Perfect Sound Forever

2010s LIVE IN NYC


Iggy & the Stooges at Le Poisson Rouge, April 28, 2013

Photos and article by Dan Efram
(February 2019)

For many years, I have represented musicians as a manager, including my current work with The Apples in stereo. Since The Apples are dormant, with E6 co-founder and lead Apple Robert Schneider's recent pursuit of a PhD in physics, I decided to focus on some of my own creative endeavors.

Robert Schneider & John Ferguson of The Apples in stereo (The Paramount, Seattle, WA July 5, 2015) after opening for Neutral Milk Hotel
Making photographs of performances provided opportunities to hone my skills. The son of a professional classical musician growing up, I was inserted into the music world at a very early age. My musical training on violin, piano and drums had a huge impact on how I would approach shooting music performances.

Starting in music photography really helped me get my style and timing together. It also really helped me to anticipate when and what to capture and led in one way or another to the development of my first book of photos. With Curiosities, there are no music concert shots at all, rather it is my take on film noir.




Mark Mulcahy is someone whom I've appreciated for years. When Miracle Legion reformed, they performed a preview show (Cakeshop, April 18, 2016). and Mark ended up sidling right next to me. My shot was literally taken from a foot or two away and I almost had to move backwards in order to get him in focus. He was that close.




The Dream Syndicate (The Bowery Ballroom, Dec 2, 2017) was celebrating the release of their latest album How Did I find Myself Here? Guitarist Jason Victor draws everyone's attention... It feels like he's summoning all of Tesla's power to juice his amplifiers and get the torque necessary for his solo.




Andrew Bird (Celebrate Brooklyn, July 28, 2017) is one of the most talented multi-instrumentalists I've ever encountered. If you've ever heard his music and lyrics, you'll know there's a lot going on in his mind, and being able to capture him with the instrument that I grew up playing and he was first performing when I was introduced to his music was a special treat.




Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds (King's Theater, May 26, 2017) is well-known as an amazing performer. Anyone that has seen him live is swept away by his nearly religious minions being swooped up by this striking persona. There is so much drama within his set. Here is a more delicate, between-the-moments capture.




Yo La Tengo (Bowery Ballroom, Dec 9, 2018) performed as part of their Eight Days of Hanukkah yearly benefit celebration. At the end of the set, Ira Kaplan asks his mom to come out and sing a song.



My book Curiosities will be out soon via Tractor Beam Press.


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