Behind The Scenes: How to Act Bad

I shallowly admit that the lifestyle of the artist sometimes means as much, if not more, to me than the art itself. My love for The Great Gatsby is irrevocably tied to the diamond-encrusted trainwreck that was the Fitzgeralds. Dandy in the Underworld is one of the books I'm reading right now. Popism is the other. In fact, I'd bet my appreciation for 1960's pop art (not to mention the Velvet Underground) is directly related to my deep desire to be a tweaked, fashionable fly on Andy Warhol's Factory wall. 

Call it trivial, childish or impractical. I'm called all those things and worse on a regular basis. I can't help it; my love of art is often firmly entwined with my love of insanity. Music included. Maybe music especially. One thing that keeps me from loving indie-staple Wilco, besides oh-God-where-do-I-start, is the 2002 documentary I Am Trying to Break Your Heart. Striving to capture the musician's classic "vision vs. money" struggle, it does more to show the run-of-the-mill henpecking and anxiety of a bunch of neurotic white dudes, complete with one agonizing battle against--wait for it--migranes.  I will be forever prejudiced against the perfectly decent Yankee Hotel Foxtrot for that documentary. Yes, Wilco commits the cardinal sin of being boring and that just will not stand with me.


No, I like my artists' lives bigger, louder, and more than regular people's. So when a friend sent me a link to something called "How to Act Bad" she was after no less than my very own heart. And I've already mentioned my love for rock-docs so when it turned out to be an Adam Green documentary, two points for her.


From the looks of it, it's Adam Green doing his best Julian Casablancas-in-a-Lou-Reed-contest shtick onstage, and his best musician-brat-in-a-rock-God-contest shtick offstage. And that's fine by me because I like it all.

Filmmaker/friend of the artist Dima Dubson has been following Adam Green on tour for a year, getting an inside look at.... this stuff:

You can find more information about the project here, including where to donate to make the film happen. Because how much would that producer credit impress ladies at the pub, guys? It'd be like having two big penises.

And just for kicks this video for Breaking Locks was also directed by Dubson:

Behind the Scenes: Echotone

There's something about watching music from behind the scenes. The voyeurism appeals. First off, what it takes to get a song from the writing process to my headphones is impressive. The hard work, the promotion, the touring, and the hundreds of people behind the band that you never really think about. Fascinating.

Secondly, musicians are some of the the most insufferable people on the planet. So watching the total self-indulgence and narcissism that borders on insanity? Beyond fantastic. And it's fun to feel like you're hanging out with the band for awhile. Like a groupie. Or a drummer.

I love rock documentaries (Rockumentaries? Rock docs?). All of them. Even if I don't like the band, even if I don't like the genre, there's still a good chance I'll watch it.  Don't Look Back is amazing. Dig! is a fantastic mess. And Gimme Shelter? Required viewing, really. 
 So I have a massive hard on for the upcoming Echotone, a documentary  on "live music capital of the world" Austin, Texas.

With its focus on the energy of a single happening city, it looks a bit like Hype!, the (awesome) 1996 doc about the Seattle grunge scene. But whereas that movie was more of a lesson in...uh...hype, it seems unlikely we'll be looking back on Echotone in fifteen years with awkward laughter. Of course that's what I said about my own mid-90's decision to wear shorts with longjohns. And my late 90's decision to attend raves. And then there's that guy I was with who played competitive handball.

So I know shit, basically.

Still, you need to look forward to it:



The First Echotone Teaser Trailer 1280x720 HD from echotonefilm on Vimeo.

And if you are anywhare near these places, take a peek