Atherton’s student body is known for being heavily involved in Louisville’s music scene, specifically in punk/rock focused communities. Bands like News From Home, The Sharp Stars, and Gaia all include Atherton students, and play shows at local venues frequently. However, not every Atherton student involved in the scene is strictly in a band. Many students prefer to work behind the scenes, taking photos or hosting shows.
Giovani Gaughan, a junior at Atherton, is a photographer, filmmaker and showrunner in the Louisville music/punk scene. His photography account has over 1,000 followers on Instagram, with him posting photos he has taken of several bands for both pay and pleasure. His film My Old Kentucky Home, made in collaboration with Atherton freshman Hayden Harralson, contains interviews with several influential figures in the scene, which includes several Atherton kids.
“It was such a strange experience because it just sort of happened,” Gaughan said when recounting the making of the film. “In August 2023 I met Hayden Harralson and he was like ‘I’m doing this documentary.’ I’m like ‘Oh that’s awesome. Can I help?’ and he was like ‘sure’”.
The film was screened twice at the Downtown restaurant Spinelli’s, which is owned by Gaughan’s father. The film was a success, with one of the screenings garnering over 500 attendees. Alongside the screening were performances by bands like Anemic Royalty, TABS, and more.
Despite Gaughan’s high level of involvement in the scene, he was not always such a fan of the shows. When he was young and his Dad would host shows at the Spinellis, he said he hated being there. Only when he attended a show much later did he grow an appreciation for the scene.
“I caught my first real show in April of 2023. Atticus Fulk (11) took me to a TABS show with Terminal Axon and Sunshine at Breslin Park. It was a show to honor someone who died who was a pretty well known member of the scene and it was beautiful…I became so infatuated with it from that point on.”
As for his passion in photography, Gaughan attributes a big part of it to his experience learning skills in Atherton’s Media Arts pathway.
“My sister was going to Atherton the summer before (my) freshman year, and she was like ‘you should take media arts I think you’ll love it.’ I took it and I loved it.”
Along with the basics that he learned in Media Arts, Gaughan also learned a lot from working with others in the scene’s prominent photography community.
“My main mentor was Errick Easterday who does photography for Deftones and Paramore and White Reaper and Knocked Loose…As I got into the scene with photography, I met local photographers such as Diablo or Rose or Mat Shcladen… We all like to learn from each other.”
As for future plans, Gaughan wants to continue to expand Spinellis musical influence, and possibly even throw his hat in the musical ring.
“Definitely starting a band would be awesome and shooting for more big shows…I’d like to expand hosting shows beyond Spinellis or have bigger bands play Spinellis. I want it to be an outlet where new bands can come in, but also where I can introduce more mixing of genres.”
When asked for advice, Gaughan says you just need to start.
“Just learn the basics. Media Arts helped me most with that. And if you see something beautiful, just take a picture of it… you kind of just have to jump into it…you’ll eventually develop a style, which can take years. So just start focusing on having fun.”
Check Out Gaughans photography @giovani_the_photographer on Instagram.
