by Eva Dameron
Daily Lobo
Rock 'n' roll is a trip.
Kevin Fullerton, of the one-man band Rochester Fosgate, went on a five day tour through Arizona and southern California.
His friend, Rocky Norton, photographed the trip documentary-style. They went to Flagstaff, Ariz., Phoenix, San Diego, Huntington, Calif., Los Angeles and Venice Beach.
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The project of 50 photographs, called "Sound Current," is on exhibit at the Trillion Space at 510 Second Street N.W.
"The one-man band, it's something I started doing for a few years," Fullerton said. "I've played in bands here and there, but none of which have ever really panned out too well, so I started doing the one-man band thing. I play bass drum and high hat with my feet and guitar and then sing. Sometimes I throw in some keyboard."
He was inspired to perform alone when he first saw one-person acts at Venice Beach, he said.
"I like the street performer aesthetic," he said. "I've seen some amazing one-man bands, especially in Venice. That's why I wanted to play in Venice, because that's where I had first seen that when I was younger. There's just dudes out there that do the one-man band thing. They play covers - oldies and Beatles stuff - and I wanted to do it with my own music."
His music used to climb charts on college radio stations.
"It was in heavy rotation in radio stations across the country," Fullerton said. "It was weird. It was number one in Omaha for a little while."
The photographs are hung in consecutive order, with a couple exceptions. Some show him performing outside, or just posing with the instruments, and others are portraits of his instruments. Norton also photographed their skateboarding breaks in California, most of which show their friend Dan Garcia skating at odd angles.
"We were taking photos on the highway," he said. "It's the slowed-down spot in the middle of a little town, but it was still crazy. Semis were blowing by and stuff. We were just cruising, just basically just did like more stuff in the middle of nowhere. We'd pull over and hike into the desert. Rocky's got a really nice eye. He takes really nice photos."
On the gallery's east wall, there is a sequence of photographs in which his drum rolls away like tumbleweed in the middle of a sandy desert in Arizona.
"My drum was just blowing away, it was so windy, like 100 mph winds," he said. "I was actually kind of pissed right here because we were stopping everywhere. All my stuff was getting broken 'cause we were dragging it through the wind. It wasn't his fault, but I was just getting more and more agitated."
There's also a photograph of Fullerton performing behind a child and two aliens sitting in chairs on Venice Beach.
"These guys are always there," he said about the people in charge of the aliens. "You sit in the chair, and he takes your picture. And this kid's really cool, just the look on his face. It's kind of like a hip-hop photo. He's all thugged out. He was really shy. But it was funny. He was just kind of hanging out."
Fullerton's music is for sale at RochesterFosgate.com. The Trillion Space has no formal hours, but Fullerton said somebody is always there. To schedule a secure viewing time, call 850-8648.
