Director Ondi Timorer on the best music doc for years - DiG!, which charts the passive-aggressive relationship between rock rivals the Dandy Warhols and Brian Jonestown Massacre
UNCUT: We know The Dandy Warhols sell records, but are The Brian Jonestown Massacre bigger in the States than the UK?
TIMONER: No, not at all. They're not known anywhere! That's why I didn't expect anybody to care about this film. I was just trying to finish a project I started years ago. I thought maybe musicians would enjoy the videotape on their tour buses. I certainly didn't think it'd be in the Museum Of Modern Art film collection in New York. That's what's happened. It's pretty outrageous.
How did you first meet these bands?
I started with ten bands, who were on the verge of being signed, to see what happened when art and industry met. To look at contemporary artists' experiences. I came to realise that art and industry rely on each other, inevitably. And integrity can drop out in the balancing act. Then Anton said, from day one, that he was going to take over my documentary. I was like: Yeah, sure. But he and his band and The Dandys were such incredible characters. They weren't so much people as hyperboles of people. The Jonestowns would play an important music industry showcase and it'd be a fistfight pile-up by the fifth song. And that was just the first show of theirs I filmed! So I thought, y'know what? I can look at everything I want to with just these two bands. The Dandys were rock stars before anyone else called them rock stars. And they seemed more likely to go commercial - that is, to be able to play the game. They weren't sell-outs by any means - they just seemed more functional. And as the relationship between the two bands went South rather quickly, it became a better story. So I filmed them for seven years. All these fascinating people, living off the grid of society.
What was Anton's reaction to the film?
Very anti. But if he was for it, I'd have failed. He's anti-everything that he finds significant. So now I'm like the new Courtney to him; he's dogging me. Thing is it's hard for anyone to look back at several years of their life on film, because in yourself you remember it all so differently. Like most of us, Anton justifies his behaviour to himself. When he kicked the audience member in the head at that gig, he said - Ondi, thank God you filmed that! Now you can show the footage to the cops and prove that I was attacked first – exonerate me! He was in no state to understand how bad for his own interests that would have been. But I don't think he comes off as any kind of failure here - he's an anti-hero, an outlaw, and, for a lot of people now, a legend. His music as well as his personality is up there onscreen. He's seen some money from all this, which has helped him to see his son again, but I don't ever expect him to say thank you.
And Courtney's a happy bunny?
Courtney is.well, he's loaded, actually. He's buying his ranch in Oregon and he and The Dandys have built their alternative arts centre in Portland, The Odditorium. Maybe seven years from now I'll film them all again. But first I'm making a History Of Jamaican music, for Chris Blackwell, and some features. I'm so glad I saw this incredible mission and debunking of the rock'n'roll mystique through, even when I was horrified and brought to tears, because it simply had to see the light of day.
Interview by Chris Roberts
As a special competition to uncut.co.uk users we’ve got 10 t-shirts and 10 posters for DiG! to give away. Simply answer the question below.
All answers must be received by Monday, July 18.
UNCUT: We know The Dandy Warhols sell records, but are The Brian Jonestown Massacre bigger in the States than the UK?
TIMONER: No, not at all. They're not known anywhere! That's why I didn't expect anybody to care about this film. I was just trying to finish a project I started years ago. I thought maybe musicians would enjoy the videotape on their tour buses. I certainly didn't think it'd be in the Museum Of Modern Art film collection in New York. That's what's happened. It's pretty outrageous.
How did you first meet these bands?
I started with ten bands, who were on the verge of being signed, to see what happened when art and industry met. To look at contemporary artists' experiences. I came to realise that art and industry rely on each other, inevitably. And integrity can drop out in the balancing act. Then Anton said, from day one, that he was going to take over my documentary. I was like: Yeah, sure. But he and his band and The Dandys were such incredible characters. They weren't so much people as hyperboles of people. The Jonestowns would play an important music industry showcase and it'd be a fistfight pile-up by the fifth song. And that was just the first show of theirs I filmed! So I thought, y'know what? I can look at everything I want to with just these two bands. The Dandys were rock stars before anyone else called them rock stars. And they seemed more likely to go commercial - that is, to be able to play the game. They weren't sell-outs by any means - they just seemed more functional. And as the relationship between the two bands went South rather quickly, it became a better story. So I filmed them for seven years. All these fascinating people, living off the grid of society.
What was Anton's reaction to the film?
Very anti. But if he was for it, I'd have failed. He's anti-everything that he finds significant. So now I'm like the new Courtney to him; he's dogging me. Thing is it's hard for anyone to look back at several years of their life on film, because in yourself you remember it all so differently. Like most of us, Anton justifies his behaviour to himself. When he kicked the audience member in the head at that gig, he said - Ondi, thank God you filmed that! Now you can show the footage to the cops and prove that I was attacked first – exonerate me! He was in no state to understand how bad for his own interests that would have been. But I don't think he comes off as any kind of failure here - he's an anti-hero, an outlaw, and, for a lot of people now, a legend. His music as well as his personality is up there onscreen. He's seen some money from all this, which has helped him to see his son again, but I don't ever expect him to say thank you.
And Courtney's a happy bunny?
Courtney is.well, he's loaded, actually. He's buying his ranch in Oregon and he and The Dandys have built their alternative arts centre in Portland, The Odditorium. Maybe seven years from now I'll film them all again. But first I'm making a History Of Jamaican music, for Chris Blackwell, and some features. I'm so glad I saw this incredible mission and debunking of the rock'n'roll mystique through, even when I was horrified and brought to tears, because it simply had to see the light of day.
Interview by Chris Roberts
As a special competition to uncut.co.uk users we’ve got 10 t-shirts and 10 posters for DiG! to give away. Simply answer the question below.
All answers must be received by Monday, July 18.
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