SAVED FROM THE FLAMES : A tale of fresh flesh with tattooer Erik Reime -

FRESH INK: SAVED FROM THE FLAMES

A tattoo coming-of-age story by Christine Leonard

Originally published via Beat Route Magazine October 2012·

Ascanius shows off his fresh ink at artist Erik Reime's Copenhagen studio.

Here there be dragons...

A long-observed rite of passage in many cultures around the globe, coming-of-age tattoos are something to which many young people look forward. Receiving one’s first line of ink is an indelible way of marking the passage of time and the endlessly transformative nature of our physical existence. What better way to commemorate something, or someone, of importance than to express one’s inner being and reflect a new level of self-actualization? And, what better way to piss off the parents? Ideally, a person’s first visit to the tattoo parlour will be a positive adventure that yields a deeply personal and well-rendered example of the art form, not to mention a good drinking story. On the other bicep, we’ve all heard the horror stories about the guy with the ballpoint pen and the rusty pin. So, do your research, ask around, consult your astrologer and scour the chasms of your soul until your ultimate tattoo presents itself.


Some time ago a co-worker approached me with an interesting dilemma. Her teenage son was bound and determined to get a tattoo. Not an uncommon affliction, but naturally his mother was concerned. What will his future in-laws think? What if he wants to get a job at a bank one day? Suffice it to say that, the demonic designs he had been twisting in his mind weren’t exactly pretty. My question to her, “What’s your ethnic background?” Having just recently attended the Calgary Tattoo & Arts Festival, I was able to pass along the business card and website of Copenhagen-based tattoo artist Erik Reime, who just happens to specialize in bestowing legendary Viking imagery.


“Jonas (Ascanius) wanted a tattoo from the time he was twelve,” Terry Rahbek-Nielsen, his mom, relates. “He would spend hours drawing his tattoo – usually a monstrous face with fangs and horns. And he wanted it to cover his entire chest. We tried for years to talk him out of it using all the arguments parents use – it’s permanent, you will be sorry when you’re 50 — and of course he ignored us and planned his tattoo. He pointed out more than once that when he was eighteen there would be nothing we could do to stop him.


“We heard about Erik Reime (from the author), how his work was done freehand, and that he used themes from Danish Viking mythology. We looked at Erik’s website and liked what we saw. Erik’s work is original, and his dragons are gorgeous. Nobody else in Calgary was likely to have a tattoo like the ones he makes.”
The summer Jonas turned eighteen, the family planned a trip to Copenhagen. Reime was in residence there at the time, so it seemed fated that the tattoo would be done there. Relaxing the mood by making a graduation gift out of the experience, the Ascanius family contacted Reime via email, booked an appointment and, soon, Jonas and his sister, Amalie, found themselves at Rådhusstræde 15 at the artist’s shop, Kunsten pa Kroppen Tattoo Studio.


“He was going to get a tattoo whether we liked it or not. It just seemed fitting that he get a unique tattoo from a really wonderful artist and that it could be something relevant to his life and heritage… that we did it while visiting Denmark was a great bonus! Erik’s studio is in downtown Copenhagen, up several flights of stairs in one of those skinny old buildings,” she relates. “Erik drew the outline on his arm and the thing (dragon) looked HUGE to me. I was trying to convince Jonas to go for something small and discrete… Once Erik started actually doing the real tattoo, the sight of this (very sweet) man drawing blood from my son was just a little creepy. Jonas was fascinated; I was, according to him, distracting and not in a good way. So, they sent me away. When I came back an hour later, Jonas’ tattoo was all done and Amalie had one as well – a sharpie version.”


Born in Norway and educated in Denmark, Reime is highly-praised for his brave Viking patterns and world-binding dragon motifs. The first tattooer ever accepted into the BKF — the Artists’ Union in Denmark — he avoids stencils. Instead, he uses his skill as an artist to draw elegant yet austere black and white designs directly onto the client’s body by hand. In some case, Reime uses a technique he developed, based on Japanese and Polynesian traditions, where needle bundles on the head of a stick are used to tap (or tatt, tatt, tatt) ink into the skin. The results are stunning. Mute touchstones, ancient symbols, prehistoric totems from our foggy past are given new meaning, and strength, thanks to the artist’s eye and the temporal fragility of the living flesh.


“For me, the challenging issue is that these are permanent markings someone puts on their body that have a certain significance at a certain time in their lives,” Jonas’ mom concludes. “People change and grow and what was significant when a person is young may not be so when they are older. And then there is the issue of our bodies changing over time; that perky little butterfly on someone’s 20-year-old behind may be a little less perky when their behind is in their 50s! (The forearm was a good choice, though. It’s not too likely to sag!) I love the originality and significance of Jonas’ tattoo. As a piece of art, it is wonderful and unique… I am still very glad he didn’t get some gross-looking nightmarish creature embedded on his chest!”


By Christine Leonard

 Visit Erik Reime's Homepage: Kunsten pa Kroppen

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVENS - Interview with TJ Blair

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVENS

 

O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?

 An interview with TJ Blair by Christine Leonard

Drawing their name from director John Sturges’ bandit-besieged Western classic, The Magnificent Sevens (or, Mag 7s for short) are Winnipeg, Manitoba’s answer to the eternal question: “O Brother, where art thou?” Road-hardened and battle-proven thanks to four years spent performing on stages from Gimli to Gastown (cutting a 7” with schlock rocker BA Johnston along the way), the DIY five-piece takes a certain pride in knowing they’re introducing a whole new generation to the earthy wiles of bluegrass music.
The Magnificent Sevens : Red River Beaver Feaver from The Mag 7s on Vimeo.


“It’s not that I’m a big Luddite!” says TJ Blair, guitarist/banjoist for the Mag 7s. “But we live in a disposable world and, for that reason, just being in an acoustic band statement is making a statement against the digital revolution. Let’s just say that when the apocalypse hits and there’s no electricity, we’ll be the most popular band around and will still be ramblin’ right along.”


High plains drifter Dirty Roads, released in 2008, was the Mag 7s’ first attempt at corralling the essence of their alt-country jams. Wanted for covering everyone from anar-punk pundits (and fellow Manitoba-ites) Propagandhi to Kentucky crooner Bill Monroe, TJ Blair and accomplices, including banjo/Dobro player David Nishikawa, vocalist/guitarist Matt Magura, fiddler Andy Bart and requisite high-heeled hottie/second fiddle Ida Sawabe, revel in treating today’s chart toppers like precious heirloom antiques.
“We’re into good art whether it be film, painting, music or some other form of artistic expression,” says Blair. “I could rant about avoiding commercialism and creating music for the right reasons, but when it comes right down to the nitty gritty, our aim is to produce songs that are well thought-out and that is what makes them beautiful.”


As unexpectedly satisfying as a Slurpee in December (Winnipeg sells more of those slushy drinks than any city in the world), the understated sophistication and chilly regard conveyed by the ensemble’s freshly-hatched 2012 release All Kinds of Mean brazenly interposes old school values and modern sensibilities.
“The new album captures our most recent collection of songs,” Blair confirms. “About 90 per cent of it was live off floor in Winnipeg. It’s about giving the recording that sense of a live thrill. We know what works for us by now and that method seems to be the ideal way to maintain the energy that you’d experience if you saw us at a festival.


“I’ve gotta admit it’s nice to play festivals with all that fresh air and those appreciative audiences,” he continues. “We get a lot out of performing alongside other folk acts, but the reality is that those types of festivals are literally dying out. And, as much as the bluegrass purists may protest, they don’t get a lot of younger musicians. So, they need bands like us — whether they agree with the direction we’re taking things in or not!”


Even with a generous dash of punk rock gusto throw into their rootsy brew, the Mag 7s display a remarkable degree of respect for the history behind their time-honoured, albeit ever-so-humble, genre. Able to attract and hold the attention of a wide range of music lovers including those Blair describes as “Suburban baby boomers and college crust punks,” the hollow-bodied quintet has found plenty of room to roam within the confines of their unplugged Appalachian asylum.


“Come September we’ll be heading down to a big bluegrass fest in Nashville,” Blair enthuses. “Canadians don’t pay much attention to bluegrass music but, in America, there’s a real musical snobbery to preserving the art form. Down there, we might not even be considered part of the movement at all.”
Shying away from laser light shows and pyrotechnic embellishments (apparently the vapour exuded by smoke machines wreaks havoc on the string slingers’ instruments), the Mag 7s hold true to the precept that just because you’re an acoustic outfit doesn’t mean you’re incapable of playing hard and fast with the Baptist big boys.


“We can definitely pull that stuff off, but at the same time I’m a little worried that they might think we’re bastardizing bluegrass by presenting our own take on the traditional. Fortunately, in my experience, the fans don’t discriminate. They just appreciate good music and that has kept us going. We’re still writing new songs and exploring new territory. At this point, it’s safe to say that we use country/bluegrass as a foundation but that we’re always searching, as artists on front lines, for possible new directions to take that music in and shine some new light.”

Originally published July 3, 2012 · by beatrouteab ·


Interview & Article by Christine Leonard

BLACK EARTH - An Interview with AJ Skull

BLACK EARTH

 

NIGHTMARES LAID DOWN TO WAX 

 

Article and interview by Christine Leonard

Breaking up (with the dead) is hard to do, but for Anthony Janicki (a.k.a. AJ Skull) a parting of ways with his Calgary-based horror punk band, Conniving Cadavers, was just the motivational shot in the arm he needed. Primed to match his mettle against that of bassist Glen Murdock (Sanity in Numbers) and, shortly thereafter, drummer Steve Richter, lead singer/guitar player Janicki launched a new outfit under the ominous moniker, Black Earth.

“If you look at my CD collection you’ll see over 600 selections running the gambit from Meat Loaf to Tegan & Sara,” Janicki reports. “When we started Black Earth, back in October of 2009, I just wanted to make rock and roll badass and cool again. When Steve came on board, his style allowed us to open up and experiment with that dirty rock sound. We all liked ‘80s hard rock so we thought we’d try our hands at mixing that genre with punk to see what happened.”

What happened was that Janicki realized he’d be better off devoting himself to his musicianship and letting someone else sit in the band’s hot seat. Moving away from his initial role of lead vocalist and all-around frontman, Janicki began to ease Black Earth’s hard-driving ethos towards something a little sweeter. Enter singer Erika Leah. Marrying her feminine vocals to Black Earth’s fecund rhythms, Leah has set the band ablaze with her idealism and creativity.

“Erika and I both appreciate that the paradox of rock and roll. The simplicity of the thing is what allows you to do so much within its architecture,” he explains. “We all have our own vision for the band. For example: if I had it my way, we’d look exactly like Judas Priest!”

He continues. “At first our stuff was all coming out of the extra material I had written when I was in other bands. Gradually, Erika started taking over on the writing, which is what I’ve always wanted. She’s a much better singer than I am. It’s awesome having her on the mic so I can focus on my riffs. I’ve always preferred the idea of being a mysterious, badass sideman, like Boba Fett!”

Regulars at local cantinas such as The Distillery, Broken City, Vern’s, Dickens and Mos Eisley, Black Earth garnered enough support to release their debut EP, Fingers Crossed, recorded with Casey Lewis at Echo Base Recording Studios, in June of 2010. This was followed by a critically-acclaimed, self-titled, full-length album in August of 2011. Refitted with rock-steady percussion, a femme fatale and a songbook full of freshly-penned nightmares, Black Earth has spent the past year diligently constructing an opus that accurately reflects the depth and breadth of their metamorphosis into a multifaceted, heavy-hearted, punk-rock entity.

“I think our new album, Dreameater, shows just how far we’ve come as a band,” observes Janicki. “It’s a more cohesive production. You can hear that we’ve kind of figured ourselves out, which is all the more impressive because haven’t been together for too long. Erika is a very talented and knowledgeable singer and pianist; she brings her own personal sound our concept. Her lyrics tend to be more personal while mine are more straight-forward rock tunes, but we bring the same passion, energy and execution to every song. We actually tried to get her to sing like Brody Dalle from The Distillers, with that sexy smoker’s rasp, but her voice was just too pretty to be punk rock.”

Like flies to honey, fans of Black Earth’s edgy, yet completely relatable, aesthetic have embraced Leah’s onstage presence as a welcome alternative to the usual four-guys-from-a-garage formula. Strutting their collective stuff alongside performers like Buck Knife, Caught Off Guard and The Vibrators, the feisty quartet has come out of the shadows into its own. Poised to celebrate the release of Dreameater, Janicki has plans to visit his neighbourhood pawn shop in search of a Saturday night special to put the perfect exclamation point on the end of Black Earth’s life sentence.

“It’s super exciting to be releasing this new album,” Janicki confirms. “We just completed a very successful mini-tour of B.C. and Alberta and had a chance to try out different stage shows. Erika likes to dress up fancy and the rest of us will wear all red and black, or dress up like post-apocalyptic Mad Max warriors or something like that. I always enjoy throwing some visual appeal into our performances; I guess it’s a vestige of my horror rock past. I worked at Dairy Queen in my youth and spent a lot of money on collecting sub-par guitars, so now I’ve got a bit of a reputation for smashing instruments on stage. I’m running low on guitars these days, but I love buying old televisions for $30 and putting them behind us while we play. The flickering static-light they cast is the perfect hypnotic, atmospheric lighting for our shows. Plus, they’re a helluva lot of fun to destroy afterwards.”

Originally published August 20, 2012 · by beatrouteab
 

By Christine Leonard
Photo: Sara Mohan

BOMBINO'S AGADEZ, THE MUSIC AND THE REBELLION : Ron Wyman Interview

BOMBINO'S AGADEZ, 

THE MUSIC AND THE REBELLION

: an interview with filmmaker Ron Wyman

-- Interview & Article by Christine Leonard-Cripps

 

SUB-SAHARAN HOMESICK BLUES

It’s a one of those universal truths: whether you’re cruising the cactus-studded Pearblossom Highway, snapping your fingers to the dulcet rockabilly-laments of Heavy Trash’s latest, or camper-waltzing through the majestic Rockies while the score to Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange blares from the rear speakers, no road trip is complete without the appropriate musical accompaniment and it’s all the better when that soundtrack chooses you. The highway of human consciousness certainly had an auditory detour in mind for documentary filmmaker Ron Wyman when he visited Africa back in 2007. Introduced to Wyman via his Berber guides, five wobbly, homespun guitar jams would become the accidental score to his next storytelling saga.

“I was working on a film about Tuareg nomads and wound up going over to Africa with an NGO that a good friend had been involved with,” explains Wyman. “I spent a month driving around this spectacular desert, 100 miles from the nearest road, building a narrative about them. They had one homemade cassette with a handful of recordings on it by a guitarist called Bombino. That tape was all that we listened to for two weeks straight and I never got tired of it. It was the perfect soundtrack to that incredibly magnificent region.”

A longtime fan of rock and blues music, Wyman was hooked. He knew he had to find a way to contact Bombino, who is also known as Omara Moctar or Goumar Almoctar, and to capture the enigmatic guitar maestro’s exotic artistry on film. Unfortunately, this was during a period of terrible social and political upheaval for Bombino’s homeland of Niger. Known as The Guitarists to the government of then-President Mamadou Tandja, Bombino and his fellow Berber bards were condemned as cultural propagandists for the rebelling Tuaregs. Following the murders of two of his bandmates, Bombino fled to Burkina Faso in order to escape the growing threat of violence. For Bombino, this episode was tragically reminiscent of his family’s flight to Algeria during the first Tamasheq rebellion seventeen years earlier.

“It took me the course of a year to track him down,” Wyman recounts. “By the time I got to Niger, he had left the country because he was being harassed by the military. When I finally caught up to him, he was at a home that belonged to some of his fellow Tuareg ex-pats. We hit it off immediately. He was sweet and shy. He had been driving a taxi between gigs and didn’t have a lot of confidence about his abilities. He started playing some music at the house and I saw him transform into this amazing, confident, beautiful entertainer. When I heard that music got a chill, and by the time I was done filming that song I realized, ‘Wow! He is more extraordinary than I thought!’ ”

Casanova of the Sahel

Bombino’s hypnotic manipulation of the high-and-airy West African guitar style parlays hardship into harmony. Multi-textured forays into the Afro-rock genre, which call upon progressive references to Clapton, Hendrix and Page, challenge any notion of geographic or spiritual isolation. Like Malian world music sensations Tinariwen, Bombino’s timeless voice echoes the ongoing struggles of his people (who call themselves as the Kel Tamasheq) whilst celebrating an inner strength and a heritage that is as boundless as the dunes.

“Omara (Bombino) brings in whole new elements to the tribal songs of these traditional stewards of the Sahara. There’s 100 years of history behind his music, but it was the way in incorporates modern guitar licks that blew me away,” Wyman explains. “Up in the Northern regions of Niger, the people are very poor, but everybody has clamshell cell phones with a couple of megabytes of stored music. They walk up and down the street playing these tinny reproductions and the music spreads by way of phone, cassette and word-of-mouth. They love to hear their own stories as reflected by their own musicians, so guys like Bombino and the other Tuareg musicians have a cult-like following. You could see people’s eyes light up when you mentioned Bombino. He represents something to the youth: a new breed, a new generation. That’s how he got the name. They called him, ‘the bambino, the young one.’ ”

Founder of ZeroGravity Films, Wyman has produced and directed numerous documentaries about global issues and the performing arts. 16 years of experience with CNN’s political division tempered by freelance work with media rogues like Michael Moore and Bill Maher has given Wyman a powerful directorial skill set that balances intellect with romanticism. Focusing his camera obscura upon Bombino’s provocative yet utterly appealing creations, he has successfully revealed the nomadic troubadour to a global audiences with the release of his film, Agadez, the Music and the Rebellion, in 2011. Sensible enough to capitalize on an all-too-rare opportunity, Wyman and Bombino also crafted a complimentary soundtrack CD by the same name, filled with the vivid biopic’s mystical, psychedelic, desert-rock.

“Every now then, you find yourself in the presence of someone and you know you’ve got something special. Bombino is like this. His guitars aren’t the best, but he’s got these long, adept fingers and a voice that really strikes you every time you hear it!”

Wyman continues. “I was convinced that in addition to a film we’d have to make a CD. That’s how Agadez came about. Agadez was my first CD production, although I have done several docs on musicians, including Tunde Jegede and Babatunde Olatunji. I am a musician myself, so music plays a big role in all of my work.”
Calmer conditions in Niger have facilitated this Prince-in-Exile’s return, but Bombino’s work is never done. An ambassador for change, the now 32-year-old desert bluesman continues to encourage his Tuareg tribesmen to push back against a rising tide of pro-extremist sentiment spilling over from neighbouring nations. Embracing his role as an influential figure on the international stage, Bombino (a boy who grew up admiring Western guitar gods) looks forward to touring the world and, one day, his own country.

“Even with an enthusiastic new government in place, dealing with the bureaucracy of Niger is a real headache,” Wyman acknowledges. “So, one night we rented generator and construction lights and headed 15 miles out into bush to film a live Bombino concert. We were totally amazed that so many people came out to see him perform in the middle of nowhere. That night he showed us his true soul. He played that acoustic guitar like Jimi Hendrix and John Lee Hooker, but in his own incomparable style.”

Tapped for distribution by international music label Cumbancha Records, Agadez (so named for Bombino’s birthplace) received widespread critical acclaim. The soundtrack-album debuted at the top of the iTunes World Chart in April of 2011 and the website subsequently dubbed him “Breakthrough World Music Artist of 2011.”

“Touring with Bombino, I’ve seen him accepting his celebrity status in a subconscious way. Not in an ego sense, but taking responsibility and becoming tremendously more confident. It’s in his Tuareg nature to want to run against the grain. They don’t want to be told how to worship or that their women should cover faces. Mainstream Tuareg don’t want anything to do with that, they completely reject the horrible things that have been happening in Chad and Mali. The Tuareg are trying to separate themselves from al-Qaeda’s influence and Bombino has been paying attention to their desire to secure Niger’s borders. His words have a tremendous impact, he dreams of touring to promote unity within Niger. Bombino definitely has his head screwed on right. As a Tuareg, he is very centred and self-dependant. The world could learn a lot from them.”

Relocated to exotic Nashville to embark on the recording of a new CD, Wyman confirms that Bombino plans to release his second full-length album in the spring of 2013.

“I believe that Agadez will be Bombino’s signature CD, having a certain authenticity from being recorded in Agadez,” Wyman observes. “The new CD is an evolution: it will really put him on the map. He’s really stepped up to the plate with this new material, still maintaining Tuareg themes, but exploring his own sound and taking it to the next level. He is a rare talent: you can identify his unique and beautiful style by hearing a few seconds. It is hard to know the literal themes he is working on, as all his songs are sung in Tamashaq, but if the rough mixes are any indication of what’s to come, I can’t wait to hear the rest. He’s really going for it and doing lot more with his technique. For me, it reaffirms what an incredible talent he is.”


By Christine Leonard

Originally published via Beat Route Magazine July 2012

HOT SNAKES GET ON THE PLANE : Rick Froberg interview -

  Q&A Interview with 

Rick Froberg of Hot Snakes 

EMERGING FROM THEIR 

HARDCORE HIBERNATION

Your quintessential, all-American post-hardcore band, Hot Snakes is the herpetological dream-child of San Diego rockers Rick Froberg and John “The Swami” Reis, both formerly of Pitchfork and Drive Like Jehu. A tightly-fit group with a free-wheelin’ spirit and punk-fed sound, Hot Snakes tore a gaping hole in grunge’s plaid-flannel mosquito-netting.

Obsessed fans and startled peers couldn’t get enough of the brooding self-immolation heard on early works, Automatic Midnight (2000) and Suicide Invoice (2002), the nonchalant melodrama of 2005’s Peel Session EP and ensuing insanity of their band’s sole live recording, Thunder Down Under (2006). Throughout, Hot Snakes never shied away from exercising their musical might, standing pat in the centre of a celluloid cyclone. Then, just like that, Froberg and company suddenly called it quits: after half-a-decade of laying it all on the line, Hot Snakes had reached a dead end.


Then, after a prolong period that saw the outfit’s various members join the ranks of acts including The Night Marchers, Beehive and the Barracudas, Earthless, Rocket From the Crypt, Obits, and The Sultans, guitarist/vocalist John Reis, bassist Gar Wood and percussionist tag-team Jason Kourkounis and Mario Rubalcaba put to things all right between them and emerged with a fresh (and perhaps even thicker) skin, ready to perform again. For lead vocalist/guitarist Rick Froberg, who fills his days in New York labouring as a visual artist and illustrator, the chance to reunite and tour with Hot Snakes once more is just another walk in Central Park.


BeatRoute: Looking back at 2005, what do you now think were the major contributing factors that lead to the dissolution of both Hot Snakes?

Rick Froberg: Snoring was a real problem.

BR: What interesting projects, musical or otherwise, have you pursued during your auditing hiatus from Hot Snakes?

RF: I just found other things to do. I don’t think the breakup of the Hot Snakes had much effect creatively apart from making everybody available to do other things. Hot Snakes doesn’t write songs at the moment, we just play. That is our sole purpose.

BR: In 2011, Hot Snakes reunited. How did that come about?

RF: We were asked by Les Savvy Fav to play at ATP in the U.K. We were offered decent money and everybody seemed to think it would be fun. We figured that since we were going to the trouble, we might as well play a few others.

BR: Were there any aspects of the band that you were determined to preserve?

RF: They’re preserved anyway. It’s all the same people and everybody knows the deal. It’s pretty much the same thing it was in 2005 and prior.


BR: Likewise, what changes did you want to see emerge in the reincarnation of Hot Snakes?

RF: The snoring has to stop.

BR: How has the fan response been to your “comeback”?

RF: Good! I haven’t heard many criticisms, and the shows have been packed. Maybe you have to break up to be appreciated. It’s worth a try.

BR: How has the scene developed (or deteriorated) during your absence from touring and recording as Hot Snakes?

RF: As far as we’re concerned, it hasn’t. There is our eerie new popularity, but that’s about it. We’re older. Many of our friends are still out there slugging away on a shoestring. We’ve played a few festivals and we’ve had a cursory look or two at some of the new bands out there. They seem to have some sort of scene, but it doesn’t really include us and why should it? Their thing is for them, not us. Makes you feel a little lonely…we’re just going to try and finish the run and have a good time doing so.

BR: When I first interviewed you in June of 2009, we talked about your other group, Obits, being a post-Helvetica band. If you had to characterize Hot Snakes circa 2012, how would you describe your situation in the ‘post-hardcore’ zeitgeist?

RF: Comic Sans.

BR: Any regrets or sage advice for the newbies?

RF: No regrets. Get back in 20 years when I’m eating dog food and ask again.



by Christine Leonard
Photo: Chris Woo

Originally published via Beat Route Magazine June 2012 

EVERYDAY SUNSHINE - THE STORY OF FISHBONE

Metzler doc has Fishbone shining

Everyday Sunshine has vet Cali act navigating the racialized waters of ’70s L.A.

We’re all familiar with the images of public school desegregation in Texas back in 1956, black children being led into their formerly all-white schools under guard as angry mobs jeer from the sidelines. Flash forward some 20 years, and the next generation of African-Americans were met with a similar circumstance, as Los Angeles began bussing students from outlying black neighbourhoods into the city’s more affluent and predictably white high schools. Despite protests by white parents, the likes of Fishbone’s Angelo Moore and Norwood Fisher were soon ushered into a previous unexplored environment, one that exposed them to the surf and punk rock culture of their newly acquired peer group.

Already well-acquainted with the worlds of funk, jazz, reggae and R&B, the singer and bassist pooled their talents with drummer Phillip “Fish” Fisher (Norwood’s brother), guitarist Kendall Jones, keyboardist Chris Dowd and trumpet player Walter Kirby to form the original 1979 lineup of Fishbone. Tracing the groundbreaking ensemble’s twisted roots, filmmakers Chris Metzler and Lev Anderson have gone to remarkable lengths to uncover the ins and outs of one of North America’s most influential bands in Everyday Sunshine, screening at this year’s iteration of the Calgary Underground Film Festival.

“They are the storytellers of their age,” explains co-director and writer Chris Metzler. “They grew up in the first post-civil rights generation in the 1970s and were raised with the promise and belief that came with that. The challenge of making the film was to reveal that era of L.A.’s history; it’s one of the most racially polarized yet multicultural spaces in the world. Through Fishbone, we wanted to tell the story of the black experience and the insolence that came from them as a result of the city they came from.”

Of course, no trip to the Hollywood Hills would be complete without some bonafide star-spotting, and Everyday Sunshine doesn’t disappoint. According to Metzler, the directors had a difficult time narrowing down the number of celebrity interviews they could include in the movie. Having spawned innumerable acts in its three-decade career, Fishbone has attracted some pretty impressive followers.

Everyone from Flea to Perry Farrell to Ice T to Gwen Stefani chimes in on Fishbone’s no-holds-barred, genre-straddling, mosh-pit-igniting performances. Stefani, in particular, expresses a deep affection for frontman Moore — his persona has been the single greatest influence on her style as a lead singer. Another of the film’s gems is a smooth and informative narrative thread furnished by none other than Laurence Fishburne, who provides insight into the events and conditions surrounding Fishbone’s meteoric rise to an equally mercurial fall, one that finds the band in court for trying to kidnap/force an intervention on one of its own.

“We tried to stay away from the cache of name recognition in dealing with the celebrities in this film,” says Metzler. “We wanted to stick to people who were family members and close friends for this one, but there are so many who have been personally touched by the band. Contemporaries, followers, friends outside music — there is a lot of admiration for them and a lot of relationships to be talked about. Fishbone has been involved in punk, ska, rock, metal, hip hop.... Everyone wanted in! Laurence knew the band from his days working as a nightclub bouncer back in the ’80s; he was the perfect voice to explain the issues surrounding the film.”

Determined to witness the life of Fishbone firsthand, filmmakers Metzler and Anderson spent three to four years tracking the band on tour, delving into members’ home lives, and watching over their shoulders, as Fisher struggles to get Moore’s alter-ego, Dr. Madd Vibe, to step away from the theremin. Recent and archival concert footage is interwoven with Ground Zero reports, family album-calibre interviews and Fat Albert(ish) animation to deliver an awe-inspiring yet completely sobering account of Fishbone’s tumultuous swim upstream.

“The tough thing about working on a documentary film is that there’s a fine line as to how much filming effects the action,” says Metlzer, of Fishbone’s reaction to being immortalized in celluloid. “In the end you can’t really separate the two, but having a lot of people asking those questions certainly makes the band reflect on things, even when they’re not on-camera. Angelo and Norwood are thoughtful guys, and a lot of the things that came out in the film had been on the tip of their tongues and ruminating in their heads for a while.”

“Sharing these details outside of the self often spurs us on to share even more,” he continues. “What started as a compelling project has become a catalyst. The band is curious to see what happens next. They really loved seeing these interviews; if they had one piece of feedback it was that they wanted to see more of the people. It could have been a 10-hour movie!”

Christine Leonard

Originally published April 7, 2011 in Fast Forward Magazine

Fishbone: EVERYDAY SUNSHINE - video