MEAN OLD ROCKABILLY

MARCO BÜCHL

// Marco is an Austrian photographer whose photography evolved in a family where the craft was widely practiced. He became spellbound by the photography in his teens and has been documenting life and events around him ever since. We present a set of his documentary photographs from a recent concert by the Austrian Rockabilly band The Slapbacks.

“I grew up close and in the same house with my grandfather, a lifelong passionate amateur photographer, he gave me my first own camera when I was (I think) seventeen, a Praktika MTL3 SLR with a 50mm/1,8 prime, both made in the German Democratic Republic. … Since then my goal is to live up to my own expectations.”

“If you ask me, rockabilly has had a raw deal for far too long. People never shunned the blues or jazz the way they do rockabilly. But it’s the original punk-rock, and it changed the way people looked at music for ever.”

Imelda May
(Irish singer, songwriter)

What draws you to the arts?

“I think I remember reading a text once, where the protagonist of Robert Musil’s »The Man Without Qualities« (which I never read) is quoted along the lines of that one recognises art (or a masterly piece of craftsmanship for that matter) in leaving the encounter with it as a changed person. That’ll do as my favorite quote too.“

What impressed you most about the concert event you photographed?

“What I liked most at the event in this series was attending my first rockabilly concert in ages and then it being one of Austria’s finest bands in that field, performing the first time again in ages with one of my oldest friends. What I like most in my own photography would not be prudent to say. By the way, I consider photography as a craft rather than as an art.“

Marco recently had a chance to attend a Rockabilly/Rock´n Roll concert by the Austrian band The Slapbacks at The Stag´s Head pub in Vienna with their “new old” rhythm guitar player is Mr. Pat.

“A dear old friend of mine played the rhythm guitar in one of Austria’s best and best known rockabilly bands until he left the band some six, seven years ago. Some months ago he first met with his old bandmates, then – having become a skilled documentary photographer in the meantime – agreed to take photos of them, before re-joining the combo altogether. The gig in The Stag’s Head was their first public appearance together since the split. Since I have a past in that kind of music as a listener I attended,” Marco told us. “Since I take a camera almost everywhere I go, I documented the event.”

With two guitars, double bass and drums, The Slapbacks have dedicated themselves to the pure, bone-dry and somewhat harder branch of the Rockabilly genre and have long been considered an institution in this field in Austria. If you want to listen to their music, you can also find them on well-known streaming services – but better yet, if you are in Vienna, visit their page for updates on upcoming live events.

Images may be cropped for Layout. Click on the photos to see the full image.