Sean Bates at Medicine Hat Interview
Sometimes I keep photos to myself because I’m not sure how they will be received. When I review photos I’ve taken, I often fight the resistance to immediately reject an out of focus shot. Before Mr. D interviewed Medicine Hat, I dived deeply into their only record. I was really intrigued by Sean’s voice and didn’t really know what to expect after almost twenty-nine years. Luckily Sean had recently released a solo record The Central Sound (The Central Sound - https://seanpbates.bandcamp.com/album/the-central-sound). After listening to the record several times, I was impressed by the quality of his voice after all this time. At the band’s rehearsal I was worried about disappointment after building their music up in my head, but Sean’s voice was incredibly strong. Equally cool was his open personality.
Sean Bates at Medicine Hat Rehearsal
One of the things I struggled with the Medicine Hat record was trying to listen to Sean’s lyrics. I often found myself relistening to the record just to focus on the lyrics but found it was difficult to analyze just a singular element. I noticed at the rehearsal Sean’s written lyrics on the stand. I asked him if I could read them during a rehearsal break and before I knew it he was recalling a story behind writing the lyrics of various songs. I immediately noticed his body language changed from my lyrical inquiry. I was connecting and it was a beautiful thing to me. His storytelling is frank and hilarious.
So the night of the show, I knew it was going to be insane after watching the band rehearse. I want to point out Mr. D and I had attended Royal Room shows at least once a week up to the Medicine Hat performance. That night the vibe of the venue felt significantly different. The place was packed and there was a very happy buzz. Earlier Mr. D and I had dinner with everyone in the band except Sean at the bar of Tutta Bella.
Crowd at Royal Room on 11/17/23 - Look for the “CASH”
At the Royal Room as I unpacked my equipment and I started people watching spotting familiar faces, I was also figuring out my game plan for maneuvering around a crowded room. I was wondering if any of these people would hold onto their decorum and start moshing at a jazz club (laughing). I was also looking for Sean and then he appeared - curly locks and a black t-shirt with the word “CASH” across the front and black jeans and some seriously cool red kicks.
Hmm, how to capture that Johnny Cash vibe. One thing I remember about the rehearsal is that he occasionally pumped his fist in the air. I presumed the same would happen that night and with no intentions to jump in the air with bare feet (Check out their Facebook page or Mr. D’s article on the band for reference).
Jason Legat
The lights at the Royal Room are not predictable. It really depends who is running the soundboard and if they are into the band. At first I thought the lighting for Medicine Hat was going to be all white, but then the lights started changing. I was worried about photographing too much red on the drummer Jason Legat, but that worked out fine.
L-R: Ben McAllister, Sean Bates, Jason Thomson
I also worried about the rest of the band looking washed out, because in these situations what is cool to the sound guy is not cool to my camera or my eye. I’ve experienced some artists appearing really washed out because the lighting changed the moment I clicked. During the entire set I was rarely in the right place to get Sean doing the fist pump. And while I did eventually get the fist pump, there was a photo that intrigued me even more. I spent a lot of time just thinking about that photo. My mind is a blur about what musical tracks correlate to the photos and I wondered looking at the photo - what was Sean thinking about? I loved that his face was out of focus and the “CASH” was bold and dark. The position of his blurred hand on the microphone. I spent time figuring out how to make the image bolder. It started to come together. His curly hair under the lighting became a fiery orange. The blacks deepened to almost blueish black. That’s it! For a brief moment, at least to me, Sean was the embodiment of Johnny Cash - deep, rebellious, cool, cheeky, and wise. A memory of the grunge past. This imperfect photo is perfectness to me.
Sean Bates - Medicine Hat show - 11/7/23 - Imperfect Perctness