Will never be over this shoot I got to do with the incredible Wes Parker for Zany Waves. These were taken for the profile piece on Wes that I got to write as well. You can read that here:
Wes Parker’s FilmFreeway account is pretty easy to come across in an internet search. There’s only one credit listed – a short film from 202
Everything happened so damn fast with this. I came across Wes's music around late 2024/early 2025, definitely around the Splinter album cycle. I was immediately obsessed. Splinter and the singles before that lived on repeat in my life. I thought his comedy was very funny and endearing, but it's his songwriting that really caught my attention. I didn't have any plans of reaching out to Wes. As someone who photographs a lot of shows and interact with a lot of artists, I've had to accept the hard way that not everyone cares that you're a fan of them. And that's fine! I'm not owed any kind of interaction with bands I photograph. BUT then I saw a video he made promoting (I think) "Salute (The Show)". I immediately recognized where he was -- Savannah, Georgia. That is why I reached out to him. I wanted to know his ties to my hometown. His old band, Camp Howard, had played Savannah in the past. He fell in love with the city and often visits it. We also have a mutual friend or two. Talking to him and realizing he was genuinely nice (nice enough to answer my dumb DMs anyway lol) on top of being endlessly talented made me want to cover him. He conveniently announced tour dates very soon after. I pitched photo coverage of one of his shows with a few portraits to Zany Waves which got approved. After a bit more talking to him, I made the decision to put words into the world about this guy instead of just photos. I revised my pitch to my publication and asked Wes if that was something he was cool with doing while he was on tour -- an interview and a shoot -- and he said yes. He forwarded my email to a label rep and the label rep put me in touch with his brand new publicist (I think I was the first media coverage she handled for him). I ended up going to three shows all together on his tour, but I only talk about two-- Asheville and Atlanta -- because those were the ones discussed with his team. Because of how everything got scheduled, I didn't interview him until Atlanta so I got to observe him and hang with him a little bit in Asheville. I think that's when I realized I really liked Wes -- that he was more than just a nice dude, but a good dude. I loved his stage presence and the way he took his time with fans no matter how stressful things got post-show. And I loved his rapport with his bandmates and how he was doing this project with people from two very different times and parts of his life. So I wrote about all of that which turned part of the piece into something of a tour diary. And when we actually sat down for the interview, we had such a great chat that felt very easy and comfortable. I think that comes through in the write up. Going from exchanging DMs about Savannah in mid-March to sitting in the back of his tour van with him at the end of May is crazy work, even for my very weird life.