Everybody, meet #100Musicians project creator, CK Goldiing

A windy, cold and rainy London day – what’s better to do
than to meet up with another creative soul and share laughs, pretzels and tea
while shadowing him around his usual daily routes around London.

I’m not usually sharing too much about my photo stories, I
like the photos to tell the whole story, but this time… I’ve conducted an
actual interview. Let CK talk about his work and my photos show a small insight
in his everyday happenings.

Tell me about your project and how it came about?

I love mornings – my most creative ideas occur within
minutes of waking-up, #100Musicians being no different. This project saw me
leave my home in Sheffield, arriving in London July 7 with £100, my camera, and
a bag of clothes. I set myself a challenge to equip 100 unsigned London
musicians with stunning new promo photos, for which, they pay me whatever they
think is fair. All money I receive pays for accommodation, food, water and
travel. My mission is to shoot 100 musicians before I run out of money.

Before this project came to me, I knew I wanted to create
something big, daring and, most importantly, capable of scaring the crap out of
me. In recent years, I’ve realised that fear isn’t to be trusted, because at
the other side of fear, are amazing things.

But what is the true reason behind the project?

Um, I know how to take an engaging photograph, okay, but in
truth, my heart will always lie in creating, writing and presenting original
entertainment content. This project was the most remarkable way I could (a)
develop as a presenter, (b) develop as a creator, (c) help talented humans, (d)
say “hi” to the wider entertainment world, and (e) just bloody do something.
The easiest thing in life is to maintain the status-quo and just plod along,
I’ve been guilty of that, and I started to resent myself for it. Everyone
experiences professional frustration, the real trick is turning that
frustration into fuel and getting what you want. I want to write, produce and
present remarkable things, involving remarkable humans.

Do you think there is a problem in the music industry?

I’m not a music industry expert; my skill lies in
communication. I’ve delivered content to thousands of people – either by
presenting large music festivals, presenting commercial radio, online TV, or
writing magazine features. All too often, I see talented unsigned musicians
trying to approach media platforms with great music, but questionable
presentation or an unfocussed agenda, i.e. what makes you unique? What’s your
story? Why should anyone care? I’ll not make many friends here, but being a
musician immediately makes you a product – so no matter how musically
proficient you are, layers of marketing must be considered if your talent is to
cut through. This isn’t unique to musicians, by the way – some presenters
develop bold formats to separate themselves from the herd of other presenters.
I’ve herd of this one dick from Sheffield who went to London with one hundred
pounds, a camera and some clothes.

How do you usually meet the people you photograph?

Loads of open mics!

What are the biggest challenges in this project?

Not gushing over the amazing humans that have helped me
through this challenge – humans who owed me nothing, but showed me incredible
kindness, warmth and generosity nonetheless. I try not to be overly soppy in my
“thank you” texts to them, but typically, I fail, and sound like a wet tool.