Music is always a primary element in my filmmaking efforts. I have always been a great fan of music and even fronted a couple of none-too-successful (read very shitty) punk bands in my youth. In the years since, I tend to form close friendships with musicians. For whatever reason, we take to one another; perhaps providence yet again. So I have been very blessed to have a willing and ever-multiplying stable of recording artists that have contributed to Uncle Fred and all my films since. Both of my feature films not only have elaborate and eclectic soundscapes by a variety of music acts, but also feature live performances by accomplished musicians (Woodeye in Uncle Fred; David Amram and A-Bomb Chop Shop in Welldigger). Mark Growden, Anthropods, and Ghoultown have become steadfast collaborators over the years, and some of my short films recently received a live musical accompaniment by a local cabaret band in Trencin, Slovakia, arranged by Clark Gray, all around renaissance man and a regular actor in my films. My work has also been used by live bands as a sort of opening act. The musician is in many ways the best friend of the No-budget filmmaker, the sound and often the beating heart of the film. In the midst of other collaborations with them, I have made concert films for Mark Growden’s Electric Pinata, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Ghoultown, Extra Action Marching Band, and Faun Fables (who later contributed a song to my film Welldigger). Like these music acts, the offbeat works of the Hip Pocket (Fort Worth, Texas) and Toy Box (DeKalb, Illinois) Theatres are keeping the spirit of avant-garde performance alive and well and I’m proud to support them whenever possible.
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