Finding Focus: Daniel Down on Music, Photography and PACE Festival

Gawler's PACE Festival (Plains Arts, Culture and Events Festival) returns this October for 10 days of art, exhibitions and community events. Now in its second year, the festival pairs artists with local businesses, encouraging people to visit venues and discover new artists.

One of the artists involved in this year's event is photographer Daniel Down, who will be presenting a collection of his music photography for an exhibit called SA Musicians In Focus.

Ahead of PACE taking over Gawler from Friday 9 to Sunday 18 October, The Note spoke with Down about the festival, his new exhibition and why he hopes more people realise how great Gawler's local music scene is.

Tell us a little about PACE Festival, your involvement and how it brings the local community together.

PACE Festival was initially designed to run off the back of the SALA Festival, but it has since become its own thing. It was spearheaded by our local state member at the time as the Arts On The Plains festival but has now moved solely into the community's hands, as it was always intended.

I was involved at the start as an artist and advisor to the festival. That year I presented a photography exhibition focusing on opposites such as light and shade, colour and mono. It fit well, as it was in a flower shop that was once an undertaker's, and we were exhibiting in the basement.

What can people expect to discover at this year’s PACE Festival?

As with previous years, people can expect different arts from in and around the Gawler community on display at a variety of locations. People will be able to come up on the opening weekend with a map of the exhibitions and spend the afternoon exploring around our town, taking in the sights of Gawler and some amazing artwork. We'll even have a live art installation, and amazing mural artist Mimby Jones Robinson will be in town to paint a mural organised by me and other committee members. This is a major drawcard!

This year, you are presenting SA Musicians In Focus, which you have described as "your year-long pilgrimage into local live music". It feels like the culmination of a transformative year for you. What was happening in your life and photography that led you to embark on the project?

It's all boiled down to live music for me. I have been back in the live music scene for about 18 months now, and seeing the kind of material I have been pumping out and having faith in my abilities and equipment, I figured it was time to try something different. Before, I had exhibited the local area – abandoned structures, spooky basements, even portraits of the local community. It's time for something different. Something outside of Gawler.

READ MORE: Lottie McLeod Gets Comfortable Being Herself

You've described photographing local live music as helping you out of both a mental and creative slump. How did music photography reignite your creative spark?

I really did feel like it was time to move away from photography 18 months ago. Back then I felt like I had photographed everyone and everything (especially around Gawler). I had no creativity, I was getting frustrated, and I just wasn't enjoying photography. On a whim, I attended a friend's gig in Adelaide – the first gig I had been to in years and the first time I had ever been to Ancient World.

For the technically minded, I would never push my camera's ISO up past 800, so I would never shoot inside. I had no confidence in myself. But that night I pushed up my ISO and opened my aperture to let in as much light as possible in that small dark space, and when I got home, I was quite astonished by the pictures I had taken.

The following week, another gig at the UniBar, my first time there and same thing. The pictures, atmosphere and vibe all came together. I was instantly reminded of being back in my youth, chasing my friends' band around with my film camera. I've now been to more gigs and venues in the past 18 months than I have in the past 20 years.

Since you began this project, you've won photography awards and established your own photography business. Did you ever imagine that simply picking up your camera and heading to local shows would lead you here?

Not in a million years. Don't get me wrong, it's something I've always wanted – my own business and to photograph live musicians. As a failed musician and "The camera guy..." back in the day, it seems it's all come full circle.

What do you hope people take away from SA Musicians In Focus, particularly those in Gawler who might not regularly experience Adelaide’s live music scene?

I would love for those people who come to the event and the Gawler community to get a taste of the amazing local music out there. We have so little original music here in Gawler as the pubs cater mostly to cover bands. Original music festivals come and go and are rarely supported. We have some AMAZING musicians here such as Abbey Amber and Emerauld who will be featured in my exhibition. Even if people just took the time to listen to their music, then I feel like I've made an impact. A playlist of all of the musicians I've photographed will be playing at the exhibition. Hopefully people's ears will perk up and they'll say, "Oh wow, who is that?"

There's obviously a strong sense of giving back to the music community behind this exhibition. What has the South Australian music scene given you over the past 18 months, and why was this the right way for you to return that support?

Even during most of last year, I would never go to the front of the stage. I never had the confidence and I hated being around other photographers. The SA music scene has fully embraced me. Musicians and photographers alike. They'll encourage me to get to the front of the stage, ask me to photograph their album launches, or tell me how much they love my work when I've never even met them. From feeling like some kind of weird outsider lurking around the back of the room, I've never felt more welcome than when I walk into a venue.

READ MORE: Diving Into Jem Cassar-Daley

You've previously found really creative ways to showcase Gawler and its people, from photographing local areas to portraits of local legends. How does bringing Adelaide musicians into a Gawler exhibition space change the way you think about both the photography and the audience?

I want the audience, the Gawler audience, to stop and say, "Wow, who is that? Where is that? Where can I see them?" I cannot think of any type of exhibition that has been around our town that's focused solely on original South Australian musicians. Maybe they'll see someone they recognise and go, "Wow, they're in a band?" I love the idea of Gawler being a growing community and a central hub for the surrounding areas, so let's move away from showcasing farmland, old cottages and vast landscapes. Let's get a lesbian punk rocker with a crew cut and tatts up on the wall!” 

Is there a particular image or musician in the exhibition that has a story behind it that you’re especially keen for people to discover?

I would dearly love for people to discover a few musicians that have surfaced from the local Gawler area. Firstly, the old guard in The Trafalgars. Originally from Kapunda High, I was following the band around from inception back in the early 2000s. I felt like a 4th member of the band as the photo guy, and they gave me a taste of photographing live music as I shot their first-ever gig supporting The Anyones at the old Music Hall. I never thought I'd be where I am from that first gig 20+ years ago.

Abbey Amber was the musician I photographed some 18 months ago when I came home from Ancient World and thought, "Wow, these pictures are amazing!" That performance and some of those pictures are what started this whole pilgrimage. We've become great friends, and she is so supportive with all my work. Those two photos from those first two gigs some 18 months ago will both be on display. I would do anything for those two artists, and hope that people give them a like and subscribe.

You've already got your sights set on taking SA Musicians In Focus into Adelaide, potentially as part of Fringe 2027. What would the bigger version of this project look like if you get the opportunity to make it happen?

One reason for this exhibition in PACE is to get a feel for something bigger. I'd love to see how these pictures will look blown up and on display. I love the idea of feedback from this PACE exhibition so I can look at something outside of Gawler and right in the heart of a city. I would love to make this a bigger exhibition by bringing music and photography together. My photography of SA musicians being exhibited, and a concert by some of those musicians featured to kick the whole thing off. I am SO excited about the possibility of it. 

Looking beyond PACE and the exhibition, what's next for Daniel Down Photography? Has this year changed what you want to achieve with your photography?

As far as DJD Photography goes, I will still have a few commitments here in Gawler, such as our local Christmas Parade, a charity Cops vs Salvos cricket match and a possible exhibition for History Month showcasing some hidden gems we have around Gawler, such as inaccessible mansions and spooky basements. I will continue to photograph local musicians both paid and unpaid as I feel I have found my calling and my scene. I still have so much to thank them for. I’m not done yet.

PACE Festival runs from Friday 9 to Sunday 18 October across Gawler. SA Musicians In Focus takes place at Cafe Cibo from Friday 9 to Friday 30 October.