Editor’s Note:  On May 9, after a 19-month-long battle with cancer, Frank Mullen passed away. In homage, here’s an interview by Tom from two years ago.

Hands down, my favorite local photographer. He’s taken some of my favorite live shots of local and national acts. Merle Haggard, Hank III, Metallica and Ludacris have been just some of his most recent assignments. Frank Mullen has been taking pictures for almost 30 years.

We had a sit down at El Myr on Saturday, July 21st; the bar’s 10 year anniversary. There were drunks and gospel singers running around the bar. It was also hours before his opening reception of his first showing at a local gallery. We drank Tecates and talked about his pictures.

This is our conversation:

Dry Ink: Thanks for doing this.

Frank Mullen: Not a problem. Sorry if I’m a little out of it but I went and saw Morrissey last night and had a bit too much to drink.

DI: No worries, I’m about to order a beer right now. How was the show? And would you like a Tecate?

FM: He was great, he did the hits and he was very funny. And yeah, I’ll have a Tecate.

DI: I saw him play in 1991 at The Fox here in Atlanta and he was amazing. Then I saw him a few years later and he was absolutely dreadful.

FM: Well, this was my first time and he brought it. I guess he was pretty bad for a while. He played all of the hits of The Smiths and his solo stuff.

DI: Well, congratulations on your show going on right now at The Composition Gallery. Can you talk a little about it?

FM: Yes, it is called Rock Show. It is being held at Composition Gallery. The address is 1388 McLendon Avenue in Atlanta. You can look it up at www.compositiongallery.com. It is rock photos that I and two other photographers (Bobb Lovett and Alex Adan) have taken over the years. It features all of my live shots of concert footage. There will be photos of Iggy, Black Flag, The White Stripes and The Flaming Lips. The show will be running until August 19th.

DI: And this is your first show.

FM: Yes it is. I’ve wanted to do a show for a while now. I hope it is a good experience. I also want to do a show of all of my photos of the early American hardcore scene.

DI: Where are you originally from and how did you get to where you are at now?

FM: I was born in Denver then moved to Florida. I’ve lived a little bit all over. I spent the 80’s in Tampa and Gainesville. I played in a hardcore band called Roach Motel and just started taking pictures of the bands we played with. I took pictures of Black Flag and The Dead Kennedys.

DI: What was your first paying photographer gig?

FM: I took pictures of Danzig in 1992 for Alternative Press. I have been taking pictures for 25 years but 15 years ago was my first paying gig. Then I moved to Atlanta and started shooting pictures here.

DI: What is your favorite band that you’ve shot?

FM: I shot The Ramones. They are my favorite band of all time, genius. I got pictures of Dee Dee in the back parking lot of The Agora Ballroom in Tampa shooting off fireworks.

DI: Who else have you shot?

FM: I also do corporate gigs. It’s not very exciting but it pays well. The other day I did head shots for a realtor. It wasn’t easy putting him in the right light and making him look good. I’ve been doing a lot of hip hop acts lately too.

DI: What hip hop acts have you shot?

FM: I’ve done Outkast, they are great. I’ve done Gnarls Barkley. I just did a shoot for T.I. on his video for “Big Things Poppin.’”

DI: How do you like shooting the hip hop acts?

FM: Oh, they’re great. The three that I just mentioned are all great. T.I. is very nice but he is also very serious. He shows up to the shoot knowing this is part of his job. He is in this business for the long haul. I made a cameo in his video.

DI: How was shooting The Flaming Lips? I’ve heard people say that Wayne Coyne is the nicest American musician.

FM: He just might be. He is a really sweet guy. It was fun to shoot him. I went backstage and he was blowing up balloons and setting up his gear for their live show. I watched him get into the big ball. He’s his own roadie.

DI: What else have you been doing?

FM: I work all of the time. I’ll shoot anyone. I’m shooting Silverchair next week. When I am not working I spend time at home with my family. I’ve been renting a lot of rock documentaries lately.

DI: What have you rented?

FM: I loved the documentary New York Doll. You can’t make that stuff up. It was such an amazing story. I also enjoyed The Devil and Daniel Johnston.

DI: What words of wisdom would you give to any up and coming photographers?

FM: Just do it and keep on doing it. I did it for a long time before I got paid for it. I did it because I loved capturing the moment.

DI: Do you have any interesting stories you can share?

FM: Well, as I’m sure you can imagine, Danzig was a complete jackass. Everyone else has been great. I have a story from when I was working for this Florida music mag called Ink 19. It was 1997 and I wasn’t only taking photos but I was also interviewing musicians. I only did a few. I got a chance to interview Gerry Casale from Devo. They were one of my favorite bands when I was a kid, so I was very excited. He was really cool and very open with what he talked about. He proceeded to tell a story about them that I had never heard. He said when they had their first opportunity to play on “Saturday Night Live” it was a really big deal for them. They felt like real rock stars. So they bought a bunch of cocaine to celebrate. Right before they were about to play John Belushi walked into the room. They asked him if he wanted a bump. He came over and took the straw and within a second he snorted their whole vile. He said thanks a lot guys and walked away. Gerry said they didn’t feel like rock stars anymore. That’s one of my favorite stories.

DI: What else do you have planned?

FM: Just more of the same, more of the same.

DI: Thanks for your time and best of luck.

More of Frank’s photos can be seen at his Web site, www.matteblack.com