TUCSON KILLS

“Tucson Kills” is the introduction to and documentation of songwriter Billy Sedlmayr’s collaboration with Gabriel Sullivan and The Taraf de Tucson. Billy’s song was not only learned by the band over the course of an evening, but they also expanded it into an intricate and unmistakably Tucson-tinged arrangement that immediately interweaves itself into the city’s history. Helping to tap into the historic nature of the song is the location of the video, La Cocina, which is in the heart of the El Presidio District of downtown Tucson.

“Tucson Kills” is the first in a series of videos that not only documents the music of Billy Sedlmayr, but also the talents of Taraf de Tucson and the iconic locations that define the city. The final project will be comprised of ten songs recorded live at different Tucson locations, videos for each track and a book of Billy’s poetry.

Video Produced by Bryce Myhre Media

INTERDEPENDENT

Tattooers by trade, Taylor Ryan and Alex Empty have vast artistic backgrounds and Interdependent showcases the versatility of their creative skills. The show takes a look at all ends of the art spectrum and is truly a one-of-a-kind collaboration.

Interdependent runs July 15th through August 13th at Eye Lounge in Phoenix, Arizona.

Gabriel Sullivan & The Taraf de Tucson

Performing Cumbia del Torero live at the Rialto Theatre in Tucson, AZ.

MERTZ’S 27TH

Event photography from Dave Mertz’s birthday party.

Heyoka & Bandit Brand Promo Photos

Promotion photography for fashion brands Heyoka Leather & Bandit Brand.

BAD TIME TO SELL

A couple desperately tries to sell their possibly haunted house to a less than accommodating real estate agent.

OFF KEY

“The show’s visual style … creates a presentation worthy of a show with a much higher budget.” Liz Shannon Miller, New York Times

When singer-songwriter Jonas Moreland’s first album becomes an out-of-nowhere success, his record label starts hatching plans to make his follow-up even bigger. Unfortunately, Jonas doesn’t deal well with the pressures of fame and other obligations. His label and manager go into panic mode when Jonas skips out on his flight to NYC.

Using an alias, he takes a rental car to Arizona, and hides out with Norah, his best friend from high school (they like-liked each other, not like-liked). Meanwhile, Anika, an intrepid reporter, picks up his scent and, with the help of a burly private investigator, is hot on his trail.

BALBOA ISLAND

Family trip to Balboa Island, CA.

COME STEAL MY ART!

From the Tucson Weekly, July 9, 2009:

Adan De La Garza hasn’t had much luck selling his art. “If people are interested in my work,” he says in an e-mail, “they don’t want to pay for it. I hear a lot of, ‘I like it, but I just wouldn’t want it in my house.’ Which is fine, because I don’t see many drapes that match my art.”

The problem is, he’s moving to Colorado for grad school in about a month, and he doesn’t want to take his archive with him. He’d rather have people take his works for free, and he’d rather have his art displayed somewhere other than his room, even if he doesn’t make any money off it. “It’s amazing how interested people are once they think they can get something for free,” he says. And so, the Steal My Art exhibit was born. Guests at the event will be able to actually rip his work off of the walls and take it home—if he doesn’t catch you. That sets up an interesting dynamic, “because you’ll have me trying to prevent it and encourage it at the same time,” he explains.

De La Garza believes that the event will let people interact with the art in a way that isn’t sterile or stagnant, as galleries often can be. “I wanted to provide a chance for people to interact with the art, but think on their toes at the same time,” he says. The event, which De La Garza calls “an exploration through the archives of unsellable work and failed ideas,” will feature a collection of photographs, screenprints, zines and other work spanning the last six years.

VORTEX 4

From YAMAMA.COM:

Vortex 4 is the re-imagined soundtrack and implied storyline to a multiplicity of image fragments running throughout 1970’s Sci-Fi, blurry ideals, and the seamless stream of thoughts inhabiting an elevator filled with endless vivid hallucinations.

It is a project which spans over 10 years of musical and experimental ideas created with half-broken boxes of analog circuits and shiny brilliant digital technology alike. Studio work and Live performances are both constantly influencing one another in the project’s development.

PLOY – SANDY DUNCAN E.P. PROMO

Video created for electronic duo PLOY to promote their 2009 release SANDY DUNCAN E.P.

From YAMAMA.COM:

PLOY: A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

Few details are known about the murky history of this duo. At the mere mention of their code names, SNAKE and FALCONATOR, our outside sources become both uneasy and unwilling to divulge any further details.

About a year ago, we received an unmarked package which contained an 8-Track tape with a cryptic symbol on it. Naturally, the package was discarded as the technology needed to play these has been obsolete for decades. A few months later, carrier pigeons began arriving at our offices with “instructional briefs” bearing the same symbol. What at first appeared to be random gibberish turned out to be some kind of nonsensical manifesto. Further briefs began to show up containing photographs, video surveillance, extra-dimensional travel theories, topographical data, astronomical research, news reels, studies of quantum phenomena, plans for impossible machinery, a peanut butter and banana sandwich, land surveys, census information on obscure regions, intelligence, counter-intelligence, and hours of electronic music, mostly Acid, Techno and Electro. Included, was a comprehensive set of instructions detailing how and when this information should be made public. Beginning with musical releases, or as they refer to it, “aural programming”, further data will be propagated shortly. Details cannot be discussed further at this time.

While the exact intent of the duo remains concealed behind obscurity and mystery, one thing has become apparent, YAMAMA has been chosen by PLOY to help disseminate this information to an unwitting public.

CARILLONS

Carillons (Mitch Manger, Brandon Kreitler, Eric Graf) perform in the New Mexico desert with over a dozen stereos surrounding them with tape loops. The material comprising the loops is taken from Carillon’s recently completed first LP.

QUIXOTE

David sees dead people. Phil doesn’t.

A zombie film without any zombies. Interesting. Two guys have barricaded themselves in their apartment because one thinks that the dead have started rising from their graves with the taste of human flesh. Is it all in his head? (The title might be a tip off.) A consistent feeling of tension and anxiety makes this a very compelling zombie flick without the zombies. And in my opinion, they really aren’t missed.

JANIE

“Stepping outside into a flood of ultra violet rays, it occurred to me that I had no intentions of going anywhere at all. Regardless, my feet moved involuntarily and I followed them faithfully. Underneath the highway overpass and into a soaring cement empire, I followed. Skyscrapers reached their needy concrete fingers into the sky, towards God. They’d already succeded in coming closer than most, “God fearing” humans ever would. The streets, buildings, and faces that passed were washed with grey, as if a light soot had settled over the entire city. People herded themselves along deep, worn paths in the sidewalks and I felt blissfully alone in my variance from it.” -Excerpt from the short story Janie by Carla Vargas-Frank

ZOE HOLIDAY COMMERCIAL

Commercial produced for Tucson based Zöe Boutique. Created in 2006, broadcasters were not yet accepting local commercials in HD.

TOT WATCH

What started out as a fun project between brothers turned into a memorable short with a surprising ending. The script for Tot Watch was conceived by Tate Myhre, the film’s young star.

DICTATOR HIGH

In the early 20th century, the Illuminati convened to construct a school to mold the future leaders of the world. The institution they established, was Dictator High…

This was an early film school project. Each student was handed a grab bag of old 16mm found footage reels that were then to be cut into a compelling short. This was the result.