Dallas / San Diego / Tennessee Photgrapher & Publicist
Jones
aka Stacie Huckeba
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FIBM: What's new, what have you been up to lately and what's in the future?
Jones: Everything is new. I've been shooting a lot and working a lot.
I'm starting to get that itch again to get back into entertainment, but I would really love to try my hand at artist
management or as an entertainment coordinator for a large scale production company or venue.
FIBM: Your name is Jones, but you are also known as Stacie Huckeba. What does
Jones mean to you & how / when did you get that name?
Jones: It's always a trip to be called Jones now. It was
such a part of my life in Dallas. It was given to me by a close friend, even I don't know why, but it stuck. Jones
is almost an alter ego for me. There is definitely a girl named Jones and then there is definitely a girl named
Stacie. I think that Stacie is the business person, while Jones is a kind of a naive mess. I hated it for a long
time, but the older I get, the more I like hanging on to that wide eyed young girl.
FIBM: How long have you been taking photos of rock bands?
Jones:
I was in 8th grade when I shot my first live show for a band. It was in Odessa Texas and
the band was called "Angel" - the band and the pictures were terrible, but you know, you have to start somewhere.
FIBM: What are some of the bands / musicians that you have shot, back in the day & current?
Jones: Guns n Roses, David Bowie with Tin Machine, Anthrax, Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, Soul
Asylum, Public Enemy, Skid Row, Poison, Three Dog Night, Tuff, Alice in Chains, Smashing Pumpkins, The Beach Boys, Red Hot
Chili Peppers, Van Halen, Todd Snider, Tora Tora, Faith No More, Michael Monroe, Shotgun Messiah, Pretty Boy Floyd,
Soundgarden, The Indigo Girls, Badlands, Supersuckers, Social Distortion, X, White Zombie, Chuck Berry, Lenny Kravitz, The
London Quireboys, Flogging Molly. That's off the top of my head, but there have been hundreds.
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Axl Rose
All Photos by Jones
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Dave Williams
Pre-Drowning Pool Days
Pearl Jam's
Eddie Vedder
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FIBM: In the eighties, there was a guy named Dave Williams, who went on to play
in Drowning Pool. What are your memories of him and could you ever have imagined that he was going to be the only
one, other than Pantera, to really make it out of that scene?
Jones: Dave was just one of those guys, he was always around and he was always
in some band. He was a sweetheart, but I never would have pegged him for any kind of major fame. Not that he wasn't
good; it was just that, at the time I knew him, the bands he was in all seemed to be opening or off-night bands. He
was a buddy, not a rock star. I was really happy to hear about Drowning Pool and then really sad to hear about his
death. The bright thing about it was that he was so damn happy in the end. He was doing what he dreamed of, playing
with his idols, touring in font of thousands of fans. I suppose any of us would take an early death to live out a
dream like that. And just for the record, Pantera's mega-fame surprised the shit out of me too.
FIBM: What bands have been the coolest to work with and what bands were the biggest jerks?
Jones: Well, David Bowie was a pretty big highlight for me. Pretty
Boy Floyd made me cry.
FIBM: What are your 3 most memorable moments while taking photos of bands / musicians?
Jones: There was a show that had Pearl Jam opening, Smashing
Pumpkins in the middle and the Red Hot Chili Peppers headlining. I got knocked out during the Pumpkins
set and woke up with the Red Hot Chili Peppers standing over me naked with ice. That was pretty wild.
I did a shoot for a band out of Memphis called Son of Slam and we did it at night with all these candles
and moonlight. They wanted a Bayou Voodoo feel for the shots, so we went out to this lake in the middle of
the night and shot tons of film, but there was one point where they wanted to go to the other side of the
lake. So we started over there on foot and got stuck. We wound up having to scale these muddy cliffs above the
lake to get there. We were pretty drunk and it was really dark. I really thought a few times that we might not
make it. That was a pretty memorable shoot, mostly because I thought we were going to die.
There is a story about doing a ton of blow off of a stage credential with Stone Gossard from Pearl
Jam, at the Bronco Bowl one night? but that one will have to wait until my parents are dead.
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FIBM: Have you ever pooped your pants trying to take a great shot?
Jones: Several hundred times. You try having a camera jutting out from your
eyeball and the only thing you see through the lens is the bottom of a Doc Martin headed right for you. I'll bet
you would leave a skid mark or two.
FIBM: Where did you get your start? How did you get involved in photography?
Jones: I asked for my first camera when I was 9 years old. It was just
the only thing I ever wanted to do. My heroes were Henry Diltz, Jim Marshall, Bob Gruen and all those guys who
shot the famous rock photos of the 60's & 70's. I had huge collections of those pictures torn out of magazines
and I would just look at them over and over again. I shot semi-professionally all through high school and then
got a degree in commercial photography. Right out of college, I got a job a Dallas City Limits. It was a bar
that began having all these new, but national acts come through, I started shooting those bands and that's
really how it all began.
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Van Halen w/ Sammy Hagar
FIBM: In Dallas, you were known as THE
PHOTOGRAPHER for the local bands, how did you become so popular with them? Was there a defining
moment where the calls began coming in?
Jones: Now you're just flirting... I don't know that I was
THE PHOTOGRAPHER, in Dallas, but I did seem to shoot a lot of the up and coming local bands. I
like to think that it was because I always did what was best for the shoot. I was fearless back
then, oncoming traffic, mosh pits, police, security guards, bad neighborhoods, barbed wire... I would
take on anything if it meant getting the shot. I also think they dug me because I shot a lot of national
stuff too and that was good for their egos to a degree. Plus, I was just in that scene. Those were the
clubs I hung out in, and those were the guys I partied with.
FIBM: Do you have any music-related
pictures that you are most proud of? If so, what are they and why?
Jones: I don't believe that most people view photography as an art form the way that photographers do. To us, it's as passionate as painting or sculpting or writing music, but you have less control and only a fraction of a second to capture it. Anytime you get live shots that are great, it's a really proud moment, because they truly are these frozen mili-seconds in time. I love them all, but some that stand out for me would include a shot of Lenny Kravitz, it's in black and white and he is throwing his fist in the air. I love that shot. There is all this movement and the fact that it's not completely sharp just adds to the power of it. I also love this one shot of Flavor Flav from Public Enemy. It's in color, and that really adds to it, because he is such a colorful character. Anyway, he is looking straight at the camera and is just starting to depress the button on a can of silly string. That shot just sort of sums up who he is to me. Also, last summer, I went to see this folk singer named Todd Snider on the rooftop of the Nevada Museum of art in Reno. It was the first year anniversary of the
death of his best friend. He had written a song called Train Song for him and while he was performing the song,
in memory of his friend, the entire venue was drowned out by this relentless train in the background.
It just kept wailing its horn over and over again. The louder Todd sang, the louder the train got until
Todd just finally broke into this great big smile and started laughing. I got about 6 or 8 shots in a row of that.
It was pretty powerful. Shots like that, the ones that evoke an emotion or capture a feeling are really special to me.
When you can do that, that's art.
  
Todd Snider performing "Train Song"
FIBM: How does someone get started in the photography
business? What advice would you give to someone starting out?
Jones: You just have to go do it. Start locally and build a clientele so that you have a portfolio. After a while, you
can get into some local publications and they will turn you on to some national shows. Once you get some nationals
under your belt, you can start hitting up the bigger magazines and the labels. That was pretty much my story
anyway. As far as advice goes; I'll say the same thing that one of my idols said to me. College is a waste of
time and money. Just go shoot.
FIBM: How much has your photography changed since the eighties?
Jones: Well, for starters, I actually charge my clients.... Seriously, as with anything you do, you evolve and
change. I took several years off from it starting around 1997. The lifestyle just caught up to me, plus
I took a few personal blows both emotionally and financially and before I was even 30 years old, I had
myself a nervous breakdown. I sold all my gear and moved up to Colorado and got a job as a bartender in
a little restaurant. I think I saw maybe 4 live shows the whole time I lived in Denver. I really just
went there to lick my wounds and figure out what I was going to do. I moved to San Diego in 1999 and
was blessed to be accepted right into a group of really talented artists. One of them took a special
interest in my work, even got me into the camera gear I use now. He was instrumental in me finding
out that I had an eye for more than just music photography. I started doing a lot of photo-journalistic
stuff and then another photographer and I used to get into these collaborations where we would pick one
object, like chairs, or cows and we would shoot those things from every conceivable angle. We would go on
for months, trying to out shoot each other. That's how my "drinkin" series started. Now, I really shoot
anything and everything. I still do music, just not at the level I did back in Dallas, but I've done CD
cover work, promotional pictures and some occasional live shows. I have work in art galleries, I do some
music, I have the series' that keep me occupied and I've picked up some really unexpected corporate and
political clients. I really try to not limit myself or put my work in one category anymore. I just shoot.
  
selections from the Drinkin' Series
FIBM: Rumor has it that you were at a club called
Dallas Shitty Limits when Pantera signed their record contract. Why did you refuse to capture that moment?
Jones: That is actually true. And that was a nick name for the place; it was
actually Dallas CITY Limits. I was in the backroom with them and my equipment was in the car. They had played a huge
show that night and everyone knew the record exec's were there to sign them. I loved Darrell and Vinnie, they were a
blast, I never really got to know Rex, but the reason I didn't shoot it was because I really despised Phil Anselmo. He
was always kind of a Dick and treated me like a groupie chick with a camera. He would always grab my hands and shove
them onto various parts of his body. And not in a fun flirty way, it was always in a violent scary way. That always
bummed me out. Also, I didn't like where he had taken the band. They were so much fun, but when he came into the
picture, it was a whole other thing. They were so loud and angry. I honestly didn't think they would make it. I was
just excited that Phil wouldn't be around Dallas much anymore and I wouldn't have to go to the live shows. Of course, the
joke was on me, because I went to a lot more shows and I was there for the shooting of both of the videos from the Cowboys
from Hell record. The nice thing was that Vinnie and Darrell never really changed. Even at the height of their fame, they
would still hang out in our same circle and drink at the same bars. --- I guess in retrospect, I should have grabbed the
damn camera for at least one picture of the signing.
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FIBM: We are doing an interview with former Sweet Savage / Shock Tu vocalist,
Joey C. Jones. Did you ever photograph his band or any former members? If so, who and what is your
most vivid memory from that photo shoot?
Jones: I never shot Sweet Savage or Joey, but their drummer, Randy
St. John was in a band called Bang Bang that I shot regularly. I did a ton of work for them. I've got a
lot of great memories of that band, but my most vivid memory of Randy was that he hated his profile when
I shot him live. He had a kind of a pudgy face and from the side, it was really apparent. Once he actually
yelled at me that I made him look fat, so the next time they played, I got on the stage and stood directly
in front of him. He was PISSED, but they were the only live pictures he ever used of himself after that.
FIBM: Any memories of Terrence Lee / Terry Glaze?
Jones: He was just always so nice! He had this great smile and he always seemed really genuine. I loved that,
on stage, he always looked like he was having the time of his life. He could have been bitter, but
instead, he just kept doing what he had fun with. I loved Lord Tracy and I went to a ton of their shows.
FIBM: Any good Spinal Tap moments that you can remember?
Jones: I don't know if it's really "Spinal Tap" or not, but it was really, really
funny. A few
years ago, here in San Diego, I did a photo shoot for this guy named Joey Bowen. He had been in a regionally
well known band called "Hot Chicken Stew" and the band had had a very public and ugly falling out. Joey really
took the rap for that and had been pretty much publicly scorned. Anyway, he had finished a solo record that he
was really proud of and asked me to do the cover and some promotional shots. We scheduled a very elaborate photo
shoot that took the better part of a day, in all these different scenarios, looks and outfits. For the last shots, I
had gotten the idea to tar and feather him as a metaphoric play on the old bands name and his recent public scrutiny. He
was not really sold on the idea, but after an exhausting day, I guess I had built up his trust and he agreed. He stripped
down to nothing and I hand painted him with dark molasses. I could tell he was really uncomfortable so I was trying to
hurry, but also get some shots of just the molasses at the same time. He really started to fidget, so I finally just went
for it and covered him in goose feathers, grabbed the camera and started shooting. I was trying to direct him, to look this
way and so forth, but he was getting really mad, the funny thing was that the madder he got, the funnier it got. He looked
like this giant angry chicken and was just screaming at me to get the fucking feathers off. He was itching really badly, so
he was scratching and walking funny and just yelling and screaming, while completely covered in duck feathers. It was
hysterical. Myself and the two assists on the shoot could not breathe, we were laughing so hard. It was this big vicious
circle. We were howling and he was screaming. He was really pissed at me for a few days, but cooled off when he saw all of
the photos. The whole day was one magic shot after another and the chicken shots came out amazing. He used them as 11x17's
and plastered them around town with the tagline "The Chicken is Back, and He's Mad as Hell!" It was a great publicity stunt for the solo
effort, which went on to do pretty well
FIBM: In the nineties, you were associated with the band Big Earth. What
was your association and what did you think of their music?
Jones: Assholes, all of them, especially their manager, Drew! --- I'm kidding. Their singer / songwriter, was
and still is my best friend. At that time, I was delusionally in love with him and that took a little over
a decade to work itself out. He was the first person to ever really look at me when he spoke to me. By that
I mean that we had these great, deep, soul searching conversations. It was during that time that I started
really thinking about consequences and what my life meant to me and to those around me. He was also one of
the first people to really see past just my camera, into the artist in me. He used to push me to sing and paint
and do these retarded dances with him in the middle of the night, when we were really drunk. He still pushes me, lately
he thinks I should give up the guitar, which I only started playing 3 months ago and start playing the piano or keyboards
so I can play on the next record. As far as Big Earth goes, I love the music; it is really passionate and haunting. I still
listen to the CD's. I can sing every word. Those records are some of the few that have stood the test of time in my musical
rotation. I don't know why, or how, but I didn't actually get to shoot them until about midway through their evolution, and
then, only once.
FIBM: During that time, you were also associated with a band
called Blackbone, out of Memphis. They went on to become Saliva. Do you have any memories or thoughts about that band?
Jones: Back then, those guys were my homies. I had and still have a sick love affair with Memphis and Memphis music.
I met Blackbone through Son of Slam, another Memphis band. They were all running buddies at the time. I got really
close to Chris D'abaldo's, fiancee during that time; she & Chris lived in a Penthouse overlooking the Mississippi River and wow,
did we have some good times there. At some point they moved to Dallas and all lived together in a big house outside of town.
It seemed wherever Blackbone lived, was where we all hung out. I lost touch with them when I moved to Colorado and I haven't seen
or talked to any of them since. I always thought that Josey had something really special. He had a way of really commanding an audience.
I wasn't all that surprised to hear that they got picked up. They were doing that rap/rock thing way back... "We are the brotherhood of
Blackbone and people, we ain't ever gonna change, so back up, retract, react and rearrange"... I can't ever remember the chorus... the
rumor is that Saliva's fame has really went to their heads and they started going around Memphis with body guards and an entourage.
I heard that they started being shitty to old friends and fans. I don't know if that's true or not. It's hard to picture them like
that. I guess it's hard to picture anyone you've been friends with acting like that.
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Lenny Kravitz
SLASH
Joey Bowen
Chris from Blackbone / Saliva
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THE FAST 5
FIBM: What is your most disgusting habit?
Jones: I cross my arms and grab my boobs while I jut my tongue back and forth to the corners of my mouth when I am nervous
FIBM: What is the most masculine thing you do?
Jones: I cuss like a sailor
FIBM: If there is a God, what is the first question you would ask God when you arrive?
Jones: What was the deal with the size of my ass?! I mean come on, I learned
the lesson, but couldn't I have learned it as a waif and saved my knees?
FIBM: Greatest Rock band of all time?
Jones: OK, so the thing with this question is that you are
supposed to say "the Beatles" or "the Stones" here and I agree. But, there are so many bands and
artists that changed the direction of music. I mean there's Elvis, Bob Dylan, Led Zepplin, Pink
Floyd, the Ramones, Nirvana. And I just know I'll get a ton of grief for this, but those early
Dave Matthews Band records were truly amazing. I think music is ever evolving, so it's hard to
pick one band. They all got their licks from someone else.
FIBM: What were you doing 40 minutes before you sat down to do this interview?
Jones: Blowing out the candles on my birthday cake.
Jonez
Many thanks to Jones for the wonderful interview.
Make sure you check out her
featured article on our site.
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