Blobs to name a few).