LIFE THROUGH A LENS.

I figure it’s time for an update. If you’re not interested in touring or traveling, skip this. You’ve been warned.

So I’m currently perched on a cigarette machine in Hamburg charing everything that needs charging before doors at 8pm. The first 2 European shows have been sure and steady with New Noise festival being super fun. It looked like the village fete that got taken over by hardcore music. Europe never ceases to amaze me with it’s hospitality and open mindedness towards music and cultures. I honestly feel slightly ashamed of the UK here with it’s ‘the minimum amount will do’ attitudes. No offense meant but I feel like we are just very unwelcoming in many factors. New noise fest had all vegan catering which was delicious (and I’m not vegan), endless drinks and not a single issue or problem (apart from the sweltering heat). We actually are getting some summer over here. Thunder clouds rolled over the festival and cracked loudly a few times but it was albeit it dry and pleasant. No one arrived wanting to get drunk and start a fight etc. We all hung around around the van with deck chairs enjoying the fact we didn’t have to wear coats and trousers.

After the show we headed to our hotel which was an old apartment block that had been converted. Not everything was completely done and myself and Derek ended up in at the end of the hotel which wasn’t quite finished. The back of the door had this massive bar lock that looked like you’d use it to keep extremely large and unwanted people from busting into your room…. Clearly the hotel had been rough before hand. But the rest of the room was amazing and was split into 2 sections plus a shower/toilet. We both had a room each with 2 beds in them put together. You could have probably have fit 3 or 4 people into each of the bed configurations but in this case, we had them all to ourselves. I spent an hour just chilling out, sorting my stuff, then had a long shower, then proceeded to take some photos out of the hotel window. We were 4 stories up and there were absolutely no safety measures to stop anyone jumping out of them. “We are definiately not in the UK” I shouted through to the other room, but Derek was already asleep. 

Next day we woke up to heavy showers. We packed up, headed down to the van where there was only 5 of the 7 touring party. The night before Mike Poulin and Joe Longbardi had been under ‘party delusions’. Mike was kinda drunk and kinda high, and was adimant that a party was going on in town, even though locals had insisted one bar was only open. No measure of convincing was going to change this man’s mind. Mike and I have kinda been tour buddies on this one. We’ve both been airing some dirty laundry to each other and making light of previous situations which might not have been all that good to us. We’re also both trying to avoid bread and other shitty tour food, in some sort of effort to get fitter. Funny stuff all round. 

So Mike (aka Poulin) was in party mode, Joe turns up, and it takes around 7 or 8 words for him to be convinced that this non existent party is happening in town. They both are now in the zone while the rest of us are looking forward to a shower and a bed after a ferry ride from the UK and a 8 hour over night journey which provided not much sleep (I kept waking up wondering where I was and then realising I was on tour). The guys ended up leaving us for the party in what I coined as ‘blinded boner rage’ (much to the hilarity of everyone on the tour). 

Flash forward again to myself, Derek, Maas, Jake and Michael our driver coming out of the hotel. Fresh faced, smelling great, feeling all the more better for sleep. We have no idea where the guys are but Maas remembered waking up at 8am and going outside of the hotel after a phone call from what sounded like Poulin saying ‘dude we’re outside, please let us in we’re freezing’. He also went outside in his underwear and shirt….. Then went back to bed haha (he is not a morning person without coffee). So by now we’re a little concerned to where these guys are. All of a sudden they turned up to the van looking the worse for wear. All I can say is that their night involved getting drunk far too quickly and then 4 bodies (2 of the bodies being them) sleeping upright uncomfortably in a small car. The look on their faces said it all as they stood outside of the van. Joe had his ‘why did you let me get talked into that’ expression on. Poulin had his ‘what was I thinking’ expression to match. They crawled into the sleep space behind the seats and disappeared for the 4 hour drive to the Netherlands.

The Netherlands show was busy, lively and had some great lighting. Our dressing room was downstairs and had no windows, so it was a little bleak. But this was a chance to get to know Code Orange Kids, the newbies on the block. These guys are all around 18 years of age and this is their first tour in Europe. Jami the drummer and vocalist is a lively American kid from Pittsburgh who delights in winding anyone up for the fun of it, while the rest of the band are quiet, smart and gifted musicians. He ends up asking me what work I’ve done with other bands; to which I reply:

“I shot most of the video stuff for Sharks”

To which he erupts:

“DUDE I FUCKING LOVE THAT BAND!”

We’ve already got a lot of common ground then because most people know that those guys from Leam are some of my best friends.

“Did you do the one with the kids running about?”

“Haha yea man!”

and he then spends 5 minutes telling me how it’s his favourite ever music video and how he made everyone else in his band watch it. Even Joe the bassist, while he was in the middle of his day at work. I love this kind of enthusiasm and it makes me feel like the things I do have some worth, somewhere. 

After the show we ended up staying in a house which looked like a miniature version of Mort Rainey’s cabin in Secret Window (great lakes style). Lots of wood, lots of quaint stuff. It was a chalet up for rental which was booked for us, and the backdrop were the massive empty flatlands of the netherlands. It was something else. We were greeted by an old woman who said to me as I got out of the van “and how are you?”. I replied with “tired but well thank you” to which she said “you will sleep now and feel good”. There were so many beds in the house it was crazy. I grabbed one in the front room along with D-man (Derek), Joe and Poulin and we watched a really bad film called Dreamcatchers. I woke up to fresh breakfast, a shower and then a long van journey to Hamburg. The van journey was 4 hours but felt like 8. Myself and Poulin chatted about my job and his new job (producing), avoided eating the bags of crisps under our seats and stuck with the apples. Finally I’m here in at the venue and I’ve had a great meal which featured heavily on the Broccoli. Perfect.

This tour’s full of great people. I can’t really ask for more. This lifestyle isn’t really for everyone, but I feel it is for me. I’m getting the chance to see a lot of new places and hang with a lot of different people all while plying my trade. This really can only equal a future that features a better grasp on life, a better grasp on cultures, and a happier Ryan Mackfall. It’s a privilege to be involved in these situations, filming these lifestyles that all too many people don’t understand or see. I think the only way I can get better at my job is to get wiser via the things I’m learning on a general basis. The shots I’m shooting. The viewpoints I’m looking to capture. Practise makes perfect and being in one place for too long makes me go to sleep (ironically after years of moaning at my parents about moving house all the time). I’m sure one day I will want to plant the roots firmly, but for now, I’ll keep living off a day schedule for as long as possible. The creative life is kinda weird, and never really properly perceived outside of it’s own ranks, but that’s like everything in life I guess. The tour rolls on, and tomorrow we arrive in Schweinfurt!

R x

PS. Phone users can keep up to date with my more frequent pictures on my instagram - ryanCRASHBURN