This Manchester based group are described in one review as a six piece alternative electronic pop band, with synths, drums, guitars and laptops and sound a bit like Portishead on decent anti-depressants. With this in mind, we knew we could do something special and a bit unique for their photos.
We decided on a location for the shoot just south of Manchester deep into the countryside near Congleton surrounded by fields, the odd tractor and a faint whiff of excrement. Perfect.
The day started off in an amazing abandoned house, still intact with the original peeling wall paper and authentic early 1900's furniture - brought right back up to date with an I POD speaker system blasting out the likes of Kings Of Leon, Maximo Park and of course.. This Morning Call - just to get them into the swing of things!
We went with ideas obtained from the style of their music - for example a mix of electro and acoustic pop and decided to bring this out in the photos - mixing the old grandeur of the house and glitzing it up with some jazzy lighting and an oh so classy disco ball!
Throughout the day we saw the band in rusty sheds, climbing trees and it went slightly Narnia at one point when we photographed them all in a wardrobe. Even when we had them outside under a 100 year old beech tree in the freezing cold as we set up the lighting, the cheery mood carried on with the usual larking about and everyone getting involved attaching baubles and lights all over the place. There seemed to be a real buzz from both photographers and musicians about the ideas we were coming up with.
The final shots saw the whole band set up under the tree just as the sun was going down - a perfect time to light the scene with lamps and fairy lights.. it really did look like a scene straight out of a Tim Burton film.
Lisa, accompanied by Nick, shot some footage for an animated music video (go here
http://www.myspace.com/lisarisbecfilms for updates) capturing the band under the lights, while I stood below shooting some stills.
All in all a very successful shoot was had.. we were happy, the band were happy (if not a little cold!) and the finished versions of the pictures will be on our website very soon!
Final thanks to the band for working so well with us, considering the freezing temperatures - i think this was probably helped by a mid day cup of tea. Sorts everything out!
For further details on This Morning Call click on the links below:
http://www.myspace.com/thismorningcallhttp://thismorningcall.vox.com/profile/
