BY CHRIS COPLAN Y ou’ve certainly seen Jim Louvau. The prolific photogra- pher has shot shows from Nine Inch Nails, Foo Fighters and countless others, including many a concert for Phoenix New Times. He’s also directed music videos for Exodus and Alice In Chains and even the Greg Puciato documentary, “Fuck Content.” But not enough of us have heard Louvau, and he and the rest of his band- mates in There Is No Us would very much like to change that factoid. “People say, ‘Wait, you’re in a band?’ And I’ve said, ‘Yeah, I’ve been playing music for a long time,” Louvau says. “I just didn’t want to shove it down your throat.” For Louvau, making music and docu- menting it goes hand-in-hand. He took his first photography class the year he formed his first band — both as a senior at Ironwood High School in Glendale. It was attending shows that launched him into photography. “Whatever band came on stage, there would be a group of five to seven photog- raphers that would come in,” Louvau says. “I thought, ‘These guys didn’t have to sit outside all day and they’re not leaving with a T-shirt that 1,000 other people have; they’ll have a unique memory in time that’ll last forever.” Louvau said that eventually making music became more compelling, and that he “basically quit taking photos from the time I graduated until the time my first real band broke up” circa 2001. “For some reason when I was young, I thought that you couldn’t do two creative things at once,” Louvau says. “I had this mentality that you had to give 120% to one thing to have a chance to be successful with it.” Pure talent and a lasting friendship After years of hustling away shooting bands, Louvau discovered that, through those many creative endeavors, he could in fact have it all. “I found myself doing all of these things at the same time, and they all fed into each other,” he says. “Every day you have to have new tricks up your sleeve. There’s got to be reasons for people to pay attention to anything you’re doing.” It helps, of course, to have the right collaborators. The partnership between Louvau and guitarist Andy Gerold is an essential matchup dating back to those formative high school years. “I was in a band with my brother when Jim and I first met,” Gerold says. “They were friends first, and once me and Jim started hanging out, we realized we had a lot in common, especially musically.” The two initially bonded over Nine Inch Nails, Gerold says. “We had so much appreciation for that band,” he says. “And not just the music, but the aesthetic and their vibe and the intensity.” And, of course, The Cure. “We got to the point where he’d have me guess what he was going to play [on guitar],” Louvau says. “One time he goes, ‘I’m going to play you one note and see if you can get it.’ He played the first note of The Cure’s ‘Lovesong.’ At that moment, I knew we should be doing something together.” That pure talent has always been what Louvau’s appreciated most from Gerold, aside from their friendship. “I’ve been around talented people for years, and he’s still probably the most talented person I know,” Louvau says. “He absolutely is the musical engine of this operation.” Louvau also has ample love for the rest of the band’s lineup, guitarist Jared Bakin and bassist Eddie Lopez. (Drummer Elias Mallin is an unof- ficial member of the band and plays with them when he can.) But his work with Gerold is clearly special. Louvau says that he appreciates that Gerold remains open artistically despite his overt technical prowess. “He’s never married to an idea — he’ll literally change anything,” Louvau says. “I can hum a riff or a melody or a rhythm and he can immediately pick up on it and change it.” For his part, Gerold appreciates Louvau’s undying dedication and support. “[Jim] was one of those people who always believed in the music that I wrote,” he says. “He’s the one that wants to meet people and be social and you absolutely have to have someone like that. Otherwise, I’d be playing music for my cat.” Their potent relationship also helped each man reach big life decisions that would bring them closer to their end goal: making music with There Is No Us. For Louvau, it was the courage to embrace music more readily as the band formed circa 2015. “I guess at this point, as much Brace yourself for the truth and fury of There Is No Us. Tony Aguilera From left, There Is No Us are Andy Gerold, Jared Bakin, Jim Louvau and Eddie Lopez. >> p 17
