I was wrapping up 4 months of touring my last film across the country when I saw the post announcing the April 2020 tour. As excited as I was at hearing this news, it wasn’t until the last few weeks as I’ve started to get some bandwidth and creative energy back that I began wondering if you guys had any plans to capture these shows. As the stakes around us are rising seemingly exponentially everyday I have been continuing to try to be hard nosed as to what the most helpful expression of my energy is going to be in 2020. All that said I’d love to start a conversation about what may be possible here.
I of course, have no context as to what you are planning with this April run outside of the specific selection of cities. I’ve been bouncing around one idea (outlined below), but would be excited understand your priorities and vision for this season of your activism. If a documentary expression seems helpful, I’m imagining you’ll likely have a pretty strong sense of how.
That said, I’m not really interested in a biography doc, unpacking the band’s history or even past activism here. The precious little time and attention our fellow citizens have for this kind of thing need not be disrespected by unnecessary context and hand holding.
I am interested in landing in this specific moment in American history and creating an honest document of this specific articulation of protest and activism however that may play out. I’m not interested in altering the pace or presentation of what is happening with interviews or any kind of staging. I want to faithfully follow the parts of the process that we deem helpful or hopeful.
AN IDEA
The one idea I did have for a potential story structure would thoughtfully intertwine these April RATM dates with the introduction of a few bad ass young activist minded bands/acts that have picked up the music as protest torch in their own scenes. It’d take a strictly verité, kinda pure fly on the wall approach to intertwining the massive RATM stadium shows with (for example) a Long Beach punk band’s parking garage takeover show. Outside of the implicit themes of torch passing we’d not harp on that or over romanticize it.
As I have been spending day and night researching to find the right bands/acts/scenes for this I’ve found myself more encouraged and hopeful than I’ve felt in a long time… quite life giving to watch these incredible young minds finding their voices this very moment. Some of the really impactful and efficient direct action work these kids are doing while no one is looking or counting is something I want to find a way of exploring and shining light on without compromising. I believe, soberly following these threads of protest between RATM’s moves and these younger acts has an incredible opportunity to practically empower and activate audiences.
Here are some musicians I think may fit:
WACKO - Long Beach, Ca
W.ise
A.nd
C.razy
K.ids
O.verthrow
…The worlds natural resources will have reached critical endangerment and the the people will be hungry and look upon the worlds richest whose glutinous actions have led them to fatten up. in a world of no produce or protein our anger will lead us to a place of desperation and we will feed upon their bodies and retrieve back the spoils of our land.
Kimmortal - Vancouver, B.C.
Kimmortal is a queer filipinx second generation settler based on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples: the Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, and Musqueam nations. Kimmortal has been making waves with their multifaceted approach to music. Incorporating song, visual art, rap, and frequently collaborating with poets and dancers, Kimmortal strives to make an impact with their live performances.
Soul Glo - Philadelphia, Pa
Philadelphia is a city ripe for a black and brown punk reclaiming. Entire movements have thrived for more than a decade dedicated to promoting art and music by marginalized people. Enter Soul Glo, a band etching dark, interpersonal screeds on ancient parchment cut from the skin of the rotting corpse of hardcore punk. Their music travels pedal-driven through lush, dense shoe-gaze forests, bursting out of the other side screaming. Lead singer Pierce Jordan’s voice is an unmatched wail that snakes through the band’s wiry punk orchestration as a truly exhaustive vessel for his trauma-informed lyrics.
Jeremiah Jae - Chicago, Il
His mother sang gospel and his father was a musical director for Miles Davis during the late, jazz-fusion period of Davis’s career. In addition to co-founding political hip-hop collective Young Black Preachers, he steadily developed his solo material, moving from self-released mixtapes in the early 2000s to moodier, more abstract sounds. From under a layer of gauzy, lo-fi production, Jae is able to conjure the off-kilter beats and ethereal voicing characteristic of a mature producer. When Jae brings social commentary into his work, the thoughtfulness with which he does it is unusual.
Redbait - St. Louis, Mo
RedBait did not come from a music scene, but instead from the ranks of St Louis activists and organizers. Under the current political and economic climate, the post-industrial regions of the Midwest are the battleground of progress and regress. The common musical influences from punk, metal, and hardcore may be front and center, but it is at the combined consciousness of community building, advocacy, and workers’ rights that one will find the heart of the group. Sure, RedBait can play your show, but they can also negotiate a union contract, set up a 501c3, introduce you to elected officials, cook for 100 people under budget, and change your mind.
1200 - Louisville, Kc
Jecorey "1200" Arthur is an award-winning educator, musician, and activist from the West End of Louisville, KY. He earned the nickname “1200” after teaching himself to produce hip hop on a KORG D-1200 studio at age 12. A decade later he became a classically trained musician, and earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s in Music Education at the University of Louisville. An innovator in the recording studio, he is making an even bigger difference as a leader in his West End community.
Downtown Boys - Providence, RI
A six-piece multiracial, gender-integrated, bilingual rock band from Providence, Rhode Island that plays fierce but joyous punk rock with blazing energy, howling saxophones, and breakneck rhythms guaranteed to start a pogo frenzy on the dancefloor. Eager to make music dedicated to social and political change, De Francesco and Ruiz formed the band Downtown Boys with fellow artists and activists..
