Shooting the Stars…
An interview with Mike Wylie by Beth Johnston..................................................................

Beth was the first journalist I've dealt with who was adamant she wanted to interview me as I worked. She caught up with me on a very busy evening, and managed to come away with an interview that is far and away the most representative of what I do and why I do it........................................................................................................

"People will do things they don’t normally do for me…” says Michael Wylie as he takes a shot of Katy Steele, lead singer of Little Birdy in a somewhat seductive pose. This guy is literally full to the brim with energy, and I’m fairly sure it’s not just from all the beer either. It’s like watching a honey bee buzz around the room, collecting fantastic shots here and there and you don’t really notice him. Don’t get me wrong, this guy is a social butterfly (excuse all the animal analogies) and he can talk your ear off if given the chance. Passionate…oh yes, at the end of interview Wylie ended up going off on a spiel about John Howard and Australia’s involvement in the war. Then again your average Joe wouldn’t be able to do his job; the passion is what makes him so good.

When I asked to interview Michael Wylie, he said “yeah sure, come to this gig at the Monkey Bar – I’ll be there taking shots”. I thought great, I’ll get to see him in action – and I wasn’t wrong there. It was the opening night and the place was packed, there was a line half way down Murray Street and I was not really prepared to stand in line for two hours. Which was alright anyway, we skipped the line and went straight in thanks to Michael and smooth talking. Then it began, I like to call it ‘the chase’ – that’s what it was. I’m going to use my animal analogy here again because trying to stop Wylie for an interview was really like trying to catch an ant in the middle of an elephant stampede.

“Grab yourself a drink and settle in – I’ll be back in five…” he said. Fair enough, I wouldn’t mind relaxing a little before the interview. I finished my drink… oh there he goes… I grab my photographer by the arm and we begin off into the crowd after him. We’ll he’s gone again, I beginning to think this guy is more like a chameleon. So I had another drink, I didn’t want to be pushy – he’ll come over when he’s ready.

I do want to be relaxed, but I do want to be able to ask questions without slurring I think after my fourth drink. We ventured into the depth of the crowd and spotted him chatting and snapping away in a small group to the right of the stage, no where to run. He spots us and gives us a look that seems to say “oh there you are” but at the same time “oh shit you found me”.

“Shall we?” I say, I really don’t want to give him the option of running away again. I should mention that he does actually want to be interviewed, but he is just really into the vibe on the night. We carefully herd him into the outside bar so we can hear him properly; I feel like a cowgirl with a lasso around a prize bull that’s just done a runner.
So the interview finally began, and we became entranced listening to Wylie talk about his life and career and how much he loves photography.

Wylie says that he began his photography career taking shots for a WA surfing magazine, an avid surfer himself, it seemed like a great combination. Then he got a full time job with Kodak as a camera salesman, the nine to five life didn’t give him much opportunity to keep with the surf photography. Enter live music photography in 1991, a new passion grew. Michael got his portfolio organised and presented it to the West Australian Newspapers Revue Magazine who in turn offered him a job.

It really took off from there and Michael continued for the Revue magazine for six years until its demise. After that he began shooting more commercial and editorial stuff as well as live music for an array of magazines. His passion took him overseas on many occasions and when he returned he began building his website devoted to rock and roll photography, with a massive photography database of Wylie’s work (www.projectphotography.com).

“The energy on the night and the performance of who I photography is what really inspires me”, says Wylie when I ask how he gets the energy to do it time after time. According to Wylie, the question of which bands are best to photograph isn’t as clear cut as one might think. “Energetic rock bands like Jed Whitey are awesome to shoot. Bands that visually translate what they do, like some great bands that play great music aren’t that good to photograph. Some fantastic bands whose music isn’t that flash are great to photograph. You need to find a happy medium. Jed Whitey is a great band with great music – a happy medium”, he says.

Whilst his shots do come from all over the world, he says that “the majority of my Australian images were taken in and around Perth, West Australia, from 1991 to date” and are shown on his website. His evocative career takes him many places and on his website he enthuses that, “…being a freelance in Perth entails shooting almost anything. I've worked out of helicopters and light aircraft, and have covered many weddings, and one funeral. I've also shot fashion, and model portfolios, as well as the usual array of weird stuff photographers come up with, after spending too much time in a studio”.

If you’re racking your brain trying to think if you’ve seen any of Wylie’s work, chances are you have. For a start he’s the in house photographer at Amplifier so if you’ve seen photographs published from there chances are they are his. There are some trademarks of Wylie’s work too; he loves black and white film and the kind of photos that look blurry but really cool at the same time. To put it in his words, he “utilizes elaborate flash techniques and gets into the thick of the action”.

“Getting into the thick of the action” isn’t always something that is easy to do, and it often leads to injury of both man and camera. Most memorably, Wylie found himself on the receiving end of an “energised” crowd – but it wasn’t at a concert. He doesn’t just photograph the music, he frequently goes overseas, “for fun, not commercially” and takes thousands of pictures which can be seen on his website. On a trip to Hyderabad, Wylie was going to photograph pictures of the local markets. Instead he found an angry protest in full swing, which mistook him for an American and took upon him with great force. Obviously he survived, and tells the amazing tale in detail on his website including the headlines of all the papers he was on the cover of the following day.

When he is in Perth, Michael shoots bands almost every weekend. The frequency of his gig attendance makes it hard for him to pinpoint a favourite. When I asked him, he pondered for a while and replied “I really can’t answer that, it changes frequently depending on the last gig I went to”. I guess if he did have a favourite, then all other gigs would be measured up to that one and it would be harder to be energized for them all.

Wylie has been around Perth for quite some time now, in fact he has been doing shows for the last ten years. His latest, “Forever and Easy” was at the WA Museum for three months and generated some good response from those who wouldn’t normally go and see such an exhibition. "I’ve had good responses from people who go to the museum to see a stuffed animal and end up seeing rock and roll", he says.

When the interview wraps up, I ask if my photographer can take a picture of him. The irony amuses him and he accepts, but he does draw the line at us taking a picture of him pretending to be taking a picture. “I’ll look like a dickhead”, he protests and it makes me wonder what he what do if someone refused to strike a pose. After we’re all done, we say our goodbyes but before we go he asks “just a quick shot?” and holds his camera up innocently. Sure enough, we end up doing some stupid pose for him without question. Then I realise as I watch him run off back into the crowd like an ant just escaped from a five year old with matches, that it is his passion for photography and his larger than life personality that makes him so successful and is quite obviously reflected in his amazing images.

Live images © Michael Wylie. Mw pic - shot by Shannzy at The Gig of Infinite Justice...