Brendan Toller

I Need That Record

By Christopher Duda
(SugarBuzz Toronto)

SugarBuzz Magazine

Every so often, a movie or documentary comes around that inspires intrigues and shed’s light on a subject that probably is not universally understood. “I Need That Record” is one of those. The Independent Record store has fallen on hard times due to many different social and economic reasoning’s. Once a meeting place for music hounds from every walk of life to consume, explore and share has given way to profit, greed and downloading. Brendan Toller illustrates through his documentary how and why we are losing these once viable Ma and Pa institutions. Having spent many years thumbing through dusty vinyl my viewpoints are much aligned with Brendan’s and others that appear in his film. Support your local record store before it is too late!!!!!!

What or whom initially planted the seed in your mind to create this documentary?

In the summer of 2006, my neighborhood record store, Record Express, closed shop. They were a New England chain of 13 that was whittled down to one by 2004. They had a few great years with that one flagship store and then the iPod hit. I had been reading about record store closures a lot in the press and they were so quick to blame downloading as the sole reason as to why over 3,000 stores had been shutting down. Just like the financial collapse or anything, really there is always a host of contributing factors. In this case, it was record company greed, corporatization of radio, corrupt legislation, the Telecommunications Act of 1996, CD prices, reduction of CD singles... All of which directly affected the music industry and in turn record stores. Certainly digital music is a factor but I thought all these other contributors should be investigated and brought to light.

Was this topic of interest to you on a personal level? Are you a record collector yourself?

Yes, I was heartbroken when Record Express closed. I couldn't walk by the old storefront for about a year and neither could Ian, the Record Express manager, one of the main characters in I Need That Record! Then I somehow found out it was becoming a tanning salon?!?!?! It was all too fitting to where I thought our society was starting to head. We have all this technology, the ability to find almost any record or anything we want and businesses and communities are starting to figure out the impact all this has on main street. We vote with our dollars and I hope more and more people start to realize that we create the spaces we live in. If you don't like big boxes, the best thing you can do is to not shop there if you can afford it.

I wouldn't consider myself a collector as I'm not obsessive about import singles, first pressings etc. etc. With that said I have about 400 records and 5,000 CDs with an extensive bootleg collection. I'm more just into finding good music.

How long from beginning to end did this documentary take to make?

It started when Record Express closed in the summer of 2006. That footage of Ian in the beginning breaking down the CD and vinyl racks was shot with a cheap digital camcorder by my father as I was in LA on an internship working on a new documentary The Hooping Life that is hitting festivals now. It's a doc about hula-hoops. Anyhow, In Fall of 2006 I asked Ian MacKaye for an interview after an Evens show. I was so nervous that he looked nervous for me. We set something up in January 2007 and then the ball just got rolling from there. The true producing and editing took place my final year at Hampshire College for my senior thesis. Therefore, from September 2007 to May 2008 it was 9am-3am craziness. I'd never make a film like that again, but it was an incredible experience. Filmmaking is a struggle. There's so many elements to deal with and somehow I was able to keep my energy level high and my spirits up. I would hope viewers sense that energy level in the film and the amount of heart. I've seen it a ton in front of many audiences and I still tear up sometimes at the end.

What was the biggest hurdle in getting this documentary released?

Probably figuring out how I was going to get it into stores and available to the masses. Nevertheless, the fine folks at MVD expressed interest on the recommendation of Brendan Carney. Many distributors aren't taking chances on docs like this that didn't get into Sundance or SXSW. On the other hand, this has played at over 30 international film festivals so I think it has a good amount of cred. I mean it beat out Jimmy Page's "It Might Get Loud" for the audience award at Melbourne International Film Festival. I never thought I'd beat Jimmy Page at anything. However, MVD has done a great job releasing it in time for Record Store Day. In NYC I couldn't find it anywhere by 1230. Each employee would be like "Well we had 10 of them here just a minute ago." It’s great.

How was it decided who would appear in this documentary and was there anyone you would of liked to include that were not available?

I made a list of people who I wanted to contact and it’s funny to look at that list now because I got more than half. Incredible for someone like me who had absolutely NO industry connections whatsoever. It was mostly done through Myspace and asking other interview subjects whom I should talk to next. I would have loved to get Iggy Pop- I went by the old store he used to work at in Michigan where legend has it he met the Asheton brothers and wham, The Stooges was born. There was also Downtown Music in NYC. They were about to be forced out by a greedy landlord that wanted to put a bar in place of their space. One of my advisors at Hampshire, sax man Marty Ehrlich was in close contact with these people because it was a huge jazz establishment in New York. For my last meeting Marty said 'Well I'll leave you on this note. A month before Downtown Music was about to move out Anthony Braxton, who is a professor (besides being an awesome musician) - he doesn't make a ton of money, wrote them a check and said we need you people here, you are crucially important. You can start a fund to save the store in my name if you need to but I want you guys to remain here." I would have loved to get that story on film but I'm happy with the list of interviewees I got. I would have loved to get someone from Best Buy, Wal-Mart, iTunes, or the major labels to discuss my talking points but it was the same run around. Hold please sir, then click, hang-up.

Who was involved in all aspects of this documentary besides yourself i.e.-animation and collection of film clips and statistics?

Stats was all me reading books for 3 months. I was averaging a book a day almost. I also edited the film so all the archival stuff is me as well. The amazing animation is by my friend and former boss Matt Newman. All hand cut, visually stimulating, and so precise. Keith Overton shepherded me round to NYC record stores since he saw info about my film on Myspace and had made a similar video about a closing dance/hip hop store (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myVqRhy5NNA). In addition, Jeff Slocum and Andrew Marino traveled cross-country with me to assist with sound, camera set up, emotional support and beer fueled craziness.

In hindsight, would there be anything you would do differently?

There is a section about MTV changing formats from playing videos to playing shows and veering away from music. I wish I had made the point that MTV was veering away from the music from its inception. It was more about image and money on the screen more so than it was about music. I mean I do think musician interviews and live performances on video are completely lost today and I miss them. One of the best things I thought I did over the years was the Election 2008: Artists Speak Out Series I did for Ecstatic Peace (can be found under "shorts" on brendantoller.com). There were so many experimental, noise and indie rockers willing to give their views on the election and I thought it was a great view into the political aspects of their work. Then again, everyone loves mystery I guess. However, so much of music reporting today is hype. There are very few artists willing to explain or promote radical ideas musically, artistically or by just plain speaking their mind. It all just seems to be ho-hum indie rock that sort of has a melody, sort of sounds like some old classic rock band etc. etc. I think the only mainstream artists worth paying attention to today are Drive-By Truckers and M.I.A. but maybe I need to start giving more new bands a chance and get my head out of The Complete Buddy Holley (Purple Chick), Big Star's new box, or Harry Smith's American Folk Anthology.

There was strong positive reaction to the initial release of the film. How has the reaction to the DVD release been and do you hope it will reach a wider audience?

People seem to really dig it. There are criticisms on my arguments or my visuals or my writing but that comes with the territory. You can't please everybody and whenever any artist tries to do that it sucks or ends up sounding or looking like Celine Dion or Britney Spears. I hope word of mouth and the press we've been getting really spreads it around because I've noticed people of all ages upwards of 13 really like it. I went to a film festival screening one night in a very remote part of Connecticut and walked into a room of four stuffy turtleneck-wearing people. I thought oh boy are they in for a treat they are not going to like this. They all ended up staying through the credits to talk more about the issues presented and it was a really fun time. Nevertheless, I think it is an important film regardless if you like record stores a lot. It really is a comment on where our society is headed on a whole and the choices we need to make and the fights we need to fight.

Are you currently working on a new project?

Chris get ready to pee your pants... Mine have been soiled for sometime. I'm working on a posthumous archival, documentary film and book project on rock legend/cultural hell raiser Danny Fields with rock writer Justin Skrakowski. Danny is responsible for bringing the Ramones, Stooges, MC5, Nico, David Peel, The Doors, Janis Joplin, Modern Lovers and that John Lennon "bigger than Jesus" quote to our consciousness. It is an incredible vantage point for rock n roll history. I absolutely love working on every minute of it. It’s going to be a great story.

What is your top 10 LP’s in your collection?

Guided By Voices, Bee Thousand
Rolling Stones, Exile On Main Street
Derek & the Dominos, Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs
Paul Westerberg, Stereo/Mono
Stooges, Funhouse

Have you had the opportunity to see Alan Zweig’s “Vinyl” and what were your overall reactions to this film?

That film needs a DVD release! I am guessing its licensing issues that are holding it back which is some of the usual bullshit filmmakers have to deal with. I mean imagine having to pay for certain words that you use as a writer. However, thankfully I was able to torrent it a while back. There are some crazy collectors in there. It is up there with Spinal Tap, which is one of my all time favs.

Did you travel to most of the film festivals?

Many film festivals are all about the money. You pay to submit to have your film "considered." Then they screen your film for free. Of course, there is potential for great exposure and press- worth a gamble. Nevertheless, rarely do fests pay for artists or filmmakers to come to the screenings anymore, which is a shame for the audience and a terrible practice for the film festivals. A film festival should be a celebration of unique work with the filmmakers in tow. Having said that I was able to attend about one third of the fests. Maybe next time around I'll be put up more often.

Thanks!!!

Brendan

www.ineedthatrecord.com/Site/I_Need_That_Record_on_DVD.html

www.brendantoller.com/home/Brendan_Toller.html

http://mvdb2b.com/b2b/

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