Nick Miners Photography » London

God Will Be Relieved

Nick Miners — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:29:54 +0000

God Don’t Like It, run by Anthony Chalmers, is putting on a series of farewell shows this week as Anthony looks to pursue other interests and draws a close to the GDLI name. The first of the three shows at the Lexington in London featured Drum Eyes, an immensely noisy band who feature no fewer than three drummers, supported by the similarly noisy weirdness of Christmas Gimp.

Two kinds of mayhem

Nick Miners — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 12:30:35 +0000

Here’s a double-whammy for you. New York punks Cerebral Ballzy played at the Macbeth in Hoxton a week ago and I caught the action for Drowned in Sound. Flash was a no-brainer here, really, as it was rather dark and there was quite a lot of running around going on, as you can imagine. Sheffield’s own Grazes warmed the crowd up with a bonkers performance.

Then, last night, almost exactly one year after I took my first set of gig photographs, I shot Emir Kusturica and the No Smoking Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, supported by Gabby Young and Other Animals, as part of London Jazz Festival — two bands who brought the house down. For an all seater venue, there was an awful lot of dancing going on, and at one point the audience were even invited onto the stage, much to the dismay of the house staff who were trying desperately to retain a sense of order…

Plaid at Village Underground

Nick Miners — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 10:41:15 +0000

The launch of Plaid’s latest album, ‘Scintilli’ at Shoreditch’s Village Underground was probably one of my more challenging shoots this year. Plaid make all their music from three Apple laptops perched on a console in front of them, and their performance was (apart from the music) all about the visuals projected onto the massive brick wall behind them. So I decided that, rather than getting as close to the stage as possible, I’d stand at the back of the room, back to the wall, and get long shots of the combinations of the projected graphics and the play of the spotlights in the centre of the ceiling. It was a mesmerising experience.

Dry the River at Scala

Nick Miners — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 11:42:10 +0000

Scala is a former cinema located in the Kings Cross area of London, and is now a thriving music venue. I went along to shoot Dry the River for a Drowned in Sound ‘In Photos’ feature.

Ja Ja Ja again

Nick Miners — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 20:55:50 +0000

The Line Of Best Fit’s Scandinavian showpiece Ja Ja Ja returned to the London calendar last night with a temporary change of venue. At the Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen were Norwegian all-girl Ska group Razika, Finnish sisters LCMDF (‘Le Corps Mince de Françoise’) and, kicking the evening off in style, Icelandic dance trio Sykur, with guest vocalist Agnes Björt Andradóttir.

White Arrows at Monto Water Rats

Nick Miners — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 19:18:05 +0000

Hailing from Los Angeles, White Arrows are currently in London for a series of live dates, and stopped at the Monto Water Rats on 28th September, supported by the gleefully bonkers Sharliza Jelita (complete with tiger outfit), Irish rockers Echogram and fellow Californians Scarlet Grey.

GusGus at 93 Feet East; Iceland Airwaves pre-party

Nick Miners — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 06:46:24 +0000

The organisers of Iceland Airwaves held a special event in London last night as a prelude to the main event in October. Daniel Águst’s electronic practitioners GusGus were joined by Hjaltalín’s Högni Egilsson on the stage, supported by Denmark’s Reptile and Retard and their amazing hair. I squeezed in next to the stage on a hot, sweaty evening at Brick Lane’s 93 Feet East to get these pics for The 405.

Hey Sholay at the Macbeth

Nick Miners — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 20:35:18 +0000

I went along to an event at The Macbeth in Hoxton last night, by kind invitation of Club Fandango and Soyo Live, where Hey Sholay were playing in support of Ultrasound, who were launching a new single. I was very entertained by the shouty punks Bomb Factory who were up first, but the highlight for me was the performance of Hey Sholay who impressed with another superb set. Ultrasound brought their own lighting meaning it was all just too dark to photograph them, but here are my photos of the psychedelic Yorkshiremen from the evening, along with a few of Bomb Factory.

Have a listen to Hey Sholay’s Wishbone, their opening track:

Nils Frahm and Anne Müller at the Vortex Jazz Club

Nick Miners — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 06:19:06 +0000

German composer and pianist Nils Frahm, on the same Erased Tapes label as Ólafur Arnalds, played with compatriot and cellist Anne Müller at the Vortex Jazz Club in Dalston last night, and I was invited to take photos by the promoter, Arctic Circle. Support was from talented multi-instrumentalist Directorsound.

Ólafur Arnalds at the Queen Elizabeth Hall

Nick Miners — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 18:40:15 +0000

The Icelandic composer and pianist Ólafur Arnalds played at the rather grand Queen Elizabeth Hall on London’s South Bank on Tuesday, supported by the delightfully experimental Message to Bears. This was an extremely tricky gig to shoot, with the low light and noise levels combined with the poor view from my allocated seat, meaning I had to sneak around the auditorium being as inconspicuous as possible, with every click of the shutter sounding, to my self-conscious ears, like a party popper. However having the freedom to move around also meant I was able to experiment with varying vantage points.