Steve Peralta: Talk a little about your background.

Kevin Estrada: I took one photo class in high school – your basic developing and printing class. Other than that, I have had no formal training.

I grew up in the East Los Angeles area. I was born in Lincoln Heights and grew up in Highland Park. My family decided it best to move from the area as the gang activity was becoming more and more aggressive. We moved to Arcadia, Calif., a small city just east of Pasadena, Calif.

I was around twelve or 13-years-old when I decided that I wanted to be a rock photographer. I had always loved the classic images of Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, etc. I was already an avid concert-goer. It got to the point where I wanted something more than a t-shirt to remember the concerts that I attended so one day I sneaked into my older brother’s closet, “borrowed” his camera and smuggled it into a concert.

My beginnings were completely illegal and unauthorized. I had no idea how a photographer got proper photo credentials. I taped the camera body to the back of my neck and wore a hooded sweatshirt. I placed a zoom lens in the neck of a friend’s jacket. He was 6’5” and had a huge afro that hid the lens. I even smuggled a flash in the bra of a large-breasted friend one time – whatever it took to get my shots.

To cover the costs of film and developing, I started selling my photos to other concert fans. I showed up early to the concerts with a small photo flipbook packed with 3×5 photos I shot. I walked by all the kids in line displaying my flipbook, offering to sell the photos for $1.50 each or four for $5. If I was at an Iron Maiden concert, I made sure that my book had shots of Iron Maiden and other bands the kids loved. I came home with $75 or so which was a lot of money to me back then.

I also sold photos out of my locker at school. If Van Halen rolled through town, the rock kids at school knew that I had some live photos right after the show.

My training and beginnings were full of naïveté, passion and determination with a lot of luck thrown in. Even today, after all these years, I still get excited by the roar of the crowd when the lights go down at a concerts. My hands get clammy.

SP: Your role as a commissioned photographer to all these iconic rock groups could be described as documentary. You are taking snapshots of pop culture history.

KE: I do feel that I am documenting some significant moments in time and that continues to excite me. I started in the early 1980’s during the first generation of heavy metal music. Then the music turned into hair metal which I opted to stay away from. I looked for an alternative music scene to document. I found myself in two worlds – death metal/grindcore and L.A. alternative.

The grindcore scene was violent. At one show my back was sliced nine times with an Exacto knife.

The L.A. alternative music scene was safer. I found myself shooting bands such as Jane’s Addiction and The Red Hot Chili Peppers in their early days. As these local bands exploded and became national acts, the images helped me to get a foot in the door at legitimate music magazines.

From this scene I entered into early grunge. I was documenting just about every band in the grunge scene years before it broke in 1991. Bands such as Nirvana and Soundgarden propelled my photo career giving me the chance to appear in magazines such as Spin and Rolling Stone.

SP: Who are the artists you’ve worked with that most stand out? Are there favorites?

KE: My fondest memories are my moments with Johnny Cash, The Cure and Nirvana.

I had the honor of documenting the recording sessions for Johnny Cash’s “Unchained” CD that he recorded with Tom Petty and producer Rick Rubin. I could not believe that I was being paid to spend evenings with him. Johnny and his wife, June, treated me like family… lots of love and warmth. I would have paid out of my own pocket to work with him.

Robert Smith called me at home one night out of the blue. He asked me if I would like to come to England and stay with them and document the band while they recorded their CD in the studio. It was an amazing time and an amazing shoot. Definitely a high point in my career.

Documenting Nirvana from a small, local band to the biggest band in the world was exciting. I shot a band that I knew was going to be huge and my role in the grunge scene became more important as the scene grew. My close relationships and friendships with many of these bands allowed me to capture images that only I could capture. It was a great time for music and I’m proud to have been part of it.

SP: It seems that it can be disasterous when an obscure personality used to a smaller scene is forced into the spotlight. Kurt Cobain might be an example. Are there any other artists you’ve seen that have followed this path?

KE: Kurt never wanted to be a huge rock star. He just wanted to make albums, tour and pay the bills. I remember when told me he just bought his first car – a used $500 hunk of junk. He was excited. I can also remember when my letters and packages were returned because he got evicted from his apartment. Kurt wasn’t ready for what came his way. It was sad to see a friend come to such a tragic end. It was a waste of talent and life. I’m still devastated.

I work with a lot of new artists. Fortunately, I haven’t seen any that seem to be on the same path as Kurt. Although, there was a day when I would have bet money that Perry Farrell (Jane’s Addiction) would be found dead of a heroine overdose.

Today, it seems that kids and musicians are a lot smarter about this because they have learned from the tragedies of their heroes.

SP: Is there more to your work than the composition?

When shooting session work, composition is very important, but just as important to me is the location and the lighting or the mood that I am trying to create with my lighting. I always try my best to represent the feeling that I get when I listen to a band’s music. I try to be different with each band while keeping with the style I have developed.

SP: You mentioned your move toward music video now. Talk about that.

KE: The transition from photography to film, especially music video, feels natural. Although I never had training as a photographer, I did attend film school. A number of years ago, I made a short film that ran through about 22 film festivals and I won nine of those.

Bands have approached me in the past about directing videos and it was always in the back of my mind, but I never really had the time or the resources to dive into it until lately.

My first video just made its debut on MTV and I’ve done three more since. All are in post-production right now. My second should be done any day.

We’ve been using a handful of talented and hungry film students from an L.A. high school on my shoots as some of the crew. They get hands-on training, clips for their reels and it builds their resume. I never had opportunities like this and I am hoping that it spawns new talent and inspires.

SP: Describe the music industry in one word.

KE: Questionable.

SP: Describe your work with the music industry in one word.

KE: Intense.

SP: You’re probably full of stories about things you seen and done. Talk about one of the crazier ones. Leave names out if you need to.

KE: I definitely have to leave the name out of this one. I can tell you that he is a famous guitar player in a well-known rock band – a rock legend.

It was the night that President Bush sent our soldiers into Iraq and gave Saddam Hussein a 48-hour deadline. I was taking a red-eye flight from L.A. to New York and planned to sleep all the way over. I had a busy schedule the next day and had to be up early.

I’m getting situated when I see him walking down the aisle – all 6’6” and 240 pounds of him. He spots me and declares that he is going to sit next to me even though it’s not his assigned seat. He says he’s going to New York for a listening party for his new CD.

He pulls out a styrofoam container with food and a cup of beer he bought in the airport. He throws the food in the aisle, pops the lid off the beer and drinks it, crushes the cup, tosses it in the aisle and lets out a huge belch.

When we’re in the air, he orders drinks: “Four Crown Royals and two ginger ales for me and my friend here,” he says.

The flight attendant hands him the drinks and tells him it’s $24. He doesn’t allow me to mix my own drink because he wants to make sure that I don’t mix myself a weak drink. I realize it’s going to be a long night.

He pulls out a stack of porno magazines and starts flipping through them. An older couple near us is offended. He holds up the centerfold of one of the magazines and shoves it in the old man’s face. “Remember these days old timer?”

Everyone on the plane wants me to do something.

“Missy, missy… Four more Crown Royals and two ginger ales,” he says.

He pays her again and again and again.

My body is numb with alcohol.

He then stands up on his seat and yells out: “Here’s to the troops in Iraq! Forty-eight hours Hussein! You got 48 hours and then we’re fucking coming in!”

Everyone looks on in horror.

He orders more drinks only this time he stares her in the face and steps towards her a bit.

“How much did you say?”

She stands her ground and says, “Twenty four dollars.”

He steps even closer to her, nearly nose to nose. She begins to shake a bit.

“Twenty four dollars? Twenty four dollars,” he asks.

He stares at her for a moment and with the worst alcoholic breath, he yells: “You drive a haaarrrd bargain!”

The torture continued until we landed five hours later. It was the longest flight of my life. I have been on flights where I thought the plane was going down. This was worse.

As we walked to baggage, he invites me to his CD listening party. Later, I show up at the party with a music business friend of mine. We’ll call him “Conner.” I told Conner earlier the whole story about my nightmare flight.

We get to the party and my name is not on the list. Big surprise. I convince the door man to tell the guitarist that I’m there. The guitarist hears my name and comes running to the door and walks us in.

I introduce him to Conner. Conner is excited to meet him. Like I said, the guitarist is a legend.

“So I heard that you and Kevin got pretty drunk and out of control on the plane ride last night,” Connor says, trying to make small talk.

Like a child, the guitarist’s face changes from confidence to horror. We can’t understand what’s wrong.

The guitarist panics and turns to his little wife sitting next to him.

“Baby, let me explain,” he says, “Kevin was really nervous. He’s scared of flying. I just wanted to loosen him up a bit so he could relax on the plane. Kevin didn’t want to drink alone so he asked me to have one little drink with him, that’s all. Honest, baby, honest!”

I couldn’t believe it. This monsterous rock legend was scared of his tiny wife.

After he talked his way out of it, we toasted two glasses of sparkling water and hung out until dawn.

SP: Finally, talk a little about current and upcoming projects.

KE: I have been working with My Chemical Romance a lot. Today, I am shooting John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival).

A few things down the road… Working out spending some time with Metallica in the studio as they record their new CD. Hoping to do the same with Avenged Sevenfold and I think I am going to be doing some more stuff with Fall Out Boy later this month.

Other than that, I am finishing up the last couple of music videos that I directed and I am hoping to direct a few more in the next month or two.

Visit Estrada’s Web site at http://www.kevinestrada.com.

Comment on this article at our message board.

• Images courtesy of Kevin Estrada. Do not reproduce without permission.

NeoAztlan editor and founder Steve Peralta is a native of Colorado and graduate of the University of Colorado at Denver. He has been creating content for Web, print and radio for nearly 15 years. Past projects include work with the former Sony Interactive, several Internet boom content providers, and Capitol Underground pirate radio, among others. Peralta can be reached at speralta@neoaztlan.com.

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