An intimate look inside a musician and producer's collaborative process.

Film Overview

Nationally renowned cellist and composer Joshua Roman records his 2020 Music Journal piece "Drive" with Ryan Hadlock, producer at Bear Creek Studio (Lumineers, Brandi Carlile, Vance Joy, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden). Written and inspired by Roman's personal journey across the country during the height of the Covid 19 pandemic and racial unrest of this last summer,

"Drive" is both an experiment of sound and space as well as an offering of hope and unity through our universal response to music. Full performance of the cello sextet written and performed by Roman and recorded by Hadlock in a turn-of-the-century barn nestled on 10 acres just north of Seattle, Washington.

Joshua Roman and I met in 2008 when I was in commercial photography school and working as the staff photographer for Sound Magazine, a music publication in Seattle, Washington. Joshua had just announced his departure from the Seattle Symphony, a position he had accepted just two years prior. He was the youngest principal cellist in the Symphony's history, and he was leaving his historic role to pursue the rapidly growing career that would pull him away from us. I was assigned to photograph him for a feature story we were doing on his decision to leave.

Before he left, Joshua agreed to let me follow him around to document his life for a photojournalism project I had been assigned for school. We were both in our early 20s and during the two weeks I spent at his side, I gained an intimate look into his parallel universe as a classical musician. While I was frequenting dive bars and waiting tables at the restaurant across from Benaroya Hall, Joshua was performing in that very hall, premiering orchestras and introducing world-famous composers to thousands of people. I will never forget the time I saw inside his apartment, furnished with only a mattress, a cello case and piles of sheet music scattered across the floor.