Michael Alago knows what hardcore is all about. After all, he discovered and signed Metallica and White Zombie. Having worked with Nina Simone and Michael Feinstein, he also has a soulful and sensual side. For more than two decades, he produced many diverse musical acts. But he traded all of this for sweat, muscles, tattoos, cigars, jockstraps and the camera lens.

In his book Rough Gods, a collection of photography celebrating the male form in open and raw context, Alago features intense portraits of men who are nothing less than elegant, streetwise and muscle-bound “rough gods.”

Gay & Lesbian Times: You went from using your ears to select and produce musicians, to using your eyes to select and photograph models. What inspired you to make the transition?

Michael Alago: I have always loved and collected photographs. I love the stories that they tell. I have been collecting male erotica for 20 years now.

GLT: Are there similarities between the two arts?

MA: I think the similarities are that the person has to be charismatic, no matter if it is a lead singer or a “rough god” that I am shooting. That aura and that charisma has to exude from them, and, of course, there has to be connection between me and that person, so that I bring the best out in them.

GLT: Are you still in the music industry?

MA: Well, I officially left in 2003, but I am now managing Colton Ford. We just completed an album called Tug Of War that will be released Oct. 2. It is just fantastic and is done in a very pop/house and R&B style, with some beautiful ballads as well. Now talk about a charismatic man. He has got it all. And he tastes good too! [Laughs].

GLT: Was the transition from music to photography difficult?

MA: The transition was not difficult because I knew that after 23 years of working in the music business I wanted out. I knew that I wanted a simpler life and wanted to shoot pictures. So I picked up my trusty Polaroid camera and shot a lot of one-night stands when I was on the road. I love playing with all types of cameras, whether they are $10 plastic disposable cameras, Polaroid cameras or digital ones. I like to see what the results are from experimenting with them all.

GLT: What is the most memorable moment in your career?

MA: There are so many memorable moments – like signing Metallica and the very first time I met Nina Simone, whom I simply adored. If her voice was the only voice I could hear again, it would be divine.

GLT: Who was your favorite group or musician to work with?

MA: There are so many and maybe too many to mention. But taking a bubble bath, drinking champagne and walking down the Seine late in the evening with Nina Simone has got to be a highlight. But that’s not really answering your question. It was just a great time in London during the summer of 1999.

GLT: What was it like to work around such thrashers as Metallica and White Zombie?

MA: Incredible energy and great people. Especially Rob and Sean from White Zombie. They have awesome talents.

GLT: What is the inspiration behind the work that you do?

MA: I love men. I love the look of them and the smell of them. And that inspires me to want to shoot their photograph.

GLT: Some of the people you signed and produced in the music industry were more rough and hardcore. That seems to have flowed over into your photography. What is it about “roughness” that you find so attractive?

MA: The energy and the wonderful imperfections and all that flows over in the sexiness of it all.

GLT: Where do you find the models that you photograph?

MA: On the street, online and through friends. But mostly online.

GLT: Do you photograph anyone or anything else besides “rough gods?”

MA: I love flowers, so I shoot them as well.

GLT: How did Rough Gods come about?

MA: I had a great portfolio of images that I wanted to get out in the world. I also had a few bucks to spend. So I put out that monograph, signed and numbered, in a small edition of 2000 copies. And that got the word out about me. A lot of fun I say.

GLT: What do you hope to spark in people when they pick your book up?

MA: A feeling of joy, a smile, a view at beauty in all of its splendor through a tattoo, a scar and beautiful, gigantic muscles. Lastly, some arousal in the form of a big, juicy hard-on!

GLT: Any tattoos or roughness about you?

MA: Yes, I have one large tattoo of a Tom of Finland man on my arm that goes from my elbow to my wrist.

GLT: Do you consider yourself a “rough god?”

MA: Me a rough god? Nah, just a tough, streetwise New Yorker that knows what he likes.

GLT: Do you have a “rough god” in your life to call your own?

MA: No god in my life. But please write and send a pic. And I will do the same. I think that opposites attract and I am a small, wiry Hispanic that loves a football-player-size redhead … please!

GLT: In the work you have done, what are you most proud of?

MA: That the images are strong and promote men at their most masculine and vulnerable.

GLT: You seem to have a knack for finding hot guys, what’s next for you?

MA: More hot men and a hardback-bound coffee table book in early 2008.

Rough Gods

Paperback, $20

Available in bookstores or by visiting www.roughgods.com.

Sharp Gallery will host a “Rough God’s” exhibit, featuring Alago’s work through Thursday, Aug. 9. Sharp Gallery is located at 3807 Ray St. in North Park.