The bands may be on stage, but someone has to preserve the chaos.
If you’ve been to enough Southern California punk and hardcore shows lately, chances are you’ve seen Petey weaving through the crowd with a camera in hand, somehow everywhere at once. One second he’s crouched near the barricade capturing a guitarist mid-jump. The next, he’s in the middle of the pit filming crowd surfers like he’s part of the performance itself.
And honestly? He kind of is.
For our latest C² creator spotlight presented by Disarray Magazine, we sat down with Petey to talk about underground music culture, filming live shows, directing music videos, creative risks, and how living with epilepsy shaped his perspective as an artist and creator.
Watch the full interview below:
More Than Just “Pressing Record”
A lot of people think filming concerts is easy. Show up. Hit record. Post clips.
Petey made it clear that great live footage comes from understanding the energy of the band before the first song even starts.
“I study the bands before I film them,” he explained during the interview.
That means listening to their music ahead of time, understanding the pacing of songs, anticipating stage movement, and mentally storyboarding shots before entering the venue.
For Petey, filming isn’t passive documentation. It’s immersion.
He wants viewers to feel like they were there sweating inside the venue, shoulder-to-shoulder with strangers screaming lyrics back at the stage.
And that mentality shows in his footage.
His videos don’t feel sterile or overly polished. They feel alive.
Capturing Community, Not Just Concerts
One of the most interesting things Petey touched on was how the crowd becomes part of the performance itself.
In punk and hardcore especially, there’s no real separation between artist and audience. The energy feeds off each other. Stage dives, pile-ons, circle pits, singalongs: it’s collective release.
Petey understands that instinctively as a filmmaker.
That’s why his camera doesn’t stay locked on just the vocalist or guitarist. He captures the room breathing as one organism.
The fans.
The sweat.
The collisions.
The tiny moments most people miss while they’re living inside them.
That’s the difference between filming a show and documenting a scene.
Creating Through Epilepsy
During our conversation, Petey also opened up about living with epilepsy, something that can make high-energy environments, flashing lights, and physically demanding nights significantly harder to navigate.
But instead of pulling him away from creativity, it seems to have sharpened his appreciation for it.
There’s a certain urgency in the way he talks about creating. About making things now. About documenting moments before they disappear.
That perspective gives his work emotional weight.
You can tell he doesn’t take experiences, opportunities, or connections for granted.
And honestly, that mindset mirrors the underground music scene itself: temporary, chaotic, loud, emotional, and deeply human.
Eyes Everywhere
At one point in the interview, we joked:
“You got eyes everywhere. I got eyes everywhere.”
Honestly? Accurate.
His ability to move through venues while capturing tiny details and explosive moments at the same time feels almost supernatural sometimes. Whether he’s filming local bands, helping co-direct music videos, or documenting the growing DIY scene around him, Petey has become part of the ecosystem itself.
Not just an observer.
A contributor.
And in a scene where authenticity matters more than perfection, that means everything.
Final Thoughts
People often celebrate the bands front and center, but creators behind the lens help shape how scenes are remembered.
Without photographers, videographers, zine creators, promoters, and media outlets, entire eras disappear.
Petey isn’t just filming shows.
He’s preserving memories for bands and fans who may someday look back and realize they were part of something bigger than they understood at the time.
And honestly?
That’s punk as hell.
Follow Petey’s work and stay tuned for the full C² creator spotlight interview on Disarray Magazine’s platforms.
Make sure to follow Petey!
Youtube: @hangingoutwithpetey5494
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hangingoutwithpetey
About C² (Christy + Chris)
Concert lovers turned creators. Highlighting creators, bands, stories, sounds, and places you need to know.
Disarray Magazine is an independent media platform established in 2009, spotlighting punk, hardcore, alternative culture, live music, food, nightlife, and the chaos in between. Created by journalist Christy Buena, C² exists to document the bands, people, and moments shaping the scene before the rest of the world catches up.
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