A Guy Became The Photographer Of His Favourite Band After Sneaking Into 50 Concerts
Marcus Haney is now the official photographer of Mumford and Sons. Read his story.
By Darian Goh — 25 Jul 2014, 02:34 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
So much so that he has Been attending all the biggest music festivals, Coachella, Glastonbury, Marcus has been there.
Coachella. Glastonbury. Bonnaroo. The Grammys. You name the music festival, Marcus Haney has somehow snuck into it.
gizmodo.com
Marcus Haney is a music festival fanatic; he’s attended some of the biggest events in the world – Coachella, Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, Ultra – and filmed their high-profile headliners - Phoenix, Passion Pit, Coldplay, Muse, Jay Z.
tonedeaf.com.auHe was broke and had no ticket, but the girl he liked at the time was heading to Indio, so he had no choice but to attend. After placing an ad on Craigslist offering a ride to whomever could paid for gas, Haney and his new pal Acid Chris hit the desert hoping to get into the festival.
And Marcus doesn't need to pay a single cent. How? By jumping over fences, making fake passes, and sneaking past security.
All without paying a single cent. That’s because Marcus is the world’s biggest and best fence-jumper – having snuck into nearly 50 major music festivals over the last four years; right past security, faking his way into media pits, and even backstage.
tonedeaf.com.auRather than start at the lowest levels by shooting smaller gigs to build a portfolio and reputation, Haney decided to start things off by sneaking into Coachella as a faux credentialed photographer back in 2010. He was only a junior studying at USC.
petapixel.comTicketless and with little prospect of getting in, Haney and his friend did the only rational thing they could do in that situation: They hid in a Port-A-Potty for hours before finally jumping the fence hours later to successfully sneak into day one of the festival.
He makes fake passes, pretends to be the press, jump fences and does anything he can to get in and has somehow made friends with famous bands and shot their album covers.
gizmodo.com
Marcus then takes photos as a fake press official and his compilations and story eventually made it to his favourite band, Mumford and Sons
In the process, Haney has now become one of the most sought-after music photographers in the business and even become best mates with Mumford & Sons – shooting the cover image of the folkies’ super-successful sophomore album Babylon.
tonedeaf.com.auWith nowhere to securely leave his cameras, he snuck in again, and made another short film called Connaroo: How Broke Kids Do Bonnaroo that eventually, due to his own persistence, landed in the hands of Mumford and Sons.
He’s now Mumford and Sons’ official photographer. He travels with the band and took a photo for the cover of their Grammy-winning album Babel, which featured Grimm Grimm, a 67-year-old Welsh man he met after hitchhiking back from Glastonbury
Dropping out of college, Marcus is now the official photographer of the band and now gets to access the world's biggest music festivals
His photographs have since been published in magazines such as Rolling Stone, and Haney is currently Mumford and Sons‘ official photographer. At only 26 years old, Haney has become a star in the world of music photography.
petapixel.comTraveling and photographing his new famous friends has been a perk of the gig. But it’s also forced him to make some tough life choices, most notably when he decided to drop out of college two weeks before graduation in order to go on the 2011 Railroad Revival Tour with Mumford and Sons, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and Old Crow Medicine Show.
Though only 26, Haney is armed with a staff of interns and is one of the most sought-after photographers in music. Haney hobnobs with rising bands like Grouplove, Young the Giant and Arcade Fire, and legends like Elton John. Nowadays, with his stature as a renowned photographer, Haney is a couple of steps removed from his days of sneaking into festivals. But that doesn't mean he doesn't look back on those lean years with fondness, even occasionally sneaking friends in with him for the hell of it.