Interview: Dan “Future Breed” Gonyea
Alright, next up in my interview series is Dan who runs Future Breed. I known Dan for four years now and it’s been a pleasure to get to know him, so I wanted to post him on here. We talk about Warped tour, photo passes, Growing up in Boston, and everything you can think about. It’s a bit long! but if you got time, go ahead and read more.
http://www.future-breed.com/
Manny: So Dan! What’s up man? Haven’t seen you in a bit since last time we were both out at Sound And Fury. How’s Boston?
Dan: Hey Manny, just hanging out in my apartment writing up some interviews and watching a Science channel special. Boston’s been good except for this giant load of snow that was just dumped on our heads over the last couple weeks. I’ve had some classes canceled because of the storms which has allowed me to catch up on interview typing though so can’t complain!
Manny: hah yeah I heard New Jersey got lots of snow. well the east in general. It’s crazy because so many shows are being cancelled, i hear.
Dan: Yeah it’s a bummer. I was supposed to see Daybreaker and Late Nite Wars after Christmas, but a storm canceled that show. I’ve had to take it slow this month because of all the shows being canceled in the middle of the week from storms. Wouldn’t mind getting a little warmth and sunshine soon…
Manny: haha true true. It’s 70 right here during the day. It’s beautiful. Since we’re talking about this and so. How was the east coast growing up? You grew up by Boston? I would assume living close to such a city would get you involved in music since it seems to be all over.
Dan: About an hour and a half outside Boston, yeah…. I grew up in Goshen, NH, population of about 500 people. I was pretty clueless to the idea of concerts and music scenes growing up, but I was exposed to bands here or there from my parents and brothers. My dad was really into Smashing Pumpkins, Nirvana, and The Clash, and my brothers were always getting me into bands like Circle Jerks, Black Flag, The Minutemen, Samiam, AFI, etc. They started going to concerts when I was really young so my parents wouldn’t let me tag along, but they brought back a ton of CDs for me from Warped Tour 2001. My first show was way up in Quebec City on a family vacation that year, and I didn’t really get to see shows in the Boston area until about 2003. By that time, I had moved to another small town in NH called Sunapee, but there were a few kids there that were straight edge or into hardcore and punk. We started a few bands but never really went out of the area. My first Boston show was 2004 at the Jackson Mann with Against Me!, The Blood Brothers, and True North. I didn’t really get involved in the music scene in Boston until 2005 though when I was getting ready to move into the city for college.
Manny: That’s so crazy reading all of that since it reminds me of when I was growing up. I believe Warped tour 2002 was my first concert as well, so i can see how we both seem to cover a lot of different types of music. So why did you move to Boston? I’m assuming for school? By the time you moved to Boston were you already doing photography? Or did it just get more serious in Boston?
Dan: I moved to Boston because of school basically…. I’m a computer programmer and have been for years (4th grade I coded my first program!) and wanted to pursue that in college and eventually get into research. I got into Northeastern and loved the Coop program they offered so I accepted it to move here. I did however strongly keep in mind the music scenes in a bunch of areas when I was doing applications. I won’t say where, but I narrowed a couple areas down from my list because I visited, and the shows there sucked. I wanted to be in an area that had a bustling music scene because I wanted to keep going to shows and doing photos. I had started photos really in 2003 when I snuck disposables into Warped Tour, but I got serious with it junior year of high school (early 2005). At that point, I was doing a show about once every week or two. When I moved to Boston though, it became way more serious…. 4-5 shows a week, sometimes 2 shows in the same night. I’m starting to level off now just because school is getting intense. Maybe soon I’ll pick up the pace again.
Manny: 4th grade? Goddamn haha. You’ve been doing computer stuff since you’ve been a kid? I can’t even remember what i was doing back then. I had just moved to the USA and was starting school. It’s good to point out here that you run futurebreed all by yourself, correct? Has there ever been anyone else that was working with you? My favorite aspect of the site is knowing there’s a show in Boston and checking the site that night since i know you’ll have them up. Does that ever get overwhelming?
Dan: Absolutely, Future Breed is 100% coded and run by me. The photography, interviews, reviews, and all other content is authored by me. The only part not mine on the site is the design and layout, which was done by my brother Justin, and a video of Verse’s last show, which he also did. In 2004/2005, I tried having guest reviews including my friend Chris from back home, but I really buckled down at a point because of some bad interviews another contributor did…. I didn’t want to become a manager of photographers and writers; I wanted to author the content. I wanted people to know that I was the originator of all the stuff on that site so they never had to second-guess which Future Breed photog was covering their show or reviewing their record. It made my life easier in the long run just doing it all myself. That does however get overwhelming at times, absolutely. Getting photos up when I get home from a show is something I do by choice, not because people expect it of me. If I do it then, the show is vivid in my mind. It’s nice to wake up the next morning and not feel compelled to jump on the computer and work on photos. I can just relax, go about my business, and then go to the next show that night. Any time that it does get too overwhelming, I just bump off the photos a day and get them up once I get rest. It’s no big deal for me, though I inevitably get 5 kids emailing me freaking out that the pics aren’t up yet.
Manny: Ha yeah I think i’m not alone when i say that we appreciate it when the photos are up that night. As, a fan I appreciate it, but i can also understand how overwhelming it can be since I’m in the same boat. It’s gotta be difficult trying to manage your time around that. Your brother helps you, right? I knew that. He did the layout for the Have Heart last show dvd/album, correct? Was he an influence in you growing up with music/art?
Dan: Justin is involved with giving feedback on new feature ideas I have for the site (or reminding me when it takes two years for me to program one like the Search feature that WILL happen) as well as doing design and such. He has screened some joke shirts for me on occasion for fests just to get a few laughs. Justin also does the design and layout work for Future Breed Zine. Yes, he did the layout for the Have Heart 10.17.09 record/DVD as well as the 7” they did before the last album. He also did most of the merch of the last couple years of Have Heart as a band and a bunch of other bands on Bridge 9 and beyond. On top of that, he runs a record label in VT and is in two bands.
My two brothers Justin and Chris had HUGE impacts on me growing up and turning out the way I did. Justin was into art, hardcore, punk, and metal. He introduced me to the Circle Jerks and Black Flag when I was absurdly young. He brought me to some of my favorite shows growing up and has always been down to travel whenever I am covering a show down in Jersey or wherever. Chris was on the opposite spectrum; he introduced me to computers and text-based MUDs at a young age and had me involved in packet radio and morse code. He was into bands like Nirvana, Local H, AFI, Samiam, The Ataris, etc so you can see where a lot of that came from. I guess I blended a lot of influence from the both of them then. haha
Manny: I knew it! haha. There had to be someone when you were younger that influenced you while you were doing crazy computer work. I knew Justin was involved with B9 in some way, but i never knew everything he did. It’s just crazy how small the world is haha. On the topic of Jersey..how was Bamboozle? How different was it then shooting some show at like….let’s say The ICC in Boston. What’s it like getting a press pass for that? Do you ever have trouble now getting them?
Dan: Bamboozle is cool, I mean. I know a lot of hardcore kids aren’t into it, but whatever; I don’t go to Bamboozle to see hardcore bands. Shooting a huge show like that is surreal, especially in that tense moment right before the headlining act comes out. You get carted out in front of stage between the barricade and stage with a handful of other photographers and get a front row seat, but it’s pure darkness because no stage lights are on yet. Then the intro music comes on and you hear thousands of people behind you screaming. Once the band comes out, it’s like a race to get the shots you want because you only get two or three songs then security escorts all the photographers out. That’s like 5-10 minutes to get good photos of every member of the band. It’s wild, but obviously entirely different from a hardcore show at the ICC or somewhere else. I don’t shoot with a flash at all for big events and tend to shoot with nicer equipment. For hardcore shows though, you get no barrier between fans and the band, no limit on how long you can shoot, etc. It’s quite a different experience, but as a photographer, one scenario is not better than another for me. As a fan of music though, I do prefer hardcore shows over the bigger ones.
Getting a press pass for Bamboozle is a nightmare. It usually takes about a month to figure out who is handling press since it changes every year. After you get that, you need to convince them to let you shoot by being on assignment by a decent-sized magazine. Bamboozle in particular is one of the most selective festivals in the US for photographers. I have difficulties of course…. I wanted to shoot Decemberists this weekend, but that didn’t work out. It took me four years to get a pass to shoot at the TD Garden in Boston. There is a whole range of larger photographers that are all competiting for press passes for those big shows, and they tend to be in bigger newspapers and magazines so it is pretty tough to get a spot.
Manny: I grew up kinda by bamboozle/skate n surf and always always wanted to take photos there. It’s straight up every huge band in that “scene” playing. I like this answer since it gives people a lot of view into something that they might not know about. Like that three song rule..who even came up with that? I know it’s been around for over 20 years but it’s just such a pain. No bands really get into it till the last songs anyway! What’s it like for you at hardcore shows? Have you ever gone through any bad experiences? Is there something you would like to see different in hardcore with photography?
Dan: That three-song rule has some history with bands going back to restricting photo coverage because there were too many photographers, but it was based on the artists requesting it. Now it is venue policy and often bands don’t even know about it…Pretty annoying to deal with. With hardcore shows, I established myself well in the Boston area where people are generally kind to me when I’m shooting now…. but oh man, when I started, I was treated like just another photographer getting in the way of the stage potatos who wanted a good view. Kids would try to target me when diving or heckle me from the crowd. That cleared up probably about 2007…. Since then, I haven’t dealt with much at all except for when people get really drunk. When I travel, I check ahead and make sure I get a “photo pass” if it’s a festival or whatever just so I know I’m welcome to shoot. I have no desire to make bands and fans upset or uncomfortable because I’m doing photos so I do whatever is necessary to get that relaxed atmosphere I need to feel right about shooting a show.
I’ve certainly seen some bad experiences, and there are always other photographers who make me uncomfortable with their demeanor while shooting, attitude towards others, etc. That’s not taking away from them as people because I am friends with a lot of them, but man…. Hearing some bands talk about how much they can’t stand certain photographers because they get all up in the members’ faces or shooting a bright flash in their eyes just makes me glad I take a more subtle approach to things. I would like that to stop. Also, I think that photographers shouldn’t be so quick to try and cover a huge show just to get credability. Have Heart’s last ICC show had like 15 photographers, half of which never placed their photos up on any sort of public place or contacted the bands with photos. I never saw those photographers again. It got to the point that it was stressing out stage security, who were volunteers and friends of the band who were just looking out for the safety of people so the venue wouldn’t get trouble later. I think Boston is in a good place right now with photography… We have 2 or 3 photographers at shows usually, 4 if it’s a big hardcore show. None of that 15-photographer craziness.
Manny: I’m glad we’re touching on this subject since i feel that a lot of us can relate to it. I did hear something about the three song rule and somehow being started by Bon Jovi and other numerous stars so that they wouldn’t look all sweaty. I kinda see where this comes from and i can understand it at some point, but it really is a hassle. Sucks waiting to see a band play and only being able to be in there for three songs. What was like essentially growing up doing photos with Todd Pollock? That’s a guy everyone should look up. He’s an older dude and still handles himself with the most respect i would say. When I think of Boston photographers he comes to mind, Zac Wolf, Reid “Human Buffet” and The Rev. What was it like being surrounded with those guys?
Dan: I think I met Aaron (The Rev) first at some shows in NH, but I didn’t really get friendly with him until probably late 2006. All I knew was that he was at pretty much every show I tried to go to (including Blood For Blood / DrugXTest at the Bombshelter) so I just wanted to hear stories about how those shows were. It turns out that Aaron is also a software engineer so now we just geek out all the time, and he texts me about his solid-state drives and database optimizations.
I think I got friendly with Todd about 2007 as well…. I didn’t really know too much about what he had shot because he never put his photos up anywhere, but slowly I’d hear from a person here or there that he had done the photo on the first Ten Yard Fight record cover or that he shot Kid Dynamite’s first Boston show or that he used to see Converge and Bane in Worcester all the time when they started. That was pretty cool because here and there I find out that he covered another one of my favorite bands. He gets a kick out of how many shows I go to, and I think he’s waiting for me to combust.
Reid and Zac both moved here after I had been living here a bit so it’s been interesting to see newcomers become well known in Boston after you had initial “hype” for being a quality photographer. People immediately began comparing us as photographers and saying one was better than the other. Personally, I just became as friendly as possible with them. A lot of people don’t realize it, but Todd, Aaron, Zac, Reid, and I are all pretty decent friends, and when we are all shooting a show together, we tend to geek out about photos between bands and hang out. It’s not cut throat at all like people want to imagine.
Manny: yeah i love those guys and I think it’s great how we all talk and are friends instead of being some type of rivals ha ha. The only one i never talked to in person was The Rev, but i mean we talked on the internet a few times. Yeah i mean i consider mostly everyone from the east coast who takes photos a good friend. I feel like all those states are somewhat connected (NY, PA, MA, NJ, and so and so) and everyone talks. Last year you got out of MA and traveled a whole bunch, right? How was working for Black N Blue? How was Rainfest and Sound And Fury? Did you feel welcome across the US? That’s the funny thing about the internet! Everyone knows each other, so i bet you knew some peeps over there.
Dan: I love traveling, and I had a taste of travel in 2008 when I went on Warped Tour with A Loss For Words. That caused me to really start traveling for shows in 2009, especially since the Boston scene started to shrink with bands breaking up and venues shutting down. I got to do This Is Hardcore, which was a surreal experience I thank Joe for offering to me, and also do a mini-tour with the Bouncing Souls, Lifetime, 7 Seconds, None More Black, and Tim Barry from Avail. I was also welcome to the Black N Blue Bowl in Brooklyn and had an amazing time. Seeing Crown of Thornz, Earth Crisis, and Bold ruled. Last year I did a lot more traveling, which including going to Seattle for my first time for Rainfest. I love that festival; it has so much in terms of good vibes, supportive kids, great bands. I stayed with a couple kids who had been into my photos and were supportive about having me come over and shoot. It turned out Backtrack, Trapped Under Ice, and Title Fight also were invited over so it made for a pretty rowdy weekend.
I also attended Sound And Fury which was an awesome experience except for the infamous motorcycle incident. The amount of support from people out there was tremendous. I put together a small zine, and I would hear kids yell, “Hey Future Breed, did you have any more of your zines?” These were kids I had never seen before, but they wanted to chat for a while, hang out, and talk about my trip and how I liked it out there. I thought it was awesome, and I fully intend on going back to the west coast for either Rainfest or Sound And Fury this year (or maybe both if I can work it out).
United Blood was another great fest, as well as Screaming For Change Fest in Vermont, which I think is my favorite one I have attended. That fest is the pure definition of a community-driven hardcore weekend. You go there and become friends with literally everyone, go out and eat together, go swimming, skating, whatever. Everyone pitches tents outside and sleeps overnight. It rules. I can’t even express how thankful I feel for people being that welcoming to outsiders to a scene whether it’s a photographer like me or another kid who was just psyched on a lineup.
Manny: Warped Tour must have been an experience, right? I heard horror stories from bands saying how hectic it is, and just how the days are so long. Were you able to take photos of the whole tour? Or just them? Doing This Is Hardcore was fucking great. Joe busts his ass all year trying to do this fest for himself, and of course for us go-ers, and it’s sincere how he comes about letting people photograph the event. I like it since it’s the same people each year so it makes it for a comfortable setting. It’s so insane traveling across the country and there’s kids coming up to you about it. I would say that even though it’s so common around i still think that photography is such a small part of hardcore to the general crowd. So, i get siked when there’s dudes who are getting the respect they deserve.
Manny: I gotta go caught up on stuff, so i think we can end it here. I feel that I learned a lot of stuff today that i didn’t know about you, so it’s exciting. Now for the last questions…Where do you see FutureBreed in five years? Is there something you want to do in those years? Thank you again for being a good friend, and stay safe. I’ll see you this year i’m sure.
Dan: On your question about Warped Tour, I was allowed to shoot all the bands each day. After a few days, I got so drained that I started getting sick. Shooting like 10 hours straight a few days in a row is pretty rough on the system, and trying to do that for even a whole week was pretty rough.
When I think about the next step of Future Breed, I look at photographers like Al Quint, who has been in the hardcore scene so long that he has photos of him moshing to SSD and Minor Threat. They take it one step at a time, one show at a time, and don’t get overambitious. Photographers like The Rev and Todd take the big shows when they come but don’t make it a mission to cover every fest or see every tour around. Overall, they cover bands they want to see and support venues like they to go to. In five years, if I can keep to that kind of mentality that I’ve developed from the influence of those around me, I think I’m doing something right. Ideally, I’ll have a Search bar on my site. I’ll probably have my new version of photo viewing and a better way of browsing through different shows. I’ll probably have new gear and have better shots. I hope Future Breed Zine is still kicking at that point. The top priority though is to keep having fun, seeing great bands, and supporting amazing people who are doing so much because they love music.
Thanks so much for this Manny. It’s always been a pleasure shooting with you, going way back to AS220 in 07 when I was giving you tips on using a flash! I’m also glad to see you growing as a photographer, doing film, getting a style for yourself, and being appreciated for that. I hope we get to hang this summer during festival season!
