Episode 16 - Casey Conemac

Segment 1:

Join Cody and Mariah as they share personal stories, reflect on health and wellness, childhood memories, and workplace experiences. This episode offers insights into living healthier, managing stress, and navigating toxic work environments.

keywords
wellness, health, childhood memories, workplace toxicity, personal growth, self-care, mental health, food, habits, reflection

Segment 2: 

In this segment, concert photographer Casey Conemac shares his journey, challenges, and insights into capturing live music moments. From building his career without formal mentorship to handling tough festival situations, Casey offers valuable tips for aspiring photographers and music lovers alike.

keywords

concert photography, live music, festival photography, music photography tips, photography journey, music industry, concert tips, photography storytelling

Check out Casey: 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/casey_conemac

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/casey.conemac 

The Cornershot: https://www.thecornershotroseburg.com/

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:18

You are listening to the Liquid Shape Podcast with your host, Cody Perez.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

Welcome everybody to another episode of the Liquid Shape Podcast with the one and only Cody Perez.

SPEAKER_03 0:32

And Mariah Longfellow.

SPEAKER_02 0:34

And it has been a week, has it not?

SPEAKER_03 0:37

I mean, my allergies are in full swing.

SPEAKER_02 0:40

Yeah. And we're I love it. We slacked. We are just now doing the podcast, and it is what what are we looking at here?

SPEAKER_03 0:50

Well, it's Sunday. Usually we do Fridays.

SPEAKER_02 0:53

Friday or Saturday morning.

SPEAKER_03 0:54

Yeah, but we've been busy.

SPEAKER_02 0:55

Very busy. Um let's see. What was what was your week like?

SPEAKER_03 0:58

Uh it was good. I took Friday off because it was hair did day. Um and it took forever because it was a full highlight. So I was it took her two and a half hours to foil my hair.

SPEAKER_02 1:09

Damn, you were gone like all day.

SPEAKER_03 1:11

I have a lot of hair. Well, and then think it's Salem, so it's an hour there, an hour back. And I was there four and a half hours, so yeah, it was a day.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

It was a full day. Like I feel like you'd left what leaven, and yeah, I mean that's Well, I left a little early because it was bad and had to go get my Dutch brew. That's commitment. Fuck Dutch Brothers. I said that out a lot, didn't I?

SPEAKER_03 1:29

And then yesterday it was my dad's birthday.

SPEAKER_02 1:32

Yeah, we celebrated your dad celebrated your dad's birthday. We made them some tri-tip, we made some jalapeno poppers, we made fresh bread. Fresh bread. You've been doing the bread thing now.

SPEAKER_03 1:46

Like we got you uh cooking bread and I have these really cool cast iron bread loaves or bread pans that I found on Amazon, and they're awesome, so I highly recommend them.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

I love that we're doing our all our rush stuff in in-house, like barbecue sauces, spaghetti sauces, pizza sauces.

SPEAKER_03 2:03

Well, it's just wild how many how much shit is in everything. I mean, I think we've always known, but when you really like hone down and look at labels, it's like even bread has like 50 ingredients. Bread should only have four.

SPEAKER_02 2:14

Yeah, and tortillas too. Like I've been making tortillas, uh, flour and corn, and then they are so much better when they're freshly made. You can taste a huge difference and they're so easy to make. Yeah, it's unreal how easy they are to make, and the difference in taste and how you feel above all. Fuck the taste. It's how you feel. Like I've been eating now, like foodie says fuck the taste. Well, yeah, yeah, because it's I mean, yeah, I love the taste, of course, but never mind the taste. It's like how you feel. Like I now that we've I feel like I'm always constantly taking on new challenges that I'm adding to my goals of being healthy, living better, feeling better, thinking better, all this shit that I've been adding onto my plate since getting sober. You know, getting sober was the first thing that I tackled, but then I knew I instantly knew I said to myself that with getting sober, it wasn't gonna stop there. What's the point of me being sober if I'm not taking care of the rest of myself? Like the whole vessel, exactly. So it started with getting sober. Once I got sober and I was able to get clear-minded, and I'm about to hit three years in September. I'm very excited about that. Then it's like, okay, you are what you eat. That old saying of you are what you eat is so true, and it's because of the fact that they they're putting all this crazy stuff in the food that is not necessary. It's to get you sick, it's to get you to be now a patient, and for them to manage your health and for you to spend money. Fuck Big Pharma, and all this nasty preservatives and all this processed food and all that crap, man. I just I don't I like to eat what I and people that follow me, you see like I constantly post food pics because I love I'm a huge foodie. That's without I mean it goes without saying if you know anything about me, you know that I love food and it's uh it's one of my my pleasures. But like eating good and eating clean and healthy, that's what I'm all about, dude. Like I'm even looking at the butter that we use or the oils that we use. Like I'm good, I'm down to doing that point of it, and it has to be clean. I don't mind spending the extra money it's worth to me to have to shop here for this or shop there for that or having delivered whatever. Um, and not going out to eat really anymore. Like I stopped doing that. You don't know what they're putting in your food, what oils they're using, how clean they are, how fresh is the food actually, and then you're overpaying, and then you're getting shit service, you're having to deal with shitty ass people with shitty ass attitudes. It's just I can go on a rant forever, honestly, about this. But I just feel so much better now. I even cut back on the uh I stopped doing the polar seltzers. I did too. The club sodas that have natural quote unquote natural flavors, zero calories. Like I thought that, oh, it's good because there's no calories and no sugars, but the natural flavoring that is a disguise for so much crap that we don't even know what what does that even mean at the end of the day? It's just a legal way for them to chalk it full of fucking So now what I'll do is I will get we'll drink either green tea that we make ourselves, coffee, obviously. I love coffee that we we get it in-house, we don't go out and buy that crap anymore, or we drink uh clubs, plain old club soda, and then we can make our own, like throw in cucumbers, mint, lime. I like to do a little bit of uh pickle juice uh or jalapeno juice in there to add, give it a little spice and flavor. But like I I feel so much better, and and water, of course. Um, I feel so much better just changing the types of foods that we are eating and what we're putting in our body. Um very, very proud of us for uh doing that. And you too. Like I've noticed that you've made a shift too. Like you stopped in the Starbucks thing, I was like, I know I'm trying to like huge difference. I would love to see you do one of these days. You should check what you spent last year on Starbucks, because I think you're your well, your your uh bank account could probably tell you that. But I'd love to see like what you spent and what you potentially could save, and then what are you gonna reinvest it in?

SPEAKER_03 5:51

Uh the last time I bought Starbucks was March 18th.

SPEAKER_02 5:54

Little steps.

SPEAKER_03 5:55

It's been a month.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

Little steps, yeah. It's been a month, but we're getting there, we're getting better.

SPEAKER_03 5:59

I was uh almost every day or so.

SPEAKER_02 6:01

And so yeah, I'm very proud of this. That's uh kind of been our new thing that we were doing, been doing was just like trying to live cleaner, healthier, making better decisions. It doesn't just stop with cutting back on drinking for her or me completely stopping drinking. It goes beyond that. So I I want to live, I want to live a healthy, happy life. And I already just feel mentally better.

SPEAKER_03 6:21

I gotta stay uh well, we both gotta stay around for each other. Healthy and happy so we can annoy each other forever.

SPEAKER_02 6:27

Yeah, and the dogs. We've got to be here for our babies, our babies that are right here. Yeah, so shout out to Taz and Lorenzo. They get all antsy when we come into the room. They love being in here. So they're sitting here, they're licking each other and being routing.

SPEAKER_03 6:39

So they're happy.

SPEAKER_02 6:40

Yeah, they got their little doggy walk in, and um my foot's been healing from if you guys remember from last week when I talked about the power washer hitting it. It's been in a lot of pain though. I've been in the house.

SPEAKER_03 6:53

Well, it's top of your foot, so it's like think about all the pressure with your shoe. It's always constantly rubbing unless you're barefoot.

SPEAKER_02 6:58

I wonder if I sprang something too, though. Like my butt, because there's a lot of bones there that are just Well, think about it.

SPEAKER_03 7:02

How much pressure's coming out of that power washer? I'm sure you've screwed your stuff up a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 7:06

Yeah. So uh and it has not stopped me, though. I'm still getting in 15 to 20,000 plus steps a day and uh getting my getting my steps in and burning those calories. That is not it does nothing can stop me for the most part. I am fucking determined with anything that I do. Once I make my mind up about something, I'm that guy that will fucking get it done no matter what it's in my way. That guy. I am that guy. So this morning I wake up and uh I I had a dream about my dad last night that we were like I was a kid again, and uh I I remember one of the things that we used to do, my brother and I with my dad, like he'd wake us up all early and he was already like showered and ready to get his day on or whatever, and he would uh play cartoons for us and start playing. Like he loved us watching like Teenage Meter Turtles or um Looney Tunes, especially. He loved Looney Tunes. So this morning I woke up because I had that dream. I'm like, you know what? While I'm doing my cardio, I'm gonna turn on Looney Tunes because I had some Looney Tunes uh uh DVD slash whatever videos on my on my thing. So watching those, I was just laughing so hard at some of the shit that's in there because yeah, as a kid you enjoy it and you don't see a lot of the adult humor that's tied into it and the inappropriate quote unquote things that are not okay to say and do and and show on cartoons or TV anymore because it's not politically correct or whatever the hell. I was just laughing my ass off watching some of those episodes, and I'm just like, yeah, this is great. I grew up on this. This is why my sense of humor is the way that it is, because we grew up on this kind of stuff, and um, it just felt so nostalgic and brought back uh memories of my dad and um made me just miss him a lot and maybe just think about him and how he used to love watching that stuff.

SPEAKER_03 8:48

The Pepe the uh Pepe Le Pew or whatever, that one always cracks me up now as an adult. So I'm like, oh he's raping.

SPEAKER_02 8:53

These are very rapey and perverted. And I wonder if like back because this is back like in the 19 what 50s, 40s, 60s, like yeah, these cartoons were made. So it's like, did they have it after France or something? Because they they made him French and then they named him Pepe, and then they made him all like rapey and just like like forceful and shit.

SPEAKER_03 9:12

It's it's fucked up, but at the same time, like when you watch it, you're just like, oh geez, I didn't realize how like But it was kind of funny on the one that we were watching once, because it was the cat that had the paint. Uh the accidentally painted the stripe. But when she fell in water or whatever, her paint stripe went away, so then the Pepe Pepe realized that she's a cat. Then she was like in love with him, and so then she kind of reversed the script and was like aggressive towards him, like love me. She turned it around on his she turned it around and was rapey.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

So I so I so I was that that brought me to this. So uh you know how we have the question of the week online for people to uh interact with that. I'm gonna bring something here to this, and I'm gonna ask uh folks that are listeners out there to send an email. What are some childhood cartoons or memories that you remember as a kid that you love to watch? And why? Like what what what cartoons are those? And what uh what's what does it mean to you and what did you love about them? And then if you don't mind sending that, I will read your responses in next week's podcast with what you say. So you can email that to the Liquid Shape Podcast all together. So the liquid shape podcast at gmail.com and let us know and we'll read it next week. For me, it was G.I. Joe. It was well, I liked a lot of them, but G.I. Joe, Teenage Venus Turtles, Looney Tunes. I loved Muppet Babies as a kid, obviously.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

Where's Simpsons?

SPEAKER_02 10:37

Where's Waldo? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:39

Captain Plan.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

Captain Planet was great. Oh, yeah. I watched Power Rangers, um, let's see.

SPEAKER_03 10:46

What about like Disney and Kids Incorporated?

SPEAKER_02 10:50

No, I didn't see that. But it we didn't watch too much of the Disney channel because it was so expensive. It was expensive, and my mom didn't want to spend much.

SPEAKER_03 10:56

That's fair. I didn't have it at home. I only saw it at daycare.

SPEAKER_02 10:59

Cable was expensive back then, too. So go ahead and let us know what your favorite cartoons were and why. Give us a little bit why and email that to theliquidshape podcast at gmail.com and we'll read your responses if any of you respond next week. If you don't, then we just won't we'll leave it alone and we'll think of something else next week that we can ask. So with that said, we'll go on to the next segment, which is the question of the week. And this week's question was, what's the worst job you've ever had and what made it so bad? And some follow-up questions to consider. What finally made you think, I need to get out of here ASAP and why? Was it the work itself, the people, or the environment that made it so bad? How did the job affect your mental health or motivation? What one moment from that job you'll never forget? Did anything happen there that still makes you laugh or cringe? What did that experience teach you about what you don't want in a job? Did anything good at all come from this horrible job? So, with that said, I'll read a couple of them, and then you can read a couple of them, and then we'll we'll share our experience.

SPEAKER_03 12:00

A little back and forthy? Yep.

SPEAKER_02 12:01

So first one comes in from my buddy Huey Kilgora Williams. He says, without a doubt, that the worst job I ever had was being on a fucking dive support vessel next to an oil rig for a month in entire Malaysian Malaysian waters. Brutal dogs work, shit weather, a shift, mental choppy seas, and a crew full of absolute wankers. I could hear that in his in his uh uh UK uh English accent that he has. I loathe it so much. I got myself bumped off the hub and quit that shit and picked the sticks up again after 10 years. Thailand had me for a while. Ha ha. I love that. And I love that Huey uh picked up the sticks again and started doing drums. He's been doing awesome out there. So shout out to my buddy Huey, a kicking ass. He's recording down in LA with his band, Beautiful Skeleton. So fucking kicking ass and recording and doing great things down there. I'm glad you were able to get out of that, man. And I totally get it. Like working, sometimes you just you do a job because you just you obviously need to pay bills and you need to do whatever's needed to pay to get get you by, but a person can only take so much.

SPEAKER_03 13:08

Oh yeah, absolutely. I couldn't imagine that.

SPEAKER_02 13:10

Yeah, I I I would not want to be out in the sea. I would I it would go crazy.

SPEAKER_03 13:13

Well, it's just like the people that work on like the deadliest catch, like those types of jobs. Yeah, too.

SPEAKER_02 13:18

It's like, oh and it's dangerous as shit.

SPEAKER_03 13:20

So dangerous.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

And then can you imagine like you might get really pissed off at one of your coworkers where you're just like, I could just shove you off the boat, motherfucker, don't fuck with me, or vice versa. They might do it to you. You might be the person they do that to going overboard. So rage. Yeah. Next response is from another buddy of mine, Frank Anderson. He says, Left a retail management position due to the store manager milking vacation time and medical leave. District manager didn't allow us to hire a new store manager and only gave us the option to bulk up payroll hours, 50 hours, with part-time associates. That went on for five months. I put in my three weeks after the holidays because I liked my team. Store manager is still on lead to this day. 21 months later, her injury claim was that she pulled some muscles gardening garlic on her vacation time. Wow. Yeah, I'll be honest with, and I'm not gonna name drop my jobs here just because I don't want to get myself in trouble or anyone coming after me or trying to sue me or any of that. God knows Cody Perez doesn't need people coming after him and suing him at this point in his life. But I've worked at some jobs where people abuse that whole medical thing, the mental health thing, the disability thing. And I and I'm not saying that these things don't exist out there, but I've worked at places where because the work itself does not allow you to take time off, or a certain amount of people are allowed to take the time off, you have to work the system in order to get time off. And I don't think it should be like that. There'd be less people that abuse this and more for the people that actually do need it if your job was more understanding of the fact that, hey, people need time off. And I get it, business has to be done. You have to run your business, you have to have bodies that are doing the work and whatnot. But at the end of the day, you also need those people and those employees to come in and be not, they need to be able to work and not be worried about, oh, well, I can't take my PTO, I can't take my time off, so I gotta find a way to work the system. Because those employees that are not happy with their job because they can't take time off are just gonna come in, waste company time, jerk each other off, and fucking not get work done anyways. They're you're gonna have bodies there, but you're they're gonna work really slow, they're gonna make a lot of mistakes, they're gonna work the system, go take bathroom breaks for fucking 20, 25 minutes. I've seen all sorts of abuse at work where employees are like, you know what? I'm I'm very pissed off at my boss, I'm pissed off at this company, I'm pissed off whatever. I'm gonna do everything I can to milk the money out of them, but I'm really gonna do just like 10% of what I can do for the job. And and what's the point of having that? You know? Next one in came in from our buddy John Tuna Doubt, manager at Jack in the Box. And he said the customers, enough said, brother. Enough said. I never worked fast food, did you?

SPEAKER_03 16:08

I never did, no.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

Luckily, I never did fast food. I can't imagine that uh it's fun, and I can't imagine that there's there's no way I would have the patience for that. So uh more power to all you that have done it, that do it, whatever. You have no no whatever. There should be no shame. One thing my grandma taught me was never be embarrassed of the work that you do or the job that you have unless you're doing something wrong, like stealing people stealing from people or robbing people, hurting people, whatever. Yeah. So no shame on anybody that's out there doing doing uh these jobs.

SPEAKER_03 16:37

It's more just God bless you that you can put up with people because people suck.

unknown 16:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:41

Suck. Yeah, for sure. Next one comes in from Jason Scott and he says, By far the best and the worst is my current job, lol. As a first as a first time responder, I'm thinking. First responder, it's taken its toll on me mentally and physically over the years. I've struggled with alcohol as a coping mechanism, but I've also gotten a lot better about it. What used to be a daily occurrence is now only the occasional drink with friends. I've also been able to actually get help for my mental health by way of medications that have helped tremendously. I love it and hate it all at the same time. But it has allowed me to recently buy a house and it introduced me to my current girlfriend and her kiddos, who I would do anything for. Death and destruction, seen it. Caring and compassion delivered it through the death and destruction. Overall, I couldn't see myself doing anything else. Just wish that management had even the slightest clue what the field level employees really needed from them to make people happy to show up every day. I guess that's any job though. Anyway, back to unpacking the new house. Have a great day. Thank you so much, Jason, and congratulations, man. I'm glad to hear that things are going better for you. You've been able to limit your alcohol intake and that you're able to find something that works for you as far as medications and that you're taking care of yourself. And a big hand to you and anyone out there that does first responder work because it does take our last episode that we had, or two episodes ago that we had with my guest, Danny. We talked about how I have a lot of respect for anyone that does that type of work because it takes a lot of patience. You're seeing the worst of stuff, and it takes a toll on you, and you're doing a job that not not just anybody can do it. Because it it does take compassion, it does take uh patience, it takes a level of being able to stomach gore. Yeah, and respond like you said that's what your job is, a first first responder to respond in a mental state that you're able to do when you see the worst of the worst, you know, someone on the in a car wreck half dead. I I just I could not imagine. I would be one of those people that'd probably freeze up and I just wouldn't know what to do. And more power to you folks, and a huge round of applause to anyone out there that does that. I have mad respect for that. So glad to hear that you have your your girlfriend and her kids that make you happy and that gives you purpose and everything to be to get you through and and to appreciate life and want to better yourself. I I love hearing about that and I love seeing this this type of thing. And I 100% agree with you that you know a lot of the times management does not see the hard work that you do, but at the end of the day, you get to go home knowing that you made a a difference and you made a huge impact on people's lives. Absolutely. And that just think about that. Just think about you're you're a you're a hero. You're a fucking hero. And those people, I promise you, when someone does something nice for you like that, you don't forget that. So you've made an impact on people, and and that's that's the reward in itself. Management, bosses, all that shit. A lot of the time.

SPEAKER_03 19:35

Well, like you said, I guess that's uh any job though. You're right, it's everywhere, unfortunately.

SPEAKER_02 19:41

I'll let you read the next couple.

SPEAKER_03 19:43

The next one is from our friend, Kathy Bounds. Uh she says, Worst job I ever had was when I was about 22, 23. A friend, her mom, and siblings were opening up a company called Roxy Books in Forest Grove. This was essentially at the very beginning of when the idea of books going to electronic form for kids to use in school. Our job was to take the books that were public, KE free, and spend all day converting converting them to HTML to ready them for electronic form. The friend and her family would yell and fight in the office. Even one time the mom grabbed a daughter by the throat and bent her against the wall. All while us employees just sitting there seeing everything. One day I had asked uh somewhat short notice to take two days off because my sister was coming into town. This is a sister who battled with uh drug addiction pretty much from the age of 16 until she passed away two years ago at the age of 54. I'm sorry. Uh, we would sometimes go years without seeing her, and then she would have her good days, and we would get a phone call or a visit. So this visit was very important to me. They told me I could not take the time off. So I did anyways. Good, I would have too. Upon return, I gave my two weeks' notice. Not only was that part frustrating, but it was just the deciding factor for leaving that severely toxic work environment. Well, about a month or two later, I got a phone call from one of my old co-workers there. She said, Guess where I am? She was standing in the unemployment line as they had gone out of business. I was so happy I got out of there when I did and trusted my gut.

SPEAKER_02 21:08

Oh my goodness, I can't imagine I've worked for family-owned run businesses. It's never a good idea, especially if you're the outsider. It's the worst job you can work at. I promise you that. Because just from my experience, you get wrapped up in their shit and they forgive each other and get over it, sort of. They hold grudges, but they know their family. They have no choice but to figure it out, especially if they're in the business together. But if you get involved in any way, shape, or form, choose a side or throw an opinion, or they come to vent one of them comes to event to you about something, and then you throw an opinion, then now you're the bad guy on the other person's side that they're fighting against in the family, and you're like the biggest piece of shit out. Just it's never, ever a good idea. I will never, ever work for a family owned business that I'm not part of the family. If I it was one thing that if you're in the family and you're in the business together, like, yeah, it it's rough and it sucks. It's you know, people figure it out, make it work, but when you're an outsider working alongside a family-owned business and you're not part of the family, you're you're gonna see some shit, you're gonna hear some shit. So Kathy, uh, I'm glad you got out. That was a very smart move. And how crazy to pin grab the daughter by the throat and like that is just that is wild. Wild, wild that's some toxic shit.

SPEAKER_03 22:22

My HR flag is like fuck.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

They probably don't have an HR flag.

SPEAKER_03 22:25

No, they absolutely don't. 100%. Small companies don't. It's all on the whoever's running the office, so probably the owner.

SPEAKER_02 22:31

And they're not gonna they're gonna report themselves.

SPEAKER_03 22:34

And and they don't half the time know much about HR laws and shit anyway. So just the basics to get their shit going. Uh the next one is from our buddy Kiris Emberborn. They say, hands down, my six years in the Air Force. I joined when I was 23 and I had a miserable time enlisted. It was like being in high school again, especially in the career field, I was tricked into by the recruiter. I scored a 96 on my ASVAB and could have done any enlisted job available. Oh dang. I got placed with idiots and bullies fresh out of high school. Oh, that'd be the worst. I was married to an abusive addict as well during this time. It affected my work life and attitude and work stressed me out to where I couldn't stand it. The two are inexplicably tied to one another. I'm tongue-tied today. This taught me that I will never work long for a boss. A leader, on the other hand, I'll volunteer my time too. It also taught me how to tell the difference.

SPEAKER_02 23:29

Yeah, that's only imagine. Yeah, that's uh mad props to Kiris here for a contribution in the Air Force. I have mad respect for anybody that uh does military time and absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 23:39

My whole family's military, so yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

So working, yeah, there's a big difference between a boss and a leader. And there's informal leaders, keep that in mind. That I always to mention that, that there is informal leaders out there that can be way better to listen to and to follow directions from than an actual boss. A boss sometimes it's like it's just the title. That's all it is. And there's too many people that take that too seriously, and they have no business being in management, no business being a supervisor, no business being directors or this or that that fucking do this shit. And it pisses me off. It's like you just want it for the title, you don't have the passion or the actual skills to be that. And it's frustrating. They do it for a lot of times it's for ego or for money or both. And it just it it makes me sick. I've seen it too many times in the workforce.

SPEAKER_03 24:26

Same.

SPEAKER_02 24:26

Yeah, you're from your stories that I hear about your job. Yeah, there's there's a lot of that. So anytime you vent to me about your job, I always tell you about my experiences from my working corporate world. It's very similar. There's pieces of shit everywhere.

SPEAKER_03 24:38

Oh, it's true.

SPEAKER_02 24:39

All right, next one.

SPEAKER_03 24:40

Uh the next one is from Courtney.

SPEAKER_02 24:43

Lashiver.

SPEAKER_03 24:44

Lashiver. I worked at a mom and pop company that sold coffee beans, so machines, parts, accessories, and other coffee-related things as a photographer and customer service agent. The photography and edit editing part was awesome. The one thing I hated the most about this job was my boss. He was this tall, bald dude with the worst attitude I've ever met. Because I was the newbie, he would blame low sales on me when he was charging way too much for the products. This was back in 2013-14, by the way. Uh, he also found any excuse to yell at me for no reason. What's worse is that him and his wife both ran the business. There were days when they would have screaming matches with each other while me and the three other people in the office would just sit there unsure of what to say at all. So awkward.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

Yeah, that is super awful.

SPEAKER_03 25:30

That was also uh there was also this one dude who'd come in, and every time he came in, he would talk so damn loud on purpose, especially when I had to take orders over the freaking phone. It sucked. And I think that particular guy got off on this. Probably. Yeah. One of those guys that gets off hearing his own voice. Uh the people at this job never trained me for answering the phones or taking orders, causing idiots to leave reviews and say I was stumbling over the phone. Mind you, I have no knowledge of expresso machines and the management didn't bother teaching me. This company also didn't give me insurance or fair pay. I that's stupid. Yeah. I quit after a year and three months. Once I left, I felt so much better and less stressed out. The one thing I learned about this job is how to edit photos better and that photographography is more of a hobby to me, not a career. I know some sometimes different art forms work for people in the same industry, but I learned that I wasn't cut for it. Yeah. That's hard. It is smaller companies again, especially husband-wife-owned.

SPEAKER_02 26:26

And it also could be unfortunately that when you work in an environment that's so bad like this that it taints you wanting to work in that kind of field or anything related to it. But something to keep in mind is that just because this particular situation was horrible doesn't mean that you're not cut out for it. It just could mean that working with under these conditions is where you're not cut out. No one should be no one should be put in a situation like that. If you love uh, you know, taking photos or doing certain things like this, I wouldn't let it sour you and maybe try it like on your own time and and see how you like it compared to working for somebody that just doesn't know how to manage and doesn't know how to uh handle their employees and treat them with some sort of dignity. And and we we've talked about this before where there's always that person that has to have their phone out loud and they they have it on speaker and they want the whole world to hear their drama, like yelling at each other.

SPEAKER_03 27:22

Fred Meyer was it last week or the week before? And that chick was like, What the fuck with this chick like on the phone and so loud?

SPEAKER_02 27:28

Something about how she was beefing about something. Someone fucked somebody or whatever. She was talking about it. She got fucked by or she fucked this or something. I don't know. You're talking about somebody fucking somebody, and I was laughing because I was looking over at you and I was like, really? Like, because this always happens. I always run into people that have their phones on speaker and they're talking about something really personal, and they want like everyone to hear their conversation. I can't help but laugh and get nosy at the same time because I'm like, I want to hear this.

SPEAKER_03 27:54

I'm gonna fucking listen and I'm gonna judge you. So fuck you.

SPEAKER_02 27:57

And this chick looked like she looked like complete trash. Like she was dressed and everything.

SPEAKER_03 28:03

Or alleyway trash.

SPEAKER_02 28:04

Yeah, it was hilarious. And she definitely was looking for the attention.

unknown 28:08

Just ghetto.

SPEAKER_03 28:09

Uh the next one is from Aaron Bax. I once had a coworker who had a breakdown because my adjoining cubicle was bigger than their.

SPEAKER_02 28:18

I got a bigger one than you.

SPEAKER_03 28:20

Not my decision. Management just decided that I needed more working space to accommodate my increased responsibilities. This is the same person that I bet over backwards to help at the last minute multiple times, who really treated people who weren't part of the office click poorly. I never forgot how pissed I was after I'd spent some time rewriting content for a marketing brochure for this person, only to not have been given a writer's credit at all.

SPEAKER_02 28:44

That makes me mad.

SPEAKER_03 28:45

That makes me mad for you. Throat punch them. So glad I don't have to deal with that person who was the most selfish, selfish individual I've ever known anymore.

SPEAKER_02 28:54

That is horrible when people that's co-workers can be some of the most toxic motherfuckers. And I've said this before you can be friends with your coworkers, but a lot of the times they will backstab you before anyone else because they are they get jealous if you get certain what they think is treatment, but it's like, no, I have more skills, I dedicate more of my time to this job or something stands out. Like that's not your that's not my fault. That's your fault. Maybe show up better. Maybe you do something to make yourself stand out. Yeah. Like, and and you don't have to compete with your coworkers. You shouldn't have to, uh at least. I mean, unless I mean it just isn't it's not good. Like, and so I I never, and no offense to any anybody I've ever worked with, I usually don't trust them 100% because I just know they will backstab you at any check.

SPEAKER_03 29:38

Yes, that's why I'm like, be careful with who you friend at work. You might think you're your best, best friend, but as soon as you do something they don't like, they go right to management, start an investigation, especially if they have and they always have pictures and proof of you doing something against policy, especially egregiously against policy. And guess what? We fire you because there's all this proof and statements from all these people and et cetera, et cetera. So just be so mindful of what you tell people.

SPEAKER_02 30:04

You gotta be pretty stupid to trust your co-workers. That's just all I'm gonna say. You gotta be really stupid because they will backstab you. They're not I mean, a family will backstab you. You don't think a coworker that's competing with you constantly is gonna backstab you?

SPEAKER_03 30:15

It's just and especially because I mean, unfortunately, you know, office clicks are a thing. You no matter where you're at, healthcare, regular office, whatever, they're there. You know, and so once you do something that the click doesn't like, that's when they turn on you and they will try to fire get you fired, do what they can to get you fired. So just be mindful. Yeah, it's it's especially if you're doing shit like drinking like on lunch or on the job, or which you shouldn't be doing anyway.

SPEAKER_02 30:40

But what's funny is when they rat each other out, but they're all they're all doing the same shit.

SPEAKER_03 30:44

Or vaping marijuana on lunch breaks, or you know what I mean? It should just be so mindful. Yeah. Well, and don't like drink and be high on the job, especially if you're a customer facing facing or clinical.

SPEAKER_02 30:56

But yeah, if you're in anything that you're getting paid to do a job, just fucking stay sober. You're being paid for fucking your time to show up at your best, not to be a piece of shit.

SPEAKER_03 31:08

Well, and why would you want to waste that on your that's that's just my mindset.

SPEAKER_02 31:11

Instead of being drunk, waste of being I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 31:13

Like I've done it before. Like when I was younger, like on a birthday or something like that, go out on lunch and have a couple shots and a beer, come back a little buzz, but it was like at the end of the day, I was like, this is dumb. I'm like, I'm a little buzzed up, not drunk, obviously, still not good. Uh, shouldn't have done it, but I'm just sitting here and I'm like, I don't want to do my job. Now I'm gonna be shitty at my job when I've always put pride in my work and I'm wasting this buzz on this.

SPEAKER_02 31:36

Yep, there's no point of it.

SPEAKER_03 31:37

People bitching me out about their stupid Fords. I don't care. All right, next one.

SPEAKER_02 31:43

This person came in through email and requested to remain anonymous. So of course we respect that. This says, in my opinion, people don't leave good jobs, they leave bad management. I agree. My first job, my first job with the government was very militant and micromanaging to the point where some of the lead workers would keep track on their notepad. How many times a person got up to go to the bathroom or fill their water bottle? When I moved into the lead role, I refused to do that. I also was told I needed to watch everyone's break times and if they did or didn't go on break on time. Being the one lead worker on shift, sometimes who also had to check all the new hires transactions slash train them and everyone else's work when closing certain transactions. My response was if I had enough time to do that, I wouldn't be doing my job correctly. If you're if you've ever worked in a call center or a call center type environment, you know some calls take longer than others and you can't get off the phone with some people. After I became a lead and would have a question, I couldn't could not figure out an answer after exhausting all my resources. I would ask a supervisor the question to which I was told, figure it out, you're a lead worker now. All to avoid having their initials on the transaction to avoid getting a personal investigation against them, which when I first started, when I first stated there was started, I was told, don't worry, everyone gets one personal investigation at some point. I knew I did want to move up in the agency, but I knew I did not want to learn or be coached by the management team because that wasn't what I wanted to be as a manager or supervisor. I started to apply to other jobs on my breaks on my work computer, which is allowed. My next review, I was told by a supervisor, people know you're applying other places, and perception is everything. That is still in my file. Wow. That is toxic. Fuck that. Oh, like this person talking about a call center automatically triggers me because I worked at a call center for 14 years. And I was told also involved in a personal investigation after they found out I was applying else elsewhere where the supervisor tried to get just get them to sign it. If you sign it, it stays on your record for three years. Wow. I refused to sign it because I had done nothing wrong. And when I got the union involved, if you you refuse, you have to get interrogated. Well, pretty much. It's a process where you have to be in one of the meeting rooms and be recorded. So who say who you are, how long you've been there with the agency, and what your job is, and then get grilled on policy and procedures around what you allegedly did wrong. And find out if you did do it wrong, if you did it out of malice or accident. I came prepared with all the policies and procedures I knew they'd try to question me on. It was almost two hours of questioning, me poking holes in policies, and it ended and it ended. Two weeks later, I was given a s a CD with the interview and was told I was found not guilty. I kept applying and luckily landed where I am now, where I am grateful every day to have the job I have. I feel like I am blessed that I do actually love my job because I don't know that many people that can say the same. It's been a huge adjustment not having to constantly look over my shoulder, seeing if someone is going to correct me for thanking a coworker for doing something nice. I still get anxious calling out sick because at that previous job you had to keep calling until you reached one of the two supervisors on the phone and then hear them judge you. To put the things in perspective, I got in a car accident on my lunch break, which was not my fault. And the supervisor was annoyed and I was leaving work to go to urgent care because my back was already hurting. I did meet some rad people in that position and gained some great experience, but I would not recommend anyone going that pathway at that agency. Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 35:27

That is wild.

SPEAKER_02 35:28

I can't. I mean, I can relate to all this stuff 100%, especially working at a call center. Um, and that actually was right away as soon as I saw that, I was like, oh yeah, I've seen behavior like that before. And it's horrible. Honestly, it's it's it's horrible that I feel like at call centers they treat you like you're in, not even high school, they treat you like you are in middle school. They treat you like a little kid. And I get it. You have to have people on the phones to answer phone calls. But you have to take care of your people first. And micromanage too. And it's like you micromanage motherfucking people, guess what's gonna happen? They're gonna act against you. They're gonna they're gonna break the rules, they're gonna hustle you, they're gonna do sneaky ass shit, and yeah, eventually maybe they'll get caught, but you gotta think about all that money that was spent on them wasting time on the job, on the clock and whatnot. Is it really worth you having to micromanage and just trusting your goddamn employees and then supervisors that like hold you to these fucking weird ass things? Like, like just hire a babysitter for that matter. You know, is that is that a fucking job? So I feel for this person when they said all this stuff, and and I'm glad that this person is happy with their job because not very many people can say that.

SPEAKER_03 36:35

I feel like I feel like there's a lot of people that always know that makes my that makes my heart, my whole like heart and soul happy for to hear this that they love their job. Because I mean, think about it. That's a big chunk of our life is working. Yeah, to hear someone say that they actually thoroughly love their job and go into it every day. But props to you, man.

SPEAKER_02 36:52

I love it. But thank you for sharing. Next one comes in from Bristle. Bristle says, Ramping for UPS UPS in Alaska in February as a kid who couldn't afford very good gear, cold toes, grumpy coworkers, grumpy management, eight dollars an hour. Um, and what they learned, it looks like was pack your parcels very carefully, load and unload schedules are tight. Also be considerate and professional during team efforts. This job might be the only thing keeping that quiet old l guy from with a DUI and pile of debt off the street. Bro yelled at me when I would almost touch the plane with the belt loader under that would be a tough one. That's a tough job, yeah, because people get like, and then they see you. I feel like like people might see you and then they're like, hey, you have my package in there? Can I get it? Like I would I can only I'm in a hurry. Like I can't imagine like people waiting on stuff and then trying to blame like I could see people getting blamed for if something's broken, like, hey, you delivered my package and it was broken. Well, how do you know it wasn't broken in the like on the shipment over or in the factory when it's getting late? Like buttons.

SPEAKER_03 37:54

It was fun. Uh when I worked in Salem for the Ford Acura Mercedes, uh especially on the Mercedes Acura side. My cousin was the FedEx driver, so it's like I got to see him all the time, so that was really cool. But then he'd flip me shit because we uh when we'd overnight things, we'd use UPS and he'd always be like, What the hell's that? And I'm like, sorry, I don't make the rules here.

SPEAKER_02 38:14

Yeah, anymore. It's just like I just wanted my package to be delivered to the right location in a timely manner and handled with care because a lot of times it's things that can get broken and I don't want to have to deal with having to ship it back and waiting again.

SPEAKER_03 38:27

No, props to yeah, everybody. I mean, USPS, FedEx, UPS.

SPEAKER_02 38:32

I'm thankful for you guys and the work you guys do.

SPEAKER_03 38:34

And I know you guys deal with shit on the daily, so I can only imagine. Yeah. But as someone who online shops a lot, I appreciate you so much.

SPEAKER_02 38:41

I agree. 100%, 100%. Next one comes in from our friend Stephanie Tice. She says, I have always been a hard worker, independent with my own creativity, but also working full-time at banks. So enjoying work was never really a thing. It was work. But the worst jobs I have had have always been asshole owners or ego-infused managers. I could not take. Take being told what to do from someone who can't even do my job themselves. 100% agree with that. I've said that many, many times. The things that have bugged me the most about my jobs is that my my bosses or my managers or whatever don't know my job, don't know how to do my job. So why the fuck are you telling me how to do my job? Tell me I need to be work on time, tell me that I need to be there. Tell me what tell me these other things that matter, like manage me in that aspect. But if you don't know my fucking job, do not fucking tell me how to do my job. Motherfucker, like that shit. No, yeah. I get fucking pissed. That shit pisses me off. All right. And okay, so she continues on and says, Years of that. I finally broke out of the fear-based system of losing your job, having a job for years was a good thing back then. But the more you live in eat shit and sleep mode, you become more robotic. Agreed. The purpose of life is to experience and explore in order to grow and continue to create in all aspects of life. How can I create surrounded by white walls, cubicle uh cubicle city, and the sounds of my coworkers pounding their keyboards, responding to purposel purposeless, repetitive emails sent to the nothingness. An artist's worst nightmare. I agree. I looked around and it just clicked. I'm in another form of jail. It's like being stuck in a matrix. I worked at the bank during the day, then modeled at night. Thought isolation was what brought me to jump off the cliff. I remembered that I can choose my own environment for the betterment of myself in turn, encouraging others. If we stay in unhappy places, it causes disease and locks in unresolved childhood trauma. People need to really start paying attention to how they feel. Your feelings are your compass. Stop ignoring them. Stop asking why this is happening to me and start asking, what is this teaching me? I love that. I think we said that before. Something similar to that extent. Agreed, like you just said earlier. Like we work our job sometimes eight to sixteen hours a day, depending on your job and what you what it is you do. And then people work anywhere from three to six to seven days a week. I myself work seven days a week. I and I have two jobs, three jobs technically. Um, this. But you know, it's it's I'm everything I'm doing right now, I love.

SPEAKER_03 41:30

That's good.

SPEAKER_02 41:30

I love everything I'm doing currently at this time. And so I've I've kind of what Stephanie's saying here, I can I can agree. It's like you have to be happy with what you're doing. And if you're not doing it, go find something else that that makes you happy. So thank you for sharing, Stephanie. Thank you all who responded to this. I love the interactions and and when you guys throw us your feedback, it gives us something to talk about. Yeah. And now I'll I'll put the questions back on you so you can share your oh how do I narrow it down?

SPEAKER_03 41:57

What's the worst job?

SPEAKER_02 41:59

Let's not name names because we don't obviously want, like I said, no lawsuits or people coming after us or anything, but you can just be vague about the job so you're not name.

SPEAKER_03 42:07

I don't care if I'm name dropping. It's on hey, it's on you. I'm not gonna say my job now, but my job now is the worst I've ever had. Luckily. Um is it what I want to do forever now? But well, how about this? I'm gonna do a couple different things because I've had some really wild It's not even jobs, it's more bosses. But the grossest job I've ever had was my junior year or summer before my senior year of high school, I worked for Norpak and Staten. Uh because, you know, back then. So did I work for Norpak. Did you? Yeah, I worked for Norm.

SPEAKER_02 42:35

Me and Peter worked for Norpak back in but we worked at the one in uh Brooks.

SPEAKER_03 42:38

Brooks? Oh yeah, yeah. No, mine was yeah, in Staten. That was so gross.

SPEAKER_02 42:42

And the middle what was gross about you gotta give us some context.

SPEAKER_03 42:50

I worked the night shift, 11 p.m. to seven a.m.

SPEAKER_02 42:53

That was my shift too.

SPEAKER_03 42:55

And then I'm an asshole and would call out like you know, a 17-year-old does, and they'd stick you in the worst positions. Cause like where I started, I can't remember. What did I do? I think I was just like a machine inspector or something. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 43:07

Were you on the belt?

SPEAKER_03 43:08

I did, because I called out and then they stuck me on the belt. And luckily I got put on the belt with my boyfriend through high school, his brother. And so I just look at his brother and be like, You're grabbing that chopped-up snake or rat. I'm not touching it, I'm not touching it, I'm not touching it. Fucking gross. And then I called out again and then they stuck me in the freezer. So then it's like which was wild back then. I doubt they do this now, but back then you had to check out freezer jackets, but you had to check it out with your social security number. So you're writing your social security number with everybody else on this sheet of paper. Granted, this was like 2002. So I'm like looking back on it, I'm like, ooh, that's uh I bet they don't do that now.

SPEAKER_02 43:43

Yeah, I was gonna say, I won't name names, but I know someone that would go in the freezer on purpose and they would work in there to smoke weed and get on the job.

SPEAKER_03 43:53

I met great people that like every job I've ever had, I've always met great people. Um, so that was like the grossest. If we're gonna say it, you know. I after that, like I worked retail, like I worked at Kmart. That was just Kmart. It was whatever. Holyode. I got cornholioed. I forgot about that. Yes. Because uh the Kmart that I worked for, we called it the pantry section. So it had like a little bit of food products and whatnot, like the four or five aisles, and so toilet paper. Anyway, so I'm walking by just fucking hating life one day because the store manager was a fucking douchebag, fucking asshole. Shocker. So I'm walking by and this guy literally puts his head or shirt over his head and goes, I need to do something about. And I just looked at him. I was just too pissed off to like in the moment was I just looked at him. I was like, I'll four. I just kept walking.

SPEAKER_02 44:38

So you act like you weren't impressed by it or anything. Yeah, I was just like And that probably pissed him off because he was looking for reactions.

SPEAKER_03 44:43

But looking back on it, I mean hopefully they're listening. That was you. I was the one you did it too.

SPEAKER_02 44:48

That's hilarious.

SPEAKER_03 44:49

I'm like, that was actually, and I'm so grateful you did because that's a great story. And I was like 18. So it was 2003.

SPEAKER_02 44:55

So I always laugh because Judy always brings it up.

SPEAKER_03 44:57

I know. She's like, remember when you were Cornholio? Like, that sounds so bad.

SPEAKER_02 45:00

So that's how I found out I found out about that was because she mentioned it.

SPEAKER_03 45:04

Yeah. So I mean there's that. Then I worked at Shopco pharmacy and eye care after that. Um in Salem. Gosh, then what I do? Pediatric dental, that was fine. And then uh T Mobile Call Center, so in Salem. That sucked. But I would say that was probably my that was probably the worst job I've ever had. I for me. And it's nothing against T Mobile necessarily, because luckily I, you know, had great bosses and they understood. So they micromanaged you, but it wasn't like they weren't dicks about it. They just be like, dude, Mariah, like, hey, you know, like help me help you. And it was like, all right. When you became friends with them and buddies, so then you're like, well, I don't want to spoil that relationship or like make them look bad. At least that's how I acted. But I have some hilarious stories from working there because granted, think of it, T-Mobile, I'm taking calls from all over the US. You can definitely tell West Coasters from East Coasters, that's for sure. Oh my god. And I've never been hit on more in my life than on that call. And it was always men from Texas, like Houston too. No, they were I they well, I'm assuming they were Mexican.

SPEAKER_02 46:10

Like it was Why do we gotta go there? Oh you're nice.

SPEAKER_03 46:14

They just were like, hey girl, you can call me after this, and no, I can't. Oh no, it was like, hey, give me your phone number. I'm like, oh sorry, I have to keep this professional. Well, you got my number there, hit me up later. I was like, oh god. Wow. I had a rapper, who's uh what rapper was it? But they were big in like the late 90s, 2000s. I got his manager and he was like, Yeah, keep my number when we're in town. He's like, hit me up, I'll get you backstage. Of course, back then I was like, Oh yeah, now I'm like, no, he just wanted you to be a groupie chick. Yeah. But I didn't, I didn't I never wrote numbers down or followed up, but I just I would always that was back when before anything was unlimited. And so I would always just to chill people out, I'd give them like 500 bonus minutes. I think I got I think I got in trouble for that, but I was like, I'm tired of being screamed at. I mean, I had a guy get ran over from his girlfriend on the phone with me. I had someone who lost their artif um their artificial leg. They slammed it. Dude, it's weird. Especially like I would work the um swing shift. So I would work three to eleven. Um, the weirdest calls, because thinking like you're taking it from the east coast, so you know it's 10, 11, 12, it's like 1 a.m. on the east coast. Oh god. People fighting, girlfriends pissed, calling wanted to know who their boyfriends are texting, what the texts say. It's like, well, I can't see what the texts say. Um, and then they'd want to be like, are they? I just want to know, can tell me what numbers they're messaging. And I'm like, well, I can't give that information out, but if you give me a number, I can verify if that's you know been on the call log. We could do that at that time. I don't know that they can do it now. I have no idea. Oh yeah. So and then I just hear the fights in the background and shit started like crashing. Okay, it was it was friggin' wild. And then we had the pervert that would call in all the time. So this was just funny, but gross. We called him the pink guy because he would call in. So when you I don't know if you've never worked at a call center, when you call in, at least for a cell phone company, you call in, you know, it recognizes your phone number and it can pop it up, pop your account up to verify it. Well, this person would always bypass that. And so like, you know, thank you for calling T-Mobile. This is Mariah. How can I assist you today? And he'd be like, or I'd be like, how can I uh can I get your phone number or account number so I can pull you up? And he'd be like, Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, wait, wait, wait. But first, I just painted my garage door pink. Now tell me to close it slowly. Like it was like that type of weird shit. Or there was one time he's like, I just bought a pink comforter, now tell me to pull it over my head slowly. Like it was just the weird, the weirdest shit. And then one time I had this call and um my so I had my supervisor or my manager and my supervisor, because like I don't know how they had your uh call center set up, but we had it set up in teams, cubicle teams. So we'd have a big square of like our team, and then the middle was a supervisor and like or the manager and the supervisor, and then we had our main manager who had a desk outside of our little big square cube. And so the big manager was actually qualitying my calls. No idea, obviously. Um, this guy or this couple called in and it's this guy, and he's like, Yeah, me and my girlfriend are right here. We were just calling in, like, we like your voice, we like how you sound. I'm gonna put my phone in my pocket, just tell me some naughty things, or it was something like that. Like, yeah, and then my mate, like this manager, I've totally forgot his name, he was cool as shit. Jumped up. I saw him run around the cubicles. He ran over, ripped like he didn't hurt me, but like ripped my headset off my head. And he's like, This is Mariah's manager, so-and-so. How can I help you? Just hear click. They hung up. Like, there are some wild stories. I met a lot of great people there. But as far as that, I mean, it's hard because you're just getting people screaming at you because no one takes accountability. They're over their minutes, their bills this amount, and it's your fault, your fault. But what keep in mind, if it was something that was our fault, we would rectify it, of course. But when I could sit there and see, no, this is your fault, and you're fighting me on it, it's like just because you're an idiot, that's not my problem. So that was hard. I worked there maybe a year. I ended up getting on um antidepressants because I got really depressed. Like I was getting to the point where I just wanted to like drive my car into a tree. Like it was it got pretty dark. Exactly. So that's why I say that was the worst job I ever had, like mentally, I think. Like that was just and I was so young too, that in naive still, like I didn't know how to handle those type of calls. But then to think about it, like that's your whole eight-hour shift is just being screamed at, talked down to. So anybody that works in customer service, call centers, especially, God bless you, because it is not for the week, not for the week. I would say, if we're gonna say worst boss, is when I worked in Colorado for a hospice company I had started for a smaller company who was bought out by a home health agency based out of Dallas, Texas. And we were their first hospice agency. And the manager that they hired for our office was a flipping psychopath of a woman. Oh, I just want to blast her right now because she was so horrible and just talked so much shit about all of us to each other. And it was it was just awful. She would be so overwhelmed. Well, first of all, so this is how I met Amanda, my best friend, because we worked there together at the original hospice before we got bought out. But so we had this acquisition lasted like 10 months. It was just awful, awful. But this gal, like she I swear to God, she was drinking in the parking lot. Like, and this is our big office manager, right? And one day she was all over she was so reactionary, was always overwhelmed, etc. etc. But one day she's like, I'm just gonna friggin' slip my wrist right here at my desk. And we're all like Jesus, what the fuck? I mean, if you could no, I'm kidding, but it was like easy. I'm like, can you at least like do this in your car outside in the parking lot, ma'am? Like, good god. Yeah, there were just a couple really shitty bosses that came in and out of there. There was another lady, this would make Amanda laugh. This lady, um, a different one outside of this one, uh, did not like Amanda, my best friend, and she pulled me aside and was like, You need to not hang out with her. She's bad news. And I'm like, who the fuck are you to tell me who I can and can't hang out with? But anyway, yeah. So But then speaking of the small mom and pop things, so when I first moved back to Oregon from Colorado after my divorce, I needed a job quickly because I just up and left and was like, bye. Um, and the job market kind of sucked at that time, especially in the Salem area. And so I went through uh express, you know, temp agency, which I do love them. Like I've had good jobs from them like when I was younger. But I took uh this quick job and it worked for a husband and wife, like they did like vending machines, and then they took on like their business had started with vending machines like candies and stuff, but then evolved into where they worked with um Home Depot and they did the Home Depot lockers where you could order online and go pick up in the locker and put in a code. So we did that. Oh my god, they were awful. Like they would sit there and fight. The husband was just like a super and no offense to the super nerds, I don't mean this meanly, but he was one of those like super big computer nerds who was like just a dick and thought he was better than everybody, especially a blonde-haired tan girl like me, which maybe you are, God bless you. But just be nice to me because I'm hella chill. Like, I don't know. Um, and yeah, and then his wife would come in and out because they had kids, so she was there when she wanted to. She would be smoking on her marijuana pen. She'd come in and start fighting with them, and it it was just a really toxic environment. So I ended up just quitting, and luckily that's when I got on with uh Willamette Valley Vineyards. So that was a long story there, but yeah. I've had some interesting interesting jobs. How about that? Not necessarily shit companies, just interesting jobs with shit managers. Or the job was just hard, like a call center. But T-Mobile, I mean, they I'm sure they could have been better too, and how they treated us.

SPEAKER_02 53:53

Call centers treat the people that do. I always tell people do not work at a call center. I mean, if you have to work, you have to work.

SPEAKER_03 53:59

You have to work, but oh god. Yeah. Anyway, that was me. So you.

SPEAKER_02 54:05

Well, I think this one's easy for me. Um we have already talked about it, but uh call center. Absolute worst job you can work at. And I've worked some fucked up jobs. I've worked at Nike for doing it for 14 years. I I did it for 14 years. What kept me there was the pay, and the way I looked at it was the pay was taking care of me to take care of my band. That's all I care. I've always cared about really at the end of the day. But I wish I would have gotten out sooner, and I did try. I tried for many years to get out, and finally I got out, and I love my current role that I'm in right now. Like I wouldn't trade my job for any other job other than music. I love the people I work with, I love my manager, I love the place that I'm working at. I just I love the job. I love it, I love everything about what I'm doing right now. So I'm very thankful for that. But if we're talking about worst jobs I've ever had, call center by far the absolute worst, toxic as fuck. Talk about a place where people that don't know the job are telling you how to do your job and yelling at you. And I don't know about you, but quality assurance, complete shit and trash. People that don't even know how to do the job telling you you didn't say the person's name X amount of times, you didn't say thank you enough times, you didn't do this, you didn't do that. It's like it's tearing you down completely. And then they want you to look at it like it's something positive. It's like, no, I'm taking a hundred fucking calls a day, and you find the one call, supposedly, that I forgot something that wasn't very big, but all of a sudden you're gonna tell me it was a zero call, it was it was garbage, blah, blah, blah. And you're gonna coach me on it. And and what's fucking what always made me mad about quality assurance was this is that at the beginning of the year they tell you we're gonna focus on this, and then they train you and they yell at you all year long about how you need to do this, you need to say the name this amount of times, the focus is this. So they pull you in one complete direction, and all year they're yelling yelling at you, trying to get you to adjust to what the new standard is. Only for at the end of the year, everything that they told you that you were going for and trying to do in that phone call. No, scrap that. Don't don't do that. We're going this direction, which is a completely different direction, and they pull you the other way. So now you've been yelling at me. I've been defending myself back and forth, back and fucking forth for what you wanted me to do. And now you're gonna switch it up on me at the end of the year when I've already adjusted and mastered what you wanted me to do, only to have to do this now the next year. How toxic is that? Like I had some mental breakdowns from working that job because all it is was that kind of shit. Not only are you getting abuse from the customers, you're getting abuse from your supervisors, managers, quality assurance, whatever the fuck. Then you're dealing with shitty ass coworkers who are lazy to do their job, so you're cleaning up their work. And like I said, there's a lot of backstabbing that happens.

SPEAKER_03 56:44

Everybody's fucking everybody.

SPEAKER_02 56:45

I was gonna say everyone's fucking everybody there, too. There's a lot of there's a lot of that grossness happening, and just drama people like jealous of each other, backstabbing each other, making up rumors, this and that. It's like it was like high school, and that's no wonder why they uh treat you like a little kid because you fucking act like one. And it's just like, dude, can you just go to work, get your fucking job done, and then move on? Like for me, it was like unfortunately, I fell in that trap of, oh, these are my friends, and these are this and that, and you start hanging out and you you get wrapped up in in some fucked up shit. I met some great people there, don't don't get me wrong. I have some friends I still talk to and and uh became friends with, but there was a lot of meaningless friendships that I I made there too. And it was just it was toxic all the fuck way around. I would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, not for double what I was making or triple or quadruple what I was making, go back to doing that job. And anyone that works at a call center, more power to you, more power to you. But get out if you can. I will say that right now. I will uh and people that run those places don't know how to manage. It's about who you know. It's about who you know, who you're tied to, who you're friends with, that kind of shit, unfortunately. So you have people that have no business being in in supervisor management roles that are running the shit and making bad decisions. So very fucking thankful that I got out of there and I would not recommend a call center job to anybody. I learned some great things from it, obviously. Like I got some great skills out of it, so I can't say that it was all for a waste. I got some great experience that I applied to my current role and I applied to my outside of work life and from the band and that kind of stuff. It was bad for my mental health. I think I had a lot to do why I was drinking and angry and all sorts of shit too. But that that's that's it for me as far as worst job. So thank you all for sharing. My next guest is going to be Casey Conemack, a badass photographer, and he's got some great stories. We had a great conversation, so stick around for segment two, and that's it for segment one. How's it going, everyone? Welcome to the second segment of the Liquid Shape Podcast. Today I have an awesome kick-ass concert photographer, Casey Conemack. Welcome to the show, Casey.

SPEAKER_00 58:58

How's it going?

SPEAKER_02 58:59

It's going pretty good, man. I'm I'm excited to have you on here. Uh, mostly I've had a lot of musicians on here, and as much as I love having musicians, I am trying to get a variety of folks on here. So I'm I'm excited to have someone that does something other than just actually playing music and performing. You're kind of on the other side where you're capturing those moments and whatnot. So I'm glad to have you here and excited to hear all about you. So go ahead and just open up and let the listeners know who you are, what you do, how long you've been doing this, and then we'll just go from there, man.

SPEAKER_00 59:28

Okay, sounds good. My name's Casey Conemac. I'm the concert photographer. I've been at this game for about 10 plus years. I shoot for Hayden Homes amphitheater in like uh Bend, Oregon. I have a couple publications, but I've shot a lot of bands, a lot of shows, and a lot of festivals. Nice.

SPEAKER_02 59:52

And uh what got you into photography?

SPEAKER_00 59:54

So I took a black and white photography class in college, and I was also on like uh the newspaper as a web editor, and like that kind of got me into the realm of how can I mix music with photography? My first show like I ever shot was actually at the Hawthorne Theater up in Portland, and I shot the Amne of Fletchen, Being as an Ocean, Dead Ships, Trophy Eyes.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:24

And uh is that would you say that was what kind of inspired you? Like right there, you're like, oh yeah, I want to do this some more and continue.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:32

Well, basically, like I was uh I've always been artistic my whole life. I've been in art classes since I was kindergarten, but it wasn't really until like I hit college I realized what my true calling was. But once I found photography, like I kind of chased that dream and it kind of never stopped after that.

SPEAKER_02 1:00:56

I love that. When you find your passion, you just kind of know it's one of those things like where it it hits you and you're just like I could do this for free if I want you. Obviously, you don't want it right there, but you're like, I would if I did this and I barely made minimum wage, like that's how I am anyways with music. If I made just barely barely minimum wage to get by and I could do this for a living, I would do that for the rest of my life. Um and is is uh so when you started doing it, were you st were you just did you kind of have to just kind of show put a resume together and reach out to promoters or to um the venues or the bands and say, hey, check out this work I'm doing? Or how did how did you start getting that connection to start working and doing it more frequently at some of the higher levels that you're doing? Because I know the Hayden the Hayden Amphitheater has some huge shows come through there, and I've seen some of your photos that you've taken there, and you're up close on the barrier and whatnot, getting some some big acts. Was it the just something that you had to kind of build a resume doing anything and everything, and then you just built relations, or how did that all come about?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:55

Oh, basically, like how I like started with everything is like um I did local first, so I shot a lot of shows in Portland and surrounding areas, built up a portfolio, made a website, then in the beginning I got on with Hawthorne Theater, and they actually took me on. So I worked with their in-house people and like they actually would allow me get approved for those shows. Basically, after that, like I got on with a couple different publications after that, like kind of took off, but like this is over like a 10-year span where I kind of navigated, nobody really like showed me how to do it, so like there was a lot of like ups and downs, trials and failures where like I had to kind of piece it all together. Funny story how I got with Hoth what was it? Uh Hayden Homes. I submitted with like this publication play vortex, and like they uh didn't submit like for the show. It was 311. So I actually called up the venue, and they ended up like giving me a photo pass and like a ticket. Well, so I wasn't signed on as a house photographer at that time. So what ended up happening is they um put me on an email list after I did the 311 show, and um ever since then, like every single year, like they have me come out and I actually get paid for those shows.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:45

That's so cool, dude. I love I love that. I love hearing that because that means that they value what you're doing and that you're you've taken it to that level where they feel like, hey, this guy does great work, let's call him back and let's also pay him on top of that. Because I know, like I've mentioned, I have friends that have done photography and whatnot, and it's it can be a lengthy process before you actually start making money and you have to prove yourself, and sometimes you just have to do free work, which sucks, but at the same time, it's like, well, once you build a resume for yourself and you can show you've got the experience and the awesome shots and the eye that you have. Um now I do like that how you said that you you didn't really have anyone teach you, you just kind of had your your ups and downs and failures and successes. The reason I say I like that is because I think it builds character. A lot of the times I can adapt to their style or their method or their way of thinking of things or seeing things. You were able to develop your own style, I'm sure, over time, because of you learning what worked and what didn't work, but not also learning from working so closely with someone teaching you that this is how you're supposed to do it or this is how it needs to be. Would you say that's true?

SPEAKER_00 1:04:48

Yeah, I would say that's true. I mean, there's no right or wrong way to do it, and like everybody's path is gonna be different. So, like, I kind of like now I have a clear understanding of like kind of like where which direction I want to go and like how I can like meet certain milestones as I continue to go on. So, like how I feel 10 years later, I'm at the starting line where like it just comes more naturally and it's more easier for me to kind of progress and get farther along, like with what I do. So one thing that like I started doing last year is like when I I'm really more focused based on festivals, but like I also don't want to like pick the same festival every year, so like I kind of switch it up and like kind of have a game plan. But how I envision myself in like the next five years, I'm more transitioning to like actually being a touring photographer with Like a music at and being a content creator on that sense.

SPEAKER_02 1:06:06

That's a very important thing to have nowadays for bands. See, like the big bands, they always have like when they're on tour and whatnot, they have all these cool shots of things that happen on stage, that happen in the behind the scenes, that happen on the tour bus and that kind of stuff. And well, that they don't have really the time or the bandwidth to do it themselves. Obviously, underground bands, it's a little bit easier for us to do that. But those bigger bands that are constantly on tour and they have a million other things that they're doing between interviews and and whatnot, it is important to have someone like you that's on tour with them and capturing those moments and then putting a collage together. Like I love seeing bands when they have like uh something that they post daily, and it's just pretty much a collage of photos and videos that were taken of the night before of whatever town they were in. And uh to me that's just and it's like a 15, 30 second clip or whatever they post on Instagram and TikTok. I think that's so cool to have that. So that that would be awesome to see you doing that. Is there a specific genre that you would like to do that in or that you like shooting in, or a specific band?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:07

Um that's kind of a tough question because I cover so many different realms of music. But like if I were to pick a specific genre, I probably would go with like a metal band. Oh, the bands I would pick uh off the top of my head. I don't know. Like, let's throw it out there, maybe not loose.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:30

Yeah, that's cool. Do you take video as well, or are you strictly uh working with photography right now?

SPEAKER_00 1:07:37

So I am dabbling. Like, like the thing with photography, like there's so many different like areas, directions that you can go with it. But like I also like I wouldn't say I'm just specifically photography, I'm more multimedia. So in the sense that like I I wanna like make music videos, I wanna make reels, I wanna like push like content where like you're actually like get to know the band, you tell a story and you have that inner personal connection with the band.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:14

Yeah, yeah, that's that's very smart because like we were just talking about right now, like social media is like where it's at. People are are expecting to see their favorite bands, like what's going on, like day to day. Um, and you being you you putting yourself in that position where, hey, you can do photos, hey, you can do video, hey, you can do reels, hey, you can do you know websites or whatever, multimedia, that that's uh that's very smart because people nowadays want someone that's multi-functional, not just one set way. Are you do you mess around with uh taking photos of anything other than bands? Like do you do you like anything nature-wise or like anything like wedding photos or just it just any kind of other photos other than bands, or is it just strictly bands right now?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:53

So this year, like on top of like doing like a lot of music and like all the shows and festivals, I wanna get more into studio work. Like, I mean, that's an area where I kind of want to strengthen like my skills. But with the concert photography, it kind of goes hand in hand in the sense that like it just comes naturally, so but I wanna kind of expand my horizons and like be a little more creative in the sense like do different types of photo shoots where like I would also like to mix like nature with real objects, like for instance, like you go in the middle of a forest, you bring the couch, you bring the model, that type of stuff.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:43

Yeah, it would be cool, yeah. I love that. Yeah, it's that's the only way you get better is by doing, and so you expanding yourself like that could lead to more opportunities for yourself. And you know, even like because I I always feel like it's really hard to come up with uh at least when I when I've worked with photographers in the past, it's hard to get photographers to get creative with ideas. So like if my band wants to do a photo shoot and we want to do something other than up against a brick wall or some warehouse, it's like we want something theme-wise, but we don't know what, or maybe we do know a couple of ideas, but we a lot of what we found is a lot of times photographers don't have or have suggestions for us, like I have this cool spot that we could go to and maybe we can do this based off of what you're telling me that you're going for on this. So that would be awesome to see like you doing stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:34

And would you say you have a creative mind for ideas of things that you you you have in mind that you would love to try with different models or different photographer or different bands, sorry, when you're doing photography and yeah, no, like so I think like if you're trying to work with a band or something, like you actually have to have a connection and you have to spend time with the band to kind of get an idea, a sense of what type of style, like location, like all that stuff. But like I've always had a more like mind-it expanding where like I'm more open-minded to like kind of off the wall and crazy ideas.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:16

Love that. Yeah, because photography is art, and I I think sometimes people don't see it. Maybe they don't see it or maybe they don't recognize it or tie the two together, but it does take it takes an eye and a certain angle and and a style and all that. It's it's it's a form of art and it's very important, especially nowadays with social media like we're seeing, where people expect it. You mentioned that you worked, you started out at the Hawthorne. I've I've always heard, I'm not a photographer, so I'm just going based off of what I've heard from from being around folks that do it. I've always heard the the the Hawthorne theater is challenging to shoot in because of the lighting. Would you say that that was true, or uh did you just happen to find your ways of working or working it out and getting the good shots?

SPEAKER_00 1:11:55

So the funny thing is, like I I've shot like the Motisoner, the Wonder Ballroom, the Crystal Ballroom, Hawthorne. Hawthorne. I light now because I have choices. I don't choose to shoot the Hawthorne because like the lighting is pretty bad. But but I will plead my case about like I think the last time I shot it, like it they did improve the space, but like I'm so dialed in, like at this point, like I could go into the Hawthorne and I could work with whatever I got. Because like I know my camera, I know my settings, I know what I'm doing in the sense that I could salvage, like, if I had to bump up the ISO too too high, I could compensate and light the images would still come out good.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:50

What would you say is uh the most challenging thing, besides lighting? What's the most challenging thing about shooting live performances of a band?

SPEAKER_00 1:12:59

Okay, so I actually have a good story from last year, so I shot stories. I shot Pussifer, Primus, and a perfect circle. It was at Cascade and the Theater. So basically, like, so like I'll paint the stories. So uh I show up, their house photographer didn't even show up. I was the only photographer. Maynard is very particular, so his team put me in a corner until it was time to actually shoot the show. Then once his tour manager came out, like uh and put me over by the barricade, he told me if you turn on your camera and start shooting Maynard before I tell you he's gonna kick you out of the photo pit. Damn. So I had that challenge. On top of that, they only allowed me to shoot one song. It was the last song, it was seven minutes. So as a photographer, I'm the only photographer in the photo pit. Imagine like trying to capture all your shots in seven minutes, and you gotta do it. But like this kind of was like a milestone for me in the sense that it tested me to know where my worth as a photographer was.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:21

I can imagine, man. Like, and and it's so weird that they would choose the last song of the last song of the set, right?

SPEAKER_00 1:14:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:28

Why I I just it makes me wonder like why they would wait, because at that point, you're no, you're he's tired, sweaty, probably, the band's sweaty and and exhausted. And maybe, maybe that's why they do it, because they're not jumping around or moving around as much or they're taking a little bit more relaxed to get those shots. But I just I wonder, because I've always I've always seen it before, at least, from from friends that do it. It's the first three songs of the set that they allow photographers to take pictures, and then after that, they usually they move them out of the area. Um so that you so you literally had to wait off to the side on a certain area for the whole set to the last song?

SPEAKER_00 1:15:04

I've I've worked with that Venny before, but like I mean, they essentially had to babysit me in the corner until it was time.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:14

Were you able to at least see what was happening on stage and enjoy the show but to that point, or was it kind of like you're like in a barricaded area that you just didn't have a really good view or anything like that?

SPEAKER_00 1:15:24

So basically, like I I kind of showed up and then like they escorted me, and then like basically I was sitting there until the last song, and then like I went into the pit. I showed another show that that last year I was at Volbeat Hailstorm and like the ghost inside was there, and that one I I I pretty much got to enjoy that one more because it wasn't as constrained. Where I so they had a policy where like after the first three songs, like they took like my camera and I had to put it up, but that also forced me to actively sit there and enjoy like the music. So I got to watch Hailstorm for the first time live, and like I really enjoyed it. It was also like the day after um Ozzie Osborne died, so everybody's mourning the loss of Ozzy, but like we're all around music and like I'm kind of getting chills right now, but like I mean it was a special moment where everybody like came together and like we were happy. Yeah, but most of the time when I'm shooting a show locked into dialed in like my camera, so like I don't get to experience like the show actively because I'm trying to like focus on like my job.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:59

Yeah, for sure. Now you did share that story about Pussifer, how that was challenging, but you liked it because it kind of it tested you your abilities and and what you you know what you were able to do. You don't have to name names or anything like that, but uh, do you have any stories of some craziness that's happened and you're just like, I can't believe that happened, and I absolutely would never do that again? Because I've heard stories about photographers getting attacked from artists on stage and just getting hit or treated like trap or spit on or just weird crazy things. Have you had anything like that happen to you in your in all of your years of of shooting live footage?

SPEAKER_00 1:17:32

No, but I could tell you about Blue Ridge Rockfest.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:36

Wait a minute, wait a minute. No, you're right. I was I was in the one of 2023. Is that the one you're talking about?

SPEAKER_00 1:17:42

Yeah. Oh my goodness. So I was on media and like that was a shit show. Like, I I have no shame. Like, I had fun because I had my friends come out there, and like when it started going off the rails and everything, like I had more fun hanging out with my friends than actually being at the festival.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:07

Yeah, like that was my god, it it was very infuriating. And my girlfriend and I still talk about that because we took time off from work. The cost of going out there alone with between flying, getting a hotel, renting a vehicle, getting the concert tickets and all that. And I was drinking back then too, so it was like we were drinking and buying drinks and all that. That was the worst concert experience I've ever had in my entire life.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:32

So, how long did you last? Like what day did you leave?

SPEAKER_02 1:18:36

Uh so we got there, we got there on Friday. Or we got there Thursday, which means our first day there was Friday. That was the day that uh Slipknot was supposed to play, and I think Sleep Token and and those bands. Um we got there, we got there really early because we want we knew that the buses there there was like that, I don't know, like five miles of a drive or seven miles or something like that from where the parking lot was, the buses pick you up and then take you to the actual um to the actual concert to raceway. So we got there really early. We're pre-funking in the parking lot with people, and then we see that there's a line building up for the buses, and I'm like, oh crap, let's go get over there and get in line. The line is already like way too long, and they only had I think like 20 buses, supposedly is what they said. And these are actual school buses, I'm sure you saw them. Did you have to ride the bus? Did you have to ride the bus? Oh, you didn't. So your experience was probably a little bit better than mine then.

SPEAKER_00 1:19:28

So we actually camped out, and like when the rainstorm hit, we actually like so I remember I saw the ghosts inside, uh then we booked it back to our like campground. Well, glad I actually kind of did that because like that's when like hail came down and like it lightning, lightning struck so close to our campsite that me and my friend said, screw it, we're we're gonna like uh go in the car and like try to like weed out the storm and all that shit. But like um Were you there the whole the whole time? Yeah, I was there the whole time.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:10

Damn. And man, I feel sorry for you because I saw the footage. I saw the footage of people's tents blowing away and the rain coming down really hard and people piling under covered surfaces and people's stuff just being destroyed. It was like it was sad to see and scary to see because I'm like, well, what's gonna happen when we get there? And we stayed an hour away in a hotel, but even where we were at, it was it was coming down hard. The rain and it was hard to see, and it was warm rain, which was really weird to us. Like, obviously, I've been out, I've been out in the Midwest, and I've experienced some crazy weather that we don't get out here in Oregon in different parts of the country. But it was to me, it was just like, oh great, of course, this is gonna happen when we flew out here across the country to see I my main purpose there was to see bands I hadn't seen. So I wanted to be I was there for Pantera and Limp Biscuit primarily. Of course, uh there's a lot of bands I wanted to see on there, but those were the two bands that were on my bucket list that I had not seen up until that point. And so, of course, they were playing I think Sunday night and they ended up just canceling our yeah, it was Sunday night, I believe. And um, so we we made it after waiting for hours for the buses to pick us up, we made it into the show, and as soon as we get inside the doors, there's like people or inside the the gates, there's people laying on the ground like super dehydrated. The porta potties were like overflowingly gross. There was one spot that you can get water. Uh people were just you could just tell people were miserable because of the rain and the smell, dude. Like I could smell like the grossness. Like normally festivals, yeah, you're gonna get that people that don't have the best hygiene or whatever. But it was it smelled extra gross, I felt like. And it's probably has to do with them people everyone getting rained on and all that the night the days before. But we stuck around and we got to see a couple of bands. The the one band I remember seeing last before we decided to say pull the plug and just let's go back to the hotel was Cold Chamber. They tore it up, they kicked us.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:59

They were so good.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:00

Yeah, they kicked us, and I was very excited to see them. And we try to stick around, just we try to because that was the night that Slipknot was gonna be playing later, and you know, there was a lot of hype about Sleep Token. I was gonna like I back then I I didn't like them. I was talking a lot of trash about them, and I hated them. Uh, but I was gonna stick around and watch them too because I'm like, I want to see what the hype is all about. By the way, I do love sleep token now, so for anyone that's listening out there that's judging me, talking trash, I love sleep token and I own that I used to talk shit about them.

SPEAKER_00 1:22:26

So my friend actually crowdsurfed during Sleep Token into VIP. Shit. And like they did at that point, like they didn't care and they just left them in there. So he actually got to watch Sleep Token just like do their thing and everything, and he was so happy.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:46

I don't know that there was rules, man, to be honest with you. Like, I feel like they just kind of all gave up by that point. We were there on Friday. Of course, that the festival started, I think. Well, the pre-funkin', I think, started Wednesday, and then Thursday was the first day of actual live music, I think. And then Friday was the day that we actually arrived to the festival, and by that point, it just seemed like everyone was just beat and didn't care about like all right, go ahead and come on through.

SPEAKER_00 1:23:11

Yeah, I mean, basically, uh so my experience, like they fumbled my media pass, so they gave me a media pass where I could like go to like the media lounge and all that stuff. But like what ended up happening is they uh like didn't give me a photo pass. So basically, like for like a couple days, like I I only shoot shot from like the crowd and everything, and like I just roll with the punches and stuff. But go ahead.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:47

Oh, I wasn't no, I was just to say, uh that's I love that you do that, because you know, sometimes sometimes people like when things like that happen, like unexpected things happen, they just kind of say, Alright, fuck it, screw it. But the fact that you are just you're able to roll with it, I like that. That's that says a lot about like how much passion you have for what you do, and I respect that.

SPEAKER_00 1:24:05

Thank you. So basically, like I was dealing with that, and like it wasn't until like the second day I found like the media tent, and then by the time like I talked to somebody, like they couldn't fix it, and then like the next day they pulled the plug. But like because like when everything kind of went down, everybody came together as a team, and I got to know a lot of like the other photographers, coordinators, all that stuff. And like, so the last day, like we uh we were ready to like go in and like they just called it, then like there were some efforts between Mana to like give people like what they paid for, so they came up with an idea to like have a couple bands in a tent in the campground, like play. So Heart Sick, they were one of the major like supporters where like they ended up like had a PA and got like there were like six thousand people outside this tent and got a bunch of like uh bands like fight from within, I forget like the other band, but like I set my friends on fire, were like the headliner of that, and there were only three photographers that got to photograph that, and I gotta be a part of that.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:42

That's so cool, dude. Yeah, I I love seeing when things don't go right or don't the way as planned, quote unquote, when something cool comes of that, and that sounds like it was uh an awesome experience. I remember hearing people say that. So I know that Papa Roach and Shinedown did some sort of acoustic thing together for some of the crowds there and and sing alongs. So I thought that was really cool of them to do that because they understood what was happening, and I don't I I don't like to assume that this was all something that was planned for chaos or a ripoff or anything like that, just because I'm sure they had good intentions and maybe there was a lot of things that just were overlooked, and who knows like how experienced the people were that were in charge of certain certain things, but it was literally a shit show, you know how it turned out to be. But we only lasted till probably after a cold chamber, maybe a band or two, and then we were like, all right, let's get out of here because it took us like five hours to get from the the parking lot to the the raceway where the concert was. And I didn't want to get stuck for hours and hours and hours waiting for those buses to come pick us up again to take us to our cars, only have to drive an hour away to our hotel just to have to do it again the next day, especially since we were already beat from traveling the day before. So we ended up leaving, luckily, like before everyone rushed the buses after slip knot said and whatnot. Um, and we got a good day of rest, and then the next day I remember seeing online that Saturday was being postponed because of the weather, and I'm like, great, here we go. And sure enough, oh no, no, sorry. We ended up going to the festival early as early as hell in the morning, and the rain was coming down really hard, and as we parked, everyone's like freaking out because they're like, Oh yeah, the uh the weather's coming down really hard, so they're not gonna open the gates yet. So they're just having everyone stall around, stall around. We waited for a couple of hours for them to open up the gates or whatever, or decide if they're gonna open up the gates, and we're like, all right, let's just go back to the hotel, and if they open up, then we'll drive back and you know we'll come enjoy the show. Well, luckily we did leave, and we left in time before everyone started rushing to leave on Saturday. And then sure enough, we saw the updates on Facebook that the show was gonna be postponed till five, and then it got postponed to like six or seven, and then they finally just said they're calling it, and they said stay tuned for tomorrow to see if tomorrow's happening or not. And of course, I already knew I'm like, today didn't happen, tomorrow's probably not gonna happen either. And so Sunday. Ended up getting canceled as well. But there was a cool festival that ended up happening. I think I want to say it was in Charlotte or Gainesville. I forget where it was. It was somewhere out there in North Carolina, one of the big venues. And a bunch of bands, including Attila, ended up putting on a festival at this at this pretty big known venue out there. And a bunch of bands, I think it was like 15 bands or so or something like that, ended up playing it. We went there and had a great time. We obviously were drinking at that time, so I was partying. We got to see a lot of bands that I would have never, never ever before would have known about. Like they were all underground bands with a couple of uh semi-known bands, and then of course I think Attila was the headliner. So it's something cool came out of that, an experience and some fun. It gave me and my girlfriend an opportunity to just hang out and go to a couple of restaurants and whatnot. So we got ended up getting our money back, luckily for the uh for the concerts. Our bank because it it hit the news, like everyone everyone was talking about all over social media. Our bank ended up refunding us for the tickets, but obviously the flight there cost money. The the hotel, the the rental, the van or the car that we had, and then all that, and using up our PTO kind of sucked. But it's just at the end of the day, it's just money, it is what it is, and it was an experience for sure.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:12

So I actually have a Till a story if you want to hear it.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:15

Let's hear it. I love stories.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:17

So like I was 18, me and my friend went to self-help fest, like the first one at Data Remember, did in San Bernardino, like because I used to live in like LA, Pasadena.

SPEAKER_04 1:29:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:32

So like, but at the time I just was going to shows and I didn't get into photography or anything like that. But like I also like was kind of naive because like my friend knew Corey from Memphis made fire. So when we got there, I got an all access pass. Well, so this is the first time I've actually been backstage hanging out with bands and shit like that. So like I'm a kid in a candy store, so but like I didn't realize I had all access. I could have like gone on the tour bus, hung out with the bands, all that stuff. I was just happy to be backstage, like listening to my favorite bands and like basically just mixing and mingling. I met Jeffree Starr. I met Tyler Carter from Issues. Nice. I saw Jason from Let Live, like I didn't realize that at the time. Stit Your Guns were there, um, Austin Carlisle when he was in uh mice and men. But it was actually kind of funny because Breamy the Ryzen were trying to get on stage, and like the security guard, like they have thick British accents, and like they tried to explain were the band, like we need to get on stage, and the security guard couldn't figure it out.

SPEAKER_02 1:30:59

Man.

SPEAKER_00 1:31:00

But like I tried to get on their stage for uh like be on stage and stuff. They they changed the laminate, it was a middle finger, and if you didn't have the middle finger, you can get on the stage. Man, I pushed my way through, like, so a data remember was the headliner. Well, so like I actually got on stage, side stage, and I got to like watch Second Sucks up there. And like, so I was over by the drummer, and like so it gets to the breakdown, then like there's flames going off, and like my my skin was kind of like getting burned by it, like singed a little.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:46

Was this at the amphitheater in San Bernardino?

SPEAKER_00 1:31:48

I think it was called the Noise Center. Okay, but it was like a beat big outside like area and stuff. But the cool thing was, like, so I'm on the left side, and then on the right side is Attila. So like I actually got to share a stage with Attila to watch a data remember.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:09

That's so cool. I love that. That's so cool. And uh so with with photography and all that, well, that's I just completely have a blank blank thought thought in my head.

SPEAKER_00 1:32:18

It's all good.

SPEAKER_02 1:32:19

All right, so let's see. What what do you love best about photography? I guess. So let's go, let's go there. Let's talk about like what drives you, what drives your passion for it, what what inspires you, what keeps things interesting, what you know, what do you love the most about it?

SPEAKER_00 1:32:34

So I mean, like one thing working for a venue taught me a lot of stuff. So like one thing, like so like when when you work for a venue, you're promoting a brand, and like it's a sort of identity, and like going through that scope, basically I have to interact with fans, I gotta like talk to vendors, um the performance. Mainly the performance is like 20% of it, the rest of it is encompassing like that experience and selling that. Oh, working for Hayden Homes helped me when I wanted to try to navigate to festivals, and once working for a venue, like it helped kind of solidify, oh, this is how that works, that's how that works, and then like it all comes together. But also working for a venue, like the thing I really do very well is capture moments. Like, so I scan the room at a show, and like I look for those type of moments. Like, for instance, I was at Sarah McGaughlin, and this older couple was enjoying the show. Well, so I captured that moment. I went to train, there was an engagement, and the couple told me before I came into the gate, then right before like he proposed to her, I actually caught that moment.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:11

That's so cool, dude. That is so awesome.

SPEAKER_00 1:34:14

But like I've also realized, like, with my photography, I feel like I have a big impact through my images. It's not just an image, it's telling a story and like kind of like getting people like they want to be in that moment.

SPEAKER_02 1:34:33

I love that. Yeah, it's it you're you're right. It is telling a story. You're capturing a moment in time. Uh, do you ever do like research on on bands that you know you're gonna be shooting, like watch video footage? Uh, because a lot of times us bands, what we do is we will we'll have routines, and then especially when you're on tour, those routines become just like it's like a natural habit that you're doing like the way you that you walk, or maybe the way you stand on certain parts of the songs, or maybe it's an outfit change or whatnot. Do you ever do some research on the band that you're gonna be shooting to see if there's gonna be like a stage, a different stage setup for certain songs, or certain lighting that's gonna be done, or whatnot, so you can plan for capturing certain shots that you wanna that you wanna get within that set, or is that kind of my overthinking it?

SPEAKER_00 1:35:18

No, you're the good question. I mean, like, for instance, like I did shaky knees last year, and that was like a festival in Atlanta, Georgia. And so the elephant came through Hayden Homes a couple years ago, and like what ended up happening is like when they came through Hayden Homes, I had to sign for Pyro and stuff, but having that information that they were gonna like use Pyro helped me when I went to Shaky Knees because I already had spected that. Also, like an artist that was there, like Deftones, like, so like they became like they started touring again, and like so I did like see how Chino set up the shot, but like so one of my best images from Shaky Knees last year was getting like Chino midair when he's like jumping off like the speaker.

SPEAKER_02 1:36:22

I saw that picture. I'm looking, I'm I'm on your Instagram right now, just checking out all your cool pictures and shit, and I that that photo definitely stood out to me. By the way, Deftones is my girlfriend's favorite band, she loves Chino, so okay. Just just gotta say that. But that that picture's badass. I'm looking, I was just looking at it right now, capturing that. It's is that's gold, dude.

SPEAKER_00 1:36:43

Like anyway, it pretty much took me so like I uh that so the first three song rule. Yeah, within like I don't know how I calculated where the shot was gonna be, but like that's within a minute and a half of being in the photo pit for the first song, none of the people could calculate that or figure that shit out.

SPEAKER_02 1:37:10

No, for sure. You have to be, I mean, you have to like I feel since I'm not a photographer, I don't know, I don't know shit about it. So I I feel like I would just be like constantly like have it right up to my face and just like just shoot as much and as fast as I could if I was doing it. But I think that uh even at that, you're probably gonna get a lot of crap to get the filter through later, and then you have to like decide, okay, which ones am I keeping or which ones are even good enough versus if you just kind of have that natural skill and talent of holding it to your say your face, probably, and then just knowing what when to hit that that click button to to capture the shot. Um one thing I noticed in looking at your photography, like you do some awesome work, by the way. Just just doing that. It's it's fucking killer just looking at this. So anyone listening to the podcast, you need to go check him out on Instagram. He's got some awesome shots, and I guarantee you he's probably shot some of your favorite bands. Um, I noticed that you do have, I mean, you do all color and you do you do um black and white, but I noticed there's specifically a lot of black and white. Is there a specific reason why you like to um edit in black and white or use black and white?

SPEAKER_00 1:38:13

Is there something behind that or just so black and white is kind of where I gravitate towards going back to like our early conversation? If you ask me like other um genres of photography that I've done in the past, like I started out chasing waterfalls and like lawn exposure and like all that stuff.

SPEAKER_02 1:38:37

I was about to just bring that up right now. Sorry to interrupt you, but your waterfall shots of Umqua River are fucking amazing. Like it's just it that looks like it needs to be in a magazine, dude. Like, that's incredible. It should be like on a calendar or some magazine.

SPEAKER_00 1:38:52

Yeah, th thank you. Like that side of it, I'm trying to figure out how to license because there's a lot of free contest and like organ, but I feel as an artist and my worth, I just don't want to give up like my images.

SPEAKER_02 1:39:09

No, yeah, you take you take pride in what you do. It's like asking a singer or a band to sell their sell their songs or put a price to something that they put their heart and soul into. So yeah, I get that. But man, I could see these being on like a calendar, I could see them being on tourist websites to attract people to certain parts of the world. See like I could definitely see it like as a background for like on a computer for a desktop image. Like these are these are some killer shots.

SPEAKER_00 1:39:35

Thank you, man. I mean, that means a lot. Like that's the thing. Like, I dialed in so hard, like in so many different genres, like that it just kinda like allowed me to be more diverse. Like, so last year, like I primarily shoot metal shows, but I took the chance on shaky knees because it was so collected. Like, I like metal, I like pop, I've done country, um, I've I'm dabbling in EDM. Like, I mean, there's so many different types of things I can do, but like, it's not enough. It's like a Dorphin fix. Like, you just want to do more.

SPEAKER_02 1:40:24

Definitely. And you've mentioned traveling with this. So, how does that usually happen? Do you get the call, like someone says, Hey, I I love your work. I want you to come out here to this festival we're doing out here, or this this concert that we're doing out here in Florida or Colorado or whatever, wherever the place may be, or do you just kind of just say, you know what, I got some family over there, I'm gonna put in for I see that there's a concert going on, I'm gonna go ahead and put in for that while I'm there and see if I can get some shots. Or how how do you typically go about it when you decide that you're gonna travel from photography uh at a concert uh that's not anywhere near you?

SPEAKER_00 1:40:55

So basically, like I've been on with a publication for about five years. I shoot for HM magazine. It's like a Christian metal base magazine, and like they pretty much allow me to go anywhere, do whatever I want. So typically, like a lot of it's out of pocket on my own. What I what I started a couple years ago, I got an LLC license.

SPEAKER_02 1:41:22

Smart man, smart man write off me.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:25

I write off everything. I made three grand off just driving last year.

SPEAKER_02 1:41:32

Like that is that's a smart man, dude. I I have an LLC for my band too, and I write off everything related to it. It's you're doing it the right way. You're you're a smart dude.

SPEAKER_00 1:41:41

Like, otherwise, like you gotta look at the end of the day, like the tail end, like how are you gonna make this salvageable? How are you gonna keep up momentum, like plane tickets, traveling, food, gas, all that stuff, like equipment, like it taxes on you. I also have an opportunity because uh I have a business partner, and like we have a place downtown in Roseford called the Corner Shot, and like it's kind of like an a place where like we can develop film, we can print, we can do studio work, we can do art galleries. It's like 3,500 square feet, and like we have all the tools and resources to do what we want to do.

SPEAKER_02 1:42:30

I love that. That's I mean, that's that's that's great to have that and to have those options available for sure. You did mention sometimes there's momentum that how you keep up with that. And one of the main things, as I mentioned on this podcast, is I like to inspire other people to chase after their dreams and to believe in themselves and to be go-getters and all that. With art, it's one of those things where sometimes you don't make any money, sometimes you're you're investing a lot more money than you're getting back in, um, sometimes you get burnt or screwed over or things don't go as planned and whatnot. How does Casey what drives Casey to keep going after all these years of doing it? And when you have barriers come into your way that prevent you from a smooth scheduled shoot, or when you start losing momentum, or what? What what what are some things that you do or things within yourself that help you bring that fire back up that maybe our listeners might be able to try or that can maybe think about that uh that might be able to assist them with that?

SPEAKER_00 1:43:27

I mean, like to start off, the hardest part is I'm way too far in my head all the time. Like, but like I am a mentally grounded person, so I I have to work through my feelings. Sometimes it's hard and it's a lonely road, but like I know the end goal where I wanna be, where I'm pushing myself. Like, for instance, like it's even things I get certain signs when I'm at a show. If I capture a certain image, or like somebody re-posted my photo, or like people tell me encouraging words, like I mean, I'm a pretty positive person most of the time. So, like, I I've learned over the years to kind of like thicken my skin, don't take everything literally, but the biggest advice I can tell other people that helps me is that like just try to be the best version of yourself and like mainly build other people up, like confidence is the key, consistency, quantity over quality. That uh that to me means a lot.

SPEAKER_02 1:44:47

100% for sure. And with with with something like photography, like with music, like with you know, many other things now, there's thousands of people doing the same thing that you want to do or that you're doing. How does Casey stand out to be different? And what what kind of what ways do you try to just stand out from the rest so that you're you know you're the person that that they call for photos? You're the person that you know they should reach out to for a photo session, that kind of stuff. Like how what would you say separates you from from the bulk that um that you're proud of?

SPEAKER_00 1:45:18

So for instance, I keep on going back to shaky knees, but how I know like I'm good at my skill set and like what I do. There were 40 photographers at that show, and I proved to myself that I could do like so it was 80 to 100,000 at that festival, and that's probably like the biggest festival I ever did.

SPEAKER_02 1:45:46

That's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 1:45:47

I proved to myself with the images I got out of that that like I know that I'm on a different path than most people, and like I've always been in like my own lane, but I also find inspiration through other people, and on my journey, like I met a lot of different photographers that actually like I impressed that were my idols and like who work in the industry, but like I feel like having like a working network of people who help each other in power makes it better in the sense that like we all don't try to gatekeep and like we help each other through the battle. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 1:46:35

I love that. No, that that's that's very uh I love that positive attitude and thinking like that because it's that's true. It's at the end of the day, like we we've been talking about how photography is art. It it's just like it's like music, it's like painting, it's like that kind of stuff. So in art, I always feel like there's there's no real way to how do you how do you compete? It's an expression, and how do you decide it's it all depends on the perspective and what the goal is of each person that's looking at it. It's like it's hard to it's hard to judge and say, well, this is better than that. Well, maybe to you, but to somebody else, the other thing might be better, or something else completely different. It's it's one of those things. Um so I love your attitude about about it all. And it obviously shows in your in your work and the quality that you do care about what you're doing and how it comes out. And I can see why you're playing or you're uh getting getting picked up to go to these these uh big festivals and and what have you. So keep up the killer work, man. This is this is awesome. I'd love to someday maybe schedule a shoot with my band and and have you come out and and uh maybe get some live shots or even just get some thematic shots to capture some moments. I think it'd be cool next time. Maybe we're we're down in in uh southern are you in southern Oregon or where where exactly are you at?

SPEAKER_00 1:47:44

So I live in North Bend on the coast.

SPEAKER_02 1:47:47

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:47:48

But like I also was gonna like tell you, I don't know if you saw, but I got approved for Sick New World in April.

SPEAKER_02 1:47:57

I did see that. That's really cool, dude. That's gonna be a blast. And it's like a one-day festival for any of the listeners that aren't aware of that. Go look it up. One day festival with a ton of killer bands, specifically new metal bands, uh, that happens in Las Vegas. It didn't happen last year, right? But I think the previous year it did. Who's headlining this year?

SPEAKER_00 1:48:16

So it's uh corn and system of the down.

SPEAKER_02 1:48:19

I mean, what more could you ask for than that? That's gonna be killer. And that is that in April or May?

SPEAKER_00 1:48:24

So it's in April.

SPEAKER_02 1:48:25

April, okay. Man, that's gonna be exciting. Do you have a whole uh plan of like staying down there for a few days before or during?

SPEAKER_00 1:48:32

And are you just going for the So I'll probably stay down for a couple days. I haven't been to Vegas since I was 18. So I know it's gonna be kind of like uh I'm gonna be blown away by everything.

SPEAKER_02 1:48:47

Yeah. Um I mean, Vegas continues to evolve and change. I was just there in uh January, and I mean I love Vegas. Even as a person that doesn't drink, I still enjoy like going out to the food, going out to the eat. They have tons of great things to eat out there. I'm a total foodie. Lots of things to see, especially in Fremont. You go down Fremont, you're gonna capture all sorts of stuff, so make sure you have your camera, dude. Because it's definitely crazy. Like, doesn't matter what what night you go to Fremont, you're gonna see some craziness. They have multiple stages out there that there's always some killer bands tearing it up, just walking on the main strip on Fremont. You'll probably see people doing all sorts of weird things for money. Like I've seen some guy that was like doing like some weird flexible thing, like where he's on the ground and his arms and his legs are like behind his head, and like he's able to move like with his hand, like his hands, but they're like tied behind his back somehow. And you see people in costumes and all that. Just obviously, I'm sure you're aware of this, but don't take pictures of the people in the costumes because they'll come up to you and they'll ask you or demand that you pay them for that and cause a big scene.

SPEAKER_00 1:49:52

So I know about that scam.

SPEAKER_02 1:49:54

Yeah, yeah, it's a that's a big scam. I I've had some friends fall for that, and it's like they're gonna demand it, and then they cost. The scene, and it's like do you want the drama with it and all that shit? But you'll definitely capture some cool shit on Fremont. They've done a lot of cool things is to upgrade it, and I'm excited for you, dude. That's a that's gonna be a killer opportunity. I'm sure gonna have a blast watching all sorts of bands down there and whatnot. So congratulations on getting that.

SPEAKER_00 1:50:16

Thank you, Flight. So the the coolest thing, mainly I'm super excited for Danny Elfman.

SPEAKER_02 1:50:25

And are you are so you get to shoot that or yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:50:29

So Danny Elfman is on the bill for Sick New World.

SPEAKER_02 1:50:33

I haven't even seen the whole bill yet. I just know that it's always like it's a bunch of new metal bands. I saw I could have sworn I saw Systema down in Corn on there. I just I sometimes I see these these all these festivals and I just get overwhelmed with how many bands are on there. Do you get to shoot the entire time or is it are you gonna be shooting like the first three songs for each band that you're that you that potentially goes on whatever stage you're working on?

SPEAKER_00 1:50:54

So basically, like I'm shooting on an assignment. So what that entails it's at the discretion of the festival and working with the artist, like which bands I'm able to photograph and like um because when I did Shaky Knees, I had to find sign like five NDAs. Wow. I'm already like it's spatting corn system, Mimi the Ryzen. I don't know about Danny Elfman, but like uh Cypress Hill, I might have to sign like a uh photo release and a lot of it is like uh right grabs, but I'm this far in the game that if like I sign something and I have to forfeit like something, like I'm not really mad about it. In the beginning, I would be mad about it, but like I've shot so many people at this point. Like, if that's determining me from like photographing a band, I'm gonna sign it.

SPEAKER_02 1:52:08

Yeah, no, that makes sense. And the fact that you're getting to go there, dude, that's just that says a lot about your work. That says a lot about you as a photographer and that they respect the work that you do and they like your quality and that because they're these festivals for anyone that's listening out there that may not be aware, they don't just take anybody on. It's not like uh anyone could just go in there and say, hey, I got a camera, I could take a picture. You have to prove yourself. You have to go through a process of, you know, like he mentioned here, potentially signing NDAs. And um a lot of the NDAs, are they are they a lot because the band wants to um kind of uh do quality control on what gets seen and what doesn't get seen with their with their brand or their image, or um whoever's handling their their their media uh for each band, is that a lot of of what it entails or or is there more that I'm not thinking about that potentially goes into that?

SPEAKER_00 1:52:57

So a lot of it's just like no reproduction, merchandise, all that.

SPEAKER_02 1:53:03

That makes sense, yep.

SPEAKER_00 1:53:04

Like I get it. Like I've signed shitty deals.

SPEAKER_04 1:53:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:53:09

And like I've been burned a couple times. So but like uh most of the time it's pretty simple. I had to sign one for my chemical romance, and I did not like their clause at the end that said if misuse of images they're gonna sue me for 30k. Damn.

SPEAKER_02 1:53:33

So that's that's scary when you're in in in something like that. That's wild.

SPEAKER_00 1:53:38

And our publication, like, so like I signed it before I got to the festival. Then like the next day they weeded out like all the publications, and we didn't even get pit, but because they put that clause at the bottom, I was like, I'm not gonna screw with Warner Brother Records and like get sued.

SPEAKER_02 1:54:01

Yeah, no, hell no.

SPEAKER_00 1:54:02

So I took my camera and like didn't photograph at all. I don't blame you because it scared me, but on the contrary, somebody brought in a point and shoot, was on the barricade, was on an old publication with me, and got the clot and posted the photos. And so that's the difference between like a normal person with a point and shoot who takes it into the venue and working for press. So sometimes it's a double-edged sword, yeah. Where like it's better not to be press and just go there with a point and shoot.

SPEAKER_02 1:54:44

Yeah, no, that's I I could see that. I didn't even think of that, but that's that's uh that's smart. Have you ever been hurt on the job?

SPEAKER_00 1:54:50

I don't think so. No. That's cool.

SPEAKER_02 1:54:53

I do see sometimes the photographers are like they're moving around and they're a lot of times they're so focused on what's going on on the stage that they don't see like what's on the ground or around them, and they I've seen them fall, I've seen that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 1:55:04

I do have a story, like so. Like I do remember. That's true. So I went to Furnace Fest, and basically after Blue Ridge Rockfest, like I wanted to find a festival that me and my friend wanted to go to. So we never went to Furnace Fest, and I'm a hardcore kid, and I love that shit. And like basically, like me and my friend bought tickets. I brought my camera, but the first day I didn't shoot. I kind of tested the waters because I tried to like correlate it with like the promoters, but they never emailed me back or anything about a photo pass. So I took a chance on that one, and it ended up pretty awesome because I had HM magazine. So like uh I let my editor actually know I was going down there and we didn't get approval or anything, and I actually like took my camera in the second and third day, and she let me run a story and like post all my photos and like gave me full control.

SPEAKER_02 1:56:12

Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:56:12

And it actually gave me more credibility over time.

SPEAKER_02 1:56:16

That is so cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:56:18

The story basically what I did is like it was during Show Me the Body set where somebody jumped off like this like wooden plank on the stage. Well, so I had my lens hood on my camera.

SPEAKER_02 1:56:35

Was it a band member or was it uh someone that just did some stage dive from the crowd?

SPEAKER_00 1:56:39

It was like a fan.

SPEAKER_02 1:56:40

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:56:41

And so they nosedive into like my lens hood on my camera, and I thought that ripped off my nose, all that shit. It turns out it just was like a bruise. But like, I mean, I got the shot, and like I'm one of those die hard people where like I'll go in the pit with my camera, and like I don't care. I'm kind of fearless like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:57:05

Yeah. Did you capture that footage or did you capture that shot at all?

SPEAKER_00 1:57:08

No, no. So like I was taking a picture of like the lead singer. It was kind of cool when they started their set. He smoked a cigarette, smoked it all the way down, flipped it, and then on a dime, went into the first song.

SPEAKER_02 1:57:24

Yeah, that is uh that's that's awesome. I love hearing crazy things like that. That's uh that's that's expected at a metal show, the unpredictable. So we are over an hour at this point. Is there anything else you want to care to share or speak about, or where can people find you, that kind of stuff, uh, before we close it up here?

SPEAKER_00 1:57:40

I mean, people can find me on Facebook and Instagram.

SPEAKER_02 1:57:45

Well, Casey, I appreciate you being a guest on here and sharing your stories and your journey in this. Uh, you're a killer photographer. So anyone that's out there, please go check out his work. If you're a promoter, a venue owner, a band, or whatnot, and you need photography. I promise you, if you go check out Casey's work, you're gonna want to work with him. Just just from seeing the photos. Uh, does he does killer, killer, killer amazing work. So thank you so much for being on the show, man. I appreciate you.

SPEAKER_00 1:58:12

You're welcome.

SPEAKER_02 1:58:13

And that is the end of segment number two with my guest Casey. Go check out his work. And if you need someone to do photography, hit him up and see what you could work out with him to see what his fees are. And and he definitely does quality work. Uh, I mean, looking at his photos, you can clearly see that he knows what he's doing, a clear professional, and uh seems like a legit guy. I don't know him that well personally, but from what I've been able to talk to him and get to know him sort of on the podcast, I like uh I like what I what we were able to discuss and and chit-chat about. Um, want to give a big shout out to our monetary contributors, Mr. Eric Sheets and King John. Thank you so much. Anyone out there that wants to contribute to this podcast, it does cost money. So any amount is much appreciated. If you go on to our description of the show, there's an option there that you can contribute on a monthly basis so that we can keep paying for our uh our the the fees that it costs to upload uh these podcasts, the software that we use to edit it and to run it. It does cost money, so we appreciate that. And I appreciate all you guys, as I always say, I always like to end this on a positive note of I thank you guys all who contribute to the uh questions of the week. Those of you that listen to the podcast and share it with others. I I really appreciate it, man. We we love doing this, and like I said, we'll keep doing it as long as it's fun, as long as you guys are contributing um in any way you can. This is a podcast for the people, by the people. I like motivating others, and I like making you laugh, entertaining you guys, at least making you think to help you with your everyday lives. Anything that we can do to better your lives, I'm all about that. You guys better our lives with your stories and with your comments that you make. So thank you guys. It is fun. I I have a blast. The boys like it when we come into the studio because they know what we're gonna be doing here and they get all excited and they they start panting and laying up on Mariah and whatnot. So thank you guys all so much for supporting the Liquid Shape Podcast. If anyone's out there that is wanting to be a guest, just hit me up on theliquidshape podcast at gmail.com. I am looking for more guests to interview. I don't care if you're someone that you you may feel like maybe you don't have anything to talk about, everyone's got a story. I want to hear your story. Something that can help others that are maybe facing the same thing or have gone through something like you, your words, your story could make that difference in someone's life. If you're an actor, an actress, model, musician, some sort of entertainer, whatever, painter, business owner, small business owner, whatever, I want to hear from you. I would love to hear from you. If you want to be a guest, hit us up, theliquid shape podcast at gmail.com. Let me know a little bit about yourself and what you plan to talk about, and we can get you scheduled to do the guest, the guest spot. And it's usually about an hour. Uh, you know, I don't won't take up too much of your time. We can coordinate something and you can tell your story. Hopefully, we can change some people's lives. And uh that's it for now. Keep listening. Uh, love you guys all.

SPEAKER_03 2:01:18

And don't forget to love yourself because you deserve it.

SPEAKER_02 2:01:21

Yes. Have a great rest of your week, folks.

SPEAKER_03 2:01:23

Love you, bye.

SPEAKER_01 2:01:24

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