Here's the first installment of One Man Metal, our latest documentary
that takes a square look at a shadowy fringe of Black Metal that has
never been documented... until now.
We interviewed three enigmatic solo artists—Leviathan, Striborg, and Xasthur—who
produce black metal on the margins of society. These are men who don’t
just play the music, but embody what it reflects: isolation,
misanthropy, and anger.
The documentary includes the first on-camera interview with Scott
Connor, AKA Xasthur, who crafts his bleak sounds from a crumbling
apartment in the hinterlands of Los Angeles. We also explored the remote
environs of rural Tasmania with Sin Nanna of Striborg, and finally
traveled to San Francisco to speak with Jef Whitehead, AKA Leviathan.
Now, “One Man Metal” will see the light of day,
following a series of delays leading up to Whitehead’s 2011 conviction
on one count of aggravated domestic battery. You can watch the trailer here, and keep your eyes open for part three!
So manygreat stuff that I want to talk about, it takes a LOT of time to organize everything. As I said on the FB blog page, I stop the News of the week articles with a view to something new... I don't want to make this blog boring so let's be creative, stay tuned for more information!
PS: for those of you who speak French/Deutsch, don't miss Fashion!, a documentary broadcast on Arte and streamable for a short period of time. There is nothing new, it's not the best doc ever but it's always nice to see old/rare videos of the fashionbignames.Nostalgia ♪ ♫
See you readers, have a great week and listen to Goat, xxx
Our Song, directed by Jim McKay, is a very sincere and deep movie about a friendship between three young women, Lanisha (Kerry Washington), Maria (Melissa Martinez), and Joycelyn (Anna Simpson). They all live in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and play in a community marching band (The music sequences in the movie are absolutely awesome!). It takes place at the end of summer, when they are about to make some crucial decisions regarding their respestive lives.
The whole movie deals with existential themes such as friendship, love and family. What I love the most about that movie, is the authenticity of the portrayal of the girls. The director did a great job to express the complexity of the situations the girls go through. Nothing is exaggerated or embellished, it is just a raw slice of life.
Some critics present this movie as an alternative to Kids but I would say it is much more than that. If you wanna watch the movie, it is streamable on youtube:
Dana Jade is a sexy hot rock 'n' roller wearing blood red dresses. She's involved in many great projects and she was kind enough to answer some questions... I discovered her with her fantastic cover of the M.I.A. song Galang. I advice you so watch it below before reading the interview... to see how awesome she is! You can also listen to the whole album onSoundCloud! I currently listen to She Or I Go on repeat, that's a fucking amazing song.
I saw that you come from Trinidad. Besides Nicki Minaj, I don’t know many artists coming from this part of the world to be honest. How would you describe your home land? How do your roots influence your current work and persona?
It's hard to describe succinctly but it's a very diverse, very rich place culture wise. The rhythms that surrounded me growing up have indeed influenced my music. There are a couple of tracks that have straight up soca beats! Perfect for winin' and ting! ;-)
You said in an interview that there was no rock n roll school in Trinidad when you were younger. Talking about rock n roll education you may have heard of the Rock Camp for Girls project. Many great artists like Amy Ray (Indigo Girls), Kathleen Hanna, Me’shell Ndegeocello, Kimya Dawson, and Martha Wainwright visited the camp. If you were invited to talk with little girls willing to explore the world of rock n roll, what would you say to them?
Well, first I'd try not to swear around the little darlings then I'd probably say ignore people who say you 'can't' and try to develop your self confidence because as grrrl players, too often people just assume we can't play. You have to have a healthy sense of self! Practise practise practise and prove them all wrong! Anything boys can do etc. Also, we become who we surround ourselves with so surround yourselves with winners! People who are successful and a positive influence, you'll know them when you meet them.
I saw everywhere that Courtney Love is one of your favorite female musicians. It’s also one of my all time icons. If you could collaborate with her and cover a song, which one would you choose and for which reasons? Have you heard of the documentary Hit So Hard about Patty Schemel?
Yes I really wouldn't exist without her and Hole! If I could cover a Hole song with Courtney I would have to choose Violet because their live performance on the 1995 MTV music awards changed my life! It was in that moment that I knew what I had to get an electric guitar and a distortion pedal ASAP! I saw the Patty Schemel doc at a film festival earlier this year and loved it! Patty was there for a Q&A session, I was totally star struck.
How does it feel now your full album is finally finished and out? Are you satisfied with it and what are the first reactions around you? Are you already working on new songs?
Oh it's such a relief! The launch party was last Wednesday I had a blast with an all new live band I was very blessed to have Laura Kidd aka She Makes War, Daisy Palmerand Cajita onstage with me! I'm very happy with the final product and the fact that it's out there now. I want the songs to have a life of their own. So, if anyone is reading this and would like a copy but is short on cash just email me. Now that the launch is behind me I can finally concentrate on writing/recording new material and yes I've already started.
Can you tell us a bit more about your action in Clit Rock? What are the upcoming projects for the organization?
I
founded Clit Rock (music events created to raise awareness and funds
for the organisations committed to preventing and ultimately ending FGM)
last year after coming across a piece on the news about female genital
mutilation (FGM), it quite frankly pissed me off and always has! I said
on Facebook, half serious that I was going to create an event about
raising awareness and behold "Clit Rock" was born. I borrowed the name
from Skin of Skunk Anansie fame. She coined the term when asked to
describe her music, I felt it worked here on many levels. My aim is for
these events to be empowering and uplifting whilst dealing with
something very heavy and very real. We are definitely going to win this
fight, it's just a matter of time.
I really love your nose chain in the video for Shudder and your head jewelry in the video for Little Sister. What is your relationship with jewelry and what are your favorite designers/kinds of jewelry?
Ahh thank you! The nose chain is called a "nath" and it is traditionally worn by Hindu brides. In my culture, too much emphasis is placed on marriage (in my humble opinion) so this was my way of saying "I'm married to my guitar so fuck off yeah?" or something to that effect. ;-) The head jewellery in the Little Sister video is also bridal. I guess I like really intricate exotic pieces as opposed to high street 'everybody's got them' accessories. I'm also quite partial to silver rings, crosses and rosary beads.
How is it to live in London when you’re a musician? Are you a fan of the local scene and what are you favorite bands? Do you feel like London is, still today, a special place for rock n roll music?
Oh yes! I mean I romanticise the hell out of the punk era because obviously I missed that and it's a big part of the reason I moved here. But yes I absolutely love the city and it's a very exciting place to be if you're a musician. You can find anything you could possibly be into here! I've been to Soca gigs, Reggae gigs, Jazz, African, Middle Eastern, Classical Indian, Rock/Indie/Punk, Hip Hop you name it, it's here! Give thanks…
Favourite local bands right now are She Makes War, Vuvuvultures, Lola Colt and Savages who are blowing up right now, they were on Jools last week, they're going to be huge! Hopefully they spark a new in your face rock n roll revival, we definitely need one of those!
Who’s your last boy crush? Girl crush?
I find myself staring at photos of Hrithik Roshan (Bollywood actor) he's beautiful. Ongoing long term girl crush not very original I know but Angelina Jolie… Purrrrrrrr! Oh and Nigella Lawson, oh and Monica Bellucci and ohh too many to mention.
I’m going to show you some youtube links and I would like you to quickly make a short comment!
Oh my God! I love this! Bluesy, dreamy, bloody! What's not to love?
Anything else to say?
Thank you very much for taking the time to talk to me and for turning me on to Monster and Meg Myers. Great idea to send video links! Hope all is fabulous in your world!
This is a 35-minute
documentary in which THE FORBIDDEN ZONE director Richard Elfman chats
with Marie-Pascale Elfman, Danny Elfman, and Susan Tyrell (who reveals
she became lovers with Villechaize during filming and lived with him for
a year). The documentary is interspersed with huge helpings of archival
shot-on-video footage of Oingo Boingo performing live shows related to
the film, including another version of Danny's Satan routine.
