How Bill Gates informed my career as an… artist?!

September 30, 2015By Taylor Swope

You’re probably wondering, really? Bill Gates, artistic inspiration? That can’t be! Yes, it’s true. You read that right. Bill Gates was indeed one of my primary influences as a young artist. Allow me to explain. I finished college in December of 1998, a semester ahead of schedule. I had left high school a year early as … Read More

How I came to be a Grateful Dead licensee

July 17, 2015By Taylor Swope

popupshopWith the Fare Thee Well shows come and gone, I’m left reminiscing about how I got here in the first place.

In the summer of 2001, when I was wide eyed and ready to see the world, I set out on a mission to photograph music festival culture.

The previous fall I had been in Los Angeles working for a photographer where I met the people who would soon introduce me to the jamband world. That winter back at home in New York City, I went to shows at the Wetlands (RIP) every weekend, meeting lots of people and learning everything I could about festivals.