You’ve seen Kill Your Idols; you streamed I Need That Record on Netflix, checked out American Hardcore — not to mention the more specialized docs: your Kraftwerk segments on YouTube, your Flaming Lips, your Stephin Merritt. Never before, however, has anyone tried to encapsulate the past 30-40 years in music all in one film — until Brad Katz rose to the challenge with Just Gimme Indie Rock!: The Story of an Underground Uprising.
This behemoth undertaking aims to span wave after wave of American legends since the 80s, from obvious picks like Sonic Youth, Hüsker Dü, and Dinosaur Jr. to the current demigods of the so-called “indie” world (Arcade Fire, Fleet Foxes, Vampire Weekend). (A note: Canadians aside, the projected bands covered do also include a few Brits and non-Americans: Franz Ferdinand, The Vaselines, The Sugarcubes, just to name a few). Through interviews, concert footage, film and music video clips, and an as-of-yet incomprehensibly long soundtrack, Katz intends to “connect the dots” between these hundreds of potentially disjointed bands, extolling the underdogs and reaffirming Pavement and Weezer as megaliths of the 90s.
Of course, this didn’t all just happen right under your nose; production has yet to begin, and Just Gimme Indie Rock! is far from ready to hit the screen. True to the DIY ethic indie kids of yesterday and today inherently admire, Katz is relying on fan funding for the project, and has set up a Kickstarter account for that purpose. To get off the ground, the project requires $75,000 before August 23. Check out the pledges here, and make your own for the sake of Henry Rollins!
• Just Gimme Indie Rock!: http://www.indierockdoc.com