The Deadbeat Club Playlist
- Text by Alex King
- Photography by Nolan Hall
At the heart of everything the Deadbeat Club do together is a desire to capture their personal perspective on our wacky, everyday world, and share that message in printed form.
The core crew consists of Ed and Deanna Templeton, Nolan Hall, Devin Briggs, Clint Woodside and Grant Hatfield; a tight-knit clan of photographers who get stoked off each other’s work.
What unites the collective – alongside shooting purely in analogue – is a shared fascination with the subtle absurdity of American culture, particularly in their corner of Southern California. One of the group’s favourite hunting grounds for larger-than-life characters is Huntington Beach, where Ed, Deanna and Devin live.
Alongside their profile in Huck 45 – The Ed Templeton Curated Issue, we collected a few of the Deadbeats’ influences and inspirations in this playlist.
Crass
“When I see a kid wearing a Crass shirt or has a Crass tattoo I get really excited,” says Deanna Templeton. “I kind of feel like all hope isn’t lost. The kid might look at me like ‘who the hell is this woman? Why does she care?’ But there’s a little bit of me in them.”
Crass’ battle cry of ‘Anarchy and Freedom’ still resonates today. Unlike their contemporaries on the British punk scene in the ’70s – who they saw as posers and hypocrites – Crass lived in the spirit of their lyrics, coordinating squats, organising political action and graffitiing London’s Tube network. Alexander Oey’s documentary There is No Authority But Yourself picks through the wreckage the band left in their wake to try to tell their story.
Elliott Erwitt
Photo by Elliott Erwitt
“Elliott Erwitt’s photography is inspiring to me because a lot of his photos are hilarious and I think his sense of humour comes through,” says Grant Hatfield. “I try to capture moments that make me laugh or will make other people laugh, and I hope my sense of humour comes through in my photos too.”
As a member of the revered Magnum photographer’s collective for six decades, Elliott Erwitt is one of the undisputed giants of American photography. Catch his segment in Cheryl Dunn’s awesome photo doc Everybody Street to get up to speed one one of the true greats.
Thomas Campbell
“Thomas Campbell was probably the first person that inspired me to want to take photos, where I saw what you could really do with a camera,” explains Nolan Hall. “The Seedling was what really opened my mind for taking photos and making art and all that. Like I watched that, and was so psyched to take photos of my friends and whatever we were doing. Thomas was for sure a huge inspiration.”
Rip Zinger
Boardsliding nicely into the next nugget of inspiration, Nolan Hall gives props to Japanese skateboarder and photographer Rip Zinger who shot this awesome profile of Thomas Campbell. Nolan says, “Rip seems to always be traveling on some crazy adventure.” In his Vice Japan show Skatality, Rip scours the globe to find how the skate mentality crosses national borders and has translated into art, music, fashion and culture.
Get the full lowdown on the Deadbeat Club in Huck 45 – The Ed Templeton Curated Issue. Get it now on our web shop or subscribe to make sure you don’t miss another issue this year.
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