SXSW Dispatch
The Hinckley Crew Heads to Austin
3.18.08
I've finally had the opprotunity to sit back and catch my breath after all the action. In four days, our crew filmed 20 different bands, drove 2000+ miles and consummed some unknown quantity of beer. Pictured at the right, you'll see us on our very first gig at the Mohawk. At this event, and what we would discover to be consistant while in Austin, is that we were among a small minority of film crews doing a live mix. Meaning, we set up our four cameras in a club, ran video into a mixer, and edited on the fly. This would bring a fair number of onlookers scoping things out over my shoulder and the surpizing number of people bold (or naive perhaps) to tap on my shoulder in the midst of editng to see what we were up to.
A few of those shoulder tappers did however pay off. On Friday night we swapped out our gig that was originally going to be for small stone records at Room 710 for the Irish Showcase. Here the BBC ended up purchasing our footage. (woot!)
Jumping back to the night before - what first turned our interest to Austin was Crustacean Record's Showcase. I'm producing the label's first DVD rockography and the idea was to get a little extra footage to go on the disc. The showcase was so much fun and made me so proud to be a part of the Madison and the broader Midwest music scene. The line-up was kicked up by the Gusto (watch video), followed by The Screamin' Cyn Cyn and the Pons (video below), Ouija Radio, The Birthday Suits, and the spastic Japanese band Peelander Z. "Mad Tiger! Mad Tiger!"
Hinckley heads SXSW!
3.8.08
Last year I attended SXSW Interactive for the first time and I had no doubt that I would be coming back this year. Interactive is the lesser know of the triage of mediums featured at SXSW. The most popular and well-known being music of course and also Film. I was very impressed by the opportunity and open forum that the festival facilitates, making actual designers, programmers, and anyone associated with the design and develop of websites and other interactive applications to exchange ideas and to take a chance to step back and look at the industry.
Not only will I be attending the conference this year but I'm in for an intense week of art and Rock n Roll. The full crew will be making there way down here on Wednesday for 4 rocking days of filming shows.
Our SXSW Filming Schedule:
Wednesday - 6pm @the Mohawk - Frenchkiss Records
Thursday - 6pm @ the Moltov - Crustacean Records
Friday - 6pm @Room 710 - Small Stone Records
Saturday - 6pm @ The Ale House - The End Records
We'll also be catching up with Sam & Grace from Madison's very own Firecracker Studios who will be showcasing their work at Flatstock - the mecca event for poster makers.
Mad Rollin' Dolls
2.25.08
Some pretty cool news, we just picked up one of the roughest, toughest, most 'bad-ass' clients out there: The Mad Rollin' Dolls. With the slogan 'Hurt in a Skirt' you can't expect anything less then than an incredible time. For our first bout we brought out the full camera crew, did a live mix and then played the video back at the after party on a screen. The reaction was great and we are excited to work with these awesome girls as the season is just beginning! The next bouts will be on Mar 22, April 12, May 10 - Finals. Right now our video work is just being used for training video, but I'll start the rumor that you may be seeing a Season DVD and a few 'Greatest Hits' clips floating around.
Merry Christmas (and Happy New Year)
12.29.07
Alright, so perhaps not entirely news-worthy but my office just got a rad new upgrade that seemed, at least in my mind, redeemable for some quality online bragging rights. Stroboto (A Key Camera Op. for HDP and general partner in crime) surprised me with this nice shelf set up for my decks. I'm no spinner, but I do enjoy collecting vintage records in addition to picking up some of my favorites in vinyl. Death from Above 1979 was the first to rotate on the new set up. I've been guaranteed that this is to increase productivity all around!
The Second Crustacean Records DVD Shoot - Sneak Preview
11.2.07
As Posted on CR's Website
We are holding the second of two of our DVD recordings and label showcases at the High Noon Saloon this Saturday, December 15th. It is an 18+ show with a low cover charge for over five hours of rock featuring John Kruth & The Destructone Orchestra (8:45), Drunk Drivers (10:00), Awesome Snakes (11:00), The Skintones (12:00) and Mad Trucker Gone Mad (1:10).
Madison’s local alternative weekly paper, The Isthmus, recently printed a brief interview regarding the DVD with Crustacean co-owner Jake Shut which can be viewed here. In addition our film crew, Hinckley Design, has prepared a sneak peak of the DVD that can viewed on-line. It is a Ouija Radio playing Red Eye Fly from our first video shoot at the High Noon back on August 31st. Do keep in mind it is not the final edit and the audio is just off the camera, not the pristine soundtrack that will appear in the movie once the multi-track recording is professionally mixed and mastered.
Flat Atom DVD Release Party
11.17.07
Hinckley Design & Productions had its second major release directing and producing Flat Atom's 'Transmit', a feature length rockumentary spotlighting the bands June performance at the Badger Music Theater in 
Reedsburg Wisconsin. One would think that at our own party we'd be happy to sit back, have a beer and enjoy the night-full of musical guest that came to celebrate the release... of course not! Instead we set up four cameras, three projectors and released the mayhem! VJG came up from Joliet to set up two room-filling visuals and our two crews collaborated to mix up live video, dvd samples, random video bits and graphics for a full AV experience.
The bill for the night included The Skintones, Slough Feg (all the way from San Francisco), Bible of the Devil, Harsh Reality and of course Flat Atom.
Pictured above you'll see the visual results (top left) VJG at work on the decs, running our camera feed through some trippy filters, myself on the bottom left when I managed to get away from the mixing board for the last set to do some camera work, and (bottom right) a full view of the stage and visuals. (Oh, and Mr. Stroboto there on the right setting up audio - sweet side-burns Strobot!)
Halloween on State Street 2007 - Filming at the Onion / Milio's Stage
10.28.07
Our view just before Natty Nation takes the stage on Halloween (Hi Chris!).
There is New York's Times Square on New Year's Eve, there's Marti Gras in New Orleans, and then there's Halloween on State Street as the third largest public party in the nation. Don't ask me where I get these facts from, but the point is - State Street is one big crazy event. The event has changed quite a bit over recent years, what was once a free event were costumed party-goers took to the streets is now a bit more controlled. You need a ticket to get in, there's a huge and somewhat intimidating police presence, but some positive effects have been the incorporation of live music into the mix.
This year was a bit more interesting for me, directing the 'Flick' crew (WYOU's Monday Music Show @ 9pm) as we set up at the Onion / Milio's Stage. We mixed three cameras live and were able to broadcast just hours later on WYOU. What really drew us to fliming on this side stage versus the main were the comparatively edgier acts like Rob DZ and my favorite Natty Nation.
Fighting Bob Fest
9.7.07
Jim Hightower and myself.
A weekend of filming for On the Earth Productions at Fighting Bob Fest. The first night of filming took place at the Barrymore theater in Madison, WI; with the second in Baraboo, WI. The highlight of the event was filming Cindy Sheehan (who apparently I just discovered is running against Nancy Peloci for speaker of the house) and getting to meet Jim Hightower later on in the beer tent - yehaw!
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Crusty Recap
9.1.07
A busy weekend indeed. In case you missed it, the filming for the Crustacean Records DVD was fantastic. This was the first of two filmings that will feature 10 of the label's best. The Screamin' Cyn Cyn and the Pons put on an expectedly psychotic and flirty show with their unique brand of music, followed by the awesome Minneapolis threesome, Ouija Radio. Wow, can that girl shred! Some solid punk rock from the Gusto, and hard rock from Droids Attack. Despite not hitting the stage until 1:20am, Things Fall Apart took the stage to a still roaring crowd. I've never had to be so careful of stage divers when filming!
Guitar World / Radioactive Photo Shoot
9.1.07
Cynergy 67 in street clothes.
As if that wasn't enough rock for one weekend, onSunday I did a photo shoot for Cynergy 67, who will be featured in Guitar World, Guitar Player and for their sponsor Radioactive Energy Drinks.
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 Danny Mondane,and VX-5 as shot for Radioactive Energy Drink. |
FLICK Mad Music
5.29.07
Every Monday at 8:30-10pm on WYOU Channel 4, with new material recorded bi-weekly. In addition to the on-location bands I've show in the past, the new show will feature live sets from bands recorded in the studio, interviews with Madison scenesters, music videos. 'FLICK' is the brain child of Chris Wales of 'Worth Watching' and station technical director Eric Allen and myself. The show will be magazine style and aim to cover all genres. Another great new feature is that we will be posting each episode in full on the new FLICK website.
FLICK MadMusic
Monday nights at 8:30pm
Channel 4 WYOU Madison
View News Archives here
12.03.06 - 2.11.07