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Per Ole Hagen
The best term to describe Per Ole Hagen would probably be a “Jack of all trades”. He is an educated musicologist, teacher, university lecturer, music and computer journalist concert organiser, band manager and music photographer. Also being a musician himself before, there probably are very few jobs left in the music industry that Per hasn’t done before.
He’s
currently working as the Music Director of NRK P1 – Norwegian public radio, and
we got to talk to him while he was in Austin, Texas, doing a broadcast from the South
by South West festival.
Per has
been to the festival every year since 1997, except for 98 and 99, being a big
fan of the very informal atmosphere: “I have never though of bringing a tie,”
he jokes. He also tells us that it is impossible to tell apart the important
record company executives from the rest of the fans or the bands because
everyone is wearing the same attire of t-shirt and shorts. Begin here for many
years in a row, Per has a lot of advice to give when it comes to seeing as many
bands as possible and how to make the most of it if you’re playing there
yourself. “Know what you’re looking for,” he says, “and if you skip the talking
part of the festival, the conference part with the panels and everything, you
can manage quite a lot extra”. There are 1400 official bands playing at SXSW
this year and if you count all the official gigs in Austin surrounding the
festival, you will come close to 2000 artist playing over only a couple of
days. And although it is great that there are so many bands to choose from, it
can also get frustrating.
Per always
makes sure to get a good mix of artists and bands that he already knows and
likes, and stuff that is new to him. He tells us that this time he has roughly
seen about 40 bands, his list including Isaac Hayes, Ricky Lee Jones, Lily
Allen and Amy Winehouse, only to name a few. But even he has to admit defeat
from time to time, like when he tried to see Iggy & the Stooges and the
queue in front of the venue was so big there was no chance of getting in that
night. He counts this as his least enjoyable experience at the festival this
year.
There is
also a lot to think about if you are playing there as a band yourself,
especially if it is the first time. With Norway being second largest contributor
from Europe after the UK, he knows what he’s talking about.
“You have to have connections before you go, you have to have contacts,” he
tells us. Although it is true that SXSW is meant to be a platform to make
contacts within the industry, it is not that easy to actually get to meet the
important people, and the chance that a label boss will just show up at your
gig is very small. The best way to do it he reckons is “to test the field and
then you put your efforts really in the next time because then you can get more
out of it.” You also shouldn’t only concentrate on the gig your officially
playing for the festival. Make sure that your playing a couple of shows while
you are over there, otherwise the whole trip to the states is a waste of money.
According to Per most people tend to think of the US as one market but this is not true.
Young bands always try to get in with one of the major labels but it’s not
always the best way to go, since markets like the college circuit are equally
important. It is not really important how many contacts you make while you’re
there, in the end “you really only need the one contact in the record company
and the one with the American management for you to succeed.”
But Per is
not only at SXSW in his position as a radio Music Director, but also as a music
photographer. Having been in the field since 1997 and getting more professional
during the last 4 or 5 years, the SXSW is of course a brilliant opportunity to
get some good shots in. But when we ask him if the competition is very high at
this festival, we get a surprising answer: “I don’t feel that much competition
except when you and people struggle to get the right position in the pit for
the most popular artists.” According to him, the business is very cooperative
and the real competition starts after the event is over and the photos are
published on community websites like photo.net. But he is not to worried about
his shots this year because he tends to choose venues with good lighting, which
he thinks is not that easy.
Although
music photography is an important part of the industry, the photographers don’t
really get the respect they deserve. The ones who get the best shots are being
recognised for their work but Per thinks there’s still a long way to go. Especially
the other fields of photography often look down on music photographers because
they have to work under considerably low standard circumstances and therefore
of course can’t be as technically perfect.
But Per has
his tricks if a shot doesn’t turn out the way it was supposed to be. He has
weak spot for black and white photography because “it’s a way to safe a picture
where the lighting was so bad that it wouldn’t look very nice in colour. And
sometimes I just think it fits the artist.” A good scanner and photo shop are
also very helpful when you want to safe a picture that you would have to
discard otherwise.
In order to
get the perfect shot, he tries “to sense what the artist is trying to convey,
how they act, how they pose.” He watches them before he shoots and usually he
has at least heard their music before. He admits that he prefers to photograph
the posers under the musicians because with them you can see that they love to
be onstage and that usually makes for a good shot. Per can’t really name his
favourite genre of music when it comes to photographing the artist (although
metal is among the preferred ones), but he can tell us what he doesn’t like: “I
don’t care much for Hip Hop and Rap music,” he admits. According to him, the
way the artists perform with half their face covered by hand and microphone
doesn’t make for good pictures. Another genre he hasn’t covered yet, but is
very keen on trying, is classical music. This is a completely different
challenge since the photographer has to be very quiet throughout the
performance, which isn’t very helpful if you’re tying to get the perfect shot.
Being asked
if he’s got any advice for aspiring music photographers out there he answers:
“I know it is a vicious circle because you won’t be allowed to take pictures if
you’re not accredited to a media or something, so I would recommend to go to a
local newspaper or get in contact with a band and ask if you can take pictures
of them and they can use it for whatever they like.” This way one can get to
know managers and you will get close to the stage where you can get the good
shots. He also says that it doesn’t always have to be the most expensive camera
“and if you can only afford one lens go for the most light sensitive.” He
thinks that becoming a music photographer is very similar to becoming a music
journalist, although the writers have the advantage of being anonymous and
therefore can be wherever they like while as a photographer you are always
visible and get in the way if people.
But he also
has some advice for the time you finally made it into the pit: “If you’re
allowed to take pictures for the first three songs only, respect that! And
never quarrel with the security guards! If you’re a regular at events, people
will notice you and your behaviour, so do what they tell you to do and it will
be easier for you to get in.” But he adds with a smirk that once you’re famous
it is okay to misbehave just a little bit.
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