INTERVIEW: ALICE HIRSCH: WHEN YOUR HEART IS INTO IT
Photography is something I started first and foremost. It started in high school around the 10th grade. I was shooting film the entire time. My dad gave me a film camera, a very crappy one but it was still a film camera nonetheless. It still worked and at the time, I was just taking photos of anything like trees, plants, buildings you name it. At that point, I also started a Tumblr blog to post my photos. I had seen people doing cooler photos like landscape photography and portraits. “I want to do that!” It started off as a hobby and even in Cegep, it was still a hobby for me. I was in biochem. I realized it wasn’t fun. It didn’t move me. Therefore, I just went into Arts and Communications and I was still taking photos as a hobby. I was just taking photos of shows, people, everything. My dad gave me a camera and it kind of grew into a career based on the connections and friends I have made through Cegep.
In terms of videography, that was something very recent. I did video production in Cegep as well in my communications class. I did it once. I liked it. However, I realized I didn't want to do it. It's not something I wanted to do. I like taking photos. I don't like taking videos. However, the landscape of things kind of changed in terms of how people view content, especially with the algorithm on social media. I had to pick back up video by force actually when I think about it. The first time I had to pick up a video camera, I was on tour with See you Space Cowboy. “Yeah, we want to hire you for photos but we also want videos. You need to do one or two videos per tour”. So, I did video. I wasn't too happy about it. I didn't like it too much. I got back home from that tour I edited the video. I made a “Reel”. I sent it to them. They really loved it and from there, “You know what? Creating something that is not just a static image was fun.” As of 2023 to now, it was something that I added into a service of mine. I was like: “Yeah, I love doing videos.” Mad House 2023 helped a lot with that. I had never filmed a festival in my life. It was fun to do. That's how videography came along.
Cloned Apparition is a project that we started during Covid. I was talking with my friend Alec. We’ve been friends since Cegep. “Let’s start a band and see where that takes us.” We have the same music taste, the same interests. From there, Alec recruited his friend Tehotsenháthe who is our drummer now. They knew each other years ago from one show that happened at Piranha Bar or La tulipe We were a three-piece for a long time and initially we were going to be more of a Metalcore project but because of the strict curfew laws of Quebec we never had time to practice. We were never close by to practice. Then, the shift that happened was that we saw a show in 2022 and it was our first show post Covid. It was Soul Blind, Drug Church, Lurk and I think there was another band. "That resonates with us more than Metalcore.” We felt like there were so many bands in Montreal that were doing the whole Metal and Hardcore aspect of things and not many bands that were doing the whole harder side of Alternative like the grungier shoegazier side at the time. Now, there is a good amount which is great. I'm happy. At the time, there was a demand but there wasn't a supply for it in the city. “Let’s do something in that vein!” We practiced at Musicopratik and we started writing songs and that's when our first EP came up with the first 4 songs we’ve written. We never scrapped anything. “These four songs are sick! Let’s just get them out!” That’s when “The Coming of Spring” came out (in 2023).
You mentioned getting into photography quite early on. Would you say anyone inspired you? (besides your dad)
Most people that inspired me at that early stage were people on Tumblr. I can't really remember the names now. It’s been almost 10 years. Initially, my Tumblr blog was really just a quality blog as they used to call it. It was just hi-res pictures of anything really. Then, it got further into landscape and vertical photography; vertical images of things that were compositionally appealing. Those were my inspiration earlier on. From there, I kind of implemented that style into my work. Today, no way. I feel lots of things have changed but at the time, that really was how I was doing it; muted colors somewhat saturated, high contrast. When I look back at it, I hate it.
Would you say you have a favourite current photographer?
I want to say my friend Ian Enger from Portland. He's one of my favorite photographers out right now in terms of concert photography. Their use of color and compositions are just amazing to look at. There's also Rose Cormier. I mean we all love Rose. I think admittedly Rose is one of my Inspirations when it comes to this. I used to hate color in my photos. I used to hate vivid colors. I never wanted anything vivid. Then, I think I met Rose in 2022 at a show at Turbo. I think it was the same with her at the time. She was shooting black and white stuff. Her earlier photos were very black and white and whatnot. When I saw that she was moving on to the whole color side of things, there was such a way that she would blend and grade her colors into photos. “Holy shit, I've never seen a photo with vivid colors look so amazing!” So, she's one of my favorite photographers for that reason; her use of colour is just so amazing to look at. She has definitely inspired me in the way of how I grade my colors and how I change the mood of things based on colour.
What advice would you give to anyone who wants to get into photography, content creating, or music but is too scared to get started?
Trust your inner gut. When you are creating something, you are doing it for you. It's not about pleasing the masses. If you think it’s right and feel it’s ready to be shared with the world; do so! We live in a time where there are all sorts of means possible to create things. You don't need the most expensive thing possible to create anything. Lots of things are even free now. If you want to start taking photos, start on your phone. A lot of people have started on their phones, invested, and eventually bought a camera. I feel like if there's a time to start it is now. At the end of the day, you need to remember that you're doing it for yourself. If you're not happy with it then, what's the point? You don't need to please the masses. You're never going to please everyone. I think that's also the biggest fear of it all when everyone starts; they do something to have it be unanimously pleased. You learn over time you're not going to please everyone, not everyone wants to work with you or see your vision and that’s fine. There are 7 billion people in the world if you get at least 1 person to enjoy it and it’s you, you’re fine. If money is an issue, there are so many options where you don't have to spend thousands of dollars to get what you need. I feel like there's that weird myth going on where it's like the more money you spend, the higher the quality of things will be. It's true to a degree but you can create something good as long as you put your heart into it.
Is that something you had to tell yourself at some point?
It's something I have to tell myself a lot especially with any sort of discipline that I've done before but that I haven't done in years. Even with photography today, people know me for my photos and love my photos but at the end of the day, what I'm doing is not content it's art. I'm doing this because it makes me happy. I'm sharing this because it makes me happy. I'm not sharing this to please others. I don't like to see myself as a content creator because that means that I'm creating things to please other people when I'm not. It's more to please myself and whoever hires me. People have hired me more for the artistic side of things rather than the content side of things. I also remind myself that what I'm doing here is more for me and the reason why people enjoy my work and people you will hire me is because they see that my heart is in it. I always have to remind myself that there'll be some times where I'm so stuck into the content cog where I'm like: “I haven't posted a photo in 7 days. I should go ahead and do that”. I feel like it just ruins the whole artistic value that I put towards my work.
Having shot amazing local (Montreal) talents such as Birds of Prrrey and Avery Jane and internationally recognized acts like Fontaines D.C. Who are some dream artists and bands you would like to work with?
Men I Trust is a big one. I've been manifesting that for years. "Men I Trust please!" TOPS is one but I shot Jane Penny at M for Montreal. Jane Penny is the vocalist from TOPS. To a degree I'm close but not there yet. Solange is also a big one. Solange is one of my biggest artistic influences because not only does she do music but she also does architecture. She has done set designs and stuff like that. The way that she portrays her vision is so amazing. I think that's my top three at this point. It's definitely Men I Trust, TOPS, and Solange. Those are my three bucket list artists that I would either love to work with, shoot for, do anything with. It would make me so happy.
I mean I burned out a lot within the past year just stretching myself thin. “Okay cool! I can do this. I can do that.” I can't say that I found a solution as to how I balance it all out without, you know, stretching myself thin and burning out. One thing I will definitely say for sure is that I've learned to pace myself more. With that it's just like: “Okay, if I'm booking myself for the month, how many spots will I leave myself available so I can still have time to myself, time for my day job if I had and I still do, and time to work on other gigs?" It just came down to really like complicated math. However, this month is the complete opposite of that. I won't say I'm burning out but I've definitely booked myself a lot this month where it's a nice mellow between busy and calm. I'm not at that point where I'm doing something every day but I realize that once my contract ended, I was so eager to get back into the freelancing world that I was taking any gig possible. “Okay, well, you just got out of work. You didn't have time to relax yet and you're already doing so much.”I have been pacing myself a bit more.
Would you say pacing yourself was one of your New Year resolutions?
Yeah, it's something I definitely told people as my New Year’s resolution; pacing myself and trying not to take everything I can, as cool as that would be. Freelancing is not an affordable thing. Yes, the money and the comfort of being financially stable doing what you love is one thing and you have to work hard for that. However, you come first and if you're not in a good enough state to see that and to live that calm life you always dreamed about, there's no point. We're only a month in; it's been a self-care period for me.
Out of all the shows you have had the chance to shoot in the past year, what would you say was your favourite one and why?
I think the number one spot is that Mulch, Lemongrab, Shunk, and Birds of Prrrey show under the bridge. That was great to shoot. It was my second time shooting there but my first time shooting where the capacity was more than it can handle. It’s never spilled out throughout the street which was the case for the Lemongrab show. It made a full circle of people around the act and it was really cool. There were lots of things I saw and thought to myself: “If you see that again you're very lucky.” For example, that one photo that I took during the Mulch set of the person sitting on the couch crowd surfing. It was one of those things where I was like: “I have to take a photo of that because I don’t know when that’s going to happen again. It’s not like it happens at every show.” To this day, it's my favorite photo I've taken and not only that, it seems the fan favorite. It was really good photo and it really describes the energy felt that night. It was definitely a one of a kind experience. My second favorite show to shoot would have to be Prowl either in Moncton or Brunswick or the Toronto show. Those shows were my favourite shows of that tour. Moncton really caught me by surprise because you know no one ever really thinks about New Brunswick when you think of a show in the Martimes. It’s usually Halifax. In my head, I was like: Moncton is going to be a sleeper town. There will probably not be that many people. It was sold out. There was lots of energy. People were moving. The energy is always there for Toronto. Those two shows were some of my favorites. Obviously, the Fountaines D.C. show was great to shoot too. I've been fighting tooth and nail to get a pass to shoot that show because I love Fountaines D.C. I've been a fan of them since “Skinty Fia” and that new album was just amazing. I haven't shot any big artists that require me to go to a concert hall this year. I was like: ”If there's one this year it has to be that one.” That was my favorite show for many reasons. The crowd was full of energy. The set was very energetic. It was very beautiful visually and sonically.
Taken at the Lemongrab, Mulch, Birds of Prrrey, and Shunk show at Van Horne Underpass, Montreal, September 2024
Speaking of shows, do you have a favourite venue (as a fan or photographer)?
There's a few. Slowly, Foufounes has become one of my favorite venues to shoot at. It used to be my least favorite because of that stage. Lately, I've been growing a love for it and I think it's because I've been there so many times. Turbo is my number one small venue to shoot at because it's just so well lit. For big venues, I think the best one has to be Mtelus. I haven't shot that many big venues around here. I think the only two I've really shot are Mtelus and Corona (Beanfield). Mtelus is definitely my favorite one. It just brings out the best in me. I shot Alvvays there two years ago and they reposted the photo. It was amazing. Also, my photos always turn out the best at Mtelus. Those two venues are probably my favorite to shoot right now.
As mentioned earlier, you also front a band called Cloned Apparition. What are your hopes and dreams when it comes to the future of the band?
We're at a stage now where we're growing at a pace that we never expected to grow. My hopes and aspirations kind of did get attained in that sense where this project was really just going to be for fun project. We were maybe only going to release something every two years. We thought of playing maybe three shows in Montreal and be like: “We're helping the ecosystem of the scene.” Everything that has happened between when we released our first EP to now was never in the plans. I think now reaching out the stage where we got signed to a label, we have bands that we look up to that love us. I guess one of the big goals for me would be to turn this into not so much as a job because I still want it to be fun but still have it be somewhat of a livable hobby if that makes sense. In other words, still maintain the fun aspect of creating music and just creating something we're all proud while touring and playing shows doesn't become such an expense that it sucks the fun out of us. I think my only aspiration right now is really just to turn this into a livable thing, travel around the world with this project. The fact that we went to the US three times this year as a band is insane to me. We've had people from all around the world listen to us and share their love for us. Mexico loves us so much. Every day, they play our songs on a radio station. Europe is the same way. The only way to pay it forward is to play shows in those places, have fun, and learn about the scenes in those places. I want to turn this into a profitable hobby but I also want to use that as leverage to explore more of what the world can offer in terms of music scenes and creative scenes. That would be the ultimate goal with Cloned Apparition.
Live set from Cloned Apparition at Spacement Arts, Pennsylvania, July 2024, uploaded by @Feet First Productions
Is there anything we can expect from Cloned Apparition this year?
We are currently in the process of recording an album. We are not sure when we're going to throw that out. It's probably going to be late spring or summer. It's all up in the air right now as we’re still recording. We definitely want to do a release show. It’s going to be here (Montreal). The last time we did a release show, it was in two cities. It was fun but it just didn't make sense in the long run to have two different release shows. It made sense at the time because Toronto and Montreal are two biggest markets. We are a Montreal band first and foremost and we have not played a Montreal show since July. You know to pay it forward it we're just going to do a big release show with a few locals, a few Ontario bands, maybe one US band and then, us. We're trying to do something big. It's in the works. Right now, our main focus is to finish this album and whatever happens happens. We're currently on a hiatus of playing shows for the time being. We have a tour lined up in the summer.
Do you have an idea of where you would like to have your release show?
I'm not sure. In my head, I'm thinking Turbo. I think Turbo is our second home at this point. I think we played Turbo the most. We're not expecting anything big. We're not going to play Le ministère. I don't think we're that big but it'll probably be like a Turbo show or a Cabaret foufs show.
What is the accomplishment you are the most proud of so far? (whether it has to do with photography, music…)
I think my biggest accomplishment is that I finally finally got a photo book out last year. It took me 3 years of procrastination (a lot of other factors) to get that done.
It was a great success. It was the first book I did independently. Would I do it again? No, not independently. I didn't make much of a profit but it doesn't matter. I was proud of it and people loved it. There were people whom I never thought would see my existence that bought a book. Colin Young of Twitching Tongues saw my tweet about the book and bought it. He even shared it on his podcast Twitter page. I got some sales from that too. Despite the fact I didn't make much of a profit out of it, the fact that like I got it out and people from across the continent bought my book is crazy to me. I never thought I'd get that far with this. I thought five Montreal friends would buy it and that's it. The fact that I sold 20-30 copies and shifted some of them myself. I shipped the book myself for a bit until I got really tired of it.
What is the biggest challenge you have encountered while taking pictures at a show?
There is always the lighting and the stage layout. Those are the two of the biggest challenges for me because the equipment I use to shoot shows is not versatile. I don't have a vast range of lenses I can use no matter what the set up is like. I have a 14 mm, a 35 and a 50. I don't have a zoom lens. It's really a matter of which lens works best for what. Sometimes, none of the lenses work for any of them. MTelus, although being my favorite venue, I've had that challenge so many times where even my 50 mm lens doesn't feel like I'm getting the action right. I'm either too far from the subject or I'm too close to the subject depending on how they're laying out the stage. Every venue has a different lighting set up, stage set up. The way you are shooting at Foufs is not the same way you're shooting at Turbo. The way you're shooting at Turbo is not the same as the way you're shooting at Piranha Bar and so on. It doesn't help either that I have gear that is kind of behind the times. It still gets the job done. I'm not thinking of upgrading. It's always the lighting set up and the stage set up. Those are the two biggest challenges for me, especially if it’s a venue I have never been to before. Sotterenea, I've always had a problem with the lighting up until recently. I kind of got it down. I think they added the key lights now at the front so it's not just orange. That was my problem with Sott. It was always hard to take proper photos at Sott. Same with Bar le Ritz, it has no key lights. I don’t really shoot with a flash either. I can if I want to but I always feel like I'm that annoying photographer when I do that. I hardly shoot with flash. I don't like it.
Would you say you get nervous before shooting at a venue for the first time?
That's one of the things with touring. It’s venues I've never been to in my life. I don't know how the stage setup is going to look. Sometimes, I have to plan my shots differently. That's the one thing with touring, the artists will do the same types of moves for every song every day. “I see you do that at one point during one song. I'm probably going to stay behind you and take that photo.” I just don't know how the stage will look. I don't know how the lighting will look. Oftentimes, I do get nervous especially if I'm being hired to do so because it's like you trusted me and in my head, I'm not delivering what I could give to you. I get nervous especially when it comes to touring. Same thing when I shot Kroy at Jazz Fest, none of my lenses were great for that. The stage is huge, wide and tall. I did what I had to do with a 50mm. She was happy with it. People were happy with it. I could have done something better with a proper lens. It was my first time going into a backstage of a festival of that magnitude.
Are you super self-critical (even when the people who hired you are happy with your work)?
I'm always very self-critical. Half of the time, I’m like: “I don't like how that looks. I don't like how I graded that. I should change it. We'll see if they like it or not.”
In terms of photography and videography, where would you like to be in 5 years from now?
I would probably still be in Montreal. Honestly, I cannot visualize myself anywhere but here (maybe Chicago) so I would probably still be here. I feel like things would be at a point where I can pay my rent and make enough money where I can kind of give back to a community whether it's having a photography workshop or having my own studio, an affordable one that up and coming photographers or creatives can use. I really just see myself giving back to a community that made me who I am. Making a living off of this but then, redistributing that profit into the community and helping them grow and helping them realize that there is so much out there in the world. Anyone can be creative. Everyone can be creative. I feel like it has become such an expensive industry but it doesn't have to be. There are so many people who have a creative bone in their body but the finances make people worry. I want to make them realize they are affordable options. I would love to put that at the forefront especially for up and coming creatives, students, anyone who wants to get out there and not worry about spending more than they invest.
What album, artist or song have you been obsessed with lately?
There's this band called Whirr. They released an album called “Raw Blue”. It was a surprise album and it was only out on band camp as far as I know. “Worries Bloom” by Whirr has been a song I've been obsessed with. It’s the way it's composed and written; it's just amazing. I discovered Rozie Ramati when we were in Philadelphia, driving back home. I discovered her through a playlist that I never knew she was on. Her song “Drown in the Clouds of Dew” is such a good song. It's so pretty. Every time I listen to it, I just feel warm and nice. It's just beautiful, angelic, and dancy at the same time. It fits everything that I need in music.
Is there a creative project you've been dreaming of diving into but for some reason don't? I don't know about you, but my conversation with Alice reminded me of how important it is to do things for ourselves. Outside opinions, our fears, and money should never stop us. Some of my articles have received more attention than I could have ever imagined while others are criminally overlooked. There isn't a single article I regret sharing with the world. As usual, I hope this latest publication has made you want to discover more about the featured artists and support them in any possible capacity. Go stream Cloned Apparition’s music. Follow Alice on Instagram and leave a comment about how amazing their work looks. Thank you for reading one of my favorite interviews to date.
Your favourite interviewer/blogger (who puts her heart into every single article),
Ariane
Congrats on another incredible interview!! My best friend did an amazing job as always. It was so cool to learn about Alice. I hope to see Cloned Apparition someday!
ReplyDeleteThank you so so much for your constant support 🥺
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