See Hear Podcast Episode 103 - Coal Miner's Daughter

 

Biopics about contemporary musicians have been a very common thing in cinema, particularly over the last 40 to 50 years. As we've often discussed on the show, they often follow a familiar pattern – a grocery list, if you will, with all the known high and low points of the subject's life story the audience expects. However, before there was a glutton of such movies, there were a few that had no rules to follow so relied more on character study than cherry picking from 40 years of history.

Welcome to episode 103 of See Hear Podcast.

Kerry has made her first film selection for the show. It's the 1980 film about country singer Loretta Lynn, Coal Miner's Daughter. During the 1960s and 1970s era when it wasn't the done thing, Lynn wrote her own songs. When it wasn't the done thing, her songs were about being a strong woman who took no nonsense. Of course, life is never as simple as that. She also had to contend with her husband “Doolittle” Lynn who was part supporter / part tormentor. The film charts their relationship as well as her friendship with Patsy Cline, her family in a tiny town in Kentucky, and life as a highly loved singer. Yes, all these are talking points for most biopics, but this one tends to look more at Lynn's state of mind and her growth from shy youth to someone with self belief.

Our beloved Tim Merrill is back for his first show in nearly a year. The See Hear crew is a trio again. Tune in as we talk about our origins with country music, thoughts on the film, a scene I believe should have been in the film (my own shopping list check box, if you will), and Tim's suggestion on how Stephen King would have ended the film.

If you’ve been enjoying the show, please consider giving us a favourable review on iTunes and let your friends know that our show exists. If you don't enjoy the show, tell your adversaries to tune in. We don't care who listens.....

See Hear is proudly part of the Pantheon Network of music podcasts. Check out all the other wonderful shows at http://pantheonpodcasts.com

Send us feedback via email at seehearpodcast@gmail.com

Join the Facebook group at http://facebook.com/groups/seehearpodcast

You can download the show by searching for See Hear on whatever podcast app you favour.

Download episode 103 of See Hear from here.

See Hear Podcast Episode 102 - Tender Mercies

 

After a hiatus of several months, See Hear podcast is back to fill your earholes with discussion of music-centric films and interviews with directors of such films.

For episode 102, the focus is on Tender Mercies, the 1983 film starring Robert Duvall about an ex country singer who's trying to find some semblance of normality after an existence of alcoholism, music industry ego and domestic violence. It's a theme that's been tackled before in a myriad of films, but as the saying goes, the devil is in the detail. It's written by Horton Foote (script writer for To Kill a Mockingbird) and directed by Bruce Beresford, a director previously known more for his films about Australian machismo than the sensitive, quiet subject matter that pervades Tender Mercies.

Tim is still on break (coming back soon I'm assured). This film was Bernie's pick but was also not available to record. Sadly, after this recording, he informed me that he's leaving the show. I'm going to miss his input.

So onto the good news. Friend of the show Kerry Gately Fristoe was recruited for this episode as special guest, but had so much fun that she will now be a permanent member of the See Hear crew. I'm absolutely thrilled she's agreed to join. This episode isn't her debut with the show, but it is the start of a new era of See Hear. Please tune in and giver her a warm welcome.

WE'RE BACK!!!!!! Spread the word.....please.....

If you’ve been enjoying the show, please consider giving us a favourable review on iTunes and let your friends know that our show exists. If you don't enjoy the show, tell your adversaries to tune in. We don't care who listens.....

See Hear is proudly part of the Pantheon Network of music podcasts. Check out all the other wonderful shows at http://pantheonpodcasts.com

Send us feedback via email at seehearpodcast@gmail.com

Join the Facebook group at http://facebook.com/groups/seehearpodcast

You can download the show by searching for See Hear on whatever podcast app you favour.

Download episode 102 of See Hear from here.

See Hear Podcast Episode 101 - Interview with Amit Itzcar, director of "Furious And Fast: The Story of Fast Music And The Patiphone"

 

I'm lucky to live in a town with a great music scene. Notwithstanding the tough times that both bands and venue operators are facing in the wake of the pandemic (and the rip-off merchants who believe that their bottom line is more important than paying musicians a living wage), Melbourne has always had a healthy music culture as do many cities around the world. I'm talking about cities where music venues are plentiful, bands are playing all week, and punters with a myriad of tastes can find something to please them.

One of those cities is Tel Aviv.

Welcome to episode 101 of See Hear Podcast.

Tim is still away and Bernie was running the Rock 'n' Roll Jumble Market, but I had the company of Israeli director Amit Itzcar. He has directed a great documentary called "Furious And Fast: The Story of Fast Music And The Patiphone”. On one level it is a film about an independent record label (Fast Music) in the late 90s to the early 2000s. This was a time when there were nearly no such thing in Israel. Linked to this label was a club on the wrong side of the track in Tel Aviv that was home to many garage and punk bands. Some achieved worldwide fandom....some just got gigs at the club. I had to pose a question about musician Ami Shalev whose wild behaviour made me think of another musician we've discussed on the show....

On another level, the film is about the friendship of Amir Schorr and Jango – musicians both who started the label and the club after realising they didn't like the control of the major labels. A familiar tale in your music-loving city?

Amit and I spend time talking about the bands, the making of the film, and his “day job” at Tel Aviv Cinematheque....and his role in a number of video clips for the duo, Lo (Hebrew for “no”). Even if you haven't seen the film yet, I think there's plenty here you can enjoy about the discussion.

I send my gratitude to Yaniv Eidelstein who suggested this film to me, and who was responsible for the English subtitles for the film. Keep an eye out for it on the film festival circuit and hopefully, it won't be too long before it gets a VOD release.

You can listen to many of the Fast Music roster of artists in Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOQtVFukqZ_yD6vU8CuvSbQ/videos (the records are almost impossible to get a hold of nowadays).

You can watch the video clips Amit appears in for Lo at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrg3nKVmQ_TlBOgJoNF36-g

….and just for the fun of it, here's a Q & A at Cinematheque with Henry Winkler that Amit tried to moderate.....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfBlmVtIx54&t=2377s

You can keep up to date with when the film gets a screening near you at https://www.facebook.com/amitzcar

If you’ve been enjoying the show, please consider giving us a favourable review on iTunes and let your friends know that our show exists. If you don't enjoy the show, tell your adversaries to tune in. We don't care who listens.....

See Hear is proudly part of the Pantheon Network of music podcasts. Check out all the other wonderful shows at http://pantheonpodcasts.com

Send us feedback via email at seehearpodcast@gmail.com

Join the Facebook group at http://facebook.com/groups/seehearpodcast

You can download the show by searching for See Hear on whatever podcast app you favour.

Download episode 101 from here.

See Hear Podcast Episode 100 - Amadeus

 

Back in January 2014, Wendi Freeman, Tim Merrill and myself started a monthly podcast to look at the world of films about music and musicians (or any tenuous link to that world). Occasionally, we would talk about musicals that weren't actually about music, cos rules were meant to be broken. From episode 2, fellow music and film fan, Bernard Stickwell joined the team, an See Hear was on its way. The first film discussed on the show was a documentary about a musical genius who was just not appreciated by the wider population.....actually, naaaahhh.....we discussed Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies.

We are truly happy 8 and a half years later to say Welcome to Episode 100 of See Hear Podcast.

If you're gonna commemorate a milestone, you have to go BIG. Bernie and I planned a discussion of a BIG film with two of the giants of the podcasting world. We look at Milos Forman's celebrated 1984 film, Amadeus with our great friends, Mike White of The Projection Booth (and quite a few other podcasts) and Will Smith of The Gentlemen's Guide To Midnite Cinema.

The film brought saw Forman return to Czechoslovakia. He hadn't been back following the Warsaw Pact Invasion of 1968. He'd already made some wonderful cinema as part of the Czech New Wave, but headed to America to continue to make films that made him known the world over. Much of his catalogue of films focused on stories showing the common man trying to overcome oppression by the state / corporation / aristocracy. In Amadeus, we get the story from the perspective of composer Antonio Salieri (brilliantly played by F. Murray Abraham) of how he set out to ruin Woilfgang Amadeus Mozart (a magnificent performance from Tom Hulce) because he was insanely and irrationally jealous of his ability to create perfect art.

Mike, Will, Bernie and I take the time to discuss classical music, the working class, religion, oppression by the state, diagetic vs non diagetic music, arrogance, jealousy, farting and playing too many notes.

Bernie and I are grateful to our great friends, Will and Mike for agreeing to add some class to our little show by bringing some wonderful conversation to the mix....and we nearly get away with no references to that Falco song....

You can hear Will along with his partner Sam U. Rai on The Gentlemen's Guide To Midnite Cinema at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-gentlemens-guide-to-midnite-cinema/id291696146...They've been bringing class to the trash since 1977.

Mike has several podcasts you should hear (we talk about them all), but the flagship is The Projection Booth which you can check out at https://www.projectionboothpodcast.com/ Check out what he does and discover why he is the James Brown of podcasting.

Huge thanks go to our partner in crime still on sabbatical, Tim Merrill. We look forward to your return to the show sooner than later. We're saving Rattle and Hum for your return.

If you’ve been enjoying the show, please consider giving us a favourable review on iTunes and let your friends know that our show exists. If you don't enjoy the show, tell your adversaries to tune in. We don't care who listens.....

 See Hear is proudly part of the Pantheon Network of music podcasts. Check out all the other wonderful shows at http://pantheonpodcasts.com.

 Send us feedback via email at seehearpodcast@gmail.com.

 Join the Facebook group at http://facebook.com/groups/seehearpodcast

You can find our Instagram page by searching for @seehearmusicandfilm

You can download the show by searching for See Hear on whatever podcast app you favour.

Download episode 100 from here.

See Hear Podcast Episode 99 - Interview with Kevin Hosmann, director of "The Album"

 

We're so used to the idea of art being hung in museums or on our walls, that we forget that we have may have hundreds or thousands of pieces of art hiding in plain sight – on shelves in our record or CD collections.

Welcome to episode 99 of See Hear Podcast.

Anytime you go exploring through your local record or CD store, before you even hear the music, the potential to draw you to an album you're unfamiliar with is the cover art. They can be futuristic paintings, posed photos, extravagant, plain, in questionable taste, exciting or dull. The designer is the person the musicians have entrusted to be the gateway to their own work.

Kevin Hosmann is an album cover designer and first time film maker. He has released a documentary paying tribute to his colleagues in the design profession. He speaks to a lot of them, many who have designed many iconic covers over the course of popular music history, and many who have just designed functional covers. The film explores their experiences and the history of this artform. Does the cover art always say something about the music? How much does an album's iconic status relate to the front (or rear) cover? How have things changed in the streaming age?

Kevin's film is a fascinating exploration into a side of the music business we don't always consider, but is hugely important. Bernie and I were fascinated hearing him talk about his own experiences as a cover designer (Beastie Boys, Ice Cube) as well as telling stories about giants in the field like Reid Miles, Roger Dean and Tom Wilkes. Tune in, then watch the film – you'll be very entertained,

The film is streaming on Prime or in England on Sky Arts International. You can keep up with album cover talk at the film's Facebook site: https://www.facebook.com/THE-ALBUM-1514923212059261/

If you’ve been enjoying the show, please consider giving us a favourable review on iTunes and let your friends know that our show exists. If you don't enjoy the show, tell your adversaries to tune in. We don't care who listens.....

NEXT MONTH IS EPISODE 100 OF SEE HEAR.....SPREAD THE WORD.

See Hear is proudly part of the Pantheon Network of music podcasts. Check out all the other wonderful shows at http://pantheonpodcasts.com.
 

Send us feedback via email at seehearpodcast@gmail.com.
 

Join the Facebook group at http://facebook.com/groups/seehearpodcast
 

You can download the show by searching for See Hear on whatever podcast app you favour.

Download episode 99 from here.

See Hear Podcast Episode 98 - Interview with Skizz Cyzyk about "Sound Mechanic"

 

When you were a kid, did your parents ever ask you to do your Wiggler practice? How about getting to your room and playing your Vibrowheels? Surely there were repercussions if you didn't practice your Melocipede????
 

Welcome to episode 98 of See Hear Podcast.
 

Neil Feather is a creator of musical instruments (such as the ones listed above), and a firm believer in playing experimental music. He doesn't play with the existing 12-tone system predominant in Western music. Film maker and friend of the show Skizz Cyzyk has created a documentary about Neil showing his creative process in building his instruments, how he uses them, the connection between science, engineering and art, and how he collaborates with other musicians. This is no dry history doc with talking heads describing how Neil “changed their lives”. This is about what Neil has actually done and what he further wants to achieve, and is absorbing.
 

Bernie and I were joined by Mike White of The Projection Booth (and a gazillion other shows) to talk with Skizz about Neil and his creative process. We learned lots, and we hope you will too.
 

Skizz is currently doing individual screenings of the film, so keep your eyes posted, but here's the trailer: https://vimeo.com/520019005
 

You can keep up with Skizz' activities at http://www.skizz.net/
 

Mike is always adding new podcasts to his swag, but the flagship show, The Projection Booth has details here: https://www.projectionboothpodcast.com/
 

If you’ve been enjoying the show, please consider giving us a favourable review on iTunes and let your friends know that our show exists. If you don't enjoy the show, tell your adversaries to tune in. We don't care who listens.....
 

See Hear is proudly part of the Pantheon Network of music podcasts. Check out all the other wonderful shows at http://pantheonpodcasts.com.
 

Send us feedback via email at seehearpodcast@gmail.com.
 

Join the Facebook group at http://facebook.com/groups/seehearpodcast
 

You can download the show by searching for See Hear on whatever podcast app you favour.

Download episode 98 from here.

Proudly Pantheon.

See Hear Podcast Episode 97 - Interview with Brent Wilson, director of Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road

 

The story of Brian Wilson has been heavily documented through literature and film. There are a couple of perspectives that continuously get focus:

• Brian's brilliance as songwriter and harmony arranger.

• His troubled life and mental breakdown through the abuse of his jealous father Murry Wilson, the smothering treatment of status seeking psychiatrist Eugene Landy, and the questioning of his musical ambitions by the Beach Boys (well.....Mike Love) when he wanted to go beyond girls and cars as subject matter.

Do we need another film about Brian Wilson?

Welcome to episode 97 of See Hear Podcast.

We welcome back to the show director Brent (No Relation) Wilson. Previously, he'd been on the show discussing his excellent documentary on Doo Wop, “Streetlight Harmonies”. This time around he joins myself and Bernie to talk about his new film “Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road”.

Much of the film is of Brian in conversation with close friend and former Rolling Stone magazine editor, Jason Fine. The two drive around Los Angeles and use various locations to trigger Brian's memory about his past – personal and creative. Because much of this film features stories directly from Wilson himself (a notoriously reluctant talker), this film is very important. He opens up in a way he hasn't for many years – the information still comes out in small drops, but we see more of who he is via the manner of these conversations, as much as what is being said....for that reason alone, we needed another film about Brian Wilson.

Brent talks to us about his passion for all things Beach Boys from an early age (when it was desperately uncool), the “hippocratic oath” he and Jason took, how Brian works with his band in the studio (and the love he inspires), and much more. Oh.....and he tells a story about something Brian said to Bono of U2.....now THAT has to be a first for See Hear.

Bernie and I are hugely grateful to Brent for sharing his time, enthusiasm and stories with us. He's promised us to come back on a future show just to yak about a favourite music film round-table style.

“Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road” is available on the usual streaming platforms like Prime (in the US), YouTube, Apple Tv, iTunes and Google Play.

If you’ve been enjoying the show, please consider giving us a favourable review on iTunes and let your friends know that our show exists. If you don't enjoy the show, tell your adversaries to tune in. We don't care who listens.....

See Hear is proudly part of the Pantheon Network of music podcasts. Check out all the other wonderful shows at http://pantheonpodcasts.com.

Send us feedback via email at seehearpodcast@gmail.com

Join the Facebook group at http://facebook.com/groups/seehearpodcast

Check out the Instagram page at www.instagram.com/seehearpodcast/?hl=en

You can download the show by searching for See Hear on whatever podcast app you favour.

Download episode 97 from here.