Interview w/ Carlo Cavaluzzi
By Nick Caceres
Published 11/07/2025
A fly on the wall to the coolest shit ever, Carlo Cavaluzzi has managed to capture some of the most attention pleasing snapshots of Punk, Hip Hop, Comedy, and internet culture with just a Leica and raw talent.
Cavaluzzi found his starting point fresh out of first exploring photography in high school for the school newspaper around a decade ago, capturing droves of DIY acts in the Florida area while attending Florida State University, graduating in 2017 with a Bachelor's in Communication and Media Studies. From here onwards, it was steep incline into working with some of the biggest faces in music and entertainment.
In 2023, Cavaluzzi would receive the Abbey Road Studios's Live Music Photograph of the Year Award for his breathtaking capture of JPEGMAFIA during a live show overseas. It represents Cavaluzzi’s one of several stints as content producer for the Alternative Rap extraordinaire, including some of his finest work. The iconic photograph of a liquor store used for “LP!”...that was Carlo!
The following interview was conducted over email in late October, where we discussed Cavaluzzi’s recent work in the Have Heart 2024 Photobook, Ludwig Ahgrean and the Streamer Games, Rolling Loud as well as past work with Jeff Rosenstock, Jane’s Addiction, and JPEGMAFIA.
Photo of Carlo Cavaluzzi
Photo Courtesy of carlocavaluzzi.com
Nick: Hey Carlo. What’s up?
Carlo: Hey! Sorry for the delay, been dealing with a bunch of piled up work but finally figured I’d knock this out for ya.
Nick: What music have you been bumping as of late? Who knows, they might be foreshadowing of what I’ll cover in this interview.
Carlo: Not gonna lie the stereo in my car broke so I’ve been in a weird place musically lately. I throw a podcast on in the car but when I’m home I’ve been on Chanel Beads, fakemink, Oneohtrix Point Never, and that new Geese album. And like, whatever I randomly click to put on at the gym.
Nick: A perfect place to start is the recent release of a photobook visually documenting a nationwide string of reunion shows last year from modern Hardcore Punk legends, Have Heart. How significant is this milestone to you both in a career and personal context?
Carlo: It’s pretty crazy. I listened to Have Heart a bunch in high school after they were already broken up and always considered them a band I’d probably never get to catch live so I was pretty shocked when they reunited in 2019. I’ve become desensitized to working on cool things and shooting cool people a lot of the time but it’s times like this that pull me back out of it and remind me that it’s cool what I do.
Nick: What colors were emphasized in these pictures and what were the factors that led to that result, both intentional and unintentional?
Carlo: I don’t ever really think of that since my fate is usually up to whatever the venue lighting designer is up to. Pat Flynn actually requested the lights be pretty low for some of the shows (specifically Boston) which can not be super ideal. I ended up using a lot of flash for that final show because it was pretty tough to shoot otherwise.
Nick: What are some pictures you’ve taken of these shows that you’re anticipating the first exposure of?
Carlo: The pictures I took in between the shows and in green rooms are the ones that I didn’t really want to post online and keep in the book as a special thing. The band said they felt like they never stopped touring and this was just another day on the road and getting to cover those moments was the most special thing to me.
Nick: Any fun stories you’d like to share from this tour?
Carlo: There were a couple key people who almost didn’t make the show because these were happening at the exact same time as the Delta Cloudflare stuff where like ¾ of the flights were getting cancelled. Nothing bad happened but I did know a couple people who couldn’t make it to the show because of this.
Nick: How did you originally link up with Have Heart? Did your involvement in the Florida Punk scene early on, which we’ll cover in a bit, have anything to do with it?
Carlo: I shot the band at Sound & Fury 2019 as an attendee because the festival said anybody who wasn’t already spoken to about shooting could shoot from the crowd if they brought a camera and had a ticket. The band really liked my photos and I never really thought anything past that point because I didn’t think they’d play anymore shows but I was told some of my photos might be used for “a poster” early into 2024 so I said hey we should make a photo book and they said yes.
Product photo of HAVE HEART 2024 BOOK
Photo Courtesy of Have Heart
Product photo of HAVE HEART 2024 BOOK
Photo Courtesy of Have Heart
Nick: Something completely unrelated to music photography was your recent work for renowned Twitch streamer, Ludwig Ahgren. How did the two of you link up?
Carlo: My friend Alex shared a haunted hay ride with Ludwig and The Yard boys and he told them he was a fan. They ended up linking up after. I’d hang proxy to them and eventually they needed a photographer for some quick shots. I happened to be downstairs with my camera gear and from there I booked a couple more gigs with them.
Nick: Are you someone who consumes that style of live content?
Carlo: I shamefully probably consume more Twitch than any other form of media. If I’m home and on the computer, I’m either working with a stream on in the other window or watching someone play a game I like to try to learn more of.
Nick: What are some aspects about Ludwig and this clique of creators that fascinated you from capturing the Streamer Games and other events like it?
It’s a fun challenge trying to be a fly on the wall when there’s 11 other flies on the wall with streamer backpacks and phone gimbals capturing the same moments. I would pretty much only have a few seconds to react to something happening before everybody else shooting came in to capture the same stuff. So it was difficult in a really unique way.
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Ludwing Ahgren at the Streamer Games in 2025
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
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Ludwing Ahgren coaching other streamers at the Streamer Games in 2025
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
Nick: I also saw on your Instagram that you had a gig with Rolling Loud. What were some of the best subjects you had the pleasure of working with?
Carlo: The funny thing is I was actually hired to work the festival as a PA for the content team but still had all of the same access as the team so I’d shoot whenever I had a quick little opening. I knew I had to focus on my job that mostly consisted of corralling photo/video people to places they had to be but for the most part always had a camera on me to randomly shoot a set for a few minutes between my next little parts. I liked taking photos of random security guards and fans more than the rappers. I saw that not only do you enjoy capturing artists performing, there is an interest in the attendees.
Nick: As someone who enjoys photography as a pass time hobby, I have my own reasons for capturing regular people in attendance, but I’m curious as to what the draw is for you to capture both the transmitter and receiver?
Carlo: I like to walk around with a smaller camera and pretend I’m a tourist in a foreign city doing street photography but instead it’s a bunch of young stoked rap fans wandering around and they almost always will be happy to see a camera being pointed at them, even though nine times out of 10 they won’t even ask to see it or get the files afterwards.
Performer at Rolling Loud 2025
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
Performer at Rolling Loud 2025
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
Attendee at Rolling Loud 2025
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
Nick: What was your upbringing like? Where did you primarily grow up?
Carlo: I grew up in Central Florida. There weren’t many shows near me so I’d always have to drive 1.5 hours minimum to catch anything which was tough in high school so I didn’t really see many artists live until I started having friends who could drive.
Nick: Was photography always the end goal or was something else at play that eventually morphed into that interest?
Carlo: No, I only started having an interest in photography when I first went to Warped Tour and saw a bunch of bands I liked then saw photographers post photos from those same sets. I also went on last.fm a lot so all of the galleries of photos of artists probably did something to my brain.
Nick: Did your educational background align with photography?
Carlo: Nope, I took one single photography class my first semester in college and quickly realized that one, nobody in the class would actually shoot anything that isn’t an assignment, and two, I’m not going to learn anything here that I can’t just learn from taking photos and looking at photographers
Nick: What local scene really helped you hone your craft?
Carlo: I shot some punk shows early into college but they didn’t really teach me anything as far as photography skills came. If anything they kinda made me be more attentive to things going on in the back of my head like looking out for somebody hitting a dive and that sort of mindset at least helped me later on remember that there’s always 1000 things going on whether at a show or a wedding
Nick: During those early days of capturing DIY shops in Florida, if you’re able to sift through them, what were some of your favorite captures from that period?
Carlo: I’d have to dig through the archives which I haven’t even properly archived but one time I shot The King Khan & BBQ Show at a bar with a really long lens and a flash and it was sorta a moment when I realized I had somewhat of a style shooting those kinds of gigs.
Nick: How did you transition from capturing these small underground shows towards bigger, more well-known people. Who were some of the first that made you realize that things were rapidly taking off? Was it through Shows I Go To?
Carlo: Shows I Go To was the first publication to ever get me a photo pass to an event and I’ve always been immensely vocal and appreciative of that. Their founder Mitch walked up to me at a Whirr show and asked who I was shooting for and I just said myself and afterwards he gave me his card and told me he could get me into more shows. From there I built a small portfolio and emailed every publication I could think of asking if I could get a photo pass to a music festival I was already planning on going to, hoping to not pay money and get a chance to cover even bigger bands.
Nick: Returning to Florida Punk and DIY, a festival that you had the pleasure of covering was The Fest 14. I saw that Consequence used your photos. What were some of your favorite captures from that festival?
Carlo: Oh god, that’s a deep cut. I was super stoked about shooting Modern Life is War because they weren’t an active band when I first started listening to them and they were one of the first hardcore adjacent bands I got to shoot that I was a big fan of. The room they were in also had a low ceiling with those office foam square panels which diffuse a flash super well so all my photos were lit up like I’ve never seen before. I think Title Fight also played that year which was awesome.
Title Fight performing at The Fest 14 in 2015
Photo Courtesy of Conseguence
Modern Life is War performing at The Fest 14 in 2015
Photo Courtesy of Conseguence
Nick: I saw that Jeff Rosenstock is featured in your portfolio. What was the story behind that portrait and by any chance did it stem from that festival?
Carlo: Jeff would play a show in Florida one way or another pretty much every year and I think I said something to him for like three to four shows prior so we had a very tiny rapport where he’d at least recognize me. I had my camera and asked if he’d wanna do a portrait so we walked around for a few minutes shooting a couple random photos. I think I did another one in 2016 but haven’t spoken to him since. Cool guy, good music! I hope BTMI plays again one day.
Jeff Rosenstock at The Fest 14 in 2015
Photo Courtesy of Conseguence
Jeff Rosenstock portrait in 2016
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
Nick: How did you first end up working with JPEGMAFIA? Were you aware of his work before this relationship formed around 2019? By any chance were you aware of Devyn Hendryx or was that period as unknown as the fans have claimed?
Carlo: Some of my earliest festival work was with III Points in Miami because I knew someone who worked for them. After shooting it for a few years, I was told I can shoot it whenever I wanted so I was given an AAA in 2019 and a friend asked if I was gonna shoot his set and said sure. His manager at the time stopped me backstage and interrogated me saying “who are you shooting for?” and I said “the festival” and she responded “oh you’re gonna wanna get close for this next song, it’s a crazy one.” I asked for her email to send the photos over and I sent them over. He followed me on IG hours later and I sent him the photos. I wasn’t super familiar with him at that point, I saw his name bubbling around for a second and knew “Veteran” was getting good reviews so I listened to the album on the way home and was like “damn this is crazy.”
Nick: What was the first job you did for Peggy? Was there any significance to it?
Carlo: His management stonewalled me a few times when I would ask about shooting more for him until they eventually said they were interested in having me shoot some studio sessions of him showing his album off to friends, which resulted in the “___ IS DISAPPOINTED” series. I was super proud of it even though I don’t think I did a very good job in hindsight, it was just cool to have a bunch of dope artists in the studio and act as a fly on the wall.
[JPEGMAFIA]. (2019, August 18). KENNY BEATS IS DISAPPOINTED [Video].
[JPEGMAFIA]. (2019, August 25). DJ DAHI IS DISAPPOINTED [Video].
[JPEGMAFIA]. (2019, September 1). JEFF TWEEDY & HANNIBAL BURESS ARE DISAPPOINTED [Video].
[JPEGMAFIA]. (2019, September 8). JAMES BLAKE IS DISAPPOINTED [Video].
[JPEGMAFIA]. (2019, September 15). DENZEL CURRY IS SATISFIED [Video].
[JPEGMAFIA]. (2019, September 22). SLOWTHAI & KWES DARKO ARE DISAPPOINTED [Video].
Nick: I wanted to focus on your work for the promotion and visualization of “LP!” in 2021. What was the story behind the picture used as the album cover? Were there other photos taken that Peggy considered making into the album cover or was this immediately the one from the moment it was captured?
Carlo: The majority of the photos I took of him that weren’t at a show in 2021 were done the night before a deadline in a random place nearby my house in LA. The rushed and twilight nature of them was kinda a funny consistency. He just told me he wanted a photo in front of a liquor store so we drove around my neighborhood to each liquor store until one made sense and we turned in the album cover the following day. There’s more versions of the exact same photo but nothing crazy. The only other location we went to, we immediately got lambasted by a security guard and moved on.
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JPEGMAFIA - "LP!" (2021) album cover
Photo Courtesy of Bandcamp
alternative photo from the "LP!" shoot
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
Nick: It can be argued that your work with Peggy is your most successful long-term undertaking. This is because in 2023 you would win the best live category for the Abby Road Music Photography Awards. Could you tell me about the photo that made this achievement happen and how you shot it?
Carlo: We were on tour in Europe and I was seeing venues that looked nothing like venues in the United States. I’d always scout a room to see if there’d be any interesting perspectives to shoot from and Paradiso had a triple balcony that went all the way against the wall behind the stage. I knew he’d always lay down on the stage during “Baby I’m Bleeding” so I went to the spot early for it and hung my camera as far out over the edge as I could to go for a birds eye perspective. I knew those photos would be good, but when I went backstage I knew that it was going to be the only photo that mattered and hard posted it in the middle of the night because I knew I just took maybe the best photo I’ve ever taken.
JPEGMAFIA performing somewhere in Europe in 2021
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
Nick: How did you get linked up with Jane’s Addiction, joining them on their tour in 2023?
Carlo: The band wanted to hire a photographer for their dates so their management started looking around for some based off of their requests. The management saw my photos I took of Turnstile’s tour with JPEG and from there I got the offer.
Nick: When viewing the archived gallery, what’s with your emphasis on monochrome with splashes of red, yellow, and orange? This is something I also noticed with some of your work with JPEGMAFIA around the same time. Was this an approach you oftentimes found yourself taking in the early 2020s or something out of subject input that overlapped?
Carlo: Once again, my fate is all up to the lighting director sometimes. Both artists had a designer out on the road that would have the same lights for every show and I guess those are just the colors I naturally gravitate towards editing because my cameras like them. No purples, pinks or dark blues please.
Nick: What were some of your favorite captures from this tour? What’s the story or context behind them?
Carlo: Every night the band had a “blue room” which was just a green room with an extra set of stage instruments for them to jam on and get loose before a set. These were always special because they’d play random covers or jam a stage song and the crew would always hang out and watch. These were my favorite moments every night.
Jane's Addiction on tour in 2023
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
Jane's Addiction rehearsing while on tour in 2023
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
Jane's Addiction performing while on tour in 2023
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
Nick: This next gig has, in my opinion, some of your best work. After your work in promoting “LP!” you would document both Peggy and the Detroit rapper, Danny Brown, during their collaboration, “Scaring the Hoes.” What was it like filming behind the curtain of this monumental meeting of the minds?
Carlo: It was a crazy time. It was pretty much a battle to get as much music finished and as much content shot before one of the two was too fucked up to go on any further. These were unbelievably stressful work days but it was crazy to be a part of and film whatever was happening.
[JPEGMAFIA]. (2023, April 2). JPEGMAFIA x Danny Brown - SCARING THE HOES DOCUMENTARY [Video].
JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown recording "Scaring the Hoes" in 2023
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown recording "Scaring the Hoes" in 2023
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown taking a break from recording "Scaring the Hoes" in 2023
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown recording "Scaring the Hoes" in 2023
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
Nick: By any chance, what previous work did you do for Danny Brown? Did you get to work with him through Peggy?
Carlo: I never shot for Danny Brown prior to that, just some photos of him at music festivals. I did shoot his NYC show during the Quaranta tour because I happen to be there and it was a fun little hang. I hope I can shoot one of his next shows.
Nick: Although the album cover for “Scaring the Hoes” used assets from your captures, what was the original plan for the cover art?
Carlo: I shot a bunch of photos the night of the title track music video and there was one black and white one I really liked. The thing was I knew that the original designed album cover from Pat Dagle I liked so much that I was straight up and said that was the best option, even if I could personally gain from having my own photos, that cover was the proper vibe.
JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown - "Scaring the Hoes" (2023) album cover
Photo Courtesy of Rate Your Music
Possible alternate album cover for "Scaring the Hoes"
Photo Courtesy of Rate Your Music
Nick: Not long after the success of “Scaring the Hoes,” you would embark on a tour with a staple in 90s Alternative Rock, Porno for Pyros. What previous work did you do with Perry Ferrell and Stephen Perkins that got you this banger of a gig?
Carlo: The management and band really liked my photos from the Jane’s tour so it made enough sense to do that tour as well. I shot some promotional stuff leading up to that but I don’t think very much came out.
Nick: What were some of your favorite captures from this tour? What’s the story or context behind them?
Carlo: I had a Leica SL2S that’s sensor died on me halfway through the tour so I had to only shoot on my M11 which was really annoying but it was fun to slow down my process and shoot fully rangefinder. The lighting was really good too so I was able to do some fun experimental stuff. Also Mike Watt rules.
Porno for Pyros performing while on tour in 2024
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
Porno for Pyros performing while on tour in 2024
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
Mike Watt performing with Porno for Pyros while on tour in 2024
Photo Courtesy of Carlo Cavaluzzi
Nick: Finally, are there any upcoming gigs you have down the line that you’d like to share?
Carlo: I literally think I don’t have a single job booked right now and it’s sorta more exciting to not be thinking about anything for the first time in a while. This Have Heart book is probably the last real job before the end of the year unless something random pops up, that’s always a possibility.
Nick: Where can the people find you?
Carlo: Google Carlo Cavaluzzi and it’s probably there!
Nick: Thanks for the epic interview Carlo. I hope it was fascinating from front to back. Any final words to leave us on?
Carlo: Take as many photos as you can and get them out there however you can.