The worlds your oyster so shuck it

Ok so I have a few months of catching up to do

2008-05-22T12:37:00.000-07:00

I think I might do this in reverse order and change the posts dates so hopefully It'll be sorted in order.

Big news thats happened: I've left Kerrang! and started working for Metal Hammer magazine. I've moved house, I was in the last one for 3 years (got new flatmates too), I had a motorbike accident. Lots of other bits of news but they are the ones that are at the front of my squishy brain. Leaving Kerrang! was a big deal I've been shooting for then since I first got here and it was one of the hardest decisions. I was very sad to leave Kerrang! as I have lots of good friends there and it feels like I'm leaving a family. Metal Hammer is pretty exciting though I have lots of good friends there a bunch that have previously left Kerrang! The editor of Hammer is one of my best mates over here Alex I did my first overseas trip / coverfeature on Audioslave for Kerrang! with him. There is lots of potenetial to make a good name for myself at Hammer and potential to be there no.1 shooter if I push myself to be the best rock shooter in the UK. I belive I can achieve it as my photography is always evolving and I get better and better after every shoot :-) So after a few years I should be King of the Hill. I'm always surprised how many people know of me and my work. It humbles me

I

Well a week and a half ago Kaye and I headed up to Shrewsbury for the weekend and came back Monday. It was such a sweet weekend. We Stayed at Moyst Filth (Kaye's old house) its a ramshankle joint full of interesting people and a great place to hang. Al owns the place and has done all the work on the house making it full of character and most likely very illegal. The weather all weekend was in the high 20s close to 30 and full sun :-)

I rode my road bike down to Euston station and took it to Shrewsbury with me so that I could ride from the Station. Kaye already left the previous day. After a slow start as the whole house had been out boozing the night before we headed out to one of the local hills for a walk. We all went out for a big indian meal in town about 15 of us. I walked Kaye back to Moyst Filth after dinner as I think the night before had worn her out. The rest of the crew went out and partied on.

The next morning I woke up and helped Al out on his alotment for a while. He's done a pretty impressive job. Made a vineyard and was growing lots of vegies. It was a pretty big space really. We headed back after the others had woken up packed food and headed out to a local lake. The lake was way better than I had imagined with a bunch of jetties dotted around the lake. The jetties had been set up for fisherman but luckily today there was noone fishing. The water was amazingly clear and there were water lillies all around the edge of the lake. We spent the whole day there and I even got a little sunburnt

We headed back to the house had a great dinner and the next day just before lunch I jumped on my bike and headed to the train for the journey back to London. Unfortunately I left my expensive bike lock on the train on the journey up. It didn't realy bother me as the weekend was so sweet.

Jay came to visit. Jay was popping in on her way back to South America from Shrewsbury

2008-05-19T17:15:00.000-07:00

Jay had come back to Shrewsbury for a while before heading back to South America.

Also some pics around Euston Station. I don't know what these were for but here they are anyway.

2008-05-18T04:08:00.000-07:00

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Jo and Germanos wedding

2008-04-18T17:08:00.000-07:00

Shizer! Just moved into the new house and a couple of days later Jo gave me a call saying she was on her way to get married. Now I know Jo didn't really want anyone to come along to the wedding and just wanted it to be a simple ceremony. She only gave me an hours warning which gave me just enough time to meet up with Kaye grab the little ixus and head down to kings cross where they were signing paper and getting married. I took a couple of pics and videos. We then all went bowling with was fun. Ohh yeah I caught the bouquet too which German seemed to be pretty happy about :-)

Move into new house with Kaye in Bounds Green

2008-04-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

You can see me painting the walls in my new office. I even put in a insulated wooden floor into the office. It had double glazing already but the interior was just a shed. so I converted it into a cool office/studio space.

My old next door neighbour Kevin came round for a game of Jenga. He very kindly loaned me his car to pick up the flooring and a few things from Ikea. Kevin and his family are really cool people :-)

You can see I was a bit exhausted from all the moving.

The garden of the new place was pretty amazing. Very tropical looking.

Anyways I moved out only a couple of months after moving in and doing all that work. Kaye and I decided we needed to live in seperate houses seeing I still worked from home. It was just too hard on our relationship. I've moved to Turnpike Lane with my old mates and old flatmates Darran, Trev and Troy. It all worked out pretty sweetly. All my work on the studio wasn't put to waste either as Kaye decided to move down to her there and make it her little garden studio paradise. It's pretty sweet with the sound of the waterfall from the pond just outside the window.

My new house is great and I'm enjoying being in the vibrant streets of Turnpike Lane. I'll put pics up of my new place soon. Kaye broke the camera :-( waaaaaaaaa

test

2008-04-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

fun around Camden

2008-03-28T16:17:00.000-07:00

Kaye picked up a bargain of a fur coat. It was so funny she didn't believe me that it was a mink coat and only believed me a week after she bought it for £20 and asked some people in a shop. Now personally I have no problems with mink coats as in Britian they are a pest just the same way that rabbits were a pest in Australia. Minks have made a big impact on Britains native wildlife and have driven populations of native wildlife down. The minks may have been farmed for the jacket which I don't agree with, but christ is they are a pest and cause problems and possible extinction to some native wildlife hunt them and make jackets out of them. Kaye had a bit of turmail over the jacket herself but then soon realised it was better to be used that thrown in the rubbish. If I had my skin taken for a jacket I wouldn't want it thrown to the garbage I'd want it worn with glamour and ritz.

SO here are some pics hanging around Camden markets :-)

More fun with Kaye :-) Kaye's 21st B'day

2008-03-27T16:08:00.000-07:00

Drove Stryper down to Portobello road not long after I got back from Aus. You can see Kaye asleep on the back with I was filling up at the servo hehe cute!

Also pics on Kaye b'day. I got her a cool little zen player and we went down to the Amused Mouse comedy club for a big jug or delicious beer and some laughs. Aww lil Kaye 21 and I met her when she was still 19 a week before her 20th. What a dirty old cradle snatcher I am mwahaha!

Home in Aus for a few weeks

2008-03-26T15:39:00.000-07:00

It was such a quick trip that I was rushed off my feet tring to see everyone and shoot the BDO as well. I managed to go to the beach quite a lot and hung out with Dave and Nik a lot as they are some of my favourite people. Den was away, Amos wasn't there Chris wasn't there. A lot of people were away. I saw Kate and Phil and little Elanore with was ace. Went swimming with Brooke and Tootie and the Fruuti. I saw Tracie and Gav and their new babe briefly. Tracie seemed pretty tired. I guess thats what babies do to yo I couldn't make it to Lismore or Byron as I didn't have the time and I didn't get a chance to go to Melbourne.

It seems I've only got a few pics. Anyways time was short as I didn't have as money as the previous year to play with. Work at Kerrang! had become a bit thiner.

fun round london with my favourite Human: Kaye

2008-03-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

These pics were all taken in early January just before I went back to Aus. I spent an amazing xmas in Nice with my family. Unfortunately Kaye couldn't come along. I'll make sure she comes next time. Some pics are with my good mate Shannon just before I flew out. One of the last times I'd hang with him in London. We had a lot of fun hanging out togeather and grew quite a bit in each others company. Shania is a top bloke.

I made Calanoli (spelling? arggg) that Kaye wanted to document on the road of me trying to teach Kaye how to cook. Such a pretty face but not good in the kitchen haha

The pics in the cafe with Kaye and Strawsberries is a cool little cafe that we popped into and saw Noel Feilding opening his own little art exhibition. His paintings were great and he always looks so happy and friendly. I didn't say hi as I was a little star struck funny seeing I shoot stars all the time. Al from Shrewsbury also cam for a visit to London :-)

NYE in the Shires

2008-03-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

Ma, Pa and James all headed to SHropshire to the town of Shrewsbury where my girlfirend Kaye is from. We spent a fantastic evening at a great Indian resturant and then walked to one of the local pubs the Nags Head to countdown new years. Ma didn't join us as I think the Indian finished her off. On New Years day we drove out to the Welsh countryside to visit Pistyll Rhaeadr

Coffee with Elizabeth at Bar Italia in Soho

2008-03-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

Monte Carlo

2008-03-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

My Family and I all made a trip to Casino Royale James Bond style and pretended we were part of the super wealthy that just cruised on on out super yacht

xxxxmas in France

2008-01-27T23:32:00.000-08:00

I had a great christmas. I met my whole family in Nice. We stayed in an apartment that was right on the waterfront and at the end of an old market which meant lots of great food and coffee. Andrew and I headed out to Isola 2000 ski resort for a days nailing it down the steep French Alps. It was amazingly affordable. All up in cost 50 euro for transport from Nice, lift tickets and ski hire. Xmas presents included 2 tiny remote control helicopters which I got Andrew. We flew those around the apartment hovering just over Dad's head most of the time :-).

Spent a day down in Monte Carlo. The train ride was fantastic, right along the med coastline and only about 30 mins. We saw Casino Royale (James Bond) and gawked at the many yachts and super cruisers. Ahhhh I will have my own yacht in a few years. This year is work work work for me. More pics to come in Another post. I hope we all get to spend many xmas's togeather at different places around the world as we all love travelling and I think it brings the best out in us as a family

Jason popped by from Barcelona!

2008-01-10T16:53:00.000-08:00

and it was his birthday. It's was ace to see Jason again so soon :-)

On the road again with my friends in Bring Me The horizon

2008-01-10T16:48:00.000-08:00

Went on the road with Bring Me The Horizon for Kerrang! and had a blast. I've done so much work with these fellas now I can call them my mates. Oli got out his straighteners and thought he get me looking the shit, hahahha

Mayor of Londons Parade

2008-01-10T16:41:00.000-08:00

Kaye's become a monster vegemite fan!

Hung out with Scruff and Will from Shrewsbury and watched the Mayor Of London's parade

A post for Tom

2008-01-10T16:01:00.000-08:00

Well seeing Tombolina said my blog was like a Mills and Boon novel cover (his is way more sappy I reckon)I thought I better try and top it and make him chunder proper!

Oh yeah and we get pretty good scottish rainbow trout here matey

Met up with Shania Twain in cool fixed gearland Shoreditch, wandered round some exhibitions and drank some beer burpp!!

Bloody Heart for Halloween

2008-01-10T12:59:00.000-08:00

My girlfriend Kaye got me a bloody Lambs heart for Halloween. You could imagine the excitement when I opened the box to discover inside was a bloody heart.

invade tv playlist

2007-11-14T17:03:00.001-08:00

For all my metal fan friends. Here's the first playlist without the band video footage inserted yet for my project www.invade.tv . This is the playlist Dragonforce selected. Nice and Heavy!! and Cheesy at the same time hahaha just like them!

Just testing out the YouTube player. Looks pretty sweet ey? I've also attached the invade.tv standy by video

roaaaaarr!!! Just been on the road with my mates STill Remains and got some awesome footage of them for Invade TV.

Will let you all know when it launches

Iceland Airwaves

2007-10-31T05:19:00.000-07:00

preparing for WInter and Underwater Jimbo at the Maritime Museum

2007-10-30T15:57:00.000-07:00

A shoot in NYC then popped over to Boston to say Hi to Andrew :-)

2007-10-30T04:13:00.000-07:00

Barcelona (words to come soon!)

2007-10-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

A Phallic arrival to Barcelona courtesy of Kaye's keen eye :-). We headed to Barcelona for 4 days and stayed with old friends Ana and Jason (old friends from back in Aus). They've been living in Barcelona for many years at least over 5 I think? They have an amazing apartment as they have great taste and a little french bulldog called Buddy who is super friendly.

Kaye and I spent our time wandering the city, swimming at the beach and walking up the hill beside Barcelona that lead to a cool fort/castle that overlook Barcelona and the Mediterranean. We spent the evenings with Ana and Jason eating our way through Barcelona :-). Eating amazing foods like squid ink risotto and lots of fish.

Battersea Park, The Beggar "Ninjas killed my family I need money for Kung Fu Lessons"

2007-10-08T13:39:00.000-07:00

and some pics and vids of just cruising round London

Rod popped by for a quick visit

2007-10-08T13:36:00.000-07:00

Rod, my mate from Aus popped by for a quick visit before returning to Aus. He's also a rock shooter. We headed down on Stryper to Portobello markets

K! awards and Reading festival

2007-10-07T16:18:00.000-07:00

Kew gardens and a trip to Wales

2007-10-07T16:06:00.000-07:00

Kerrang! Day Of Rock

2007-10-07T15:40:00.000-07:00

The Kerrang Day of Rock is when K! takes over virgin megastore on oxford street in London put on 3 bands and a bbq on the rooftop. It's always a lot of fun and a chance to just hang with a bunch of rockstars that I've worked with since coming here. Here's a pic of me with Matt Tuck from Bullet For My Valentine

Spending Time round Shrewsbury with Kaye and Joe

2007-08-12T15:44:00.000-07:00

My unroooool girlfriend Kaye lives in Shrewsbury which is a very pretty part of England. It's very close to Wales and about 40mins from Birmingham.

Riding Stryper round Central London

2007-08-07T16:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a bit of video around some of the famous places in London (Soho, Piccadilly Circus). Kaye's my cameralady. It's great to just jump on the bike at Home and ride into Soho to grab a coffee at Bar Italia. The ride takes about 30mins

riding to Hamstead Heath swimming ponds with Greg

2007-08-06T15:17:00.000-07:00

Wednesday picnics and swims in Hamstead Heath

2007-08-05T15:18:00.000-07:00

Had a great midweek chillout. Kaye and I rode Stryper up to Muswell Hill late morning to grab some fruit salad and food. We then headed for a picnic and swim down at the bathing ponds in Hamstead Heath

Oh and big PLA guerilla scarves are so hot right now in London I thought I'd do my own version

Budgewong Festival 2007

2007-08-05T10:16:00.000-07:00

Denise and Sandy

2007-08-05T09:34:00.000-07:00

Had 2 days with Denise and Sandy before they headed back to La. Wondered all round central London with them Tate Modern, Bar Italia all the cool places. Had a boozy farewell for the ladies Trev as the always reliable booze britain joined in. We drank and danced the night away at the Metal Bar The Intrepid Fox

Party on in Shrewsbury

2007-08-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

little frogs in Kayes backyard

Joe cocker impression

Travelled to Shrewsbury again. It's about a 4 hour ride on Stryper. Was supposed to be covering the Supersonic festival in Birmingham for Kerrang! but they cancelled the review of it. Still had a pass and a +1 so Kaye and I ventured in to check it out. Checked out some crazy ass bands and even weirder short films :-). I missed Mogwai and Sunn))) play ( I must be mad!!) I agreed to leave early as Kaye had a friend who was having a house party back in Shrewsbury and all her friends were going to be there. The party was lotsssss of fun and I didn't mind missing the bands.

Got back to Kayes place in the morning after having shopping trolley races and stealing newspapers to put on random peoples door steps. I made pancakes for everyone then we all crashed. kaye and I saw Shrek 3 later that eve with Tristan. I slept through the whole movie hahaha just like my dad used to. We then snuck into Harry Potter and I was wide awake for the whole film. Harry Potter movies are soo good.

Had to do some repairs on Stryper as the undercarriage that holds the exhaust manifold and silencers had become loose. That delayed my travels back to London. Got back to London and had to tuen right round and jump on the train to Birmingham to cover Gym Class Hereos. Totally crap band, but had a great time as Kaye caught the train into Birmingham and spent the night with me in my hotel :-)

Denise and Sandy come to visit from LA :-)

2007-08-05T08:54:00.000-07:00

Had my ace Denise mate from LA visit with Sandy. We spent a bit less than a week togeather before they headed off to France and Italy. I was soooo good to hang with Denise again :-).

Also some pics from an impromptu backyard dinner party

greg and Bek and a tour de france flower bike

2007-08-05T08:50:00.000-07:00

Morning Bek!!

Greg on his way to an interview and Beks vintage bike frame that has become a single speed

Shrewsbury, Wales and a cat in a glass

2007-07-24T02:56:00.000-07:00

Saw Avenue Q

2007-07-24T02:51:00.000-07:00

Yay!

Muppets and Theatre. Check it out here Avenue Q

Aerosmith and Tudor Man

2007-07-21T04:28:00.000-07:00

After rockin at Klub K! with Kaye, Still Remains it was off to Hyde Park to shoot Hyde Park Calling. A one day festival with Aerosmith headlining. Chris Cornell, Jet, The Answer, Brigade, Reuben also played. Unfortunately I couldn't get a +1 so I couldn't take Kaye along. The weather was pretty rubbish with it raining. Chris Cornell was amazzing and ran all around stage enjoying the rain to keep the crowds spirits alive.

Came home to hang with Kaye as soon as Aerosmith hit power balad song mode which was only 4 songs into their set. I somehow agreed to let Kaye cut my hair. Well to be honest it was starting to look pretty shaggy. She gave me a Tudor man hairstyle argggg!!!!!

Look at Greg and Beks reaction to the Tudorman hairstyle hahaha

first big ride on Stryper

2007-06-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

Well picked up the Motorbike Thursday with the help of ace Taikwondo buddy Waheed. I took it for its first big ride on Friday and rode it to Shrewsbury to pick up Ultra Vixen Kaye. Now the ride was supposed to take 3+ hours. I left at around 8pm. All was going great. Checked everything, all lights working, brakes, oil etc etc.

Stopped at a roadside stop for a wimpy's burger then got out by the bike and checked everything again. Damn!! The taillight wasn't working and I was only riding on the front parking light argggg! I didn't notice as it doesn't get dark till 10pm here in the middle of summer. So luckily I had got full insurance, hospital cover and roadside assistance earlier in the day which only cost £175 :-). The Bike cost me £400 and has 10 months road tax (total bargain!).

I got out roadside assistance and got the tail light bulb changed. Unfortunately he didn't have a front light bulb as its a 1981 motorbike. So I decided to keep riding along the M1 as the roadside dude thought it should be ok. Well I got off the M1 and onto the M6. I then realised that this was toatally idiotic as the M6 isn't lit and I only then realised how dim the headlight was. So I once again stopped at a roadside stop called Welcome Break at a place called Corley. The roadside dude came out again after I had asked them to bring out a light bulb for a 1981 cb250N. He didn't bring one arggggg! I then had to wait again for the roadside recovery to come to drive me to Shrewsbury as it was just too dangerous to ride on such a dim headlamp. I eventually got to Kayes at 4.30am. A 3 hour trip became an 8 hour trip

So I arrived at "Moyst Fylth" affectionate term of Kaye's house in Shrewsbury and slept for about 6 hours. Met some of Kayes flatmates Dan and Kayley, hung out for a bit then got back on the bike which Kaye and I have just decided to name Stryper in homage to the Chrstian metal band

We aimed to get back to London around 8pm so that I could meet up with my mates Still Remains for dinner. I spent 4 days on a bus with Still Remains early last year on the Kerrang! Tour and had a lot of fun with the guys.

Kaye and I got on the rode and about halfway the bike conked out, hmmmmm?? I felt like Stryper had run outta fuel. I looked in the tank but could see petrol so I assumed it had to be something else. Back on the phone to roadside assistance again! Kaye and I romantically fell asleep on the side of the M1 hahaha. I was awoken by the AA man by a kick to my boot. He couldn't seem to figure out what the problem was at first then we discovered that one half of the tank which was the reserve couldn't get to the fuel tap and their was no reserve switch on the tap. Stryper basically needed to be leaned on its side to get the fuel out of the reserve side of the tank. Something I learnt that is common with older motorbikes.

We eventually got to London but missed dinner with Still Remains. We rocked up to Koko
which is where Klub Kerrang! is on and hooked up with the Still Reamins dudes there as they were DJing. Was really great to see them even if it was only for a short time :-). Darran my flatmate came along too and was doing some random dancing with chicks at Klub K!. Also got to see Gez a friend that is in 2 bands Ghost Of A Thousand and This Is Menace

Greg and Bek arrive in London yayyyyy!

2007-06-21T15:24:00.000-07:00

Met G-Train and Bek at the Hairport on Friday Morning :-). Is unreal to have some more doers in town for adventure. Took them for a big ride all round north london on Sat. Down to Camden etc. Shot Motorhead at the Royal Festival Hall in London which has just reopened. Was pretty cool to see Motorhead play there. It was part of a festival called Meltdown that is curated by Jarvis Cocker of Pulp fame.

We cruised down to Brick Lane markets on Sunday and met up with a drug weary Shania. Lotsa cool stuff down at Brick Lane. Hung out again Monday, Tues and on Wednesday the made their way to Glastonbury festival which by weather reports is destined to be a mud fest. Norti jim didn't do too much work. Oh well life is about having fun :-)

There's pics of Greg and I getting all bike geeky and doing tack stands in the kitchen. Greg rides a fixed gear racer that he shipped over from back home. Tom I know you'll be interested in the bike. It's a Hillbrick Aussie bike. A custom made frame. Fixed gear racers are all the rage here in London. If you ride into central london about 60-80 percent of the serious cyclists are on fixed gear bikes. Some with rediculously tiny handlebars too

Today my Mate Waheed helped me out by driving the shop van out to Surrey with me to pick up my new steel horse. The old 1974 Honda cd 175 I'm restoring is taking a bit of time as things need to get made up from pattern, so I bought this pretty one cb 250N for 400 squid so that I won't miss out on cruising in summer. It is in amazzzing condition and i got an absolute bargain. Will prob sell it when I finish restoring the old cd 175. Planning on doing a lil euro cruise on the new steel horse with ye stunning pirate lass Kaye, who's just been sailing from Germany to Denmark grrrrrrrrrrr I be a lil jealous

Download festival

2007-06-12T15:11:00.000-07:00

Rightio so it was another download festival and twas amazzzzzing again. Hung out with the whole Kerrang! gang and was stoked to have Kaye along to play with when I wasn't working. This girl is amazzzing me all the time :-). Managed to hang with a bunch of friends from bands Aiden, Dragonforce, The Scare boys. Motley Crue kicked assss! was hair banging away to them with Kaye. Just toooo many good bands and no way to see them all as I was working.

One highlight tho was on the third day when I got to the festival site (after only 3-4 hours sleep the 2 previous nights) Went into the red bull tent which Kaye and I managed to score wristbands to had a hamburger and red bull. That still didn't seem to wake me up so we decided to go watch Unearth (one of my fav metal bands) before I started shooting. I thought right time to wake up and ran into the middle of a massive circle pit yeeeeearggggggg!!! fuck yeah!!! it wqs just too much fun, got smashed up, a random hit to the jaw and suddenly i was ready for the day. Here's a vid of the song that was playing when I ran into the circle pit of death.

For my friends that arn't familiar with circle pits, a circle pit is basically a huge moshpit in which everyone starts run in a circle as fast as they can while bashing into each other. Rules are: 1. run as fast as you can and got nuts 2. If anyone falls stop and pick them up

Some of the killer bands that played to mention a few are:
Megadeth
Suicidal Tendancies
Dragonforce
Job for a cowboy
My Chemical Romance
Slayer
Machinehead
Aiden
Turisas
Motley Crue
Gallows
Bring Me The Horizon
Marilyn Manson
Iron Maiden
Killswitch Engage
Lamb of God
Mastodon
Chimaira
Dimmu Borgir
Napalm Death
Devil Driver
Unearth

and I love all these bands, so you can see too much fun!

Here's a vid the start of Iron Maiden's set to give you an idea of the scale of how huge download is. Make suer you CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrKlsy5B5Wg

ABout halfway throught this vid you can see me onstage in a red tshirt with my camera

Here's a bunch of pics from the festival.

Ohhh yeah and cheeky Kaye stuck that sign on my back just as i walked into the press pit to shoot a band. :-) hmmmmm i'll get my revenge mwahahaha. The office is inside a portacabin where we layout and design the mag onsite so that it will be in the newsagents 3 days later.

Ohhh and here's 2 pics i took that of Iron Maiden that will be in the download

Here's a vid of us causing trouble at 4am in the hotel norti jimbo (as nikos would say)

Best gig so far this year

2007-05-15T06:29:00.000-07:00

Wooooooooo!!

Went and covered a secret show by Gallows down at a pub called The Old Blue Last on Sunday eve . It was an amazzzing show Cancer Bats were on before Gallows .

I was stuck up the front to the side of the stage shooting all night. Well shooting/moshing/protecting my camera gear like it was only born. I got totally drenched head to past my knees from sweat. Trev my flatmate (see pic below) came along and I managed to get a couple of snaps off of him under the lead singer of Gallows :-).

The place was grinding full throtle and Frank the lead singer almost passed out at one stage but managed to keep cranking it out. Gave Ma a call on the way back to tube after the gig and sang her happy B'day :-). Trev didn't believe that my t-shirt was more drenched than his so we had a wring them out compettition and I had enough sweat in my t-shirt to fill half a cup :-) ROARRRR!

Here's some shots from the show

Gallows - Abandon Ship

Add to My Profile | More Videos Here's a vid from one of their previous shows at the 100 Club on Oxford Street London

RIde for Anzac Day

2007-05-03T04:16:00.000-07:00

Rode down to the Cenotaph in Whitehall for Anzac Day today and got some eldery Aussie ladies to take my pic. It was a 36km round trip with some nice hills. Did it for my Dad really as I know it would make it happy to know I paid repects to my dead machine gunning great granfather. On the way back I stopped via trafalgar square to see the place covered with cups of tea. I think it was for a tv show called the human footprint and is supposed to represent how many cups of tea a brit will drink in their lifetime

till next update rockkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk xxx666

little camera broken

2007-04-22T15:11:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends

Well Monkeyboy's little ixus is busted. Thats why there's been no recent update.

Since Dubai I've had a lot of fun. Kerrang! and Metal rules my world :-) Went to Zurich last weekend to shoot a band called despised icon. The weather was amazing sunny and 25 degrees. The whole town of Zurich was buzzing. Shot the band on Sunday Afternoon straight after arriving in Zurich. I shot the guys by the railway track. Spent the rest of the day hanging with the guys and then watched the show. They were on tour with a bunch of great bands Unearth . Who are one of favourites. Job for a cowboy and Daarth were also on the tour. The lead singer of Unearth Trevor to my surprise rememberred me from when I shot them in New Jersey at Sounds of The Underground festival almost a year and a half ago. I'm always amazed at how often bands that I've only had a quick shoot with remember me. Trevor the supplied me with a whiskey shot. It's a hard job I have :-). Had a great evening hanging with the bands and chatting to pretty ladies from Switzerland. The night ended at a kebab joint at around 2 in the morning with the fellas from Daath and Despised Icon.

Since Dubai I've also done a shoot with Gallows for Alternative Press . It's a lot of fun shooting for AP as the pic editor lets me go crazy creatively and lets me shoot the band any way I like. Here's one of my fav's from that shoot

Also within the last week I've managed to hang with Trivium twice. I seem to have become great friends with those guys. I really enjoy hanging with them. The last time I hung with them was back home in Aus on the Big Day Out. I shot a show for a live review of them in Manchester and then took them punting in Cambridge. It was a lot of fun! We pretended we were vikings ruling the canals :-). The told me they want to try and get me out to Aus with them when they next tour in October :-)

Oh yeah also before Trivium I went on tour with Bring Me The Horizon . I've spent quite a lot of time with those guys too over the last year and feel like their older brother at times. I travelled with then on their tourbus from London to Nottingham over Easter. A great aussie band I Killed The Prom Queen was on the tour and sharing the bus with BMTH. Had a hoot again untill it all ended a little tragically with the lead singer being taking away to jail for the night. It's ashame as he is a really sweet dude. A lot of people like to target BMTH and try to start fights with them as they are only 19/20 and are pretty trendy fashionwise and talented. This time Oli had drunk too much and just reacted to wrong way. Anyways I hope he learns from his mistakes as he's a great fella.

Last night I covered Kerrang Klub! and shot the 2 bands live sign and Devil Sold His Soul. Took Trev (flatmate) and Krys along. Once again it was lots of fun!. I think I have too much fun?? One of the bands playing were from Iceland and played at the Iceland Airwaves festival. It was almost like an Iceland reunion with a bunch of Kerrang! friends being there and some friends from Iceland. To top it off my mates Jake and Angel from Aiden turned up. I didn't even know they were in the UK so that was a great surprise. Their in town on tour supporting Lost Prophets. Another surprise was that Biz and James from New Legends came along to hang with the SharROCK! as they like to call me. These fellas are a great band are are unsigned and doing it hard at the moment, but kick asssss! Their going to play at out massive summer party in Bounds Green that were planning (blow up bar, pool, rock band playing and home brew! )

Spent today in the garden with Daz, Trev, Krys and James playing a bit of backyard cricket.

Anyways will get my lil ixus fixed or a new camera rooooooool soon. If you've read this why not add a comment :-)

So there's plenty of new bands for you all to check out through the links enjoy!!

rockkkkkkkkkkk

xxx666

Dubai Videos

2007-03-14T16:30:00.000-07:00

Dubai

2007-03-13T11:42:00.000-07:00

The mighty Kerrang sent me to Dubai with Caren to cover the Desert Rock festival. It had an amazing lineup Inflames, Mastodon, Iron Maiden, Robert Plant. We stayed at the Fairmont one of the top hotels in Dubai :-)

Explored the old trading part of Dubai with Caren on the first day. The spice markets are amazing and there is gold everywhere! I spoke to the captain of one of the wooden sailing barges and he had just sailed for 7 days from Somalia. Ate some Kingfish yummo and then caught the little ferry accross the creek. It was like dodgem cars on water :-). The old trading area is the most fascinating part of Dubai, to me anyways. Boats from everywhere Middle East, Africa come to trade. Something that hasn't in centuries. If i wasn't working i was going to ask if i could join one of the barges for a trip to africa and help out for passage. Anyways maybe I'll save that for next time.

The architecture of the city is amazing, there is still a lot of developing to be done, but some of these new areas don't look so different from an American city. Then it was festival time with Inflames, The Don and Maiden. Drank in the hotel bar and went to bed at around 3am. One of the other dudes that was there was Chris (Metal Hammer publisher) and we planned to go scuba diving the next day, he generously offered to pay for me. Unfortunately he was too hungover the next day.

Caren and I headed down to Jamiera beach park which was pretty close the the famous sailboat hotel. I shot the amazingly pink jellfish that were cruising in the Persian sea. I was trying to get out to the desert but couldn't get enough of the group togeather to be able to make it affordable for me. In the afternoon we went back to the festival for the second day of rockkkk. Had a hoot on the second day and as per usual I met some nice ladies. The bunch of people I was with stole a polystyrene camels head that was on the stage which made an entire evening of fun riding up and down the glass elevators filming each other. We even took a group shoot with the camels head outside the hotel, still to come. Made some nice friends on the trip and got to spend some time with another metal shooter John McMurtrie who's an ace budgewong!

snow snow snow in Bounds Green

2007-02-08T10:41:00.000-08:00

Hanging with Gulzadd. Had way too much fun today. I had around 10 snowball fights with people (kids and oldies) and went sleding in Alexandra Palace yay! Oh yeah and see proof that there was 6 inches :-)

Tabogannnnning in Alexandra Palace after 6in of snow :-)

2007-02-08T10:04:00.000-08:00

Bye Bye Mum, Dad and Andrew :-(. Now lets play guess where jimbo is?:-)

2007-02-08T01:54:00.000-08:00

Now where am I?

Spent some great time in Hong Kong on the way back to London. Stayed in Mongkok (at the international YMCA) which is Kowloon side and right in the middle of neon sign tech central Hong Kong. I spent most of my time wandering Hong Kong taking photographs of night markets and sights aroung Hong Kong. I caught the Star Ferry maybe 10 times as I had to get a perfect sunset photograph for my Dad's office wall :-).

On My secong day I caught a ferry to one of the outer islands Landau Island and met some cool Hong Kong ladies that I spent the afternoon with before dashing off to catch my plane. We ate at a beachside resturant that had a cat that loved to talk. Ohh how I love cats that talk, they can make me laugh all day long. It had been around 15 years since I was last in Hong Kong and I forgot how much fun the place is. I think us Sharrocks might all be meeting up for Christmas in Hong Kong

Bye Bye Jimbooo's

2007-02-07T17:00:00.000-08:00

Had a great bunch of friends come down to the Rose (pub) to say goodbye for another year

Yearrrgggg 2 of the prettiest ladies around and Metal Warrior Gavros the Exterminate

2007-02-07T16:51:00.000-08:00

Met up with more best mates Tracie and Gavros. Unfortunately I just didn't have enough time to hang with them enough. Also hung out with Kathy K Kaos (lil Shrimpyyy) for the day :-)

Camping with Dave and Nikos

2007-02-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

Camping on a 40 degree summer day. Lucky I was down by the beach with me best mates Toots von Fruits and Nik nik nikooooo's. I slept in a mexican hammock under the shade of some tea-tree's. We camped down at Tallow Beach in Bouddi National Park. It was about a 15min walk after a 20 min 4wd. On the drive back to Sydney we cruised right beside a raging bushfire

hooking up with friends around Sydney

2007-02-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

Mmmnamanah With the Gman Clan

2007-02-06T10:45:00.000-08:00

Had an a great time hanging with Geordie, Janelle, Bonnie and Lachie. I think I got Bonnie and Lachie a little revved up? My favourite little family they all rockkk! as you can see here

Up Lismore, Byron way V.2

2007-02-05T04:48:00.000-08:00

Up Lismore, Byron way V.2

Up round Lismore and Byron Bay visiting Tom, Karla, Suz, Harry, Lorelei and Oscar

2007-02-05T04:36:00.000-08:00

Rainforest adventure just outside Lismore in Aus

2007-01-18T06:51:00.000-08:00

Back in Aus Christmas V.1

2007-01-08T19:22:00.000-08:00

Glamour Models and Rockstars

2007-01-08T18:55:00.000-08:00

My life has now has evolved into being surrounded by Glamour Models and Rockstars hmmmmmmmmmm? I took Ally (model name Porsche Alexis. for all those thinking Portia from my drag queen shooting days noooo she's not a drag queen) along to see Dragonforce just before I left for Christmas in Aus. Here's a pic of Herman (dragonforce guitarist), Ally and Me drinking in the Crobar after seeing the Force play at the Astoria

Pornstar Party @ Fishies in Brighton

2007-01-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

Oh my Lordi!

2006-11-16T09:09:00.000-08:00

Here's one of my recent shoots that I thought some of you might be interested in seeing. It's of Mr Lordi from Lordi. He lovessss you!

The Largest Natural Phenomenon in the World - Popperkacker's Lair

2006-10-29T17:04:00.000-08:00

The Largest Natural Phenomenon in the World 2 - Popperkacker Lives

2006-10-29T16:15:00.000-08:00

Ice Ice Ice Icey Iceland Airwaves festival :-)

2006-10-29T15:51:00.000-08:00

Hanging with my Ace Family

2006-10-27T08:57:00.000-07:00

The whole of the Sharrock Clan went on a trip to see where my great grandfather was killed in Belgium ww1. The rest of my family caught the Eurostar to France and spent some time in Paris. They then made their way to Belgium and I caught up with them Brugges as I had some shoots on. It was unreal to have them all over eventhough it felt like it was only a short time. Anyways Christmas is soon here and then I'll be back in Aus for a month.

Helmut Maximillion and Fritz in the Bavarian Alps

2006-09-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Harry came over for Reading Fest and a couple of days in London

2006-09-07T12:15:00.000-07:00

Harry being a zombie at the off licence store that's in Shaun of the dead

A couple of pics at the K! awards afterparty after workin my asssssss off

2006-09-03T18:13:00.000-07:00

Down to Brighton to visit Fishy

2006-08-21T16:16:00.000-07:00

Headed down to Brighton on Sat to hang with Caroline and Scarlet. Two of my favourite ladies that I've been lucky enough to have become friends with through working for Kerrang! I didn't manage to get a pic of Scarlet because she's a lil camera shy. Went to a sweet Veg place for dinner, then we all drank back at Carolines new place until we fell asleep and had a great breakfast at another cool cafe. Here's a pic by the coastline. The wind was blowing like crazy Sunday morning

Hangin with Jo and Kaia

2006-08-21T16:08:00.001-07:00

Ventured out to Highgate Village with 2 of my fav people Kaia and Jo

Emperor Set Germany alight!

2006-08-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

Here's a pic of my mate Ihsahn of Emperor I took at Wacken from the side of stage

Kerrang Day of Rock

2006-08-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

Photographed the Kerrang! Day of Rock yesterday which is where Kerrang takes over the Virgin Megastore on Oxford Street. 5 bands played ( Bring Me The Horizon, The Answer, Sikth, Fighstar and the Mighty Arch Enemy) and there was a big bbq on the rooftop. Got to hang with some cool new friends from a band called The Answer. I photographed one of the Answers shows in Ireland on the 28th of July. They kick ass live :-) . I've attched a portrait a quick portrait I took of Angela the lead singer of Arch Enemy and one of there vids for any of you who havn't heard Arch Enemy roooaaarrrrr!!!

Shizer! It's Wacken

2006-08-07T03:15:00.000-07:00

Right! Well I thought I lost my baby blogging camera at the start of the Wacken festival but luckily found it once home again, so I don't really have many pics from partying at Wacken and will have to write. Wacken is a German metal festival just outside Hamburg in the middle of farmland. I think it's 45,000 people that make it to Wacken and about a quarter of them have sleeveless denim patch jackets with nasty and awesome metal band patches of such bands as Decapitation, Death, Bathory etc etc anyways I'm sure you get the idea.

To get to Wacken I went on a road trip with Nick (Kerrang! journo) and his lady Emily which was pretty cool. Actualy was asleep most of the way and everytime I woke up we were in a different country. Firstly we drove to Dover and caught a 2am Ferry to France (pic of me watching the sunrise on the boat to France). Then Drove through Holland, Belgium, Germany. Got to Wacken which is just outside Hamburg for Thursday eve set up tent and watched the cheesy Scorpions bahaha. Met Alexi (lead dude from Children of Bodom a finnish metal band)and became friends with him. There's a pic of him armwrestling a lady bahaha. Then I misplaced my camera so no more pics :-(

The next day met up with my mate Ihsahn (genius from Emperor). Then later in the evening drank way too much booze with Alexi again and spent the night drinking with him . Then 2 dutch girls came over to hang with Alexi and got us a lil bit stoned Damn those dutch girls. I havn't smoked in about a year and once again I became a hypo banana and then depressed the next day. Anyways the evening ended at about 630am with me helping Alexi get back to his tour bus. I spent the walk back laughing at him doing a jurrasic park t-rex fence climb managing to shred his jeans and cut himself up a little, but not badly.

Then another day of working my ass off after a few hours sleep and shooting from the stage while Emperor was playing which was once again amazing. Got to sleep at about 230am got up at 530am to have a shower so there would be no que. Then it was another mamoth road trip back to London

I've attached one of Children of Bodom's vid's

Aye Carumba!

2006-07-31T08:28:00.000-07:00

Monkeyboy off in another dimension for a week with Elise. Hmmmmmm my world has been totally rocked by this lady. Here I am getting on with being a rock photographer for the worlds largest rock and metal magazine Kerrang! being flown all round the world to shoot bands and go to festivals and being paid to do it :-). Then Elise turns up and eventhough I've known her like 4 years we clicked and went off like a nuclear bomb. I hope things can work out for us as I can't remember having the feeling that this could be so right. Sheesh!! she's even a music jouno. This could be all too sweet! Anyways timing might not be right and Monkeyboys just gotta go with the flow!! Time will tell and if it's meant to be it's meant to be. Not even a rampaging heard of african wilderbeast can stop this kinda stuff

Afterthought: Seems I was wrong, people are crazy. Next time I will listen to that whispering voice in my head that says beware! hmmm but then again that wouldn't be me.

Rockkkkkkkkkkk

Hooking up with Rod, Mar and Shania for a boozathon

2006-07-30T14:29:00.000-07:00

Hooked up with Rod and Mar great friends from back home. Rod is another music shooter back in Syd and we both used to shoot for Kerrang! Australia.

We met at one metal bar The Intrepid Fox in Soho, went to another metal bar/resturant called Garlic and Shots. I made the mistake and let Shannon force me into having a blood shot which is a shot of Black Death Vodka with garlic and tobasco. Also any food you order is loaded with garlic. Shizer! did I suffer the next day. We then moved onto the Cro Bar another metal establishment that always seems to end the night. Got home at around 6am after falling asleep on the night bus and having to get another back . Shannon told me he also fell asleep on not one but on 2 different night buses, bahahahahahah!

Foo Fighters in Hyde Park

2006-07-03T11:06:00.000-07:00

Another day at work! Shooting the Foo Fighters live in Hyde Park infront of 85,000 people. This is Nick a good mate (one of the Kerrang! journo's I go galavanting round the world with all in the name of metal!) and his lovely lady Emily

And a small vid too. I've also added a vid on the Milano V.2 entry

Kaia the bad-ass Motorbike Lady

2006-07-03T11:05:00.000-07:00

Kaia and Jo came round to check out the Monkeyboy getaway bike. I'm forming by Biker gang already with Kaia No.2

"What's this button do Uncle Monkeyboy"

"Why thats the starter button Kaia"

Kaia: "Yehaaaaa Monkeyboy, vroom vroom"

Australia lost but does it matter when you have this much fun!

2006-07-03T10:54:00.000-07:00

Monkeyboy headed off to Soho to watch the Brazil Australia match on the 17th June with Amanda (my flatmate Daz's old flame). We lost but really does it matter when so much fun is had! We blocked traffic all the way to Piccadilly Circus :-)

Download festival and Monkeyboy's B'Day

2006-06-15T14:38:00.000-07:00

Here's part of the Kerrang! crew finishing off work on the last day of the Download festival and on Monkeyboy's birthday. Proud to call all these metalheads good friends :-)

Milano V.2

2006-06-08T01:59:00.000-07:00

Gods of Metal festival in Milano

2006-06-07T16:53:00.000-07:00

Making Flappy faces with some of my favourites fellas from a band

2006-05-30T16:07:00.000-07:00

This pics are of Emma K! scribe and cool lady and
TJ , Mike, Zack, Jordan and Bone from Still Remains. I was on their bus a few months ago touring around the UK for the Kerrang! tour. These guys are ace! It's so much fun hanging with them. They are also one of my favourite metalcore bands :-)

Fireeeeeeeeeee!! Shoot with "Bring Me The Horizon"

2006-05-28T13:48:00.000-07:00

Here's some work from a shoot with "Bring Me The Horizon". I shot the band in the studio, Angel shot at Highgate Cemetary, Flames shot while having a bit of pyromania fun in the backyard

Last weekend with Samoth!

2006-05-16T05:21:00.000-07:00

Monkeyboy hanging with Samoth Noweigan metal legend(guitarist for Zyklon, Emperor, Scum) at the Day into Night Death Metal festival in Camden. Looking metal!

Monkeyboy at work at Inferno

2006-05-09T09:25:00.000-07:00

An american rock photographer emailed me this shot of me in Norway at the Inferno festival. Monkeyboy hard at work rooaarrrrrrr!!!

Miss Adventure visits Monkeyboy

2006-05-03T07:30:00.000-07:00

Shoot with The Futureheads last night

2006-04-26T15:29:00.000-07:00

Inspiration: Max Headroom

Inferno!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2006-04-18T03:14:00.000-07:00

Monkeyboy and Shania go on a road trip to Wales to pick up the vroooom vrrrroooom

2006-03-22T17:02:00.000-08:00

Right so The journey begins
A little bit of Metal: Lamb of God, Opeth and Mogwai to set the mood

Yeah were rollin'. Snow covered peaks of Wales. " Wow thats pretty!" said Monkeyboy.

A quick stop for a glorious piss in the countryside.

What was that Shania? You said be careful of the muddy roads?
Look Out Jim, there's a pheasant on the small dangerous muddy country road!"
Strewth!!!!! said Monkeyboy

To be continued....

and here's the throbbing 1974 Honda beast, well it may not be a beast but it's got style

2006-03-22T16:22:00.000-08:00

Victory!!! One pheasant tailfeather plucked straight from the pheasants bum
An here's Monkeyboys bike

Nothing left to do now but visit some castles and head to Happy Land West!

Shania and Jo's birthday same day ha! how freaky

2006-03-10T08:18:00.000-08:00

Hi Shannon, here's a b'day present, nooooooo monkeyboy!
Jo now watch me conjure up a magic b'day present in my hand
Wow Monkeyboy it's "The New Encyclopedia of Reptiles and Amphibians"
Monkeyboy gives his best impersonation of a moneyshot from a b grade 70s porno, hmmmmm???
"Ok Shannon seeing it's your birthday I want you to do Monkeyboy proud and go ape on the tube" Really Monkeyboy, really, yeah yeah yeah, really?" said Shannon "Yes it's monkeytime!" replied Monkeyboy

Flashback a week to India

2006-02-27T16:35:00.000-08:00

Simon and Monkeyboy were in hysterics after waiting in lines for 3 hours at Delhi hairport. After exhausting an exciting quiz of guess the world facts on an old school world map we ended up boarding theplnae in tears of laughter, so much so that the hostesses couldn't help but laugh as well

Dinnertime with Kaia and JojoBanana's

2006-02-27T02:30:00.000-08:00

Listen to me Kaia "Heavy metal is good, It's even better than the food"
Mum is that true?
Wow Really Monkeyboy "I should listen to Slipknot, Slayer and Iron Maiden and forget about boring emo music"

Hmmmmm this sounds interesting maybe I'll give Heavy Metal a try
"ooh I like this song, who's this monkeyboy? Slipknot you say"

yay! Slipknot are the best!!!!! you were right Uncle Monkeyboy "I push my fingers into my eyes" sings Kaia along to Slipknot's song Duality off their album Vol.3: The Subliminal Verses

Yep thats right everyone Heavy Metal rulzzzz

YCNI:M @ Old Fort New Delhi

2006-02-22T13:39:00.000-08:00

2 pics Monkeyboy took of the band "Your Codename Is Milo" on his trip to India

Yeahhhhhhhh being sent to India to cover Rockkkkkkkkkk!

New Delhi for 4 days

2006-02-22T13:20:00.000-08:00

Papadums and curries with the band Your Codename Is Milo. Monkeyboy was off adveturing with his work buddy Simon (I'm Russell Crowe "Unleash Hell!") . We were sent over to cover Milo recording with some traditional indian muso's and their appearance at the Great Indian Rock Festival.

Ihsahn The Black Metal Emperor and Monkeyboy

2006-01-29T13:08:00.000-08:00

Monkeyboy flew into Oslo, Norway with The Mighty Dom to do a feature with the Legendary Ihsahn (Emperor). They caught the bus from Oslo to Nottoden where they were met by Ihsahn's Terradactals for a swift ride to the Black Metal Legends Recording Cave.

Ihsahn, Dom and Monkeyboy

The Frozen Lake Where I photographed Ihsahn
A panorama taken on Monkeyboys baby digi camera

3 days on a bus the sequal

2006-01-26T02:55:00.000-08:00

Padge (Bullet For My Valentine), Jake (Aiden), Jay (BFMV)
Mike (Still Remains), Will (Aiden)
Kerrang! crew Tom, Emma
Jake (Aiden)
Clockise: Will (Aiden), Matt (BFMV), Jay (BFMV), Monkeyboy, Zack (Still Reamins), Mike (Still Remains)
Mike and Zack (Still Remains)
Jay (BFMV), Zack (Still Remains)
one of the 2 Jakes from Aiden
Angel (Aiden), Matt (BFMV)