Zack Zagula: the ‘Creative Utility Belt’ of the music industry
Zack Zagula went to school for public relations with a minor in music, though music was always his passion. However, Zagula didn’t yearn for center stage, instead he had a desire to help growing bands shine through the flash of a camera.
By Cristina Benavides
Zagula started off small, utilizing whatever handheld device he had to help out friends and classmates, eventually reaching out to venues and bands for gigs.
Despite rejected responses, his friends recommended him to others, and the people he’s managed to work for would call him back for other projects. He’d eventually find himself on tours with bands, communicating with agencies, managers, record labels and more.
As a photographer, he’s taken pictures at live concerts, local Chicago venues, and photos of bands for things like album covers or portfolios. But as a music-lover, he didn’t want to be restricted to photography as the only means of collaborating with musicians.
So, he self-taught in various disciplines in videography, graphic design, and merch design so that he could utilize his developing skills towards collaborating with the music community as much as he could. Eventually, he became the multifaceted entrepreneur for musicians, particularly working with indie-rock and punk genre.
“I really love music,” said Zagula in an interview, “It’s super important to me, and it has been since I was a little kid, and a desire to participate has always been my North Star.”
His work reflects the care and precision that he takes on when working with clients. He manages to blend the delicate balance of mixing his artistic style with the band's identity and vision of themselves. He does so by communicating with his customers to get a better grasp on their ideas and music style, with the goal to create something unique to the artists, be it through a lens or a design.
With such passion for music, it’s no wonder that he and his friends, Tyler and Jacob Floyd are currently undergoing an audio-visual project called ‘City Pigeon Sessions’. It is a recording medium where the goal is to capture high quality audio and visuals of bands playing, be it in live concerts or in studios.
Ideally to capture the environment and energy of the band to make the experience more immersive. ‘City Pigeon Sessions’ started just last year, and is still in the developing stage of gaining its identity, experimenting with equipment and environments, each time pushing the limits on how to improve their work, “[…] right now, [it’s] just a passion project that, I think, we’re all interested into growing into something more,” said Zagula.
To top it all off, Zagula is also working on an interactive art gallery to debut his coloring book. The artwork in the book is abstracted and illustrated by him, inspired by his therapeutic sessions with coloring books.
He hopes his book will give a similar relaxing sense to the coloring community. There are many plans to this year-long project, with the goal to mix in his love of music, networking, and community building events, so be sure to check in on his social media for any news and updates.
You can find out more on Zack Zagula on his website zackzagula.com and Instagram @zackzagula!
