WEBVTT 00:00:04.519 --> 00:00:08.039 All right. Here we are. Here you are. It's a 00:00:08.039 --> 00:00:12.359 new year. It's a new episode. A new you, right? 00:00:12.900 --> 00:00:16.420 Here it is. The latest episode of the Dan Time 00:00:16.420 --> 00:00:21.039 podcast. I'm your host, Dan McCardle. And I sincerely 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:24.160 hope you've enjoyed and been following and getting 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:27.460 something out of these latest episodes and guests. 00:00:27.879 --> 00:00:31.320 And for the musicians checking out their catalogs 00:00:31.320 --> 00:00:34.719 and following them on social media, Dan Brody, 00:00:34.920 --> 00:00:37.520 Dan Brody last week. How about that one? Veteran 00:00:37.520 --> 00:00:40.420 musician out of Melbourne, Australia. What a 00:00:40.420 --> 00:00:44.100 fun conversation. Great depth of character that 00:00:44.100 --> 00:00:47.280 Dan possesses, always mixing things up musically. 00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:51.140 If you missed that one, do yourself a favor and 00:00:51.140 --> 00:00:55.979 play it next. Now, listen, this show is nothing 00:00:55.979 --> 00:00:59.020 without you. So I really appreciate you checking 00:00:59.020 --> 00:01:02.520 into it, making it a part of your rotation. Okay. 00:01:02.780 --> 00:01:06.359 Let me tell you how you find me, not how you 00:01:06.359 --> 00:01:08.659 get to my house, but how you can reach out to 00:01:08.659 --> 00:01:13.400 me if you have statements, requests, if you'd 00:01:13.400 --> 00:01:17.319 like to file and escalate complaints, dantimepod 00:01:17.319 --> 00:01:20.019 at gmail .com. That's the email for the show. 00:01:20.099 --> 00:01:23.040 If you'd like to be a guest on the show or you've 00:01:23.040 --> 00:01:25.939 got a friend, a family member who you think would 00:01:25.939 --> 00:01:30.439 be a great participant in this project, you can 00:01:30.439 --> 00:01:33.530 send that person's name or your name my way. 00:01:33.890 --> 00:01:36.629 You can also follow and message me on Instagram, 00:01:37.409 --> 00:01:41.730 X, the YouTube channel, and Facebook. Just search 00:01:41.730 --> 00:01:46.069 at Dan Time Pod. All right, freelance photographer 00:01:46.069 --> 00:01:50.650 Andy Rice of Andy Rice Media Works is my very 00:01:50.650 --> 00:01:54.049 special guest today. And I don't say that just 00:01:54.049 --> 00:01:56.810 because it sounds good. You're gonna love this 00:01:56.810 --> 00:02:00.879 guy. We met nearly 25 years ago when each of 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:03.180 us worked at record stores just down the highway 00:02:03.180 --> 00:02:05.680 from each other. It was part of a franchise. 00:02:05.760 --> 00:02:09.000 We'd send customers back and forth, and we formed 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:11.259 a bond back then. There was a fondness that we 00:02:11.259 --> 00:02:15.599 shared in that time period. And as is often the 00:02:15.599 --> 00:02:19.060 case, you drift apart. But you don't mean to 00:02:19.060 --> 00:02:22.939 drift apart. That person just goes one way, you 00:02:22.939 --> 00:02:26.340 go another, you're young, but you keep up with 00:02:26.340 --> 00:02:31.080 each other. And this is a guy who followed his 00:02:31.080 --> 00:02:34.759 dreams. He's still on that journey, but he took 00:02:34.759 --> 00:02:38.900 the leap at a point in time. He didn't know how 00:02:38.900 --> 00:02:41.199 it would turn out, but he bet on himself. And 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:45.400 he's got an incredible story to share. Andy has 00:02:45.400 --> 00:02:47.580 photographed some of the biggest cultural figures 00:02:47.580 --> 00:02:51.439 of our time. Prince, Willie Nelson, B .B. King, 00:02:52.300 --> 00:02:55.539 the President of the United States, the Vice 00:02:55.539 --> 00:03:00.150 President. Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama, current 00:03:00.150 --> 00:03:04.389 GOP candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, and so many more. 00:03:04.909 --> 00:03:07.449 His work has been featured in major publications. 00:03:08.270 --> 00:03:10.810 Andy was also asked to speak at the National 00:03:10.810 --> 00:03:12.870 Association of Black Journalists Convention. 00:03:13.569 --> 00:03:15.889 The list of people who have given Andy ringing 00:03:15.889 --> 00:03:19.689 endorsements for his work and his character literally 00:03:19.689 --> 00:03:25.139 goes on and on and on. But at his core, Andy 00:03:25.139 --> 00:03:29.939 is just a regular dude. He's a husband a dad 00:03:29.939 --> 00:03:34.800 He celebrates people Andy He helps people he 00:03:34.800 --> 00:03:37.219 helps those who can't help themselves we get 00:03:37.219 --> 00:03:40.719 into that in this conversation and Check this 00:03:40.719 --> 00:03:43.639 out. He enjoys an incredibly diverse range of 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:46.360 music. We'll talk about this We talk about it 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:50.340 at such length that I've created a bonus episode 00:03:50.340 --> 00:03:53.560 just for you guys on top of this one to capture 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:57.189 all of our far -ranging chat about bands and 00:03:57.189 --> 00:04:00.590 whatever else. Okay, folks, remember, follow 00:04:00.590 --> 00:04:04.310 Andy, check him out, look him up at Rice Andy, 00:04:04.469 --> 00:04:08.389 A -N -D -I. And remember, I think I discussed 00:04:08.389 --> 00:04:10.729 this a week or two ago. You don't have to be 00:04:10.729 --> 00:04:13.229 named Dan to be on this show. If you know me, 00:04:13.490 --> 00:04:17.110 that's already a box checked. But how about this? 00:04:17.310 --> 00:04:22.250 Andy, in a four -letter name, has got the letters 00:04:22.509 --> 00:04:26.050 of the name Dan in there. It's just kind of mixed 00:04:26.050 --> 00:04:31.949 around. So that is a special quality that really 00:04:31.949 --> 00:04:37.850 gives him icing on the cake. All right. Without 00:04:37.850 --> 00:04:43.370 further blabbering, here it is. I know you're 00:04:43.370 --> 00:04:47.990 ready for it. I am too. It is Andy Rice Time. 00:04:52.709 --> 00:04:54.829 Andy, let me just say it's great to be talking 00:04:54.829 --> 00:04:58.029 to you again. I'm so glad you called and I'm 00:04:58.029 --> 00:05:00.790 so glad you invited me as a guest on the show. 00:05:02.149 --> 00:05:04.689 You know, I love not necessarily talking about 00:05:04.689 --> 00:05:07.290 myself, but I definitely love telling the story 00:05:07.290 --> 00:05:10.410 of how I got where I am now. I'm not finished. 00:05:10.529 --> 00:05:16.110 I'm just ready to kind of keep going. Well, we 00:05:16.110 --> 00:05:20.310 are fellow UAB grads like my guests last week. 00:05:20.680 --> 00:05:24.279 Emily Haynes cook Andy and I you're a few years 00:05:24.279 --> 00:05:30.360 before me, but we're both blazers and Go blazers. 00:05:30.360 --> 00:05:33.519 Tell me how you got from you know, we'll touch 00:05:33.519 --> 00:05:36.160 on our history you were in the corporate world 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:39.860 for a while and then You had this knack for photography. 00:05:39.860 --> 00:05:43.100 You had this be probably experimented a little 00:05:43.100 --> 00:05:46.459 bit. I did some stuff for fun How did you decide 00:05:46.459 --> 00:05:51.180 to make the leap? Well, you know Photography 00:05:51.180 --> 00:05:54.360 for me came was a gift that my mom gave me, you 00:05:54.360 --> 00:05:57.279 know, so, you know, she didn't want me to, I 00:05:57.279 --> 00:05:59.959 was pretty wild little kid, just all over the 00:05:59.959 --> 00:06:03.480 place. And, you know, probably before ADHD was 00:06:03.480 --> 00:06:07.160 a big deal and before people even knew that it 00:06:07.160 --> 00:06:11.399 was a big deal, I had it, you know, I'm a seventies 00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:15.459 baby. So mom never wanted to medicate me, you 00:06:15.459 --> 00:06:18.620 know, cause she felt like the drugs would change 00:06:18.620 --> 00:06:21.259 me, you know, she didn't want. She was happy 00:06:21.259 --> 00:06:23.819 with who I was as a kid, you know So she didn't 00:06:23.819 --> 00:06:27.480 want any chance that that glimmer of that shine 00:06:27.480 --> 00:06:31.339 from her son would change So like, you know to 00:06:31.339 --> 00:06:34.160 settle me down. I'll never forget. It's Christmas 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:38.279 time the summer before this Christmas we got 00:06:38.279 --> 00:06:42.019 a tarry 2600 and she was just like, okay that'll 00:06:42.019 --> 00:06:46.100 settle and That summer before that Christmas. 00:06:46.300 --> 00:06:50.589 We had a huge like family reunion and my dad 00:06:50.589 --> 00:06:54.550 had a Canon 81 or the family had a Canon 81 camera 00:06:54.550 --> 00:06:57.810 and somehow through all that good time in a family 00:06:57.810 --> 00:07:01.310 reunion I think an auntie or something or during 00:07:01.310 --> 00:07:05.410 a hug or something like that spilled a drink 00:07:05.410 --> 00:07:10.209 into that camera and my dad was bummed you know 00:07:10.209 --> 00:07:13.149 he bought another camera of course and that camera 00:07:13.149 --> 00:07:16.050 just kind of sat around for months and long story 00:07:16.050 --> 00:07:21.800 short I went to the downtown library and That's 00:07:21.800 --> 00:07:24.920 these kids these days don't know about microfiche 00:07:24.920 --> 00:07:30.199 but I found the all the information to Canon 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:35.019 and I wrote them this choppy letter and Talked 00:07:35.019 --> 00:07:37.459 them into sending me copies of the schematic 00:07:37.459 --> 00:07:41.759 for that model took the camera apart and cleaned 00:07:41.759 --> 00:07:45.519 every Inside it was sticky and you know cleaned 00:07:45.519 --> 00:07:49.990 everything up put a battery in it and I was gold, 00:07:50.029 --> 00:07:54.709 I had a camera. And so mom was a hobbyist and 00:07:54.709 --> 00:07:58.149 she kind of like, they were amazed that I got 00:07:58.149 --> 00:08:00.649 the camera. My dad was kind of like, dude, I 00:08:00.649 --> 00:08:05.850 wish you would have told me that before. So that's 00:08:05.850 --> 00:08:07.910 basically how I got into photography. My mom 00:08:07.910 --> 00:08:10.850 was a hobbyist and she kind of taught me photography. 00:08:11.230 --> 00:08:14.170 She would buy me film or I had a couple of odd 00:08:14.170 --> 00:08:17.990 jobs as a kid and we'd get film and basically, 00:08:18.089 --> 00:08:20.810 Every week, you know, I'd shoot a couple of weeks 00:08:20.810 --> 00:08:24.430 36 roll or 24 roll And then we go and see what 00:08:24.430 --> 00:08:26.709 I got and she kind of critiqued me and kind of 00:08:26.709 --> 00:08:29.769 teach me along the way That's that's pretty I 00:08:29.769 --> 00:08:32.009 got into it. I've always been into photography 00:08:32.009 --> 00:08:35.909 even before I took a break from the corporate 00:08:35.909 --> 00:08:39.710 world to do it professionally Now when you decided 00:08:39.710 --> 00:08:43.809 to just go headlong into it Did you have any 00:08:43.809 --> 00:08:47.320 reservations? Um, were you kind of hesitant maybe 00:08:47.320 --> 00:08:49.299 for a period of years? Like, I don't, you know, 00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:52.159 I want to make this work, but I don't know how 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:54.820 successful this is going to be. Or did you have 00:08:54.820 --> 00:08:56.480 the mindset like, I'm just going to blow it out 00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:59.620 of the water. Oh man. You know, it was pretty 00:08:59.620 --> 00:09:05.139 scary because I just left, um, a nice position 00:09:05.139 --> 00:09:10.580 with a big telecommunications company and I worked 00:09:10.580 --> 00:09:14.940 there for years and Got a pretty good split. 00:09:15.000 --> 00:09:17.879 I took my benefits and I just kind of ran but 00:09:17.879 --> 00:09:21.200 you know My dad worked corporate job. My mom 00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:23.559 was a teacher. So it was just in my soul He was 00:09:23.559 --> 00:09:27.480 just in my blood for a while and I kept I kept 00:09:27.480 --> 00:09:30.039 working in corporate You know, even though I 00:09:30.039 --> 00:09:32.639 had this thing on the back burner that I really 00:09:32.639 --> 00:09:35.240 wanted to pursue I just I just never did it just 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:37.799 because I didn't have the confidence that you 00:09:37.799 --> 00:09:40.259 know There's no benefits package. There's no 00:09:40.259 --> 00:09:44.100 insurance you know, no health insurance and those 00:09:44.100 --> 00:09:46.500 are things that you always get when you have 00:09:46.500 --> 00:09:50.259 one of those, you know, corporate jobs. So I 00:09:50.259 --> 00:09:54.080 actually left Bell South at the time and took 00:09:54.080 --> 00:09:57.379 a job at the bank in fraud, you know, so I still 00:09:57.379 --> 00:10:00.220 had in my mind, this is the way to survive. This 00:10:00.220 --> 00:10:04.399 is the way to be professional. And man, that 00:10:04.399 --> 00:10:10.759 job in the bank, it sucked my soul away. It was 00:10:10.759 --> 00:10:14.500 a great gig but one day it was actually the day 00:10:14.500 --> 00:10:17.299 that I the last day of my two weeks notice for 00:10:17.299 --> 00:10:22.019 that job I got a call from UAB and something 00:10:22.019 --> 00:10:25.220 happened to their photographer. I've done some 00:10:25.220 --> 00:10:28.240 things for UAB in the past so they had me on 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:32.259 their list and they called me and I was there 00:10:32.259 --> 00:10:36.039 and the rest kind of is history. There's some 00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:38.809 stuff that happened in between them. really made 00:10:38.809 --> 00:10:41.509 me solidify my decision but then I can get into 00:10:41.509 --> 00:10:44.750 that too. Isn't that something how things happen 00:10:44.750 --> 00:10:47.850 like you said the last day of the two -week notice 00:10:47.850 --> 00:10:51.789 you're sitting there at the desk at the keyboard? 00:10:52.870 --> 00:10:56.389 Yeah with my boss. Like this will be over soon 00:10:56.389 --> 00:11:00.330 and they called and actually my boss at the time 00:11:00.330 --> 00:11:04.110 was just like man get after it. On my last day 00:11:04.110 --> 00:11:06.230 he was just like there's no reason to miss that. 00:11:06.849 --> 00:11:09.649 You know usually find people in some of those 00:11:09.649 --> 00:11:11.690 places where you're not really you just know 00:11:11.690 --> 00:11:14.289 you're not destined to be there For the rest 00:11:14.289 --> 00:11:17.809 of your life. Have you found like? Good friendships 00:11:17.809 --> 00:11:19.769 good people in places. You don't really want 00:11:19.769 --> 00:11:22.409 to be but they end up they're rooting for you 00:11:22.409 --> 00:11:24.110 They know that you got a knack for something 00:11:24.110 --> 00:11:26.450 else and they're like just like you said there 00:11:26.450 --> 00:11:29.330 there are tons of people there like I said my 00:11:29.330 --> 00:11:32.269 old boss because you know, I would plug in for 00:11:32.269 --> 00:11:36.539 Christmas parties and Celebrations of our teams 00:11:36.539 --> 00:11:40.080 advancement, you know with pictures so they knew 00:11:40.080 --> 00:11:43.519 that Pictures were kind of like photography was 00:11:43.519 --> 00:11:47.460 my thing So it's always great that you know, 00:11:47.519 --> 00:11:49.700 it's a delight to have those people around that 00:11:49.700 --> 00:11:52.419 supports you like that And then that happened 00:11:52.419 --> 00:11:55.840 that happened at that bank job So they they kind 00:11:55.840 --> 00:11:58.179 of knew and they were ready. So when you have 00:11:58.179 --> 00:12:00.360 that that passion, it's probably hard to keep 00:12:00.360 --> 00:12:03.639 it a secret You end up talking about it or showing 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:05.820 someone something that you've been working on. 00:12:06.019 --> 00:12:09.340 Oh, yeah I said I was doing all that you know, 00:12:09.419 --> 00:12:11.700 they were they were paying me to do this stuff, 00:12:11.700 --> 00:12:14.220 you know little events and Christmas parties 00:12:14.220 --> 00:12:17.220 and Any kind of like corporate celebration that 00:12:17.220 --> 00:12:20.460 we had for our department They'd be like and 00:12:20.460 --> 00:12:22.039 you can take the pictures and you know, they 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:24.840 throw me a little cash for that But it definitely 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:27.620 was very obvious that this is something that 00:12:27.620 --> 00:12:31.419 I needed to pursue to make me happy Well flash 00:12:31.419 --> 00:12:33.720 forward, you know several years and and now you're 00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:37.580 taking assignments from New York Times Washington 00:12:37.580 --> 00:12:41.539 Post magazine Bloomberg Could you have seen some 00:12:41.539 --> 00:12:45.039 of this? unfolding a Few years prior. Did you 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:46.940 know that you had the goods when she's once you 00:12:46.940 --> 00:12:50.340 got going? I knew that I had the goods Dan. I 00:12:50.340 --> 00:12:53.320 just didn't really I wasn't in contact with the 00:12:53.320 --> 00:12:56.059 right people But there are a lot of things that 00:12:56.059 --> 00:13:00.899 came positive from that pandemic period if we 00:13:00.899 --> 00:13:03.799 can remember three years back, but that was one 00:13:03.799 --> 00:13:06.059 of them. All of my corporate work had kind of 00:13:06.059 --> 00:13:08.679 like grind to a halt because nobody was gathering, 00:13:09.320 --> 00:13:11.860 all corporate events were done, you know, so 00:13:11.860 --> 00:13:14.740 nobody was working in these big corporate boxes 00:13:14.740 --> 00:13:17.220 anymore, which were, those are my playground, 00:13:17.379 --> 00:13:20.120 you know. All these corporate headquarters around 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:22.820 town, those are the places that I go to set up 00:13:22.820 --> 00:13:26.360 for headshots or set up for corporate sales meetings 00:13:26.360 --> 00:13:30.710 or end of the year celebrations. that a lot of 00:13:30.710 --> 00:13:33.870 the corporations around here have. And when COVID 00:13:33.870 --> 00:13:36.169 hit, they were just saying, no, we got to stay 00:13:36.169 --> 00:13:39.850 in place. The only thing that stayed relevant 00:13:39.850 --> 00:13:44.529 and stayed active was the news. And I hate to 00:13:44.529 --> 00:13:47.429 be a broken record, but you just got to be ready, 00:13:47.629 --> 00:13:52.289 man. And I got the call. I think it was Wall 00:13:52.289 --> 00:13:55.830 Street Journal. It was Wall Street Journal. And 00:13:55.830 --> 00:13:58.110 the assignment was basically about the way that 00:13:58.110 --> 00:14:04.100 a small town in Alabama is handling the pandemic 00:14:04.100 --> 00:14:08.519 and the distribution of the vaccine and just 00:14:08.519 --> 00:14:11.120 all of that stuff. And basically I got that call 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:13.360 and that was my first assignment. It was in March 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:17.639 of 2020 and I was super green. There's a process 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:21.860 for that level of journalism and I had no idea 00:14:21.860 --> 00:14:25.120 how to do it. I kind of got lucky, did some research 00:14:25.120 --> 00:14:28.039 and nailed it. It's kind of one of those things. 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:31.779 It's like... Once you do it good, all those guys 00:14:31.779 --> 00:14:35.299 associate with each other. It's a big club. The 00:14:35.299 --> 00:14:38.299 guy from Wall Street Journal's worked at the 00:14:38.299 --> 00:14:41.419 New York Times before. He's got friends from 00:14:41.419 --> 00:14:44.559 college that work at the Washington Post. And, 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:46.659 you know, they ask the question, who's your guy 00:14:46.659 --> 00:14:49.100 in Birmingham? Who's your guy in the South? You 00:14:49.100 --> 00:14:51.399 have a good photographer that we can depend on. 00:14:51.820 --> 00:14:54.340 Because it's all about timeliness. It's all about, 00:14:54.580 --> 00:14:56.559 you got to get that stuff in. As soon as you 00:14:56.559 --> 00:14:59.179 hit the button to take the picture, They want 00:14:59.179 --> 00:15:02.179 the editors want that stuff because news is news 00:15:02.179 --> 00:15:05.539 has to be present and recent That's pretty much 00:15:05.539 --> 00:15:08.659 how I got into working for some of the big big 00:15:08.659 --> 00:15:11.500 publishers Yeah, Andy on that note where people 00:15:11.500 --> 00:15:14.600 ask who's your guy in Birmingham? Folks listening 00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:17.700 to this podcast right now. You always hear me. 00:15:17.720 --> 00:15:19.919 It may sound like I'm just flattering the guest 00:15:19.919 --> 00:15:22.440 I'm just saying oh you're you're the best guy 00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:25.000 in this department or whatever. I really mean 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:28.669 it and Don't take my word for it If you connect 00:15:28.669 --> 00:15:31.029 with Andy on LinkedIn or just visit his page, 00:15:31.950 --> 00:15:36.470 scroll down to the testimonials, the comments 00:15:36.470 --> 00:15:40.590 on Andy and his work, his character. It literally 00:15:40.590 --> 00:15:44.649 goes on and on and on. I was so impressed here, 00:15:44.750 --> 00:15:47.049 Andy, the people that have worked with you and 00:15:47.049 --> 00:15:49.429 the things that they've said. I'll just read 00:15:49.429 --> 00:15:51.210 a couple, just a couple of excerpts. Heather 00:15:51.210 --> 00:15:54.809 Durham with Heather Durham Photography. She said, 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:58.799 He's early to every assignment establishes an 00:15:58.799 --> 00:16:01.279 excellent quiet and friendly rapport with the 00:16:01.279 --> 00:16:04.840 client. I Finally refer to him as the lighting 00:16:04.840 --> 00:16:07.500 ninja to just talk about there's some kind of 00:16:07.500 --> 00:16:10.279 a little niche area here But because he moves 00:16:10.279 --> 00:16:13.419 around quietly quickly and accurately to make 00:16:13.419 --> 00:16:16.700 sure every shot is ready to go To keep the shoot 00:16:16.700 --> 00:16:20.419 running on or ahead of schedule. These are people 00:16:20.419 --> 00:16:27.610 that you've assisted on various That aren't Maripol. 00:16:27.789 --> 00:16:30.970 He's unfailingly polite and respectful of everyone 00:16:30.970 --> 00:16:33.769 I'm just not even talking about your work, but 00:16:33.769 --> 00:16:37.269 just your character I've known a few others few 00:16:37.269 --> 00:16:39.870 others in or out of my work life with a better 00:16:39.870 --> 00:16:45.490 outlook or more humane heart Andy That is just 00:16:45.490 --> 00:16:48.690 gold in it. I think back 25 years and I'm like 00:16:48.690 --> 00:16:51.450 they're spot -on That's why I remain friends 00:16:51.450 --> 00:16:53.389 with this guy why I want to talk to him today 00:16:54.039 --> 00:16:59.500 So let's talk about that. I started, when I knew 00:16:59.500 --> 00:17:02.899 this was something that I wanted to do, I started 00:17:02.899 --> 00:17:07.000 looking around town at people that I admire looking 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:11.660 at their work. And there is a photographer in 00:17:11.660 --> 00:17:15.819 town and she's still forced to be reckoned with. 00:17:16.400 --> 00:17:19.099 She took me on as an assistant. And basically 00:17:19.099 --> 00:17:21.480 that's, man, that was one of the best moves ever 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:25.720 just because You're basically being paid to learn. 00:17:26.759 --> 00:17:29.819 And it's hard. It's hard work because you're 00:17:29.819 --> 00:17:33.880 not the star. You're there to kind of help the 00:17:33.880 --> 00:17:36.960 star be the star, you know. So, you know, there's 00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:39.579 a lot of loading in and loading out and a lot 00:17:39.579 --> 00:17:42.660 of heavy lifting and you've got to learn light 00:17:42.660 --> 00:17:45.980 because, you know, the key photographer, and 00:17:45.980 --> 00:17:49.759 I say I've done both roles, the key photographer 00:17:49.759 --> 00:17:54.000 needs to stay with the client. And I can't tell 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:57.539 you how invaluable. I started that role with 00:17:57.539 --> 00:18:02.460 her here in Birmingham in 2011. And I worked 00:18:02.460 --> 00:18:06.619 with her for seven years on every shoot, on every 00:18:06.619 --> 00:18:11.480 assignment, big headshot installations to celebrity, 00:18:11.480 --> 00:18:14.859 you know, shootings. So I have to like stress 00:18:14.859 --> 00:18:17.599 that that was one of the most important parts 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:22.200 for my development is to learn. You know and 00:18:22.200 --> 00:18:24.660 like I said you get you get paid to learn how 00:18:24.660 --> 00:18:28.279 to do your job It was an amazing experience because 00:18:28.279 --> 00:18:31.220 she didn't make any any mistakes, but you are 00:18:31.220 --> 00:18:33.119 responsible because you're the assistant But 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:35.619 it's there's a lighter load because you're still 00:18:35.619 --> 00:18:37.460 learning. You're still just kind of watching 00:18:37.460 --> 00:18:41.099 but after a while your key photographer they 00:18:41.099 --> 00:18:44.759 depend on you to like Kill it so they can kill 00:18:44.759 --> 00:18:49.220 it. So It's slowed down a whole bunch for me 00:18:50.190 --> 00:18:53.809 At this point in my career, I cherry pick the 00:18:53.809 --> 00:18:57.549 people that I want to assist, but I'm not too 00:18:57.549 --> 00:18:59.769 proud. Like that song, The Temptation, it's not 00:18:59.769 --> 00:19:02.390 too proud to beg. You know, if Annie Leibowitz 00:19:02.390 --> 00:19:05.289 comes to town and she gets my name, I'm assisting 00:19:05.289 --> 00:19:07.950 just because. I mean, I'll get a chance to work 00:19:07.950 --> 00:19:10.569 with one of the greats. And that's been my attitude 00:19:10.569 --> 00:19:14.630 for assisting. So I'll say that to any aspiring 00:19:14.630 --> 00:19:16.890 photographer. If there is somebody that you can 00:19:16.890 --> 00:19:19.210 learn from and they're willing to pay you to 00:19:19.210 --> 00:19:23.839 do it, Go for it, head first. Andy, you must 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:27.660 have also, in those moments, had the presence 00:19:27.660 --> 00:19:30.779 of mind that, you know, if I make a good impression 00:19:30.779 --> 00:19:34.859 here, now I've got a strong contact. Do you always 00:19:34.859 --> 00:19:36.640 think about building out your network when you're 00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:40.420 in those situations like, hey, I mean, I need 00:19:40.420 --> 00:19:42.779 to really shine on all ends here, or does it? 00:19:43.400 --> 00:19:46.430 Yeah, because in the early years... you're helping 00:19:46.430 --> 00:19:48.930 these folks and they're only one person they 00:19:48.930 --> 00:19:51.670 you know some of these folks had small crews 00:19:51.670 --> 00:19:54.769 or small and small group of people that work 00:19:54.769 --> 00:19:58.509 for them but mostly in the freelance world it's 00:19:58.509 --> 00:20:02.410 just you if you're lucky enough to be able to 00:20:02.410 --> 00:20:07.329 pay a staff it's still small but like I said 00:20:07.329 --> 00:20:11.349 before it was a very important part of my career 00:20:11.349 --> 00:20:15.460 path because with these small crews these folks 00:20:15.460 --> 00:20:18.859 can't be everywhere every time so and that's 00:20:18.859 --> 00:20:21.839 when the magic starts that's when if you're assisting 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:24.779 somebody and you consider them your boss or the 00:20:24.779 --> 00:20:30.279 lady that I work for in town she she was a big 00:20:30.279 --> 00:20:34.279 big time photographer she still is and she just 00:20:34.279 --> 00:20:37.660 took me under her wing and just just taught me 00:20:37.660 --> 00:20:41.420 just so much about the business it's not secret 00:20:41.420 --> 00:20:44.940 it's our ability her name was Lisa Cole and we're 00:20:44.940 --> 00:20:49.940 still amazing friends and she's still an amazing 00:20:49.940 --> 00:20:53.920 photographer and you know we still anytime we 00:20:53.920 --> 00:20:56.599 have a chance to talk and catch up we still we 00:20:56.599 --> 00:20:59.599 do that but she referred many jobs to me in the 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:01.740 beginning you know that she just couldn't do 00:21:01.740 --> 00:21:06.980 or wasn't interested in doing and that started 00:21:06.980 --> 00:21:10.359 building my customer base you know it's twofold 00:21:10.359 --> 00:21:14.299 you learn you get paid to learn These key photographers 00:21:14.299 --> 00:21:17.119 that you're assisting are gonna get busy and 00:21:17.119 --> 00:21:19.019 they're gonna start throwing you their, I call 00:21:19.019 --> 00:21:22.240 it scraps, but it's not. These were all top tier 00:21:22.240 --> 00:21:27.259 jobs that my key photographers knew that I could 00:21:27.259 --> 00:21:31.079 crush. And from there, man, that, you know, you 00:21:31.079 --> 00:21:33.019 start developing your own rapport with these 00:21:33.019 --> 00:21:35.880 people and they start talking about you and spreading 00:21:35.880 --> 00:21:40.140 your name and it's just kinda, it kinda keeps 00:21:40.140 --> 00:21:44.079 going and going and going. Andy I want to get 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:47.759 into some of the subjects That you've had a chance 00:21:47.759 --> 00:21:50.940 to photograph and I love how you say on your 00:21:50.940 --> 00:21:53.240 Instagram that you're a photographer of people 00:21:53.240 --> 00:21:57.259 and a photographer of things So in a minute here 00:21:57.259 --> 00:21:59.539 want to get into some of the high profile subjects, 00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:03.160 but man you've documented You know the plight 00:22:03.160 --> 00:22:07.460 of people that that live in thousands of people 00:22:07.460 --> 00:22:10.099 that live in public housing and they're just 00:22:10.039 --> 00:22:12.059 I think you said dangerously close to some of 00:22:12.059 --> 00:22:15.980 the most polluted places in the country. And 00:22:15.980 --> 00:22:17.740 they don't have the means to get away from it. 00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:22.299 And so you've really brought pollution and some 00:22:22.299 --> 00:22:25.279 of these crises that get buried under the big 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:29.200 headlines to the front. How important is it to 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:32.400 you to have that be part of your body of work? 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:35.720 Man, it's really important. I think that some 00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:38.390 of these folks don't have a voice. That's what 00:22:38.390 --> 00:22:41.750 I use my camera for, is to kind of like, you 00:22:41.750 --> 00:22:44.410 know, speak for them. The particular project 00:22:44.410 --> 00:22:46.549 that you were talking about is happening right 00:22:46.549 --> 00:22:49.349 here in Birmingham. We have heavy industry on 00:22:49.349 --> 00:22:52.829 the eastern side of town, on Collegeville area. 00:22:53.789 --> 00:22:59.410 And man, it's just nasty out there. And that's 00:22:59.410 --> 00:23:02.430 stuff seeping into the air and seeping into the 00:23:02.430 --> 00:23:05.799 groundwater. these folks need, you know, somebody 00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:07.759 to tell their story so that they can either get 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:11.079 out of those areas or so that they can, you know, 00:23:11.400 --> 00:23:14.140 super fun and fix those areas. So when I got 00:23:14.140 --> 00:23:16.200 that assignment, yeah, I took it very seriously. 00:23:17.259 --> 00:23:19.980 Yeah, I think it's it's easy for people to just 00:23:19.980 --> 00:23:23.099 not really have the awareness. It's nasty out 00:23:23.099 --> 00:23:25.740 there. We're walking around. We're walking around. 00:23:25.859 --> 00:23:28.380 I had an assistant. We were walking around in 00:23:28.380 --> 00:23:31.799 the grass. There was this fine dust in the grass. 00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:34.849 And I think I threw away my shoes or something. 00:23:35.349 --> 00:23:38.549 Like, I don't know, it's a terrible situation, 00:23:38.569 --> 00:23:40.990 but it's gotten better. And a lot of those folks 00:23:40.990 --> 00:23:43.950 have moved out of those areas. But for a while, 00:23:44.049 --> 00:23:47.210 it definitely was something that folks were was 00:23:47.210 --> 00:23:49.490 turning a blind eye to because they just weren't 00:23:49.490 --> 00:23:53.670 aware. But I was really happy to explain and 00:23:53.670 --> 00:23:56.910 tell those stories for those people. Now, last 00:23:56.910 --> 00:24:00.450 year, Andy, on two separate locations, you had 00:24:00.450 --> 00:24:03.460 the opportunity to photograph President Biden 00:24:03.460 --> 00:24:07.880 and Vice President Harris President Biden in 00:24:07.880 --> 00:24:10.440 Hope Hall, I guess he was giving a speech at 00:24:10.440 --> 00:24:14.960 the Lockheed Martin weapons plant Yeah, and Vice 00:24:14.960 --> 00:24:19.380 President Harris in Selma Everybody listening. 00:24:19.420 --> 00:24:21.720 I got people all over the world all over the 00:24:21.720 --> 00:24:25.160 country This is not I don't take a political 00:24:25.160 --> 00:24:27.660 stance. I don't endorse candidates. I don't none 00:24:27.660 --> 00:24:31.900 of that stuff, but I just Andy just the opportunity 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:34.579 Uh, whether this person has an R or a D next 00:24:34.579 --> 00:24:38.099 to their name, how cool was it to, how did you 00:24:38.099 --> 00:24:41.019 get the assignment? I mean, just like I said, 00:24:41.420 --> 00:24:46.460 you just do really well the first time and the 00:24:46.460 --> 00:24:49.039 good stuff will always follow. I've actually, 00:24:49.099 --> 00:24:52.160 um, let me ask you this. Were you particularly 00:24:52.160 --> 00:24:55.140 nervous on these assignments versus some of the 00:24:55.140 --> 00:24:57.660 live music assignments that you've done? Or is 00:24:57.660 --> 00:25:01.519 it, how does that work? You know, we're talking 00:25:01.519 --> 00:25:05.220 about government and Secret Service, and I'll 00:25:05.220 --> 00:25:08.779 be the first to admit that I don't really do 00:25:08.779 --> 00:25:13.740 New Year's resolutions, but my social media presence 00:25:13.740 --> 00:25:15.940 realized personally that's something I need to 00:25:15.940 --> 00:25:19.200 do more of. I haven't even showed, like I've 00:25:19.200 --> 00:25:21.140 taken portraits of the Vice President and the 00:25:21.140 --> 00:25:23.799 President several times, and that's something 00:25:23.799 --> 00:25:26.740 I'm gonna do more of in 2024, just be more present 00:25:26.740 --> 00:25:30.460 with my social media. Post and stuff. I just 00:25:30.460 --> 00:25:33.240 haven't it's published, but I just haven't put 00:25:33.240 --> 00:25:38.400 it up on my personal social channels, so after 00:25:38.400 --> 00:25:42.079 the first time they do all the background check 00:25:42.079 --> 00:25:45.740 make sure you're not a crazy and After that man, 00:25:45.859 --> 00:25:48.400 it's just all love, you know You get to know 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:51.619 their press secretaries and you get to know their 00:25:51.619 --> 00:25:54.599 marketing people and there was a there was a 00:25:54.599 --> 00:25:57.380 time near Chattanooga that the vice president 00:25:57.380 --> 00:26:01.640 she was doing a a thing on green energy and near 00:26:01.640 --> 00:26:04.740 Chattanooga in Georgia there's a company that 00:26:04.740 --> 00:26:09.380 does they do solar panels and the vice president 00:26:09.380 --> 00:26:13.500 toured the facility and like all the most of 00:26:13.500 --> 00:26:16.920 the times not all the times but this was the 00:26:16.920 --> 00:26:20.680 time that I actually got to to ride in the press 00:26:20.680 --> 00:26:23.740 pool now that's where it gets really cool because 00:26:23.740 --> 00:26:27.660 you're in line with secret service you know all 00:26:27.660 --> 00:26:31.279 the security your flanked by black hawk helicopter 00:26:31.279 --> 00:26:33.420 flight you look up to your left up in the sky 00:26:33.420 --> 00:26:37.140 and there's there's a guy watching black hawk 00:26:37.140 --> 00:26:39.799 it's just it's pretty impressive i i didn't do 00:26:39.799 --> 00:26:42.519 a lot of video personally and put a lot of that 00:26:42.519 --> 00:26:45.559 stuff up but just because of the security nature 00:26:45.559 --> 00:26:48.819 and i don't want them to i don't want to disclose 00:26:48.819 --> 00:26:51.940 a lot of that stuff but man it was it was fun 00:26:51.940 --> 00:26:55.980 like just terrorizing through town and i you 00:26:55.980 --> 00:26:59.740 know 10 vehicle, you know, convoy, you know, 00:26:59.779 --> 00:27:03.220 with security all around you and super mean guys 00:27:03.220 --> 00:27:06.500 that you only see in movies. It's pretty amazing. 00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:09.619 You know, you get there, you jump out of an all 00:27:09.619 --> 00:27:12.539 black Tahoe that's probably, you know, got some 00:27:12.539 --> 00:27:15.539 kind of armor around it. It's just, it's pretty 00:27:15.539 --> 00:27:18.359 amazing, man. I'll run to those assignments all 00:27:18.359 --> 00:27:22.019 the time just because the treatment is just top 00:27:22.019 --> 00:27:25.259 notch. Are you looking around like I said some 00:27:25.259 --> 00:27:28.119 of these faces and these these people and thinking 00:27:28.119 --> 00:27:32.380 really like I'm here yeah, do you flash back 00:27:32.380 --> 00:27:36.440 to the college days or the music store days or 00:27:36.440 --> 00:27:41.359 the corporate you're just thinking Wow Really 00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:44.559 looking around glad I'm glad I didn't get into 00:27:44.559 --> 00:27:47.480 too much trouble back in the day that wouldn't 00:27:47.480 --> 00:27:49.880 have allowed me to do this kind of stuff Because 00:27:49.880 --> 00:27:52.579 the background checks are pretty extensive. I 00:27:52.579 --> 00:27:56.420 mean, you're right. You know, at times, I could 00:27:56.420 --> 00:27:58.799 have reached out and touched either one of them, 00:27:58.799 --> 00:28:02.200 you know, like. So are you actually you're not 00:28:02.200 --> 00:28:05.779 in the same vehicle as the vice president? No, 00:28:06.039 --> 00:28:09.640 no, no, no. They're like four cars ahead. You 00:28:09.640 --> 00:28:12.680 know, they're they're in the same group of vehicles 00:28:12.680 --> 00:28:18.319 that I'm in. And there's a nicely dressed. Secret 00:28:18.319 --> 00:28:21.619 service guy. I'm in the backseat and there's 00:28:21.619 --> 00:28:24.940 a media person sitting next to me and a driver 00:28:24.940 --> 00:28:30.619 and a you know Secret service guy Wow How can 00:28:30.619 --> 00:28:33.220 you can you tell that these guys the secret service 00:28:33.220 --> 00:28:37.319 detail? That they are always on like they are 00:28:37.319 --> 00:28:40.039 ready for the worst thing to happen at any moment 00:28:40.039 --> 00:28:43.900 Or do they seem like regular guys? There are 00:28:43.900 --> 00:28:46.859 different tiers. The guy that's in the vehicle 00:28:46.859 --> 00:28:50.059 with me, he's got a suit on, but you just know 00:28:50.059 --> 00:28:57.519 that he's got a suit in his pockets. But I'm 00:28:57.519 --> 00:29:00.019 sure they put the Warriors there somewhere else. 00:29:00.200 --> 00:29:03.740 These guys are the guys that actually one of 00:29:03.740 --> 00:29:06.799 the guys that on one of the last assignments 00:29:06.799 --> 00:29:11.119 with the vice president, he actually grew up 00:29:11.119 --> 00:29:15.079 in Shelby County. near where I live. I live in 00:29:15.079 --> 00:29:19.039 Shelby County in Alabama now. And he, you know, 00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:20.940 he told me his whole story. He was a sheriff. 00:29:21.819 --> 00:29:24.660 He was Shelby County Sheriff before he, you know, 00:29:24.759 --> 00:29:28.460 went back to military and started pursuing secret 00:29:28.460 --> 00:29:32.880 service. So, you know, you just never know. Those 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:36.000 guys are all hardcore guys. And yeah, you know 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:38.200 that they're super trained and they're super 00:29:38.200 --> 00:29:41.240 together. And if something hits the fan, man, 00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:43.569 you know that they're ready. I wouldn't want 00:29:43.569 --> 00:29:49.190 to be the one on the business end of that. All 00:29:49.190 --> 00:29:54.130 right. So Andy, I understand in the 2022 Alabama 00:29:54.130 --> 00:29:57.890 GOP primary, you had a chance, you had an assignment 00:29:57.890 --> 00:30:01.250 to cover the candidates in that race, the incumbent 00:30:01.250 --> 00:30:04.930 governor, Ivy, who's since reelected and Lindy 00:30:04.930 --> 00:30:07.230 Blanchard. I guess she was the former ambassador 00:30:07.230 --> 00:30:11.349 to Slovenia. How was that experience, man? It's 00:30:11.349 --> 00:30:13.599 pretty cool, man. Like I said, these folks are 00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:17.079 celebrities and politicians. They're people just 00:30:17.079 --> 00:30:19.819 like all of us. They were real approachable. 00:30:20.259 --> 00:30:22.160 I didn't really have a lot of words for Governor 00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:24.819 Ivey and the other candidates just because I 00:30:24.819 --> 00:30:28.339 was busy shooting pictures, but all of our interactions 00:30:28.339 --> 00:30:32.279 were really calm and chill. I really mostly interact 00:30:32.279 --> 00:30:35.279 in those situations with the marketing representatives 00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:39.980 that work for those candidates and those figures. 00:30:41.480 --> 00:30:44.819 Man, I love all of that type of work. It's different. 00:30:45.019 --> 00:30:47.599 It comes along with the territory, and I dig 00:30:47.599 --> 00:30:51.720 it. Now, also, we're in the middle. I mean, unless 00:30:51.720 --> 00:30:53.220 you're living under a rock, we're in the middle 00:30:53.220 --> 00:30:56.920 of a presidential race. And as we discussed, 00:30:56.980 --> 00:30:59.720 you've had the opportunity to photograph the 00:30:59.720 --> 00:31:02.299 president, vice president. I understand you've 00:31:02.299 --> 00:31:07.859 also been able to shoot Vivek Ramaswamy. Yeah, 00:31:07.880 --> 00:31:10.259 he came through he came through Birmingham recently 00:31:10.259 --> 00:31:13.539 as part of you know campaigning part of the GOP 00:31:13.539 --> 00:31:16.619 campaign and of course as you may or may not 00:31:16.619 --> 00:31:19.440 know One of the main debates was in Tuscaloosa, 00:31:19.440 --> 00:31:22.859 Alabama This year right that was pretty exciting. 00:31:22.859 --> 00:31:26.519 He had a meet -and -greet at a resort here in 00:31:26.519 --> 00:31:29.759 town Ross Bridge It was really cool. He you know, 00:31:29.759 --> 00:31:31.940 he's got some interesting views. He's definitely 00:31:31.940 --> 00:31:34.980 a very electric orator he you know, he knows 00:31:34.980 --> 00:31:38.000 how to like grab a crowd and I don't know if 00:31:38.000 --> 00:31:40.180 any of these people were naysayers or if they 00:31:40.180 --> 00:31:43.880 were just there because they were fans of him, 00:31:43.920 --> 00:31:47.259 but I enjoyed listening to him. But of course, 00:31:47.859 --> 00:31:51.700 me shooting or covering an event like that, it's 00:31:51.700 --> 00:31:54.880 not personal. I'm just there to document the 00:31:54.880 --> 00:31:59.279 event. I'm a photojournalist, so my job is to 00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:01.779 take pictures so that the people that want to 00:32:01.779 --> 00:32:04.359 learn about it or were not able to attend the 00:32:04.359 --> 00:32:07.809 event can see, you know, what type of imagery 00:32:07.809 --> 00:32:11.170 was going on during the event. So yeah, you could 00:32:11.170 --> 00:32:14.069 have, I mean, if the president had been Bernie 00:32:14.069 --> 00:32:17.589 Sanders instead of Joe Biden, or it was during 00:32:17.589 --> 00:32:19.490 the Trump administration and you get the call, 00:32:19.730 --> 00:32:21.829 you're taking that aside, but that's not something 00:32:21.829 --> 00:32:24.789 you turned out. It doesn't matter. It's just, 00:32:24.930 --> 00:32:27.390 you know, I have a job to do and I take it seriously. 00:32:27.390 --> 00:32:30.509 And that's, that's the way I look at it. Well, 00:32:30.609 --> 00:32:33.349 Vivek, you know, his policy positions aside, 00:32:33.660 --> 00:32:35.339 You can definitely tell that when the lights 00:32:35.339 --> 00:32:37.819 come on, he's someone that plays to the cameras. 00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:41.240 He's probably a good subject in that, in that 00:32:41.240 --> 00:32:44.440 respect, right? Where he's got a great smile 00:32:44.440 --> 00:32:48.079 on the flash of the big smile. Yeah. He's got 00:32:48.079 --> 00:32:50.500 obvious camera presence. I don't know if that's 00:32:50.500 --> 00:32:53.180 just something he learned during his campaign 00:32:53.180 --> 00:32:55.960 or it could be just something natural. It seems 00:32:55.960 --> 00:32:58.700 like it's just, that's just him. I think he, 00:32:58.900 --> 00:33:01.319 he has background in technology and business. 00:33:01.640 --> 00:33:04.089 So. He's just probably just used to presenting 00:33:04.089 --> 00:33:07.170 his ideas to a crowd. He just knows how to like 00:33:07.170 --> 00:33:10.670 grab a crowd's attention. And he does that well. 00:33:12.410 --> 00:33:18.490 And yeah, you can contrast those events to, like 00:33:18.490 --> 00:33:21.890 I said, the local level where Governor Ivey, 00:33:22.009 --> 00:33:24.390 for instance, you know, she didn't campaign hard 00:33:24.390 --> 00:33:28.369 to become governor. She became governor via a 00:33:28.369 --> 00:33:31.609 resignation at the beginning. and then she campaigned 00:33:31.609 --> 00:33:34.309 for reelection but you know she's not someone 00:33:34.309 --> 00:33:37.410 that's trying to get out in front of the camera 00:33:37.410 --> 00:33:40.269 it's just because of the position that she's 00:33:40.269 --> 00:33:42.470 in she's going to be photographed it's going 00:33:42.470 --> 00:33:47.849 to be a need to document her appearances oh yeah 00:33:47.849 --> 00:33:50.390 did you get a chance to meet the governor or 00:33:50.390 --> 00:33:54.109 ambassador blanchard i got a chance to to meet 00:33:54.109 --> 00:33:56.549 ambassador blanchard she's really sweet nice 00:33:56.549 --> 00:34:00.000 lady like i said before my words are always pretty 00:34:00.000 --> 00:34:03.420 short so I had to do some a couple of portraits 00:34:03.420 --> 00:34:07.240 of the governor and like I said I just keep it 00:34:07.240 --> 00:34:10.440 chill it's always you know very respectful and 00:34:10.440 --> 00:34:13.239 thank you so much for just taking the time out 00:34:13.239 --> 00:34:15.940 to just sit for me for two minutes or five minutes 00:34:15.940 --> 00:34:18.840 or whatever has been you know set aside for me 00:34:18.840 --> 00:34:22.000 as a photographer so I just let people my subjects 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:24.000 know that I appreciate their time they didn't 00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:26.260 have to They didn't have to stop for me for two 00:34:26.260 --> 00:34:28.579 minutes for me to get a picture or just lights 00:34:28.579 --> 00:34:32.500 or set up things. And so I'm very thankful. So 00:34:32.500 --> 00:34:37.219 I just shake a hand, give a smile and say thank 00:34:37.219 --> 00:34:42.360 you. Andy, do you ever have situations where 00:34:42.360 --> 00:34:47.360 something with your equipment goes wrong at the 00:34:47.360 --> 00:34:49.960 worst possible time? You've got three minutes 00:34:49.960 --> 00:34:53.650 to get it right. Have you had some mishaps? that 00:34:53.650 --> 00:34:57.190 have occurred and the brow is sweating, but you 00:34:57.190 --> 00:34:59.010 gotta keep it cool and you gotta figure something 00:34:59.010 --> 00:35:00.949 out. Have you ever had something like that happen? 00:35:01.889 --> 00:35:05.170 Or does it go pretty well for the most part? 00:35:05.809 --> 00:35:08.730 It goes pretty well. When I'm on those types 00:35:08.730 --> 00:35:13.369 of assignments, I spend the 24 hours prior to 00:35:13.369 --> 00:35:17.150 the assignment just making sure that everything 00:35:17.150 --> 00:35:22.619 is charged. It's ready. Everything is backed 00:35:22.619 --> 00:35:26.900 up. Got a couple of hard drives for me for after 00:35:26.900 --> 00:35:29.880 the fact. You're not just rolling out of bed 00:35:29.880 --> 00:35:35.400 that morning and leaving much to chance. Yeah, 00:35:35.440 --> 00:35:37.980 at these events, they're depending on you to 00:35:37.980 --> 00:35:41.579 provide the content for the news. So there can't 00:35:41.579 --> 00:35:45.639 be any mistakes, actually. There can't be any 00:35:45.639 --> 00:35:49.139 mishaps. So man, I've got like, I don't know, 00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:54.000 man. 10 charged batteries, 20 cards, 20 data 00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:57.199 cards, you know, SD cards, each, you know, with 00:35:57.199 --> 00:36:02.340 capacities of between 32 and 128 gigs. So I'm 00:36:02.340 --> 00:36:04.519 just I'm just ready for whatever and I've got 00:36:04.519 --> 00:36:07.159 I've got a cool you got to have a cool bag. I 00:36:07.159 --> 00:36:10.019 use a lot of think tank equipment bags and they 00:36:10.019 --> 00:36:12.900 got a pocket in there for everything and they're 00:36:12.900 --> 00:36:15.940 just easy to keep up with all your stuff. I always 00:36:15.940 --> 00:36:19.360 double fist. I've even taken three bodies to 00:36:19.980 --> 00:36:23.360 Sheets before but no no less than two bodies 00:36:23.360 --> 00:36:26.380 And that's that's kind of like a standard for 00:36:26.380 --> 00:36:29.739 this type of work. I Guess yeah that most people 00:36:29.739 --> 00:36:33.000 don't realize how much preparation how many hours 00:36:33.000 --> 00:36:36.039 of preparation go in You know before it's time. 00:36:36.480 --> 00:36:39.840 It's the the guy that tells the marketing rep 00:36:39.840 --> 00:36:43.159 or the photo editor that Something like that. 00:36:43.159 --> 00:36:44.940 I don't think you can do it. I don't think that 00:36:44.940 --> 00:36:47.500 you can make those mistakes You just have to 00:36:47.500 --> 00:36:50.039 be own you got it Like you asked about the Secret 00:36:50.039 --> 00:36:53.500 Service guys, they can't make those mistakes. 00:36:54.219 --> 00:36:57.440 So, you know, I just go in ready to roll. How 00:36:57.440 --> 00:36:59.860 much fun is it when you are, like I mentioned, 00:37:01.380 --> 00:37:05.400 you're photographing Willie Nelson, Leon Bridges, 00:37:06.139 --> 00:37:10.719 Mariah. I've been here currently. I've been really, 00:37:10.719 --> 00:37:13.519 really busy with all of my corporate interests 00:37:13.519 --> 00:37:17.320 and all of my editorial interests. I just... 00:37:17.550 --> 00:37:21.110 kind of made a promise to myself to get back 00:37:21.110 --> 00:37:23.630 into the music, which will happen. I'm gonna 00:37:23.630 --> 00:37:27.110 go pretty hard on that kind of stuff in 2024, 00:37:27.670 --> 00:37:30.929 just because that's really where I kind of started. 00:37:31.469 --> 00:37:34.590 The industry standard is three songs, first three 00:37:34.590 --> 00:37:37.269 songs, no flash. That's kind of like the rule. 00:37:37.949 --> 00:37:41.650 So the anticipation of your favorite artist, 00:37:42.030 --> 00:37:44.269 and sometimes it's an artist that I haven't even 00:37:44.269 --> 00:37:46.230 worked with before or haven't even listened. 00:37:46.460 --> 00:37:50.460 to before but man you know waiting for that that 00:37:50.460 --> 00:37:52.599 artist to hit the stage and you're in the pit 00:37:52.599 --> 00:37:55.139 and you're waiting for you know get the chance 00:37:55.139 --> 00:37:58.579 to to portrait them man i can't explain it you 00:37:58.579 --> 00:38:01.619 know especially if it's somebody iconic and legendary 00:38:01.619 --> 00:38:06.039 it's it's an amazing feeling to be that close 00:38:06.039 --> 00:38:08.920 to these to these folks and they're they're just 00:38:08.920 --> 00:38:13.219 human beings like everybody else but um one instance 00:38:13.219 --> 00:38:17.389 um i'll mention this bb king He was at a venue 00:38:17.389 --> 00:38:20.909 here in town. And of course, he's an older artist. 00:38:21.329 --> 00:38:23.869 You know, before he passed, he was up there in 00:38:23.869 --> 00:38:28.550 age, but still, you know, still amazing to watch. 00:38:29.190 --> 00:38:31.909 But the venue had to make special preparation 00:38:31.909 --> 00:38:35.309 for some of the participants that needed ADA 00:38:35.309 --> 00:38:40.769 access, you know, disabled folks. And it really, 00:38:41.210 --> 00:38:43.670 usually there's about two feet between the lip 00:38:43.670 --> 00:38:46.739 of the stage. and the back of the barrier. So 00:38:46.739 --> 00:38:50.159 it's plenty of space to walk in the pit. But 00:38:50.159 --> 00:38:54.000 because they had to, you know, make accommodations 00:38:54.000 --> 00:38:57.960 for those folks, it caused the pit area to only 00:38:57.960 --> 00:39:04.199 be a foot wide. So I'm a good boy, man. I squeezed 00:39:04.199 --> 00:39:08.940 in a good, to get good portraits of B .B. King 00:39:08.940 --> 00:39:13.219 and almost was really right in front of them. 00:39:14.000 --> 00:39:16.280 I was kind of I never like to do that and that's 00:39:16.280 --> 00:39:19.559 just me personally. I don't ever want to be Annoying 00:39:19.559 --> 00:39:22.400 as a as a photographer. You really want to be 00:39:22.400 --> 00:39:25.119 a fly on the wall. You don't want to be in that 00:39:25.119 --> 00:39:29.099 bubble Yeah, I'm afraid that man close to this 00:39:29.099 --> 00:39:31.699 guy You know, he's gonna call one of his you 00:39:31.699 --> 00:39:33.860 know his people and get me out of the pit before 00:39:33.860 --> 00:39:40.219 the three Right almost When he was you know, 00:39:40.239 --> 00:39:43.840 we we danced I you know, I would Crouch low as 00:39:43.840 --> 00:39:48.099 I could. And I always, me personally, I always 00:39:48.099 --> 00:39:50.739 respect the payers. I call them the ticket payers. 00:39:50.739 --> 00:39:54.780 Those are the folks that, you know, paid to be 00:39:54.780 --> 00:39:57.039 in the front. You know, so I don't ever, I don't 00:39:57.039 --> 00:40:00.320 want the back of my head to be the first thing 00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:01.940 you see when you're trying to check out your 00:40:01.940 --> 00:40:04.639 favorite artist. And man, it was a part of the 00:40:04.639 --> 00:40:08.159 show and he was passing, he was flicking these 00:40:08.159 --> 00:40:12.780 guitar picks out to the you know crowd and they 00:40:12.780 --> 00:40:14.880 were going wild because you know when you're 00:40:14.880 --> 00:40:17.860 bb king you've got your own personalized guitar 00:40:17.860 --> 00:40:20.000 pick they've got your picture on them they've 00:40:20.000 --> 00:40:22.599 got your signature on them and these folks were 00:40:22.599 --> 00:40:26.699 just going crazy to get these picks i was so 00:40:26.699 --> 00:40:29.239 close to him i held my hand out for one which 00:40:29.239 --> 00:40:32.179 is something i never do and it was the best it 00:40:32.179 --> 00:40:37.280 was the best ever he placed it in my hand and 00:40:37.280 --> 00:40:41.250 i don't know man i just i felt bad I felt like 00:40:41.250 --> 00:40:45.150 nothing else did. You're floating on air. Yeah. 00:40:46.309 --> 00:40:48.929 So that's happened a couple of times with other 00:40:48.929 --> 00:40:52.429 artists. Player did something similar at the 00:40:52.429 --> 00:40:55.969 same venue. So it happens, man. You just got 00:40:55.969 --> 00:40:59.730 to be ready. Do you get a chance to talk to any 00:40:59.730 --> 00:41:03.489 of these artists after the show or? They're pretty 00:41:03.489 --> 00:41:07.710 guarded, you know, and I never want to overstep 00:41:07.710 --> 00:41:10.800 my boundaries. with the artist, with the artist 00:41:10.800 --> 00:41:15.079 management, or the venue. So if I'm not invited 00:41:15.079 --> 00:41:17.599 to those places, I usually kind of just chill 00:41:17.599 --> 00:41:20.940 out. I don't really push the issue on that. But 00:41:20.940 --> 00:41:25.260 if I'm backstage and I'm usually like a handshake 00:41:25.260 --> 00:41:27.500 and thank you kind of guy, I'm just like, thanks 00:41:27.500 --> 00:41:31.719 for coming. Thanks for playing for us tonight. 00:41:32.280 --> 00:41:34.780 And I just kind of leave it at that. I just kind 00:41:34.780 --> 00:41:37.280 of leave it as a... you know, something that 00:41:37.280 --> 00:41:39.639 I can remember for the rest of my life and something 00:41:39.639 --> 00:41:42.019 that I can, you know, I was there, you know, 00:41:42.019 --> 00:41:44.920 I don't have to be a loud mouth to prove that 00:41:44.920 --> 00:41:47.659 I was there, you know, so. Yeah. You see people 00:41:47.659 --> 00:41:49.960 sometimes, I guess, as you get older and you 00:41:49.960 --> 00:41:51.980 don't get the photograph, you don't get the autograph, 00:41:52.519 --> 00:42:00.139 but you remember it. I've met some musicians 00:42:00.139 --> 00:42:02.820 and a famous athlete, I'm not going to mention 00:42:02.820 --> 00:42:05.059 their names, but didn't get a photograph, didn't 00:42:05.059 --> 00:42:07.800 ask for it. Did ask for them to sign anything, 00:42:07.820 --> 00:42:10.699 but just had a moment of conversation and just 00:42:10.699 --> 00:42:13.719 left them alone. You know, they get enough of 00:42:13.719 --> 00:42:17.900 that. Yeah, because man, they played all night, 00:42:18.119 --> 00:42:21.460 been on stage all night. And the last thing they 00:42:21.460 --> 00:42:26.559 want to do is get into an interview -esque kind 00:42:26.559 --> 00:42:30.320 of situation. They're ready to shower and get 00:42:30.320 --> 00:42:33.340 a bus and go to the next gig. Or go to the hotel 00:42:33.340 --> 00:42:37.039 and take a nap. they're just people like everybody 00:42:37.039 --> 00:42:41.219 else and uh you know i learned that early you 00:42:41.219 --> 00:42:43.199 know because of the access that i've been granted 00:42:43.199 --> 00:42:46.920 and and i'll say this that's what keeps you getting 00:42:46.920 --> 00:42:50.840 the access it'll take one time for a tour manager 00:42:50.840 --> 00:42:55.099 to tell a venue manager that yeah that guy that 00:42:55.099 --> 00:42:59.099 guy right there you know you know so i just kind 00:42:59.099 --> 00:43:03.159 of always keep it chill and you know play the 00:43:03.159 --> 00:43:05.900 self -respect card it's just kind of like Would 00:43:05.900 --> 00:43:08.579 I want somebody to approach me if I was in this 00:43:08.579 --> 00:43:13.139 position? So I just kind of you know Keep it 00:43:13.139 --> 00:43:18.179 chill Andy last summer. I saw that you you spoke 00:43:18.179 --> 00:43:21.480 at the NABJ convention the National Association 00:43:21.480 --> 00:43:24.760 of black journalists and Was part of a panel 00:43:24.760 --> 00:43:27.900 discussion? Yes, tell me a little bit about that. 00:43:27.900 --> 00:43:30.539 How much fun you had doing something like that 00:43:30.539 --> 00:43:34.079 Man, it was awesome. Just to have that talent 00:43:34.079 --> 00:43:38.579 in This town was amazing. It was an honor for 00:43:38.579 --> 00:43:43.559 them to pick us as a venue for such a large event. 00:43:44.260 --> 00:43:48.219 I was able to reach out to a couple of editors 00:43:48.219 --> 00:43:50.800 that I had only met through email and over the 00:43:50.800 --> 00:43:54.840 phone because they came to the NABJ. So that 00:43:54.840 --> 00:43:58.099 was in itself one of my favorite editors from 00:43:58.099 --> 00:44:01.780 the Washington Post. I got to meet him. there 00:44:01.780 --> 00:44:04.579 were brunches and tons of social time for us 00:44:04.579 --> 00:44:06.619 to kind of, you know, talk through some things. 00:44:07.159 --> 00:44:10.079 And it was an honor, you know, for them to ask 00:44:10.079 --> 00:44:14.119 me to do it. And we talked about basically my 00:44:14.119 --> 00:44:17.159 journey, kind of similar conversation that we're 00:44:17.159 --> 00:44:20.320 having today. Just kind of talked about how I 00:44:20.320 --> 00:44:24.079 got started and some things that led to my success. 00:44:25.000 --> 00:44:29.239 And it was great. I can't say anything bad about 00:44:29.239 --> 00:44:33.380 the NABJ. I'm looking forward to, obviously this 00:44:33.380 --> 00:44:36.519 year I'll have to travel, but folks came from 00:44:36.519 --> 00:44:40.099 all over, from as far as Washington State, as 00:44:40.099 --> 00:44:43.380 down south as lower parts of Florida and Miami, 00:44:44.039 --> 00:44:47.000 and folks came from everywhere, New York. So 00:44:47.000 --> 00:44:49.940 it was just, it was a great time to network with 00:44:49.940 --> 00:44:55.000 peers and talk about what we love is being visual 00:44:55.000 --> 00:44:58.289 journalists. Andy I just well first of all, I 00:44:58.289 --> 00:45:00.389 just so enjoy this conversation. I feel like 00:45:00.389 --> 00:45:04.710 that you you just have an interest in humanity 00:45:04.710 --> 00:45:11.730 in your fellow man your fellow woman and I Might 00:45:11.730 --> 00:45:14.510 have come with getting a little older and having 00:45:14.510 --> 00:45:18.230 children, you know, you just want to You're always 00:45:18.230 --> 00:45:20.010 teaching and you know, they're always watching 00:45:20.010 --> 00:45:24.670 so now you've got we talked about this You've 00:45:24.670 --> 00:45:27.960 got three children I've got three kids and I 00:45:27.960 --> 00:45:30.079 think we had the same order where it's two boys 00:45:30.079 --> 00:45:34.079 and then the girl. How much has being a dad shaped 00:45:34.079 --> 00:45:38.179 your current outlook on your professional life, 00:45:38.179 --> 00:45:41.739 your home life? Man, it's great. You know, they 00:45:41.739 --> 00:45:44.619 embrace what I do and they know daddy takes pictures 00:45:44.619 --> 00:45:48.380 for a living. Especially my oldest this summer 00:45:48.380 --> 00:45:52.820 was the first summer that he got a chance to 00:45:52.820 --> 00:45:54.659 work with me and it took a little, you know, 00:45:54.860 --> 00:45:57.619 he's just like man you you want me to work it's 00:45:57.619 --> 00:46:01.119 summer vacation but then when i told him about 00:46:01.119 --> 00:46:04.260 you know the incentive i paid him you know and 00:46:04.260 --> 00:46:06.699 he made a lot of money this summer you know for 00:46:06.699 --> 00:46:12.179 a 14 year old kid and um that's great he's totally 00:46:12.179 --> 00:46:16.340 in he he assisted me on a lot of uh shoots this 00:46:16.340 --> 00:46:19.659 summer the what's in it for him he definitely 00:46:19.659 --> 00:46:22.519 had that won him over he i never i only had to 00:46:22.559 --> 00:46:25.280 only had to fuss at him about getting up the 00:46:25.280 --> 00:46:29.420 first time and being able to meet all these interesting 00:46:29.420 --> 00:46:32.739 people and all these interesting situations that 00:46:32.739 --> 00:46:35.619 he normally would not be in if his dad wasn't 00:46:35.619 --> 00:46:38.980 a photographer. He really enjoyed it and obviously 00:46:38.980 --> 00:46:41.940 being a father it gave me a time to spend some 00:46:41.940 --> 00:46:45.559 time with my kid and it was great man. He's really 00:46:45.559 --> 00:46:48.360 he's an assistant with me now whenever I need 00:46:48.360 --> 00:46:51.139 one and he's not in school. He's totally on it. 00:46:51.340 --> 00:46:55.039 We also mentioned before we set up the call here 00:46:55.039 --> 00:46:57.659 I want to talk about some guy stuff. I think 00:46:57.659 --> 00:47:03.639 that it's really important in 2024 now more than 00:47:03.639 --> 00:47:07.440 ever that Men are involved in their children's 00:47:07.440 --> 00:47:09.880 lives whether they're with the mother or they're 00:47:09.880 --> 00:47:15.019 not Yeah that guys hang out with guys You know 00:47:15.019 --> 00:47:18.019 either in their professional life or they foster 00:47:18.019 --> 00:47:20.510 some kind of friendships don't have to go have 00:47:20.510 --> 00:47:22.949 beers at somebody's house every weekend, but 00:47:22.949 --> 00:47:27.809 just to have male friendships. It's not really 00:47:27.809 --> 00:47:30.550 always talked about a lot, but I think it's very 00:47:30.550 --> 00:47:35.050 important for men to be well -rounded and to 00:47:35.050 --> 00:47:39.550 be good to women, to be respectful of women and 00:47:39.550 --> 00:47:42.230 even people from different cultures, different 00:47:42.230 --> 00:47:45.789 backgrounds. It's just something that I've always 00:47:45.789 --> 00:47:48.639 believed in. And now that I have two boys, I 00:47:48.639 --> 00:47:52.019 want them and I think you do too, to see their 00:47:52.019 --> 00:47:54.960 dad doing something that, you know, either they 00:47:54.960 --> 00:47:56.619 want to emulate or they at least think, hey, 00:47:56.619 --> 00:47:59.340 that's pretty cool. My dad's a photographer and 00:47:59.340 --> 00:48:01.880 that you take them to breakfast. You sit down 00:48:01.880 --> 00:48:03.900 and you eat with them and you put the phone down 00:48:03.900 --> 00:48:05.880 and you look them in the, you know, get the eyeball 00:48:05.880 --> 00:48:09.920 time. What are your thoughts? Man, I think it's 00:48:09.920 --> 00:48:12.079 really important. I think that we're old school, 00:48:12.099 --> 00:48:15.760 so we just try to mix a lot of those old school 00:48:15.760 --> 00:48:20.150 ideals to our kids. I'll never forget. Obviously, 00:48:20.170 --> 00:48:22.949 I told you about how things slowed down during 00:48:22.949 --> 00:48:26.630 COVID, but we were just like very committed. 00:48:26.710 --> 00:48:29.530 Me and my wife were really committed about keeping 00:48:29.530 --> 00:48:32.849 our kids mentally sharp, you know, and spiritually 00:48:32.849 --> 00:48:36.510 sharp. As far as like being stuck in a house, 00:48:36.909 --> 00:48:40.250 we made sure that we stayed outside, man. We 00:48:40.250 --> 00:48:43.610 did a lot of camping and a lot of outdoors stuff 00:48:43.610 --> 00:48:49.440 and a lot of cooking outside. That's good. It 00:48:49.440 --> 00:48:52.000 was raining. It was so rain. It was just raining 00:48:52.000 --> 00:48:54.579 and the kids were like sad because we had planned. 00:48:55.440 --> 00:48:59.019 We just got ordered frisbees from like Amazon 00:48:59.019 --> 00:49:02.260 and they were so bummed. So I looked out and 00:49:02.260 --> 00:49:04.719 there was no lightning. It's just good rain. 00:49:05.400 --> 00:49:07.519 I was just like if you guys ever played in the 00:49:07.519 --> 00:49:10.519 rain and we just went out outside outside and 00:49:10.519 --> 00:49:13.500 just played frisbee in the rain. You know and 00:49:13.500 --> 00:49:16.119 it was I've got pictures of it. It was just one 00:49:16.119 --> 00:49:18.900 of our I don't know, it was one of those moments 00:49:18.900 --> 00:49:21.559 where you as a father, you know you're doing 00:49:21.559 --> 00:49:25.420 it right when the kids are playing in the rain. 00:49:25.460 --> 00:49:27.820 And that's just something that when I was little, 00:49:27.940 --> 00:49:30.760 we wouldn't have even asked. We would just, as 00:49:30.760 --> 00:49:32.980 long as it was safe, no lightning or anything. 00:49:33.539 --> 00:49:36.940 But it's really important that you take time 00:49:36.940 --> 00:49:40.300 for your family. And anytime I can, the kids 00:49:40.300 --> 00:49:43.599 always know I'm up here at my studio now. And 00:49:43.599 --> 00:49:46.920 for all practical purposes, it's just a it's 00:49:46.920 --> 00:49:50.800 just a room you know with the bathroom but they 00:49:50.800 --> 00:49:52.619 know they you know they can come up here and 00:49:52.619 --> 00:49:55.599 grab the remote and watch kids shows on the roku 00:49:55.599 --> 00:50:00.219 or you know there's plenty of cool things to 00:50:00.219 --> 00:50:03.980 snack on and there's plenty of cool drinks and 00:50:03.980 --> 00:50:08.420 cold waters in the fridge so i'm they know that 00:50:08.420 --> 00:50:10.920 they can get around you even if you got something 00:50:10.920 --> 00:50:13.420 you got to focus on for a little bit they could 00:50:13.420 --> 00:50:17.139 be with dad Yeah, I want them to always be you 00:50:17.139 --> 00:50:20.360 know, I never want them to be I never want to 00:50:20.360 --> 00:50:23.820 have to beg them to come up here You know, so 00:50:23.820 --> 00:50:27.059 they you know, they might show up mom might bring 00:50:27.059 --> 00:50:30.239 them up here any any minute today and leave them 00:50:30.239 --> 00:50:33.059 and they know that There's a park across the 00:50:33.059 --> 00:50:35.780 street. I'm off Highland Avenue. So it's just 00:50:35.780 --> 00:50:38.360 really it's really pleasant, you know up here. 00:50:38.380 --> 00:50:43.010 It's a really cool cool scene now Your daughter, 00:50:43.150 --> 00:50:46.809 like mine, is your baby, Andy. Talk about this 00:50:46.809 --> 00:50:49.070 guy's stuff, but let me tell you something I 00:50:49.070 --> 00:50:52.190 think you might be able to relate. When I hold 00:50:52.190 --> 00:50:56.849 my baby girl, it's like, I'm not even saying 00:50:56.849 --> 00:50:58.650 this right, but it's like a lightning bolt through 00:50:58.650 --> 00:51:01.630 my heart. It's just, she, there's something about 00:51:01.630 --> 00:51:07.230 when you, a dad with his baby girl, you know 00:51:07.230 --> 00:51:09.869 that you are, you are wrapped up with her for 00:51:09.869 --> 00:51:12.869 the rest of her life, rest of your life. And 00:51:12.869 --> 00:51:15.230 you kind of, you feel, I don't want to call it 00:51:15.230 --> 00:51:17.590 a wait, but you definitely know, all right, you 00:51:17.590 --> 00:51:19.469 better be on your A game, buddy, because she's 00:51:19.469 --> 00:51:23.389 going to look up to you. And if you start making 00:51:23.389 --> 00:51:26.550 a mess of yourself, which you're not going to, 00:51:26.630 --> 00:51:29.289 you know, you're not, I'm not, but they, girls 00:51:29.289 --> 00:51:31.469 don't need that. They don't need their dads to 00:51:31.469 --> 00:51:34.550 disappear. They don't need their dads to, um, 00:51:34.590 --> 00:51:37.409 I've dated women that have. do not have good 00:51:37.409 --> 00:51:40.250 histories with their fathers and it changes the 00:51:40.250 --> 00:51:42.989 course of their life. But not to get so deep 00:51:42.989 --> 00:51:46.389 there, but how, how tender is that relationship? 00:51:46.429 --> 00:51:48.409 You remember when she was a little baby and. 00:51:48.750 --> 00:51:52.369 It's amazing. Like, um, I can't stress that enough. 00:51:52.769 --> 00:51:55.650 It's just like, she gives me everything I need 00:51:55.650 --> 00:51:59.130 as far as, you know, just, I don't mean to be 00:51:59.130 --> 00:52:02.530 cliche, but the whole, you know, Hey daddy, when 00:52:02.530 --> 00:52:07.320 I walk in the door. She just knows that it's 00:52:07.320 --> 00:52:10.099 hard for me to tell her no and that I've got 00:52:10.099 --> 00:52:13.360 her back, you know, and she's a, she's a budding 00:52:13.360 --> 00:52:18.199 artist. She draws and she's six and she's got 00:52:18.199 --> 00:52:22.420 her own little portfolio desk and place where 00:52:22.420 --> 00:52:25.719 she's got all her crayons and colored pencils 00:52:25.719 --> 00:52:30.099 and stencils and construction paper and she's 00:52:30.099 --> 00:52:33.199 a mess and a beauty at the same time. She's, 00:52:33.400 --> 00:52:37.820 she's so amazing. Yeah, man, you don't get my 00:52:37.820 --> 00:52:42.639 heart my heart started to be bad She knows that 00:52:42.639 --> 00:52:45.760 she's my heart and the boys do too. But man, 00:52:45.760 --> 00:52:49.300 it's just something special about The relationship 00:52:49.300 --> 00:52:52.360 that you have with your own with your the important 00:52:52.360 --> 00:52:56.320 your only daughter. That's right. I mean He hadn't 00:52:56.320 --> 00:52:58.400 gotten she hadn't picked up a camera yet, but 00:52:58.400 --> 00:53:00.659 she's definitely on her way, you know, she we 00:53:00.659 --> 00:53:04.739 call it she's our little artist and she she's 00:53:08.280 --> 00:53:12.059 Say say it again, I think it's George Rodriguez 00:53:12.059 --> 00:53:16.000 He's a he's from Louisiana and he draws the blue 00:53:16.000 --> 00:53:19.880 dog. It's just a blue dog She's never seen this 00:53:19.880 --> 00:53:23.800 but it reminds me she does cats. She does like 00:53:23.800 --> 00:53:28.360 these cat faces and man, they're amazing She 00:53:28.360 --> 00:53:31.139 does them with polka dots she does them all kinds 00:53:31.139 --> 00:53:34.360 of ways I have to show that I have to show that 00:53:34.360 --> 00:53:36.480 to you, but she draws all kinds of stuff She 00:53:36.480 --> 00:53:39.519 does dogs she does all kind of animals, but they're 00:53:39.519 --> 00:53:42.800 amazing. Like I'm really proud of her With the 00:53:42.800 --> 00:53:46.260 way she's advanced her her art at such a young 00:53:46.260 --> 00:53:49.619 age But you know, they say the apple doesn't 00:53:49.619 --> 00:53:53.340 fall far from the tree. So there's that Yeah, 00:53:53.360 --> 00:53:56.820 and you just got to be But like I am with my 00:53:56.820 --> 00:53:59.900 kids you start seeing those traits from for either 00:53:59.900 --> 00:54:02.000 the guy from you or your side of the family or 00:54:02.000 --> 00:54:07.159 your wife and You just try to foster a good environment 00:54:07.159 --> 00:54:11.079 for them to explore those interests Andy real 00:54:11.079 --> 00:54:13.679 quick here. I wish we could talk for another 00:54:13.679 --> 00:54:17.159 hour. I'm just so enjoying this. I got a few 00:54:17.159 --> 00:54:20.880 Random questions. I always so in at the end Well, 00:54:20.940 --> 00:54:23.460 first of all, let me just run through so everybody 00:54:23.460 --> 00:54:26.380 listening Andy and I first met would have been 00:54:26.380 --> 00:54:32.570 the early spring 1999 we worked at music stores 00:54:32.570 --> 00:54:36.610 or part of a franchise and I didn't know it at 00:54:36.610 --> 00:54:39.809 the time but what a year for music we could talk 00:54:39.809 --> 00:54:43.909 a lot about it was cd warehouse uh just how cool 00:54:43.909 --> 00:54:47.969 it was back then to have a record store where 00:54:47.969 --> 00:54:50.630 people met and talked about music we don't quite 00:54:50.630 --> 00:54:53.449 have it the same way now but listen to some of 00:54:53.449 --> 00:54:56.300 these Releases from that year Britney Spears 00:54:56.300 --> 00:55:01.619 makes her debut Christina Aguilera Blink 182 00:55:01.619 --> 00:55:04.559 comes out on the scene in a huge way basically 00:55:04.559 --> 00:55:09.840 just recharges that that power pop genre The 00:55:09.840 --> 00:55:13.300 Coachella festival is the first the first one 00:55:13.300 --> 00:55:16.420 corn I didn't remember this one corn is the first 00:55:16.420 --> 00:55:19.880 rock band to perform at the Apollo Napster is 00:55:19.880 --> 00:55:22.800 launched that year Backstreet Boys. It's a big 00:55:22.800 --> 00:55:27.420 year for that music. Lauren Hill takes home five 00:55:27.420 --> 00:55:29.880 Grammys, the first female artist to take home 00:55:29.880 --> 00:55:33.260 five Grammys in one night. I mean, the list goes 00:55:33.260 --> 00:55:36.480 on. You've got, I think Nas had a couple releases. 00:55:37.179 --> 00:55:40.539 What a fun time. What are your thoughts when 00:55:40.539 --> 00:55:43.219 you look back on just working in a record store 00:55:43.219 --> 00:55:47.340 at the dawn of the 21st century? Man, I think 00:55:47.340 --> 00:55:50.980 it was really cool and I miss it. I miss it dearly. 00:55:51.070 --> 00:55:54.530 I think that the music industry has changed so 00:55:54.530 --> 00:55:59.849 drastically. I actually have a moment when I 00:55:59.849 --> 00:56:04.170 really remember it changing, and it kind of made 00:56:04.170 --> 00:56:08.730 me sad. It might have been Tools Lateralis. I 00:56:08.730 --> 00:56:12.750 had ordered, man, I ordered what I thought was 00:56:12.750 --> 00:56:18.449 enough CDs, you know, the day, the release day. 00:56:18.650 --> 00:56:21.829 Enough CDs. You thought you'd ordered enough 00:56:21.829 --> 00:56:25.929 CDs for that day? That release was a big big 00:56:25.929 --> 00:56:30.510 release lateralis. I think it came out 2001 maybe 00:56:30.510 --> 00:56:36.590 or I don't know around that time 2002 and We 00:56:36.590 --> 00:56:40.030 just slammed through like a case of CDs is 30 00:56:40.030 --> 00:56:43.469 if you remember that that's right. There's a 00:56:43.469 --> 00:56:46.500 little box. This box is rectangular Yep, yep, 00:56:46.820 --> 00:56:49.780 there's 30 in a bushel or whatever you want to 00:56:49.780 --> 00:56:53.900 call it, case. And I think we did three cases 00:56:53.900 --> 00:56:58.360 and just blew through them. And I will never 00:56:58.360 --> 00:57:05.079 forget doing like a cash pool went to across 00:57:05.079 --> 00:57:09.119 the street, they had just opened a target. And 00:57:09.119 --> 00:57:14.760 I think they were selling the CD for maybe at 00:57:14.760 --> 00:57:19.659 our cost or a dollar above our cost. And I sent 00:57:19.659 --> 00:57:22.079 somebody because I hated turning people away. 00:57:23.019 --> 00:57:25.019 And since we weren't really losing any money 00:57:25.019 --> 00:57:28.239 on the buy, I sent him over there to buy like 00:57:28.239 --> 00:57:32.860 10 copies of that CD. I know the people at Target 00:57:32.860 --> 00:57:36.840 were looking at him crazy, but that's when I 00:57:36.840 --> 00:57:39.820 knew that that day may be sad because I knew 00:57:39.820 --> 00:57:43.929 that You know as a CD store and as a as an entity 00:57:43.929 --> 00:57:47.090 in business, we couldn't sustain it I knew that 00:57:47.090 --> 00:57:50.190 something was gonna change When I was able to 00:57:50.190 --> 00:57:54.789 buy at cost be across the street from a big -box 00:57:54.789 --> 00:57:58.610 retailer the days were numbered Yeah, that was 00:57:58.610 --> 00:58:01.929 a sack and surely enough within like two years 00:58:01.929 --> 00:58:05.610 after that I think the store I think my location 00:58:05.610 --> 00:58:08.570 closed. I can't really remember that far back, 00:58:08.570 --> 00:58:11.360 getting old and We've got a record store here 00:58:11.360 --> 00:58:15.159 in Pensacola called the music box and they walk 00:58:15.159 --> 00:58:18.559 in and man does it not feel like Like I said 00:58:18.559 --> 00:58:23.679 1999 2001 all over again. I Don't think they 00:58:23.679 --> 00:58:26.000 burn incense a lot, but you kind of smell where 00:58:26.000 --> 00:58:31.119 it used to be Fired up and there's used CDs. 00:58:31.119 --> 00:58:33.280 There's a huge vinyl collection. I love going 00:58:33.280 --> 00:58:37.119 in there You know the later model vehicles if 00:58:37.119 --> 00:58:39.599 you go buy a new car now They're usually not 00:58:39.599 --> 00:58:42.179 going to have a CD player. I still was rocking 00:58:42.179 --> 00:58:47.639 the CDs until about 2020, like about three years 00:58:47.639 --> 00:58:51.420 ago. I kind of miss it. I mean, you don't want 00:58:51.420 --> 00:58:55.039 to be driving 65 miles an hour and putting in 00:58:55.039 --> 00:58:58.199 your, taking out CDs and a one disc changer. 00:58:59.139 --> 00:59:04.420 I just got a new vehicle and yeah, you're not 00:59:04.420 --> 00:59:08.739 streaming or listening to satellite radio. You 00:59:08.739 --> 00:59:11.320 don't have a way to do anything. There's no cassette. 00:59:11.380 --> 00:59:15.579 There's no CD Player at all. I feel like the 00:59:15.579 --> 00:59:19.780 CD still they sounded better There's just a lot. 00:59:20.300 --> 00:59:23.440 I Don't know. I play Apple music on the road 00:59:23.440 --> 00:59:26.320 Yeah, sounds pretty good. Maybe there's not a 00:59:26.320 --> 00:59:29.179 difference. Maybe it's all in my head. I Don't 00:59:29.179 --> 00:59:33.139 think I think that it I don't I won't say better. 00:59:33.139 --> 00:59:36.579 I just think it sounds different. Yeah what was 00:59:36.579 --> 00:59:39.420 on the back of the nomenclature, the AAD, you 00:59:39.420 --> 00:59:44.780 remember that? Right. So I do remember listening 00:59:44.780 --> 00:59:48.980 to CDs that were AAD, that's analog recording, 00:59:49.320 --> 00:59:52.960 analog mix, digital master. That's what the letters 00:59:52.960 --> 00:59:56.699 stand for. I do remember a time when I would 00:59:56.699 --> 01:00:02.559 buy a CD and it would be DDD. Now those clearly 01:00:02.559 --> 01:00:06.500 sounded different. that's crazy like you have 01:00:06.500 --> 01:00:09.860 a digital the ending digital platform the CD 01:00:09.860 --> 01:00:14.340 the compact is that had its original masters 01:00:14.340 --> 01:00:19.059 recorded in an analog fashion and then as technology 01:00:19.059 --> 01:00:23.559 advanced the master was digital from the start 01:00:23.559 --> 01:00:27.820 so that your mix was digital as well as well 01:00:27.820 --> 01:00:33.119 as your final playback media so i i do remember 01:00:33.119 --> 01:00:36.300 seeing The a's disappear from the back of the 01:00:36.300 --> 01:00:39.579 cd and then I remember it not even being a thing 01:00:39.579 --> 01:00:42.599 at all You could buy a cd in it. The nomenclature 01:00:42.599 --> 01:00:45.900 was just not on there at all Which you know makes 01:00:45.900 --> 01:00:50.579 me feel old I I think the first cds I bought 01:00:50.579 --> 01:00:53.539 it was not until 1995. I remember because I was 01:00:53.539 --> 01:00:57.820 buying cassettes up until My first car so I was 01:00:57.820 --> 01:01:01.119 16 and 95. Do you remember the first cd that 01:01:01.119 --> 01:01:05.840 you purchased? Oh, man. Yeah, absolutely It was 01:01:05.840 --> 01:01:09.960 probably a little earlier than that. I got my 01:01:09.960 --> 01:01:15.619 first CD player for Christmas 90 Man, I'm telling 01:01:15.619 --> 01:01:21.579 my age here 89 or 90 man. It was a big deal. 01:01:21.579 --> 01:01:25.239 They were really expensive back then I remember 01:01:25.239 --> 01:01:27.940 my my older brother coming home with those long 01:01:27.940 --> 01:01:32.900 boxes that they came in Yep, I still Man, I still 01:01:32.900 --> 01:01:37.619 have the original reprise. I'm a big Jimi Hendrix 01:01:37.619 --> 01:01:41.980 fan. And I have, still in cellophane plastic, 01:01:42.059 --> 01:01:46.800 still wrapped the entire discography reprise, 01:01:47.059 --> 01:01:49.719 Warner Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, all his releases, 01:01:49.880 --> 01:01:54.480 you know? Axis Blow of Love, Smash Hits. I mean, 01:01:54.619 --> 01:01:57.579 just all of them. Still sealed in the long box. 01:01:58.239 --> 01:02:01.079 I can't wait to - Wow. They're in the garage 01:02:01.079 --> 01:02:04.159 now and I can't wait to dig them up and show 01:02:04.159 --> 01:02:09.920 them to my kids because the long box was marketing's 01:02:09.920 --> 01:02:14.000 answer to, I think, the album covers, you know, 01:02:14.119 --> 01:02:18.739 LPs, just a big graphic cardboard thing. But 01:02:18.739 --> 01:02:21.880 the thing about it is I don't remember people 01:02:21.880 --> 01:02:25.139 saving them, you know, like. I got so good that 01:02:25.139 --> 01:02:27.199 I could feel the crease of the CD in the bottom 01:02:27.199 --> 01:02:29.699 of the box and just rip it apart, you know, rip 01:02:29.699 --> 01:02:32.559 it right through the middle and get the CD out. 01:02:33.119 --> 01:02:36.780 But since I'm a big, big Hendrix fan, I decided 01:02:36.780 --> 01:02:40.199 that'd be something that I still have. Man. I 01:02:40.199 --> 01:02:43.960 got a few prints. A few who? Which one? Prince. 01:02:44.460 --> 01:02:47.059 Oh, yeah. We were talking about Prince on the 01:02:47.059 --> 01:02:49.880 last episode or a couple episodes back. Man. 01:02:49.880 --> 01:02:53.309 He was... I got... I got the Diamonds and Pearls 01:02:53.309 --> 01:02:55.309 cassette. That was still when I was in middle 01:02:55.309 --> 01:02:59.210 school. Yep. Yeah, I got to see him 17 times. 01:02:59.329 --> 01:03:02.849 I got to photograph him once. You'll never forget 01:03:02.849 --> 01:03:06.210 that. Never, man. It was at Essence Festival. 01:03:06.909 --> 01:03:10.889 He's one of my favorite artists. So it was pretty 01:03:10.889 --> 01:03:15.130 tough to turn that down, but he personally approves 01:03:15.130 --> 01:03:18.849 all of his. I mean, that's what I was told. And 01:03:18.849 --> 01:03:22.570 he personally approves all of his selects. So 01:03:22.570 --> 01:03:25.070 whenever we shoot it, edit it, and send it over 01:03:25.070 --> 01:03:28.210 to his people, I heard a rumor that he actually 01:03:28.210 --> 01:03:31.349 puts his odds on it. And that instance in New 01:03:31.349 --> 01:03:34.530 Orleans some years back, it was at the Essence 01:03:34.530 --> 01:03:38.170 Festival. He was probably about, I don't know, 01:03:38.309 --> 01:03:40.989 maybe 200 feet away from where I was editing. 01:03:41.809 --> 01:03:44.929 So he had a show to do after his main performance 01:03:44.929 --> 01:03:47.030 during Essence. He did a show at the House of 01:03:47.030 --> 01:03:51.559 Blues. on Decatur Street in New Orleans in the 01:03:51.559 --> 01:03:54.539 French Quarter. And his people were already, 01:03:54.820 --> 01:03:56.539 I mean, obviously the group and everything was 01:03:56.539 --> 01:03:59.559 already there. He's a superstar. They just whizz 01:03:59.559 --> 01:04:02.599 him down there and he walks in like a superstar 01:04:02.599 --> 01:04:05.920 is supposed to do. But after his main performance 01:04:05.920 --> 01:04:09.420 at Essence, the team that I was working with, 01:04:09.659 --> 01:04:13.039 we were doing some of our selects and he actually 01:04:13.039 --> 01:04:16.880 was in the building after... the crowd from essence 01:04:16.880 --> 01:04:20.760 had dispersed and went home and stuff. But yeah, 01:04:20.860 --> 01:04:23.019 sometimes it's pretty hard, you know, depending 01:04:23.019 --> 01:04:27.219 on if it's the artists that I have loved all 01:04:27.219 --> 01:04:31.579 my life. Yeah, I do tend to get a little starstruck, 01:04:31.599 --> 01:04:35.320 but that's just normal. That really is just the 01:04:35.320 --> 01:04:37.760 experience of a lifetime. You talk about Prince. 01:04:38.219 --> 01:04:43.300 You get excited. I mean, he is he was a living 01:04:43.300 --> 01:04:47.340 legend in his time. Yeah, man, and now he's one 01:04:47.340 --> 01:04:52.039 of the all -time greats Yeah, I was uh his last 01:04:52.039 --> 01:04:55.460 tour before he passed I was preparing to hit 01:04:55.460 --> 01:04:57.460 some of the shows and try to get approved for 01:04:57.460 --> 01:05:00.239 some of the shows and I had a chance to shoot 01:05:00.239 --> 01:05:05.019 him in Atlanta and you know just some personal 01:05:05.019 --> 01:05:07.980 family stuff came up where I think my little 01:05:07.980 --> 01:05:11.159 girl had a Little girl had a recital or something 01:05:11.159 --> 01:05:13.800 and I couldn't make it And the next thing I heard, 01:05:13.820 --> 01:05:17.760 he was gone. So I was a little bummed about that. 01:05:18.380 --> 01:05:21.340 Because all of my buddies were kind of ragging 01:05:21.340 --> 01:05:25.079 me about coming over to just hang out. And so 01:05:25.079 --> 01:05:28.579 the plan was to shoot it and get regular seats. 01:05:28.860 --> 01:05:32.579 And after my time in the pit, I was going to 01:05:32.579 --> 01:05:34.360 go and hang out with my friends at that show 01:05:34.360 --> 01:05:37.539 at the Fox. He did two nights at the Fox, I think. 01:05:38.360 --> 01:05:40.960 And my friends were like, we can get you tickets. 01:05:41.880 --> 01:05:45.800 I totally got bombed just because I had something 01:05:45.800 --> 01:05:49.000 else to do and then he was gone, you know. But 01:05:49.000 --> 01:05:51.960 I got a chance to see Prince 17 times, man. So 01:05:51.960 --> 01:05:55.059 in my life, there's no regrets. So when you worked 01:05:55.059 --> 01:05:57.119 that assignment, when you shot him, this was 01:05:57.119 --> 01:05:59.739 not long before he passed or within a few years? 01:06:00.400 --> 01:06:03.460 Yeah, it was, I can't really, I'm trying to think 01:06:03.460 --> 01:06:06.760 about the time period. He took up a residency 01:06:06.760 --> 01:06:09.539 in Vegas, I think, for a while or... was doing 01:06:09.539 --> 01:06:11.599 some shows in Vegas and I was gonna try to catch 01:06:11.599 --> 01:06:14.659 him there and then he started doing his man in 01:06:14.659 --> 01:06:17.519 piano, which basically was kind of like an acoustic 01:06:17.519 --> 01:06:21.420 show with just him singing some of his big hits 01:06:21.420 --> 01:06:23.659 with piano. He was just basically sitting at 01:06:23.659 --> 01:06:26.219 a piano playing. And I was just like, man, that'd 01:06:26.219 --> 01:06:29.619 be the most awesome time to shoot him. He'll 01:06:29.619 --> 01:06:32.380 be sitting down. I was just thinking about, a 01:06:32.380 --> 01:06:34.320 lot of photographers will tell you that they 01:06:34.320 --> 01:06:36.460 make the pictures in their heads before they 01:06:36.460 --> 01:06:38.739 take the pictures. that's definitely a thing 01:06:38.739 --> 01:06:41.000 that I do and so I was just like man this would 01:06:41.000 --> 01:06:43.780 be easy you know he won't be moving around there 01:06:43.780 --> 01:06:46.360 won't be a band you know there'll just be a really 01:06:46.360 --> 01:06:49.739 good light spotlight on him but I just never 01:06:49.739 --> 01:06:53.019 got the opportunity to do it you know in that 01:06:53.019 --> 01:06:55.579 capacity I wanted to hit a bunch of shows on 01:06:55.579 --> 01:06:59.119 that tour just to make sure I got a really iconic 01:06:59.119 --> 01:07:02.099 shot of him you know but it just never happened 01:07:02.099 --> 01:07:05.739 then you know one thing with Prince He was just 01:07:05.739 --> 01:07:07.880 on a different level. Sometimes people perceive 01:07:07.880 --> 01:07:13.099 those those mega stars as unapproachable prickly, 01:07:13.099 --> 01:07:16.059 uh, maybe difficult to actually interact with 01:07:16.059 --> 01:07:20.940 but I heard it came out after he died that He 01:07:20.940 --> 01:07:23.539 was quite philanthropic. I guess you would say 01:07:23.539 --> 01:07:27.500 like he made Charitable contributions that he 01:07:27.500 --> 01:07:30.739 didn't really want any attention Oh, yeah attached 01:07:30.739 --> 01:07:34.769 to it some of that stuff came out and Think all 01:07:34.769 --> 01:07:37.070 that's true. I don't know for sure. I'd have 01:07:37.070 --> 01:07:39.590 to you know read it with my own I believe you 01:07:39.590 --> 01:07:42.030 and I definitely have heard that too that he 01:07:42.030 --> 01:07:45.389 was just You know, I thought you're gonna ask 01:07:45.389 --> 01:07:48.449 if I ever had an opportunity to be in the same 01:07:48.449 --> 01:07:51.610 room with him But yeah that would be no that 01:07:51.610 --> 01:07:54.789 that'd be no I've never been the same I was the 01:07:54.789 --> 01:07:56.489 closest maybe gonna ask that but it was like 01:07:56.489 --> 01:07:59.429 I've always heard that Prince is like you Probably 01:07:59.429 --> 01:08:01.610 most people only get like a few layers away. 01:08:01.909 --> 01:08:06.000 Well because we have the media situated in the 01:08:06.000 --> 01:08:09.900 visitors locker room, which is, you know, they've 01:08:09.900 --> 01:08:12.360 got like a place where they can review films 01:08:12.360 --> 01:08:14.940 and they've got all these little like, they almost 01:08:14.940 --> 01:08:17.060 look like little closets for all the players. 01:08:18.020 --> 01:08:21.500 So we were pretty cozy in there. He was on the 01:08:21.500 --> 01:08:25.739 other side of the hall in the New Orleans Saints 01:08:25.739 --> 01:08:28.979 dressing room, which I didn't get a chance to 01:08:28.979 --> 01:08:32.140 go over there and really check it out. as much 01:08:32.140 --> 01:08:34.479 as I wanted to all the years that I've shot essence 01:08:34.479 --> 01:08:36.220 I've just never been over there that it's like 01:08:36.220 --> 01:08:38.619 really we had to eat over there at one one year 01:08:38.619 --> 01:08:42.659 but it's definitely nicer than the visitors locker 01:08:42.659 --> 01:08:45.979 room but yeah he was probably the walk from one 01:08:45.979 --> 01:08:49.739 side of the hallway to the other side uh is probably 01:08:49.739 --> 01:08:52.020 about two three hundred feet so he was pretty 01:08:52.020 --> 01:08:55.300 close we had pretty strict rules not to disturb 01:08:55.300 --> 01:08:59.260 and you know just kind of hang hang back so have 01:08:59.260 --> 01:09:02.869 you been in a situation where you're not asking 01:09:02.869 --> 01:09:06.369 to meet the subject and you're doing your job. 01:09:07.310 --> 01:09:10.789 And maybe there's an interim period there where 01:09:10.789 --> 01:09:12.930 you're grabbing something to eat and someone 01:09:12.930 --> 01:09:16.010 just because of, um, their impression of you 01:09:16.010 --> 01:09:18.130 maybe has said, Hey, Andy, come on. I want you 01:09:18.130 --> 01:09:21.149 to, I want to introduce you to, to so and so 01:09:21.149 --> 01:09:25.170 does that really happen? It rarely happens. Um, 01:09:25.170 --> 01:09:27.109 if you're on like a marketing team and you're 01:09:27.109 --> 01:09:31.310 working for an artist and. passing they've seen 01:09:31.310 --> 01:09:33.949 you and they know that you are super professional 01:09:33.949 --> 01:09:38.909 and maybe but usually these guys security and 01:09:38.909 --> 01:09:41.409 marketing they have an assignment and they pretty 01:09:41.409 --> 01:09:43.430 much stick to the you know they stick to the 01:09:43.430 --> 01:09:46.350 plan they don't when you start breaking the rules 01:09:46.350 --> 01:09:51.090 like that anything can happen so yeah it rarely 01:09:51.090 --> 01:09:54.470 happens man like that it'd be cool it'd be cool 01:09:54.470 --> 01:09:58.930 if it did often but yeah it The normal one run 01:09:58.930 --> 01:10:01.609 of things is if you're not supposed to have access 01:10:01.609 --> 01:10:04.869 to a certain area and you just stay away Sure, 01:10:05.350 --> 01:10:07.869 andy do you miss just handling the jewel case 01:10:07.869 --> 01:10:11.869 just popping it open? I miss it. I miss driving 01:10:11.869 --> 01:10:14.890 and having a couple cds in the passenger seat 01:10:14.890 --> 01:10:18.550 Yeah, man the case logic. Yeah Remember that 01:10:18.550 --> 01:10:22.010 thing? Oh, yeah, I kind of got to where i'd have 01:10:22.010 --> 01:10:26.060 I never had the visor cd thing going but Had 01:10:26.060 --> 01:10:29.579 some in the middle console But I really got to 01:10:29.579 --> 01:10:32.560 where I was like, okay I'm just gonna leave the 01:10:32.560 --> 01:10:35.760 house and grab three or four CDs and this is 01:10:35.760 --> 01:10:38.279 gonna be the theme for today or for the week 01:10:38.279 --> 01:10:42.779 All the time. I do miss ya I do but you know, 01:10:42.840 --> 01:10:46.039 you can do that with Apple music playlist It's 01:10:46.039 --> 01:10:48.239 just a sign of the time, but it's not the same. 01:10:48.699 --> 01:10:54.890 It seems too easy. It seems You know It's too 01:10:54.890 --> 01:10:58.229 easy to like You know, it's not really is I don't 01:10:58.229 --> 01:11:01.310 think it's anywhere close to as Satisfying when 01:11:01.310 --> 01:11:03.470 you just tap the download button. You're like, 01:11:03.510 --> 01:11:05.810 oh, okay. Well, that's in my collection now, 01:11:06.869 --> 01:11:10.210 but Right. It's not gone is the experience of 01:11:10.210 --> 01:11:13.630 what? Driving to the store walking to that section 01:11:13.630 --> 01:11:17.689 the metal section the R &B section the pop whatever 01:11:17.689 --> 01:11:20.310 Summing through finding it or if you know, maybe 01:11:20.310 --> 01:11:22.770 it's featured if it's a big release and then 01:11:23.410 --> 01:11:26.689 Opening it up taking all that plastic. Maybe 01:11:26.689 --> 01:11:29.069 it's a good thing. We don't have all that but 01:11:29.069 --> 01:11:32.229 a little sticky Barcode on the top that you have 01:11:32.229 --> 01:11:35.289 to peel off It's a lot of fun stuff with that 01:11:35.289 --> 01:11:38.350 experience. It's just I like the Apple music. 01:11:38.350 --> 01:11:41.489 I want Apple music subscriber It makes it pretty 01:11:41.489 --> 01:11:46.590 easy But not as fun not as fun. No. Hey a couple 01:11:46.590 --> 01:11:50.229 really really random questions here. When was 01:11:50.229 --> 01:11:54.439 the last time that you Haven't done this since 01:11:54.439 --> 01:11:56.260 I was a kid. I don't think well, it's been a 01:11:56.260 --> 01:12:01.000 little while did not Start the question over. 01:12:01.479 --> 01:12:04.319 What was the last time that you got a really 01:12:04.319 --> 01:12:09.380 good bubblegum bubble? Going where you just blow 01:12:09.380 --> 01:12:13.699 it out as wide as it can go without popping It's 01:12:13.699 --> 01:12:16.279 you know, it's been it's been a long I tell you 01:12:16.279 --> 01:12:21.579 my kid brought some What was it? It's the it's 01:12:21.579 --> 01:12:24.600 the is it big chew or i don't know big league 01:12:24.600 --> 01:12:28.180 chew that's it you get a good one going on those 01:12:28.180 --> 01:12:32.800 on that bought some of that home from a party 01:12:32.800 --> 01:12:37.960 at school or something and i did that and it 01:12:37.960 --> 01:12:47.159 just blew their mind like afternoon me trying 01:12:47.159 --> 01:12:50.750 to teach them how to and i was just like Hey 01:12:50.750 --> 01:12:52.930 man, it's uh, I was telling my son I was like 01:12:52.930 --> 01:12:55.989 it's right a passage. You gotta do it You know, 01:12:56.289 --> 01:12:59.729 and you can't get all over your face like it's 01:12:59.729 --> 01:13:04.470 gotta be Gotta learn it and sure enough for hours 01:13:04.470 --> 01:13:06.949 They're just they ate the whole bag and you know, 01:13:06.970 --> 01:13:09.710 we got a big rule. Don't swallow it. You know, 01:13:09.770 --> 01:13:11.750 what about all right? Here's another one. It's 01:13:11.750 --> 01:13:14.890 another I don't know how these questions come 01:13:14.890 --> 01:13:17.850 to me and why I even select them Something I 01:13:17.850 --> 01:13:20.350 don't even know like they might bomb I've had 01:13:20.350 --> 01:13:23.149 a couple or I've asked and they just They just 01:13:23.149 --> 01:13:26.890 fall kind of flat, but I try them out Old -timey 01:13:26.890 --> 01:13:30.149 pajamas with the nightcap, you know, maybe like 01:13:30.149 --> 01:13:35.529 19th century early 20th century if your wife 01:13:35.529 --> 01:13:38.210 ordered something like that for you for Christmas 01:13:38.210 --> 01:13:44.409 are you give it a shot and Or do you like to 01:13:44.409 --> 01:13:48.159 I don't like to sleep with a lot on Mean not 01:13:48.159 --> 01:13:50.539 I mean I'm closed but I don't like to have the 01:13:50.539 --> 01:13:52.720 top and the bottom and the pants and I don't 01:13:52.720 --> 01:13:58.220 do all that but Man, I'm a big fan of like, you 01:13:58.220 --> 01:14:03.439 know just t -shirt and I like a good pair of 01:14:03.439 --> 01:14:08.479 nice comfy Pajama pants or pajama shorts. Yeah 01:14:08.479 --> 01:14:11.800 on the cold cold nights they don't really have 01:14:11.800 --> 01:14:14.399 to be themed my wife will just run the target 01:14:14.399 --> 01:14:19.909 and get me a an extra large of some plaid business 01:14:19.909 --> 01:14:22.329 or whatever. It doesn't have to be anything cool. 01:14:23.050 --> 01:14:27.829 My kids still wear the cool pajamas with hoodies 01:14:27.829 --> 01:14:32.689 and the footsies. You remember? We still have 01:14:32.689 --> 01:14:35.989 some of those in circulation. They still rock 01:14:35.989 --> 01:14:39.050 those, but no, I mean, I kind of keep it simple, 01:14:39.229 --> 01:14:41.949 too. I just kind of just whatever they have at 01:14:41.949 --> 01:14:45.300 Target or Walmart, you know. No spongebob or 01:14:45.300 --> 01:14:48.079 anything like that. I tend to go for traditional 01:14:48.079 --> 01:14:51.779 plaid or or solid colors I think I got about 01:14:51.779 --> 01:14:55.859 three in rotation three different pair How about 01:14:55.859 --> 01:14:58.859 this have you ever I mean everyone has but do 01:14:58.859 --> 01:15:02.619 you remember a time? Where you sent a text message 01:15:02.619 --> 01:15:06.300 and it auto corrected? Too fast or you hit send 01:15:06.300 --> 01:15:08.460 before you saw it. You're like, oh shoot I just 01:15:08.460 --> 01:15:10.920 hit send and it was just way off of what you 01:15:10.920 --> 01:15:14.390 meant to say does that happen much or Not so 01:15:14.390 --> 01:15:19.090 much. Happens all the time. That's why you gotta 01:15:19.090 --> 01:15:21.970 make sure you're always being sweet. One time, 01:15:22.069 --> 01:15:24.829 this was years ago, not even with my wife, it 01:15:24.829 --> 01:15:27.270 was with a girlfriend, but I was trying to tell 01:15:27.270 --> 01:15:30.529 her, she was telling me something good that happened, 01:15:31.770 --> 01:15:35.409 and I was replying, I wasn't that great, I'm 01:15:35.409 --> 01:15:38.630 still not great at text shorthand, but I replied, 01:15:39.750 --> 01:15:43.180 G -F -Y. And I meant for it to to read good for 01:15:43.180 --> 01:15:46.739 you And she sent me like the angry emoji back 01:15:46.739 --> 01:15:48.739 or it was maybe before emoji. She said what are 01:15:48.739 --> 01:15:54.159 you trying to tell me? I can't really say it 01:15:54.159 --> 01:16:01.199 on the podcast, but it's you know, go f But she 01:16:01.199 --> 01:16:04.640 was on to it she do all the shorthand and that's 01:16:04.640 --> 01:16:06.699 one that sticks out there both of the other ones 01:16:06.699 --> 01:16:09.220 have been able to explain away, but I wouldn't 01:16:09.220 --> 01:16:11.020 have been offended because I wouldn't have even 01:16:11.020 --> 01:16:15.380 known. Well, Andy, if people want to reach out 01:16:15.380 --> 01:16:18.560 to you for an assignment, what's the best way 01:16:18.560 --> 01:16:24.000 to contact Andy Rice? Man, probably my social 01:16:24.000 --> 01:16:26.920 media is always a good place to start. All of 01:16:26.920 --> 01:16:29.960 my social channels are the same. Rice, Andy, 01:16:30.119 --> 01:16:33.840 which is R -I -C -E -A -N -D -I. Is where you 01:16:33.840 --> 01:16:36.420 can find me on x where you can find me on facebook 01:16:36.420 --> 01:16:39.760 where you can find me on instagram You can find 01:16:39.760 --> 01:16:42.920 me on linkedin with rice andy. It's just r i 01:16:42.920 --> 01:16:47.680 c e a n d i Rice andy with an i yeah folks go 01:16:47.680 --> 01:16:50.739 to the instagram page the instagram page Check 01:16:50.739 --> 01:16:54.180 out the body of work. It speaks for itself linkedin 01:16:54.180 --> 01:16:56.920 look at the endorsements the great reviews that 01:16:56.920 --> 01:17:00.140 andy's received from The impressions he's made 01:17:00.140 --> 01:17:03.069 over the years I'm just so glad we could do this 01:17:03.069 --> 01:17:06.270 today, Andy. Thanks for making the time. Man, 01:17:06.350 --> 01:17:08.970 all the time, dude. When you call it, I was 190 01:17:08.970 --> 01:17:13.010 % in. So it's always good to hook up with an 01:17:13.010 --> 01:17:16.949 old friend. I'll let this be maybe the last little 01:17:16.949 --> 01:17:19.569 plug, but it's such an important thing, man. 01:17:19.670 --> 01:17:22.069 We were just talking about being fathers and 01:17:22.069 --> 01:17:24.869 dudes and currently I'm working on a project. 01:17:25.170 --> 01:17:27.689 It's called old friends. I'm going to probably 01:17:27.689 --> 01:17:30.029 push it out at the beginning of the year or. 01:17:30.079 --> 01:17:32.800 I've been working on it for a couple of months, 01:17:33.859 --> 01:17:38.640 and it's basically to highlight and encourage 01:17:38.640 --> 01:17:44.220 the importance of just good friends. Good friends 01:17:44.220 --> 01:17:46.960 always have your back. They're never gonna let 01:17:46.960 --> 01:17:51.140 you slip up on life. So I've been doing portraits 01:17:51.140 --> 01:17:55.100 of just friends that I've known all my life. 01:17:55.239 --> 01:17:58.279 That have always been in my corner and have always 01:17:58.279 --> 01:18:01.619 supported me with all of my endeavors And uh, 01:18:01.680 --> 01:18:04.500 man, you you fit that plug so you slide into 01:18:04.500 --> 01:18:08.239 town Please come by the studio and we'll jam 01:18:08.239 --> 01:18:11.199 out. I've got a pa I've got a small pa here, 01:18:11.199 --> 01:18:15.699 man, so we can make it get really loud Let's 01:18:15.699 --> 01:18:19.520 do it Yeah, just come in and sit for that and 01:18:19.520 --> 01:18:22.460 be a part of that project and I chose black and 01:18:22.460 --> 01:18:25.520 white as the medium for it just because some 01:18:25.520 --> 01:18:28.539 of us aren't really as secure with our appearance 01:18:28.539 --> 01:18:33.359 in our late age just some of us so to protect 01:18:33.359 --> 01:18:35.739 those people that are concerned with that I chose 01:18:35.739 --> 01:18:37.340 black and white just because there's nothing 01:18:37.340 --> 01:18:40.399 there's nothing more beautiful than just a plain 01:18:40.399 --> 01:18:43.920 classic black and white portrait so yeah that's 01:18:43.920 --> 01:18:48.500 I've shot about 50 people so far all true and 01:18:48.500 --> 01:18:51.420 trod old friends and that's it that's the project 01:18:51.420 --> 01:18:54.100 it's called old friends so when you come to town 01:18:54.100 --> 01:18:57.359 dan Once you be a part of it Andy, I would love 01:18:57.359 --> 01:19:00.560 to I would be honored Yeah, man, can't wait to 01:19:00.560 --> 01:19:05.180 see you again All right, Andy. Well, I will You 01:19:05.180 --> 01:19:07.779 can't see the big smile on my face, but it's 01:19:07.779 --> 01:19:12.199 been I've been trying to speak through the smile 01:19:12.199 --> 01:19:16.939 On my face. I really enjoyed this Nothing like 01:19:16.939 --> 01:19:19.800 old friends. Like you said old friends are the 01:19:19.800 --> 01:19:22.239 best. I said it a couple weeks ago and folks 01:19:22.239 --> 01:19:24.229 if you're listening And you got someone out there 01:19:24.229 --> 01:19:26.390 and you didn't burn the bridge. And it's not 01:19:26.390 --> 01:19:29.850 like there's not a reason to talk. Maybe don't 01:19:29.850 --> 01:19:32.310 call them. Don't cold call, but send a text message. 01:19:32.390 --> 01:19:34.649 If it's a happy new year, you got an excuse to 01:19:34.649 --> 01:19:37.689 do it. You just never know. You just never know 01:19:37.689 --> 01:19:41.470 where it could lead. They remember people, people 01:19:41.470 --> 01:19:44.010 listening, you know, if you left a mark and you 01:19:44.010 --> 01:19:46.149 had a good bond with somebody, they didn't just 01:19:46.149 --> 01:19:49.569 forget you. They, they know they remember. Um, 01:19:49.710 --> 01:19:52.109 so pick up the phone again or get your fingers 01:19:52.109 --> 01:19:55.090 tapping again. Yeah, but this has been great 01:19:55.090 --> 01:19:58.970 Andy and folks, we will see you next week on 01:19:58.970 --> 01:20:01.909 the Dan time podcast. Again, if you want to be 01:20:01.909 --> 01:20:03.850 a part of the show or you know someone who might 01:20:03.850 --> 01:20:08.090 Dan time pod at gml .com I'm at Dan time pod 01:20:08.090 --> 01:20:10.909 on the socials. Appreciate you listening. You 01:20:10.909 --> 01:20:13.810 guys have a great week. Go out there and make 01:20:13.810 --> 01:20:18.039 a difference in your area of expertise. All right. 01:20:18.140 --> 01:20:26.079 Thank you, Andy. You're welcome, man. All right. 01:20:26.079 --> 01:20:28.159 If you love that episode, if you're enjoying 01:20:28.159 --> 01:20:31.180 the Dan Time podcast, be sure to download and 01:20:31.180 --> 01:20:33.600 subscribe so you never miss an episode. Hope 01:20:33.600 --> 01:20:35.840 you have a great week. I'll see you next Sunday.