DANNY NOVAK — The CINEMATOGRAPHER
Novak had always said to himself that “cinematography comes first” and that the band was just for fun and a “thrill.” Due to the obligations of the band, there would be times that he would have to turn down short film projects because the gigs were booked weeks, and sometimes months, in advance. There were many times in his early career that he would have to leave a film set as the Director of Photography in order to be on stage for a Spores performance. The conflict of schedules, the lack of energy, as well as a difference between the professionalism of being a cinematographer in comparison to that of a stage performer, forced Novak to make a decision that would eventually force the band to break up.
The punk movement was very political, avant-garde, and a violent expression of creativity and anti-art of what had come before it. It was a huge reaction to what had happened, and what was happening. As Novak states: “[there is] an ongoing cycle of reactions of the art world”; and the punk resurgence at the time allowed him to be apart of the socio-political movement and say what he wanted to the crowd of followers before him. Novak, at the time, used the Spores and the stage as his platform for discussion for the things he wanted to say. It was about substance.
