Wednesday, February 16, 2005

"We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen"

A while back, I wrote that I wondered if teenagers today know anything about the Minutemen. Well, according to billboard.com, the kids will soon be able to learn all about the band in an upcoming documentary:

Welcome to the Minutemen's world from their birth in 1980 through singer/guitarist D. Boon's tragic death in 1985, a tenure chronicled in the new documentary, "We Jam Econo -- The Story of the Minutemen."

The impetus for the film came when fans Tim Irwin (director) and Keith Schieron (producer) got in contact with ex-Minutemen bassist Mike Watt via his Web site. "They just wrote me an e-mail [and] started talking about it slowly," Watt tells Billboard.com. "I was a little cautious. You wonder about people's motivations for doing anything. But I just felt sincerity from them."

Watt's instincts proved correct, as Irwin and Schieron have put together quite a film. The pair tracked down previously unseen live performances and conducted interviews with band members Watt and drummer George Hurley, as well as Henry Rollins, X's John Doe, Fugazi's Ian MacKaye, the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea and Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore, among others. "They even talked to my ma, which was kind of trippy," Watt says with a laugh.
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Right before d. boon died (when I was the teenager), the Minutemen opened for R.E.M. in Columbia. I was just a bit too young to go, and I have always lamented that missed opportunity. They are one of those bands that I revere but don't listen to that much. I wonder why that is? Must be all the regret and sadness.

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