Creo que nunca he visto un documental así. Ya no te hablo sólo de documentales de música, me refiero a documentales en general. Lo que ha hecho Clyde Peterson es una obra de arte visual. El como cuenta la historia de la banda a través de la propia trayectoria de los músicos que han pasado por la banda en todos estos años, la fotografía, la manera de grabar, las cámaras que ha usado, el grano de la imagen, el color… todo es tan arty que como Kim Gordon vea esto, seguro que contrata a Clyde para su próximo proyecto, a no ser que Sofia Coppola la vea antes y se la robe!
Bromas aparte, disfruten de esta maravilla que estará próximamente en sus plataformas, en serio. Nosotros tuvimos la suerte de ver su estreno en España hace semanas en Moments de Madrid y de Malaga. En Madrid fuimos muy afortunados además de contar con Richey Beckett de anfitrión, el artista que ha diseñado el cartel de la película, el cual te mostramos en esta entrevista con Clyde, su directora.
Hello Clyde, tell us a little about your work, what do you do? Where does your passion for music, cinema… come from?
I grew up in the Pacific Northwest in Seattle during the early years of the Riot Grrl and indie rock movements, on the tail end of Grunge. Coming of age in that environment had a tremendous impact on my interests. Like many of my peers, I work in several mediums, exploring ideas through varied sights and sounds. I build large scale installations out of cardboard, make films, experiment a lot with animation and make music. I grew up with a very cool hippie dad who encouraged me to explore the world of the arts.
Why an Earth film and not another one? And why that title of the film?
This is my second feature film. My first was called Torrey Pines and is an autobiographical stop motion movie. I make films about what I know and have experienced because it comes from a deeper understanding, rather than a surface level interpretation. Dylan and I debated several Earth song titles for the film, but in the end, Even Hell has its Heroes seemed to capture the feeling of Earth best.
You have worked previously with the band, tell us how did you know them and what works did you do with them afterwards? And any anecdotes , touring, music, recording… please… : )
I had been on several tours with Steve Moore who played in my band and a few other bands I worked for. He mentioned that Earth needed a manager for the upcoming Bee’s made Honey album and I began to work for them. I mostly worked from home but did go on a few shorter tours with the band. Tour with Earth is long drives, cigarette breaks, petting cats at gas stations, taking naps in the van and periodically waking up to share hilarious stories about the old days… It’s pretty gentle these days.
How did this story come to you, had you been thinking about it for a long time…? did they propose it to you or was it something that you came up with…?
After a few years of working for them, Dylan was very sick and I was worried he would die. I realized I was in a position of trust with them and that we could make something special and original and give them a chance to tell their own story, free of exploitation.
It has happened to many of us that because of the age difference, when these Earth albums are published, we are around 12-13 years old… and the name of Earth sounds familiar to us from magazines, radio, internet… But being kids, it seems that their music has not reached us yet in the early 90’s. How did you get to know Earth’s music (not the band, first time to connect with that music-songs)?
I did not know Earth’s music until I worked for them. I was more into indie rock at the time and I learned alot about music from them. I loved going on tour with them and getting to hear them play every night.
what do you think has been the period in which Earth has had more repercussion as a group, in sales, attendance of public to the concerts, etc…?
I think everyone in the Earth family agrees that The Bee’s Made Honey in the Lion’s Skull was a big breakthrough time for them in conjunction with teaming up with Randall Dunn to make albums.
What was Dylan doing before he started earth?
He was in high school and learning how to play guitar.
Where did you record those dreamy images? Why there? What do you want to tell us?
We filmed all over the Northwest in the United States. I went on tour with the band a few times on the West Coast and throughout the Southwest. One of my favorite places that we filmed was at Rattlesnake Lake in the Cascade Mountains. It is near the fictional town of Twin Peaks.
What difficulties did you encounter in the realization of it?
Money. I paid for the film with my credit card and worked many ridiculous jobs to pay for the project. I had to say yes to every job for 5 years and film on the weekends with Earth.
The greatest joy for you of the documentary and maybe the hardest moment?
I always love running the camera. It is my favorite part, making decisions about each shot. Within that, making sure that the lighting is going to work is very important and sometimes challenging. Shooting on film leaves room for a lot of surprises, since you can’t see the film that you have shot for a few weeks.
What couldn’t you put in the film that you would have liked?
I wanted to film some magical realism scenes with all of the cats in the Earth family. Most members of Earth are fans of cats and I wish I could have captured on film these beautiful creatures.
What other musicians or artists or moments in Seville’s (maybe this is supposed to say Seattle?) recent history would you like to make a documentary about?
I would like to make a film about the Vancouver, BC band Mecca Normal. They are a band that has been around for about the same amount of time as Earth and were very early experimental punk musicians. I love their music and their politics.
Do members of the band from previous periods appear in the film?
There are about 20 band members in the film from throughout the years. I tried to interview every member of Earth but some were not available or interested in reliving the past.
I imagine that it will be the question that you will have been asked 500 times and the band too, what can you tell us about Kurt’s friendship with Dylan, musically? The tabloids don’t interest us, on the contrary, the beautiful thing about friendship, music and arts…
They shared a practice space for a time out behind the Alamo in Olympia with Slim Moon and Greg Babior. I can only presume that they influenced each other musically quite a bit since they all spent so much time together.
Did you listen to Nick Cave and put earth’s music in soundtracks?
I made a movie about them and made them create the soundtrack! But the band has done some soundtracking and wants to do more!
How do you see Seattle in the last years? Tell us about the reality of the city… how does all this technology affect the city, its people, its work, its life in short?
It’s expensive. Every artist who is working class has to have many jobs to pay rent. It’s depressing. There is not as much free time to create art and music. It is like that in many places now.
