Any good punk has seen 1991: The Year Punk Broke so now all you wannabes has got to see the film 1991: The Year Punk Broke on the big screen. Its the seminal film directed by Dave Markey about the fabled Sonic Youth/Nirvana tour in Europe. Even though its hopefully coming out on a special edition DVD next year there is going to be a great tribute on December 9th to Dave Markey at the American Cinematheque at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles. There you can not only see 1991: The Year Punk Broke but you will also be able to see his other films. The real treat though is a new film comprised of never before seen footage from 1991 The Year Punk Broke.
Markey has since gone on to direct dozens of music videos for a number of punk bands including Sonic Youth, fIREHOSE and Black Flag.
Get tickets for the tribute to Dave Markey here
Daniel Robert Epstein: How did the tribute at the Egyptian Theater come about?
Dave Markey: Ive been talking to one of the curators there, Chris D from the band Flesh Eaters, which was a seminal LA punk band from the 70s. He has wanted to do something with me for a long time. Finally this year I completed a couple of new things so I said we should go for it.
DRE: Have you ever had a tribute before?
DM: Yeah but I usually deal with the screenings directly so Im used to dealing with festivals and stuff. I think its different with the American Cinematheque because its a hallowed nod to my work. Its a big deal I guess.
DRE: Do you think its because documentaries and music documentaries are getting more attention than ever?
DM: Well yeah. Documentaries now, thanks to Michael Moore, are becoming legitimate so mass audiences are paying attention to them.
DRE: Did you see Metallica: Some Kind of Monster?
DM: I missed that one because Im waiting for the DVD. I dont get a lot of time to see movies.
DRE: How did 1991: The Year Punk Broke come together in the first place?
DM: I was going to do a documentary about the making of Sonic Youths first major label album, Goo. I was going to do this Sympathy for the Devil Godard thing with the band. Just a couple of weeks before that tour started I got a call from Thurston [Moore] and he asked me if I wanted to go to Europe with them and Nirvana on a festival tour. So we just did it.
DRE: I heard you are working on a DVD for 1991: The Year Punk Broke.
DM: Yeah I sort of completed it this year. I went back to all the rough footage which I havent seen since 1992. I only filmed for two weeks during that short tour so I only had nine hours of footage to make a 99 minute film. In my mind I would go through the rough footage to put on the DVD as extras but I found all these amazing scenes that I should have put in the film in the first place. So I edited it all together and was blown away by how it came together. It was a 42 minute piece that I thought was as strong as or even stronger than the movie itself. Its just a case of looking at something in hindsight especially the Kurt Cobain footage because there is some very eerie and creepy foreboding signs of Cobains demise. I hope to release the DVD next year.
DRE: Do you still talk to any of these bands?
DM: Yeah Ive always maintained a professional and personal relationship with Sonic Youth. This year I directed a video for their song I Love You Golden Blue off their latest record. Once in a while I run into [Krist] Novoselic and I was riding my bike not too long ago and [Dave] Grohl pulled up in his SUV calling my name.
DRE: What do all those guys think of 1991: The Year Punk Broke?
DM: I know Kurt loved the movie. The film caught them at an innocent moment before they became really popular. There are inklings in the film of what happened with Nirvanas success. But mostly everyone on the tour was having a good time and I think that comes across in the film.
DRE: Besides the Sonic Youth video have you done many others lately?
DM: Some but Ive mostly done short films. Ive been making those since I was 13 years old. I am completely self taught with films and its something that Ive always been into. In the 90s I did a lot of music videos for major labels. That was when things were booming but now Ive gone back to my humble beginnings of self producing and directing films. Ive also been doing a lot of work on the DVDs of my movies Lovedolls Superstar, Desperate Teenage Lovedolls and my short film collection.
DRE: The Slog Movie was your first movie involving punks.
DM: Yeah I started shooting that in June of 1981. That was when Los Angeles had an amazing boom happening with bands like Fear, Black Flag and the Circle Jerks. I was also in the band, Sin 34, at the same time so I was hanging out with a lot of bands and shooting home movie like footage. I would only show the footage at parties and things like that. The Slog Movie only first came out on DVD last year but its an amazing historic piece on LA and all the bands at the time.
DRE: How was doing commentary on Sonic Youths Corporate Ghosts DVD?
DM: It was a piece of cake. Lance Bangs came over to my place and recorded it.
DRE: Do you think there is real punk now?
DM: There are very few bands from the LA scene, other than Social Distortion and Bad Religion, that are actually still around. Those times defined what that music is. Obviously life happens and it moves on. I think everyone is punk where it counts, the heart and mind. For me punk rock is an aesthetic. It wasnt fashion. It was empowering and gave you the ability to put out records or make films or do anything I want. Thats pretty invaluable stuff especially for kids. Now we have the internet so you can make films or do a fanzine and people can get to it and see it. Obviously punk is a template now that I dont think will ever go away unlike heavy metal. I think punk rock as an ideal will still be around long after we are gone. I dont think things are the same then as they are now. Corporate control is stronger than ever. It may be more difficult now even though there is more potential for people seeing your stuff.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Markey has since gone on to direct dozens of music videos for a number of punk bands including Sonic Youth, fIREHOSE and Black Flag.
Get tickets for the tribute to Dave Markey here
Daniel Robert Epstein: How did the tribute at the Egyptian Theater come about?
Dave Markey: Ive been talking to one of the curators there, Chris D from the band Flesh Eaters, which was a seminal LA punk band from the 70s. He has wanted to do something with me for a long time. Finally this year I completed a couple of new things so I said we should go for it.
DRE: Have you ever had a tribute before?
DM: Yeah but I usually deal with the screenings directly so Im used to dealing with festivals and stuff. I think its different with the American Cinematheque because its a hallowed nod to my work. Its a big deal I guess.
DRE: Do you think its because documentaries and music documentaries are getting more attention than ever?
DM: Well yeah. Documentaries now, thanks to Michael Moore, are becoming legitimate so mass audiences are paying attention to them.
DRE: Did you see Metallica: Some Kind of Monster?
DM: I missed that one because Im waiting for the DVD. I dont get a lot of time to see movies.
DRE: How did 1991: The Year Punk Broke come together in the first place?
DM: I was going to do a documentary about the making of Sonic Youths first major label album, Goo. I was going to do this Sympathy for the Devil Godard thing with the band. Just a couple of weeks before that tour started I got a call from Thurston [Moore] and he asked me if I wanted to go to Europe with them and Nirvana on a festival tour. So we just did it.
DRE: I heard you are working on a DVD for 1991: The Year Punk Broke.
DM: Yeah I sort of completed it this year. I went back to all the rough footage which I havent seen since 1992. I only filmed for two weeks during that short tour so I only had nine hours of footage to make a 99 minute film. In my mind I would go through the rough footage to put on the DVD as extras but I found all these amazing scenes that I should have put in the film in the first place. So I edited it all together and was blown away by how it came together. It was a 42 minute piece that I thought was as strong as or even stronger than the movie itself. Its just a case of looking at something in hindsight especially the Kurt Cobain footage because there is some very eerie and creepy foreboding signs of Cobains demise. I hope to release the DVD next year.
DRE: Do you still talk to any of these bands?
DM: Yeah Ive always maintained a professional and personal relationship with Sonic Youth. This year I directed a video for their song I Love You Golden Blue off their latest record. Once in a while I run into [Krist] Novoselic and I was riding my bike not too long ago and [Dave] Grohl pulled up in his SUV calling my name.
DRE: What do all those guys think of 1991: The Year Punk Broke?
DM: I know Kurt loved the movie. The film caught them at an innocent moment before they became really popular. There are inklings in the film of what happened with Nirvanas success. But mostly everyone on the tour was having a good time and I think that comes across in the film.
DRE: Besides the Sonic Youth video have you done many others lately?
DM: Some but Ive mostly done short films. Ive been making those since I was 13 years old. I am completely self taught with films and its something that Ive always been into. In the 90s I did a lot of music videos for major labels. That was when things were booming but now Ive gone back to my humble beginnings of self producing and directing films. Ive also been doing a lot of work on the DVDs of my movies Lovedolls Superstar, Desperate Teenage Lovedolls and my short film collection.
DRE: The Slog Movie was your first movie involving punks.
DM: Yeah I started shooting that in June of 1981. That was when Los Angeles had an amazing boom happening with bands like Fear, Black Flag and the Circle Jerks. I was also in the band, Sin 34, at the same time so I was hanging out with a lot of bands and shooting home movie like footage. I would only show the footage at parties and things like that. The Slog Movie only first came out on DVD last year but its an amazing historic piece on LA and all the bands at the time.
DRE: How was doing commentary on Sonic Youths Corporate Ghosts DVD?
DM: It was a piece of cake. Lance Bangs came over to my place and recorded it.
DRE: Do you think there is real punk now?
DM: There are very few bands from the LA scene, other than Social Distortion and Bad Religion, that are actually still around. Those times defined what that music is. Obviously life happens and it moves on. I think everyone is punk where it counts, the heart and mind. For me punk rock is an aesthetic. It wasnt fashion. It was empowering and gave you the ability to put out records or make films or do anything I want. Thats pretty invaluable stuff especially for kids. Now we have the internet so you can make films or do a fanzine and people can get to it and see it. Obviously punk is a template now that I dont think will ever go away unlike heavy metal. I think punk rock as an ideal will still be around long after we are gone. I dont think things are the same then as they are now. Corporate control is stronger than ever. It may be more difficult now even though there is more potential for people seeing your stuff.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
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AND
this movie punks (not rocks).