Tell us a little about yourself and your experience.

My Name is Andrew Wendowski (www.facebook.com/
andrew.wendowski.photography) and I am Metro Station’s Touring
Photographer, Editor/Lead Photographer for Music Mayhem Magazine
(www.MusicMayhemMagazine.com) & Editor of Boot Kickin’ Mayhem
(www.bootkickinmayhem.com). I have been doing photography for 3 years
now, beginning with TRAPT & Dangerkids in 2012. Music Mayhem Magazine
has been in operation since December 2013 in which I have always been
in charge of it. I have also contributed to multiple websites/
magazines in the past including Noise Violation, Broken Records
Magazine, CrypticRock, Pop Culture Madness, and a few others…

I Have been Published to Scott Stapp Tour Merchandise T-shirt, Toby
Keith/Colt Ford image into Country Weekly Magazine, Numerous amount of
Philadelphia Venue websites, Scott Stapp WorldWide Billboard to
promote his Proof Of Life Tour in 2014, Falling In Reverse Photo
Montage Music Video for “God, If You’re Above”, Americarna on Velocity
TV featuring Jerry Horton of Papa Roach, and several others…

What drove you to choose your career path?

I chose the Photography path as I always had a camera in my hand since
I was a little kid, from phone cameras, disposable cameras, always
wanted to the most up to date cameras, always was taking photos. I
then chose the musician photography path as I love music and
photography so why not combine the two for one awesome career path. I
also always attended concerts with my friends and family and always
happen to try to get the best photos in the crowd on crappy point and
shoot cameras but I always left with some awesome images and I wanted
to take it to the next step, So I created Music Mayhem for my
publication to publish my reviews, photos and more before it took off
more then I expected and brought a DSLR camera for better quality
images and so I can control the settings of how I wanted my shots to
look.

How did you go about getting your job? What kind of education and
experience did you need?

Surprisingly, I actually went about getting the job by pushing myself
out into the hard to get into Music World by contacting my friends
that are musicians to photograph them at their shows (TRAPT &
DANGERKIDS) who believed in me where I got my first two photo passes
in 2012. From that point forward my photography career took off and
jumpstarted my publication and photography talent. You do however need
experience to start achieving anything in which you need a portfolio
and website and publication to do anything with a photo pass. You need
to build your way up to actually becoming a successful publication/
tour photographer and also journalist.

What do you actually spend the majority of your time doing?

The Majority of my time is spent going through emails from publicists,
reading press releases, listening to new music for review, contacting
Music Mayhem staff about reviewing and shows they want to cover.
Planning content for the coming weeks and even months at times. The
biggest majority of my time however is attending shows photographing/
reviewing the show and editing the photos and review prior to the show
then posting to our site.

What misconceptions do people often have about your job?

The BIGGEST misconception ALOT of people have is thinking we get to
hang out with rockstars and make tons of money doing this. Most of us
do it cause we love doing this and love working within the music
industry. I do this because it’s my passion and my dream. I love what
I do. Do I get to meet the bands I love? Sure but its usually to
interview them which is still working. Most of my job is listening to
stuff that needs reviewed, planning content to post, photographing,
editing photos, reviewing a show. People also don’t understand how
time consuming it really is.

What are your average work hours?

Lets just say its too difficult to put the hours of work into a number
as its most likely an infinite amount of time. There is no 9-5 or time
clock to punch in and out. It’s more like you’re done working that day
when everything is done and edited and posted online.

What personal tips and shortcuts have made your job easier?

For me, its don’t take advantage of anything a Management Team/
Publicist/Band offers you. Do what you are supposed to do and asked to
do nothing more and nothing less. Go though your photos before
actually sitting down to edit everything and delete the ones that are
out of focus or you don’t like it’ll make your time editing a lot
easier and quicker.

What do you do differently from your coworkers or peers in the same
profession?

EVERY Photographer & Journalist have their own unique style editing
their photos, editing their article, and how they write. Each
photographer and Journalist is unique to themselves and not one is
equal to the next.

Do you have any advice for people who need to enlist your services?

Email me, I am willing to work with just about any band or artist with Music Mayhem Magazine and as for Photography Email me also if you need a touring photographer or just live shots or portraits I am very reasonable and negotiable.

Music Mayhem - MusicMayhem.Press@aol.com
Andrew Wendowski Photography - AndrewPhtgrphy@aol.com

What's the worst part of the job and how do you deal with it?

The traveling home from shows tired sucks, and the exhausting amount
of time we put into this career rather it be time traveling, editing
photos, reviewing a show or album, editing or posting to the site,
updating portfolio, and more…

What's the most enjoyable part of the job?

I get to honestly live my dream of touring the world, photographing
musicians and artists I love and grew up listening to. Interviewing
artists I love or have always listened to. I love the concert
experience and I love getting to experience shows I sometimes wouldn’t
normally attend.

What kind of money can one expect to make at your job?

There’s not a lot of money to be made when it comes to running an
online music site. We make some, but not a lot. It all really depends
on what area of journalism you go into. With photography on the other
hand you can make as much as you push to make on touring or selling
prints, etc. The money you make is honestly what you want to make.

How do you move up in your field?

Put ALOT of time, hard work, effort into it and do a great job then
you can move up as you succeed with bigger and better things. If you
really want to achieve something you have the passion and effort to do
it, you can!

What advice would you give to those aspiring to join your profession?

Make sure this is something you really want to do no matter how much
work you will be doing, how much money you will or won’t be making. Be
PATIENT is a big one cause sometimes it takes time to break into the
music industry and also takes time to get approvals for shows as a
photographer/writer. It takes time for your publication to grow so
start small if you create a publication or have an extensive portfolio
to show a publication you are applying to photograph or write for!