Music Photography: Moving Moscow Promo

Music Photography Clients: Moving Moscow
Promo Photographer: Simon J. Newbury
Live Photographer: Tina Newbury


 Music Photography: Moving Moscow Promo

Every year since 2009 Simon J. Newbury Photography has organised (with lots of help from volunteers) Boxjam. Boxjam is a charity music/ variety event held at The Box in Crewe. This year was Boxjam V, spread across two stages with nearly 30 music acts.

We had the pleasure of having a very special band perform for the very first time. We opted to create a buzz about the band and Boxjam by keeping the identity of the band members a secret. After a meeting with the band we arranged a sinister looking photo-shoot of the band appearing to be hostages, complete with burlap sacks covering the band members faces.

The Eyres Promo/ Live Photography

Local band The Eyres have recently undergone a lineup change as well as a change in name. We have provided photography for the band in it’s Sink Or Swim guise. They have also headlined the charity event we organise every year at The Box in Crewe, called Boxjam. Since that performance there has been the changeover of members and the new branding of the band as ‘The Eyres’.

New members means new promo photos so ahead of an article in the local Chronicle and another headline slot at The Box we produced a set of images for the newly named band. We got a nice range of group shots as well as some individual portraits of the band members.

The Eyres have just released a new EP. Their logo was designed by Tina who as well as being a photographer at Simon J. Newbury Photography also does all the graphic design for our bespoke wedding books and does various logo and artwork designs.

These are a few of the promo group photos:

Crewe band The Eyres promo/ promotional photography. Music photography South Cheshire

Crewe band The Eyres promo/ promotional photography. Music photography South Cheshire

Crewe band The Eyres promo/ promotional photography. Music photography South Cheshire

Crewe band The Eyres promo/ promotional photography. Music photography South Cheshire

Crewe band The Eyres promo/ promotional photography. Music photography South Cheshire

Crewe band The Eyres promo/ promotional photography. Music photography South Cheshire

Crewe band The Eyres promo/ promotional photography. Music photography South Cheshire

Crewe band The Eyres promo/ promotional photography. Music photography South Cheshire

The Eyres performing Live at The Box, Crewe:

The Eyres Live At The Box, Crewe, music photography

The Eyres Live At The Box, Crewe

The Eyres Live At The Box, Crewe, music photography

The Eyres Live At The Box, Crewe

The Eyres new logo, courtesy of Tina:

The Eyres Logo designed by Tina Newbury

The Eyres Logo designed by Tina Newbury

Check out some of our band promo photography here.

Review of the Year – Music Photography

Well another year has gone by so it’s time for the traditional look back over the past year. It’s certainly been a great year with loads to photograph and some interesting projects which will stretch well into the new year.

Music photography has always been a huge part of what we do. Both Tina and I share a passion for music be it local unsigned bands or well known artists. Hence we both love music photography!

Cheshire Music Photography. Ash, PABH, Hadouken at Crewe Live

Left: Hadouken. Middle: Ash. Right: Pulled Apart By Horses.

This year we have been particularly busy. We’ve been the official photographers for Crewe Live in all but the inaugural year. 2012 saw the festival headlined by Ash, Hadouken and Pulled Apart By Horses, marking their return to The Box. As well as putting on amazing shows, all the bands took the time for a promo shoot. Great additions to the portfolio! Between us we managed to cover every single venue and photographed as many bands as possible!

Music Photography in Nantwich Cheshire

Main Picture: Dame Cleo Laine. Top Left: The Beat. Bottom Left: Wilko Johnson. Top Right: Scott Matthews. Bottom Right: Tony Christie.

We were also the official photographers for the 16th Nantwich Jazz & Blues Festival. Some wonderful acts headed to Cheshire and the highlights include Tony Christie, Dame Cleo Laine, The Beat, Scott Matthews and Spikedriver. It was great to get around all the varied venues and enjoy such a diversity of acts. You can check out some of our photos in our slideshow on Youtube or on the official Jazz Festival website.

One of the biggest (and wettest) gigs that we photographed was Live from Jodrell Bank, Transmission 002. The show was headlined by Elbow. Despite the wet weather it was a fantastic gig and even better was getting the opportunity to chat to Guy Garvey backstage before the show! sadly the wet weather meant that the Paul Weller show scheduled for the following day had to be cancelled.

We also photographed The Australian Pink Floyd in Manchester and Stoke. The light show was truly spectacular! We also visited Birmingham to photograph The South.

We also headed over to Sheffield City Hall and to Leicester’s De Montford Hall to photograph Thin Lizzy. One of my favourite photographs of the year was taken on stage with Thin Lizzy in Leicester!

A little bit closer to home we have seen many great gigs at The Box in Crewe. Some of the bands who have passed through include: Sham 69, Dodgy, The Twang, Catfish & The Bottlemen, The Fallows and many more. We have been the official photographers to The Box for four years now and look forward to the 5th year!

We have done quite a few promo shoots with various bands and musicians this year. Recently we headed over to Dunham Massey for a Winter shoot with Dayve Dean to provide images and artwork to accompany his new album ‘Winter’. The photo-shoot with Interception involved a Russian aircraft in Sandbach. The Human Condition shoot took on a real urban feel under a railway bridge! The Son Of Shinobi shoot took advantage of a wonderful moody sky. Indoors we did shoots with Sink Or Swim, Sham 69 and Dodgy.

October saw the annual charity event we organise called ‘Boxjam’. It’s all in aid of Oxfam. This years extravaganza took place over 3 stages and saw Sink or Swim, George Borowski and The Slippery Hill Boys headline the respective stages.

Looking forward to a wonderful 2013!

Children’s Adventure Farm Fundraising Calendar 2013

Well now Boxjam is all done and dusted and the money raised is safely deposited with the local Crewe Oxfam shop all ready to go to work making a difference I decided I wanted to get another charity fundraising project off the ground.

I had long been thinking of a project which helped to raise awareness of disabilities as well as raised some funds for a good cause. I came up with the idea of a charity calendar. I spoke to  my good friend Lorraine who herself has a son with Down’s Syndrome. She loved the idea and within 24 hours had a set of willing models and a majority of the sponsorship needed to make the project a reality.

CAFT Mascot Bobby with Wendy & Wesley from the Wacky Warehouse

We had a meeting at The Children’s Adventure Farm based in Cheshire and that charity will be the beneficiary of all the funds the calendar makes.

We held a photo day at the Farm and all the images have now been taken and the calendar is at design stage and is all set to be ordered this week so we can get selling them in good time for Christmas! They will be priced at just £6 and as mentioned, all the money we raise will go to the good work of the Farm! It really has been a wonderful project and Tina and myself have met some wonderful people along the way!

Even a Polar Bear got in on the action at the CAFT Calendar shoot!

We also have 2 Family Photo Days coming up if you are thinking of getting some photos for Christmas. The first is on 25th November and will be held at Nantwich Town Football Club (where I am of course the official club photographer). There are a few places left if you want to book a sitting! The other is in Crewe at Via Dance studios on Middlewich Street. The slots are available between 10AM and 4PM and you can book by either phoning 01270 581315 (messages may be left!!) or by email on info@sjnphoto.co.uk The photos can be family, pets, kids, whatever you like!!

Family Photo Day at Nantwich Town

All prints and canvasses from the shoots will be delivered in time for Christmas!

Boxjam IV

Well it’s October so that means Boxjam. Now proudly in it’s fourth year the mazing charity event I dreamed up in 2009 will take place at The Box, Crewe on Sunday 28th October.

This year the event is a 1 day affair and will traverse three stages. We have 40 acts playing across those stages and we have also decided to throw open the doors and make it a free event. Obviously the name of the game is to raise money for Oxfam so we’ll be hoping for donations and raffle ticket purchases to raise as much and move us up towards £2000 raised by Boxjam over the years!

We’ll of course be on hand taking all the official photos for the event as well as managing the acts and the running of the day!

Doors are at noon and the music runs all day! Hopefully you can come along and support the team!

Meanwhile I have announced a special Family, Kids & Pets Photo day at Nantwich Town FC on Sunday November 25th. Come along and have your kids, newborn, the family or pets photographed. All the prints will be delivered in good time for Christmas! There are limited places for people to come along and have a set of photos taken. You could opt for a 12×8 print for just £20 or consider one of our competitively priced packages (starting at £59) or a stretch framed canvass. There is no sitting fee so do get in touch to reserve your slot! I’ll also have my wedding books on display if anyone fancies a look!

Meanwhile I had a set of images published in The Weekend Sentinel Magazine. They did a special feature on the baby bump Paint & Portrait Package. They featured a set of images of mums-to-be with their painted bellies!

Review of the Year – 2011 – Part Three

I’ve been the official photographer at The Box in Crewe since 2009. I’ve watched it grow and go from strength to strength. This year has seen an amazing set of bands and musicians appearing at the venue, as well as the capacity increase.

One of the best nights I had photographing at the Box was when Guillemots played. Fyfe Dangerfield and his band all posed for portraits and a group shot before a wonderful performance in front of a brilliant crowd. My monochrome portrait of Fyfe is one of my favourites of the year.

The immense Funeral For A Friend were also just amazing. A ram packed Box lapped up the Welsh rockers who headed off to Download the following week. Another great set of portraits, again all monochrome!

One of the nights that took me by surprise was the UK Subs. A brilliant night was had followed by some green room documentary photography and a pint from Charlie, the lead singer!!

My annual charity event Boxjam (all in aid of Oxfam) extended to 2 days this year. Boxjam III crammed in nearly 60 acts over 2 stages and raised £720! Really pleased to bring My Preserver and Benjamin Bloom back to Crewe as well as a host a brilliant local acts.

A fine night was had in the company of Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly! Aka Sam Duckworth. Arriving late due to traffic hold ups we did the portrait shoot after the gig. One of my favourite portraits of the year and also a great set of live images.

Amongst the other (hundreds) of bands stopping by were Futures, Tellison, James Cleaver Quintet, Sham 69, Adam Ficek & Gary Powell and Blitz Kids!

I’ve also worked with many great local bands including: Junker, Skeletal Damage, The Escape, Violet Omen, The Retrospective, Hayley Strangelove, James Gardiner, Chloe, Revelation, Midnight Lycan Party, Longshanks, The Resistance, and Sumofly.

I also travelled to Birmingham’s O2 Academy to photograph The Bluetones on their farewell tour at their penultimate gig.

I’ve also covered some big events this year. Working with WTD Promotions I have photographed some great professional darts exhibitions. Simon ‘The Wizard’ Whitlock, Terry ‘The Bull’ Jenkins, Andy ‘The Pie Man’ Smith and John ‘Darth Maple’ Part all headed to Crewe for some great evenings down at Crewe Alex. I’ve also covered some after dinner speeches including Alastair Campbell and Labour Leader Ed Miliband MP at the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.

I was also booked to be the official photographer at the North West Regional Labour Party Conference in Blackpool. This inevitably led to loads of MP portraits!