// Artist Profile - Passenger //
PASSENGER-
Real Name- Mike Rosenberg , Born 17 May 1984
Genre: Folk Rock // Singer/songwriter
History & Brief Discography :
First off "Passenger" was the name of The
Band he was the main vocalist and songwriter for. When the band dissolved in
2009 he opted to keep the bands name to pursue Solo work, where he eventually
found fame with his chart topping single "let her go"; which was
nominated for the "british single of the year" in 2014.
Mikes american father came from a jewish heritage
originally from Vineland, New Jersey. Mike learnt classical guitar at age 14
and started to write songs whilst working in brighton & hove as a chef. He
left school at 16 to follow a career in the music industry and travelled england
and australia busking. This is an integral part of his image and a huge part of
his ethos as an artist; to stay true to his busking routes, the idea he is
humble and made it on his own.
His busking led him to Australia in 2009 in
October, and he supported small acts and
also larger cult artists in Australia, where he gained a large following and
found himself selling out 500- seat venues. His debut solo album released 2009 ‘wild
eyes blind love’ . The follow up album ‘flight of the crow, was released in
2010 and was recorded in Australia, where he was aided in production by some of
the acts he supported the previous year ( Lior, Boy & Bear ).
Following suit he recorded his most recognized
album “ all the little lights” in Sydney.
During the summer of 2012 he toured the UK , where he played opening acts for
artists like Jools Holland , and Ed sheeran (who he had known since he was 15
through busking, as they both have very similar artist identities, the idea
that they have gone out into the world and started off with nothing, slowly
building up a following without the help of “the man”.
How does the artist want to be represented in their texts?--
Passenger's main ethos is the emphasis on live performance and the idea that his songs are mainly just him, the guitar , and the audience. This comes through in his music videos, as even now that he has attained relative popularity/fame over his chart success and more recently his following growing substantially due to involvement/ association with artist Ed Sheeran, a childhood friend of Mikes.
Passenger most recently opened for Sheeran on the final night of his 3 night sold out stint at wembley.
This is a huge deal as the arena hosts 90,000 people, performing to such a large crowd is an astronomical step compared to performing to 500 people at a time back when he was considered "popular" in australia. Through this he still strives to stick to his ethos, only performing with his guitar , to create the feel of it being a much smaller "private" busking performance. Many of mikes music videos actually use footage from impromptu busking passenger does, to help emphasise how much he sticks to his routes, still performing to fans for free instead of "selling out" and becoming a mainstream "clone".
I Have chosen to highlight his Official music video for his song "Holes", originally released as part of his aforementioned album "all the little lights" recorded in Sydney (2012). This song had become a fan favourite through his busking performances; with many posting videos of these secret impromptu free gigs on youtube. So it makes sense that he would use the song as a scapegoat to promote his image of gigging and being close to fans.
Camera:
Right at the start of the video, we see a out of focus mid shot of a busy street, with passenger sitting and playing guitar, the shot is handheld which gives a more personal feel like we're there in person on the street, which brings the audience closer to passenger. 
There are then mid shots face on tracking passenger walking through the street, again filmed handheld, these show him as he smiles at people as he walks past; conforming to his image of being an artist that is in touch with his routes, knowing lots of people in this town implies it could be brighton, (hometown) and that again he is staying close to his routes and where he came from.
we also see similar mid shots of him walking through a park, however now the camera is focusing on the lower half of his body, showing him carrying the guitar case, again conforming to another one of his main parts of his image: Live performance / singer/songwriter persona; where a lot of the focus in his music is in the fact it is mainly just him and his guitar, performing to fans.
the next shots include, mid shots of him meeting and taking pictures with fans, taken handheld and behind other members of the crowd, to give the audience the impression that they are there meeting him as well. All the shots include lots of the fans smiling and enjoying themselves. The fact that passenger is standing around with them without the need for security or any members of his "team" in the way/ controlling the meet and greet; shows that he is again sticking to his morals/ roots and being humble.
Another large part of passengers artist image, is the fact he is a 'Singer/Songwriter' , many people who fit this genre are single artists who play alone with an instrument. They like to 'big up' the fact that they are talented and write their own music , and also fit into the busking/gigging category. The focus on the 'talented' element often comes through in music videos, here we see close ups of passengers equipment to show he is setting up the live performance himself, and then a close up of him tuning his guitar, which implies he is skilled and talented with the instrument. 
we also see establishing shots of brighton , for example the beach shot , and of the ferris wheel. These help set the scene, and highlight how he has 'returned to his routes'.
we also get some long shots of the crowd, and one that tracks upwards to show the size of the crowd, again returning to the performance aspect.
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