Martyr for Metal

Emblazoned across Travis Beard’s black t-shirt are the words ‘Fuck you: I’m from Frankston’. I find him on Facebook, his current city listed as Kabul, Afghanistan. This is the guy dubbed Afghanistan’s godfather of rock? After a brief visit in 2001 for a photojournalism assignment, Beard, now thirty-nine, became fixated on returning. He found volunteer work with the NGO International News on Afghanistan and moved to Kabul in 2006. Making music was not initially on his agenda, rather, a way to relieve the tension of living in a fortified city. On your off days, Beard says, “you wanted to get outside…