New York Music Photographer Matt Eisman - Concert Photography & Band Portraits - 203.524.3338

Red Bull Music Academy ‘A Night of Improvised Round Robin Duets’ @ Brooklyn Masonic Temple

Matt — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:43:18 +0000

Red Bull Music Academy took over Brooklyn Masonic Temple with an experimental program entitled, ‘A Night of Improvised Round Robin Duets’. The line-up featured 30+ artists from jazz, electronica and everything in between performing short, collaborative improvisations. Questlove, Kim Gordon, Andrew Bird and Andrew W.K. were just a few of the stellar musicians to grace the stage.

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Electrify Your Music Foundation Launch feat. Dee Snider

Matt — Mon, 06 May 2013 00:47:55 +0000

Electrify Your Music Foundation rocked the Brooklyn Technical High School Theater for their NYC launch event. The epic concert featured a symphony full of young rockers, and got a special boost from glam rock legend Dee Snider of Twisted Sister.

Photographer’s Notes

Explosive lights, a stage full of shredding musicians and no shooting limits. This gig was flat out fun to shoot. Plus the kids had a blast and it was all for a good cause. What more can you ask for?!

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Phoenix – Music Hall of Williamsburg

Matt — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 17:30:22 +0000

French rockers Phoenix played a surprise warm-up gig at Music Hall of Williamsburg to celebrate the release of their new album, Bankrupt!.

Photographer’s Notes

Check out my photos in SPIN’s review!

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Ra Ra Riot – Apple Store SoHo

Matt — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 20:24:10 +0000

Ra Ra Riot played an energetic set at Apple Store SoHo in support of their new album, Beta Love.

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Planetarium feat. Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner & Nico Muhly – BAM

Matt — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 15:35:11 +0000

Singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner of The National and composer Nico Muhly united forces for Planetarium, a series of songs inspired by our solar system.

Photographer’s Notes

Check out my photos in SPIN’s review!

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Portraits: Ásgeir Trausti

Matt — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:32:31 +0000

I shot a portrait of Icelandic musician Ásgeir Trausti on-location at The Slipper Room.

Photographer’s Notes

No matter how much you prepare for a shoot, you’ve always got to expect the unexpected. Here’s the backstory…

I knew that I wanted to shoot our portrait inside The Slipper Room. It’s a really cool little theater with plenty of interesting nooks and crannies. So I researched photos of the space to help pick a couple particular spots in advance, and I also looked at other imagery for inspiration in terms of the overall look. My basic idea was to create something edgy and dramatic. I felt pretty confident in my vision and preparation.

Fast forward to the day of the shoot. I arrived at the venue to find that another band was shooting a music video inside. The place was full of people and video equipment. The whole thing was a complete surprise to Ásgeir, his band and me. I knew my plans were out the window. I had to roll with the punches and come up with something fast. One of my original ideas was to shoot on the stage and use the curtains as a simple, textured backdrop. So I looked around for something that would have a similar feel. Lucky for me, I spotted some simple red drapes covering large windows on the second-floor balcony. I set up a big octabox, quickly dialed in an exposure and I had my shot. I used my Nikon D800 plus the Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VR II. My exposure was 1/200 and f/8 at ISO 400.

In retrospect, I’m kind of glad that a wrench got thrown into my plans. It forced me to simplify things, focus on nailing one look and it all turned out for the best.

End Notes

Big thanks to Ásgeir and his managers María and Kiddi! Also check out my images from Ásgeir’s live set.

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Ásgeir Trausti – The Slipper Room

Matt — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 15:30:58 +0000

Icelandic musician Ásgeir Trausti played his first-ever New York gig at The Slipper Room.

Photographer’s Notes

Check out my images featured in Brookylyn Vegan’s review of the show!

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Delta Rae – Irving Plaza

Matt — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 16:19:07 +0000

Delta Rae brought their brand of fiery, stomping folk rock to Irving Plaza in support of their new album, Carry The Fire.

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Portrait: Jeff Who?

Matt — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 17:46:34 +0000

Here’s a portrait from the archives featuring some of my favorite Icelandic rockers, Jeff Who?!

Photographer’s Notes

This photograph was part of an ad campaign for Reyka Vodka shot December 2011. We shot one day in New York and one day in Chicago. For the New York part of the assignment, Reyka requested some shots in iconic places around the city. This shot was inspired by classic images of Grand Central Terminal that I came across during my research. I was particularly drawn to long exposure photography which really conveys the sense of motion of this bustling transportation hub.

I shot from the west balcony staircase using my 70-200mm lens set on a tripod. It’s about a four second exposure time.

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Portrait: Sóley

Matt — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 16:10:40 +0000

I shot a quick on-location portrait with Iceland’s Sóley before her opening gig for Of Monsters and Men at Terminal.

Photographer’s Notes

We shot just around the corner from the venue. I lit the scene with one SB-600 in my homemade beauty dish. Thanks to Sóley for taking time to make this happen and to her manager Nick for coordinating everything (plus holding my light)!

If you’re heading to SXSW this year, catch Sóley at the Iceland Airwaves showcase on March 14!