led Cheap to taking to the road on tour with
Cargo Records, San Diego-based band,
Armchair Martian. Afterwards, Cheap returned
to Colorado, worked with venues and booked
shows showcasing the connections made through
photographing shows, touring and, of course,
the Blasting Room. He also founded Start the
Press, a silk screening business, sold merch at
shows enabling to make more connections with
like-minded creatives and introduced him to the
expanded music scene in the Fort, perpetuating
his business.
A short stint in Fort Worth, Texas afforded Cheap
the opportunity to collaborate in opening an art
gallery. While this provided business knowledge
of running a gallery, it also exposed him to some
harsh truths about art sales; old money, oil
tycoons, and large business firms buy out entire
shows simply for the prosperity. The frustration of
this experience left a bad taste and remains pivotal
in his approach to art sales today as Cheap prices
his work affordably or simply gives it away.
Following his heart and predisposition towards
affable music, Cheap left Texas and once again
found himself in Colorado. This time, however,
landing in Denver. He was drawn back to the
familiar clubs and rock venues and individuals on
the street that had earned clout by their proximity
to punk idols. Eschewing the galleries, Cheap
sought unconventional space to curate shows
for unknown artists and musicians. Exhibitions
were set up in any room, basement, bookstore,
coffee shop, warehouse, et cetera, essentially
eliminating contracts, commissions, and bourgeois
expectation. Additionally, this split wide potential
and eliminated boundaries for local artists but
particularly for Cheap’s own artwork. He curated
for Phoenix Gallery, the Gallery at 3 Kings, a
fashion-centric startup, Geek Chic, and eventually
collaborated in unveiling Kabal Enterprises, an
artist collective on South Broadway.
Cheap laments digital photography, for it has lost
the romance of analog. The darkroom process is
all but gone. Shooting off a roll of 36 exposures,
the subtle adjustments to the aperture and f-stop,
knowing your camera like a lover, anticipating
the outcome, developing the negatives and the
moment when the canister is opened, truth pours
out on celluloid.
He recalls when the university dropped funding for
the photography department and the darkr