Music Matters Project

Tags

arizona, book, greg taylor, music, music matters project, photography, roger clyne, sweet relief musicians fund

Greg Taylor had a hobby taking photographs of live music. When it occurred to him that he could use his hobby to encourage others to contribute to a music charity, he began putting that plan into action immediately. The result is Music Matters Project, a book of music photography from photographers around the globe that benefits Sweet Relief Musician’s Fund.

Love + Water- How did you come up with the idea for Music Matters Project?

Greg Taylor- I own a marketing firm in Tempe, Arizona, and part of our business model consists of live music photography.  I’ve always loved music and photography has been a hobby of mine for quite a while. Over the years I’ve been able to develop a name as a music photographer, which allows me to travel and take live shots of great bands.  I got to a point last November where I wanted to do something to give back to the bands that helped me get started with my photography.  One of the first bands I ever shot was Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers.  Roger is the former front-man of the Refreshments, and they’re from Tempe as well.  I told them I wanted to compile a book and all the proceeds would go to a music-related charity. They said I could use the pictures I took of them, so i started working on it.  As I got further into it I decided I wanted to open the project up to photographers all over the world, so I held a contest and received some amazing submissions of live music shots from just about everywhere around the globe.  An old friend of mine runs Sweet Relief Musician’s Fund, so I decided they would be the benefactor for the first year.  We’re in the process of compiling the photos now for the book.  

L+W- When will the book be available?

GT- The book will come out at the end of November, and we plan to make this an annual event.  Next year we may expand our guidelines a bit from live band shots, but it will always be music photography-based.

L+W- What is the most moving moment you’ve had so far working on the project?

GT- I think it was when we expanded the project outside of my own work.  The word about the project has spread throughout the music industry. In June I went to Mexico for a number of concerts, and speaking to the musicians and having them thank us for what we’re doing was really amazing.  Everyone was so willing to help and excited about the project, and that really touched me.  We’ve been able to utilize so many different skill sets from different people who have offered to help, which has been great because we wouldn’t have been able to do it without them.

L+W- Is there anything else we should know about Music Matters Project?

GT- It has been a really fun ride.  We plan on having a kick-off concert in Scottsdale, AZ in November.  We’ll be able to sell a small inventory of books represented by a corporate sponsor.  Every cent we raise from this project will go entirely to Sweet Relief.  We recognized early on that this project was bigger than us, and that is when we began to bring people on to help and it has truly paid off.

Visit Music Matters Project: http://musicmattersproject.org/

Follow Music Matters Project on Twitter: @musicmatterspro

Join Music Matters Project Facebook Fan Page

Follow Music Maters Project on Flickr

Photography:


Kid Rock by Greg Taylor
Silversun Pickups by Greg Taylor
What Laura Says
Bollox by Greg Taylor
Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers