Adam DeGross: Documenting Icons

A before-the-fame interview with the photographer blending punk aesthetics and rap stars.

This interview was originally published in The Juice Fanzine #05, released by Juicy Records in December 2017. You can get more info on it here.

All photos by Adam. Find more about his work here.

I came in touch with Adam’s work while scrolling through social media: one of the blogs I follow had posted about a new A$AP Ferg music video, I clicked.

What followed was intriguing: there were punks with mohawks, hardcore kids moshing, a lot of stage dives. It looked like a hardcore gig, even from the way it was shot, but the music was without a doubt contemporary rap. Then I read something about Xibalba, a hardcore band I knew, on the article about the video…I was confused, couldn’t find the relation.

Out of curiosity I went looking for the director of the video and found Adam’s Instagram account. I was mesmerised. Scrolling through a mix of action shots, portraits and intimate scenes, I saw him navigating both the rap and the punk worlds with a keen eye for iconic shots and documenting moments in black and white.

Putting the internet to good use once again, I emailed him about an interview, and a few weeks later we were chatting with only a few hundred miles and a five-hour difference between us.

Hi Adam, what have you been up to today? Are you working full-time on your photography now?

Unfortunately, I still have a day job, but I’m working on quitting work. Hopefully, within the year, I will be able to live off of my photography and video work. Today I’ve been writing down some ideas for a future event and writing a treatment for a video.

Is your day job still at the grocery store?

Yes sir.

Haha that’s crazy! How do your work colleagues react when you come back from taking intimate pictures of famous rappers and bands to the store? Do you get loads of guestlist requests for gigs?

It’s funny, a lot of people I work with have no idea. I keep a low profile at work, but the people who do know, usually just ask what it was like to meet so and so. I do get a lot of people asking to get into shows, but I just ignore them unless they’re close friends.

From what I understand, Instagram really helped you with exposure and getting your work out there, but how long have you been taking pictures and documenting the underground music scene? What was the starting point?

I’m 30 now, I started when I was 18, so about 12 years now. I used to book a number of punk shows in the city, so I’d take photos at the shows to help promote them. Get other bands to come to the Twin Cities if they saw how good the scene is.
Then the photos took on a life of their own.

So you know more than one side of the spectrum when it comes to live music. What bands were you booking, strictly punk-hardcore?

Only punk back then, and gradually started booking hardcore. I used to just listen to punk, and that was it.

“Hip hop shows these days are way crazier than any punk show, guarantee it.”

That’s funny cause I was the opposite. I started off with hardcore, had bands and all, and then only a few years later looked more into punk and the roots of it all.
Now that you’re way more involved with the hip-hop/rap scene, do you see similarities? Can rap gigs really get that rough like in the video you did for Ferg?

I love punk, always have. I love the style, energy, and just the history. I remember looking at old punk and hardcore photos all the time growing up, and when I started to document the scene, I was just taking pictures that I would want to look at, or photos I thought other punks would wanna see.
Hip hop and punk go hand in hand, always have. Even if you look up the early days of hip hop, there are ties to the punk scene.

Hip hop shows these days are way crazier than any punk show, guarantee it. When I shot that A$AP Ferg video, I didn’t tell anyone to go crazy, it just happened organically. Punk was a youth subculture, now hip-hop is where the youth gravitate towards, and it’s not shocking to see kids go off at hip-hop shows.

Was the footage for that video you mention just a Ferg concert, or did you collect footage from other gigs? There are bits with hardcore moshing that left me wondering…spin kicks at a rap gig is something I never saw happening haha.

That video was as DIY as it comes. Here’s the story behind it:

As some people may know, I’ve worked with Ferg in the past. He found me on Instagram, loved my style, brought me on tour and continued to be a fan of my style especially the punk photos.

He wrote me one night saying how he wanted me to be the creative director for a new video, he basically wanted my photos to come to life, but on video. Unfortunately, there were some issues with the original crew he had planned to shoot the video, and when I found out the shoot was in jeopardy, I stepped in and said I’d be able to do it all. I set up a DIY warehouse show in LA with my homies, Nomads, and Xibalba as the openers and Ferg as the headliner. I flew out there, teamed up with another Minnesota videographer by the name of Nolan Morice, and a few people out in LA helped. Then we announced the show and just hoped people would come.

On the day, tons of people showed up, but mainly punks and hardcore kids. The show went off perfectly, the bands, kids, Ferg and his crew had a great time, the filming was easy, and everyone went off.
And now the video “Uzi Gang” has already achieved a million views and has been really well received by the hip-hop community and the punk scene. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done.

What a story! I know Xibalba, we actually have their records on our Distro.

You touched precisely on what I wanted to approach next: DIY. The story behind that shoot is something that could only have happened with people coming from a DIY background, who know how to make shit happen. It speaks a lot to the attitude of an artist like Ferg that he trusted you to set it up last minute….do you see more of that attitude in other rap artists?
Is it a generational thing? Cause the rap of the ’00s was all about showing off, but now I get a sense kids care more about ethics and how the artist chooses to connect with them. Do you see this in the shows you shoot?

Xibalba is crazy, one of the best and heaviest bands out. A$AP Ferg is an artist, and really respects, and understands art from all angles.

But you’re right. People who didn’t come from the DIY scene couldn’t have pulled that, it’s the “get it done” ethic. There are a lot of rappers who live by that motto, and really understand that having good art and visuals is very important. I think that’s why so many rappers have tour photographers and realise that daily content is needed.

As a person who still remembers a less immediate-access and media-saturated time, do you feel this need for constant content works to your advantage as a creative, or do you think that now there’s too much talent, and also consequently clutter, making it more difficult to stand out?

It’s a double-edged sword. I have gotten more work because the need for photos is so high, but a lot of people don’t pay because everyone has a camera these days. I’ve been fortunate to have been able to develop my own style and get the jobs I have. I’m working on coming up with new and unique ways to make money, so hopefully I won’t have to work at the grocery store much longer.

But because there are so many people picking up cameras, it kind of keeps you on your toes.

“I don’t know many artists that have 4.5 million physical things out.”

Artists I have interviewed in the past always talk about the need to be creative with income sources and hustle to make the work you love doing pay your bills.
But you see, from an outsider looking at your Instagram, the PBR can thing seems massive and sort of gives the impression you’re now well-off. How did that feel as an achievement? Did that come purely off Instagram too?

That’s funny that people think I’m well off. It was a fine paycheck, but it was just that, one paycheck. That’s the fish, I’m looking for the fishing rod. I’m just happy that millions of people are seeing my work, whether they know it’s my stuff or not.

It’s a cool accomplishment, I found out that they made 4.5 MILLION of them, I don’t know many artists that have 4.5 million physical things out. And yes it did come from Instagram, I was tagging them in the photos and I just got contacted by PBR Music, the rest is history.

But I’m far from well off lol. Honestly, the gravity of the PBR thing hasn’t really set in.

But it’s a momentum thing, right? Once the wheel starts spinning and that snowball effect brings in more work…have you ever considered working for printed publications, as an in-house photographer?

You seem to be very proud of the fact your photos are on physical objects, something people can touch and see outside of a screen…do you think that adds value?

Absolutely, it’s a great resume boost.

I love the fact that my photos are on physical things, I remember as a kid going to magazine stands and just sitting and looking at the images in music magazines. I feel like getting your photos physically printed is one of the most significant accomplishments a photographer can achieve.

One day I’d like to have a home and work for a publication, but that will come eventually. I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. And one day it will all be clear.

Coming from a background of putting on concerts, have you ever put out an exhibition for your work, or even other people’s work?

I’ve done three official shows, all were very successful, and hopefully, I’ll be able to do more. I just don’t like to oversaturate. I’m waiting for the right moment to do my next show. I have some stuff planned though.

Anything you can share? How’s 2017 looking so far for you?

All my big ideas I’m gonna keep to myself haha. This year I will be doing a lot with PBR, travelling to all of their Project Pabst shows, maybe doing a few things with A$AP Ferg, working on a documentary for a punk festival happening in July…I just try to outdo myself each year, and this year is looking good already.

“I would love to know that when I’m dead, people will still be looking at my pictures.”

Curious you mentioning a documentary, as I see your work as somewhere between very iconic (and subsequently aesthetically appealing and commercially viable) and documental and private. Which side of it do you like the most?
And as a photographer/videographer, what do you think of the importance of creating artefacts that showcase different cultural eras?

I think it’s the most important thing you can do. My goal really is to have people say what you just said.

Like I said earlier, I always set out to create photos that other punks would gravitate towards. I was lucky enough to even have my photos historically archived at the University of Minnesota’s Andersen Archives, which is funny cause that school would never have accepted me as a student haha, but now their students study my photos. I’m just glad people understand what I’m doing and see the historical value in my work.

My ultimate goal is to have my photos live on longer than I do. I would love to know that when I’m dead, people will still be looking at my pictures.

Your photos are part of University Archives? That speaks volumes!
As a documental-focused artist, do you set out to find sides of underground cultures which get less attention? Some of your images really seem taken out of bleak, gritty moments that not a lot of people gain access to.

Yeah, that happened years ago, and sometimes I forget about it, forget just how big it really is.

As for the moments, I just felt like that was my life. I was documenting my friends and the shows that we all went to. I never thought I was getting exclusive access, just felt like I was hanging out with my friends at an underground show that I happened to be taking photos at.

I think a lot of my more “iconic” shots come for a particular time and place in the history of Minnesota punk. We used to have a huge underground scene, that was constantly pushing boundaries, and I just happened to be there.

Have you ever thought of doing subject-specific series? I know you have a book on MN’s punk scene…anything you ever did outside the music documenting field?

Maybe one day. That’s the best answer I have for that. I feel like I could, but I need to feel passionate about whatever I’m shooting.

On this issue, we’re partially addressing mental health, which admittedly is something a lot of punk and hardcore and even rap lyrics talk about.
Do you think a more visual artist can give input with a topic like that? Is there anything you find really hard to express visually or give a voice to?

I think any form of art is therapeutic and can help with mental health. Unfortunately, I feel like a lot of artists suffer from mental health issues.
And I guess that was a vague answer and I might not be the best person to ask about mental health issues.

No worries, I understand. It’s a sensitive subject, and that’s exactly we’re bringing it up on this issue. To finish off on a lighter note, do you listen to music while editing your work? Do you have like go-to artists to get yourself into edit mode, or even in other times?

Honesty, I usually sit in silence when I edit. I do tend to listen to rap when I’m on my way to a shoot or an interview.

Whenever I really wanna get in a good mood, I listen to A$AP Rocky’s “Celebration”, when I have any big accomplishment I play that song lol.

Haha, I know that song! Just to satisfy my curiosity, do you have any punk-hardcore favourites, like a top 3?

Cock Sparrer
Blitz
Rancid
Dillinger 4
Cro-Mags

I also listen to a lot of old reggae: Toots and the Maytals are my absolute favourite.

Cock Sparrer! I think I need to hit you up again for a future issue just to talk about music and old bands.

Ok, final question, and the most important of all: what’s your favourite juice flavour?

I have a gigantic Cock Sparrer chest tattoo that’s actually featured in their book lol! If you wanna see what I looked like at 18, turn to one of the last pages in their book to see a really dumb photo of me they pulled from MySpace haha.

Orange juice for sure.