In the childhood bedroom of Echo Danon remains the wall she created as a kid, dedicated to The Cure. “My father told me as soon as I take down the wall, he'll respect me as an adult," says Danon. "I can't take the wall down. I have a Sisters of Mercy and a Bauhaus poster up there also. They're still brilliant."

Danon’s knowledge and passion for what she likes to call “marginal music” led to her being one of the original programmers of East Village Radio (and host to the much missed show Dead Beat Radio)-- and most recently, as a music photographer and singer of the music collaborative, So Does The Fire. Although EVR was, as Danon says "a good start in getting this stuff out there" she has now found a vehicle with her photography and music project. Where Danon had used her expertise at bringing underground musicians to her radio show, she is now able to bring those subjects to her photography. "This is all a labor of love." She adds. The self-proclaimed music nerd claims that her obsession started in her bedroom watching 120 Minutes, then scouring downtown record shops for albums. Like a true historian, Danon would find unwanted gems in the $5 bargain bins at Tower Records, and soon discovered new wave, post-punk, German punk, and German new wave. "They had a whole shelf of Mute Records. I found out about New Order, before there was Joy Division and then Factory Records. I have this rule where I usually think the earlier stuff is better, because there's a raw, genuine sound before producers come in."

The recycling of what was once underground can be both a blessing and a curse for those with a genuine passion for music: "It has opened the doors to all this old stuff. There was just a whole revival with !!! [chkchkchk], Interpol, and The Rapture five years ago. It informed people and record labels like Soul Jazz and Rough Trade. Mute Records started putting out compilations, and I think it influenced what bands are doing right now and what DJs spin. I thought it was odd because you [normally] search desperately for it. I guess things have cycles." Although she takes the punk stance, quoting Joe Strummer's belief that " turning rebellion into money isn't the best thing,” there's also an upside. Danon was responsible for bringing Mark Ronson's show Authentic Shit to EVR. "The cool thing is that you can have someone like Mark Ronson, who is supporting the under-exposed music scene, music history, contemporary music, small record labels, and unsigned bands. It's good to have that balance. It attracts people who would otherwise not tune in. And maybe they would listen to the show that was after him, which was a minimal techno show."

Danon has always managed to find a scene of underground fanatics like herself: She recently discovered the minimal electronic community in Berlin where her collaborator Matt Sims, from the band Mount Sims, now lives. The two met on the dance floor of the Hollywood club Star Shoes. "The crazy part was there were all these people in LA like Conrad Black [the Canadian DJ] who became part of this group who sat around all night listening to music. I was surprised to find people who were playing German techno-punk from '80s. I thought, ‘What is going on?’”

It seems only natural that Danon's profound understanding of music would translate into documenting musicians visually, and her ethos for untapped music is now inspiring her as a photographer. Among those she's worked with are Richard Hell, Edie Brickell, Asia Argento, Nick Zedd, Mark Stewart, and Matt Sims, and Harper Simon band The Heavy Circles for their new album. "I started talking it [the photography] more seriously a few years ago. I always had this fantasy of taking photos of Richard Hell. I thought, I'm gonna make my teenage dreams come true. So I just wrote him on the internet." She continues, "I want to photograph beautiful interesting people that put stuff out there and may not be appreciated by all."

~Sara Costello