Prior to becoming a San Diego photographer, I was a Los Angeles guitarist (more specifically based in San Pedro, CA).

It’s easier to understand the transition from music to photography looking back, but back in 2008 I wouldn’t have seen it coming.

Becoming a rockstar, touring around, playing shows and writing music was all I wanted to do in high school. Something that originally emerged from playing a lot of Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Getting my first guitar was a milestone in my life that set the stage for my future. Here’s how it got started.

The Early Days

After getting my first guitar which was some random, no-brand model I bought off a friend for maybe $20-$25, I would watch so much YouTube tutorials on how to play riffs. Think the first song I fully learned was Rage Against the Machine’s ‘Killing in the Name’.

I eventually found myself playing way more metal and listening to bands like Slayer, Iron Maiden and Megadeth. I also played in different types of bands from thrash, nu-metal and metalcore.

Music definitely was my passion and goal at the time. There was one time during a class that the teacher asked everyone to go around and tell the class what they wanted to be when they grew up. Lawyer, doctor, chef, soldier - all these great sounding titles came up. I of course said rockstar and got laughed at by everyone, including the teacher. Story of my life.

As passionate as I was though, things never got to take off the way I wanted. Each band I was in either broke up or I got kicked out of. Drama, difference of opinions, coordinating practices - there was always something that got in the way that it never worked out. I only played two live shows which were fun as hell, but not the venue shows I had dreamed of.

After high school passed and I was in community college, life was starting to hit different for me and playing in bands was becoming harder and less of a priority.

Despite all that however, there was still a drive to create, and in 2013/2014 I picked up my first DSLR camera. And just like guitar - I had no idea what was going to come next.

Discovering New Music Outside Metal

Photography wasn’t the only piece of art that was new to when I started college - so was rap and EDM.

Initially I started listening to more metal bands, but new friends and peers helped exposed me to more ourself of that. Skrillex, ScHoolboy Q and Flatbush Zombies are all prime examples of artists I had on repeat that I discovered during this era.

It was actually Flatbush Zombies’ MRAZ music video that had me analyzing the visuals and wondering how it was made. It’s actually a video I come back to every so often for inspiration.

It was also interesting to see music videos that showed more than the war, moshing and satanic imagery that the metal scene showed.

Watching Music Videos for Fun

In high school I watched Headbanger’s Ball on MTV2 on repeat - in fact I recorded every episode I could and would watch everything on repeat. The exposure to new music was great because it showed me more music videos to watch.

I went from watching Warbringer’s ‘Severed Reality’ to E-40’s ‘Function’. Both had their own visuals and looking back I see how they provided my a great creative base to refer to depending on who I’m working with.

Ending Thoughts

I still see myself pursuing the idea of being a rockstar, except now with a camera instead of a guitar.

The foundation that guitar and music created for me is generally the creative muscle I channel at shoots. Even when describing my style I always drop that I make people look like rockstars.

There used to be times where I felt that I was giving up on my dream of creating by not pursuing guitar, but I have finally arrived at a place where I have been able to put the guitar down for something bigger.

Ultimately at the end of the day, the guitar still lives inside me as an artist an will continue doing so for years to come.