People at the Core
From The Greenpoint Palace bar in Brooklyn, New York writers and bartenders, Rita and Marisa, have intimate conversations with an eclectic mix of people from all walks of life about their passions, paranoia and perspectives. Featured guests could be artists or authors, exterminators or private investigators, or the person sitting next to you at the bar.
People at the Core
A Plethora of Puppies: Filmmaker Chris Wells On How Making People Laugh Too Much Can Lead to Making Weird Shorts
What happens when a class clown with dyslexia finds his way into a TV production classroom? For filmmaker Chris Wells, it became the moment that changed everything.
In this candid conversation from Greenpoint Palace Bar in Brooklyn, Chris reveals how being kicked out of Spanish class in 10th grade led to an unexpected invitation that would transform his life. "It was one of the first times I ever felt smart," he shares, describing how filmmaking gave him a creative outlet after years of struggling with traditional academics. His story is a powerful reminder of how finding your medium can completely transform your self-perception.
The conversation delves into the creative process itself - the inevitable self-doubt when viewing raw footage, the satisfaction of molding a project through editing, and the challenge of knowing when to declare something finished. Chris's insights on setting deadlines and creating accountability offer practical wisdom for anyone struggling to complete creative projects.
Throughout the episode, Chris's passion for supporting other artists shines through. From his upcoming "Weird Short Films" platform to documenting his 89-year-old mother's work with underrepresented artists, he exemplifies the philosophy that "a rising tide lifts all boats." His psychological thriller "The Luring" and quirky short films demonstrate his range as a filmmaker who embraces the weird and the unconventional.
Listen in as hosts Rita and Marissa explore the intersection of art, technology, and personal growth with a filmmaker who turned his outsider status into his greatest creative strength.
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From the Greenpoint Palace Bar in Brooklyn, new York, writers and bartenders Rita and Marissa have intimate conversations with an eclectic mix of people from all walks of life about their passions, paranoia and perspectives. Featured guests could be artists or authors, exterminators or private investigators, or the person sitting next to you at the bar. This is People at the Core.
Speaker 2:Hi, hello, how are you? I'm good. Yeah, you're so quiet today, am I? You're in your?
Speaker 3:whisper voice.
Speaker 2:Am I? Maybe it's because I'm wearing headphones now. Yeah, I think so, that I am conscious of the sound of my voice versus just shouting out into a room with our new equipment and mics, and that's very exciting. So still a little weird and new um, I can't hear anything, so it's just me floating around oh, it's like you know, like when you have earplugs in and people and you talk extra loud because you can't hear, I feel, because I hear myself, I'm talking quieter yeah anyway, are you gonna wear those the whole time?
Speaker 2:I don't have to.
Speaker 3:No, I think it's great. I think it's adorable it's a look.
Speaker 2:Maybe we'll put it in the back footage. Yeah, yeah um okay, so let's get, let's get rolling yeah okay, I uh. Actually our guest today slid into our ds.
Speaker 3:Oh, that's the first time.
Speaker 2:It's the first. Yeah for me, for me too. I did Google stock properly and he is legit. I'm pretty excited. He will talk about this short film that he sent along with this DM that I would like to deconstruct. But without further ado, let me introduce Christopher, aka Chris Wells.
Speaker 2:He's from New York. He's a New York-based filmmaker, writer, director, editor and producer whose body of work spans documentaries, psychological thrillers, dark comedies and experimental short films. He was adopted into a wonderful family in Glen Cove, long Island, by two artist parents. He is our second New Yorker on the pod. He discovered his own artistic passion filmmaking. That path began in an unusual way. After being kicked out of Spanish class in 10th grade for making the entire class, including the teacher, laugh too much, he was invited to observe a senior level TV production class. That early exposure helped him understand how to tell the story from behind and, at times, in front of the lens. It was one of the first times he ever felt smart. As a kid with dyslexia who struggled to fit in with grades, that seemed to serve as a constant reminder that he was different. Tv production gave him a space to flex his creative muscles and be recognized as a talented student instead of the kid with low grades. We received a very extensive bio and we'll talk about some of those points but, please welcome, chris.
Speaker 1:Hi Hola.
Speaker 4:How are you? I'm doing great, so you started at a pretty young age, huh?
Speaker 3:Knowing your direction at least, or what you're passionate about.
Speaker 4:I didn't know that. That was my direction. You know, as the bio says, I was a little bit of a class clown and making everyone laugh. And the teacher said look, I'll give you a passing grade, but you just have to roam the halls. You just can't be here. She knew I wasn't going to do anything stupid. Can't be here. She knew I wasn't going to do anything stupid. So I'm roaming the halls and Mr Ruckert, the TV production class teacher, saw me and he said do you want to sit in in the senior class?
Speaker 4:I was a sophomore at the time and so, observing this class for two years before I became a senior, it was amazing because I just absorbed all this information. And at the time, because I just absorbed all this information, and at the time some millionaire passed away but they gave all their money to the TV production unit or class. So they had blue screens, green screens, a full studio. I mean like it was insane, like the amount of equipment and the rest of the school couldn't touch that money. So every year they get new equipment and they're like the best of Long Island, wow.
Speaker 2:This is the absolute origin story of those special people, those adults in your young life who help you make those connections and facilitate actually doing something that's fantastic.
Speaker 4:Yeah, he took a risk. He thought it was kind of funny that I got kicked out of Spanish class. But yeah, if it wasn't for great teachers, where would we be? I mean, you know, and they don't get the accolades that they deserve, they don't get the funding that they deserve.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they don't get the pay they deserve. They don't get the funding they deserve, they just get podcast shout-outs.
Speaker 2:No, I mean it's crazy Good one.
Speaker 4:But yeah, it was a very interesting class because I learned all the basics and editing, shooting, writing a script, continuity. You know there's a difference between writing a script and then shooting that script because you're always constantly editing. So you become a better writer because you know it's going to work on camera. And when you learn that at an early age, especially a kid, I mean I felt stupid my whole life until I I was in that class because I thought, oh, I can tell these stories. I'm not stupid, you know, just because my spelling and my reading is, you know, cause I mix words together, you know, with dyslexialexia. But I can, I can tell a story. And and I didn't, I didn't know that because the rest of the school was telling me you're not worthy, you're stupid.
Speaker 4:Here's your. I remember I had one teacher who was when I was like in third grade. She had a color chart at the top was white, the middle was like kind of like this nice color, but below that was like this, like dingy color and the learning curve. And she goes you're here and I was in the dingy color, you're a doo-doo brown.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I was a doo-doo brown.
Speaker 4:That's so fanatic though, and so that I was in third grade, and so I remember like looking at that thinking.
Speaker 2:Third grade yeah, it's psychological and visual torture. Yes, oh my God.
Speaker 4:So I, you know, and I remember, when I then fast forward, I was at Towson State University. Before I went to school of visual arts, I had a teacher who told me well, not everyone's smart enough to be in college, so you know. So I went to SVA and I excelled, but like I've had, unfortunately, you know, some bad experiences, but luckily, if it wasn't for Mr Rert and mr cox at glencove high school, you know, I not that I'm like this, like a raving success or anything like that, but at least I know who I am and I have a passion and I love doing what I do so yeah, and that's a beautiful thing
Speaker 3:I mean you know, oh, that story I just I just that it's still that it still affects you you know what I mean, that you still remember that from third grade.
Speaker 4:Like that's crazy, you know I'm paranoid of reading aloud, because when you're dyslexic, you mix things up, and when you, when you have an audience, you get it, it worsens yeah, yeah, anticipation oh my god, you would hate our reading series then.
Speaker 3:But I mean say like for the reading series. I would just read in front of my dog over until I basically would have the piece memorized.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, but that's the only way you can really do it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I just hate reading things that I haven't read before if there's an audience, because my my anxiety, like you said, like I, I just can't and I fumble things and then then I go back to being a kid, being made fun of, being, you know, feeling stupid and and inadequate and uh, but I'm a writer, so go figure. So it's kind of weird, you know so go ahead.
Speaker 2:No, I was gonna say, like you're a filmmaker and filmmaker, you you create a lot of your own stuff. So does filmmaker. Is that the all-encompassing of directing, writing, producing, like does that hold it all? Or do you think of writing and filmmaking as separate?
Speaker 4:I guess that's a great question um well, you know it's in stages and when you're, when you're writing a script, you really have to have the hat of a screenwriter before you put the hat on as a producer, before you put the hat on as a director. Having said that, you also have to keep in mind of your budget. So you do have a little bit of your hat as a producer, because you can't write Godzilla. You know rooms.
Speaker 1:The helicopters?
Speaker 4:Yeah, you know, because you can't afford that, know Godzilla. You know rooms, yeah, you know, because you know you can't afford that, um, but yeah, I mean it's, it's. I basically call myself a filmmaker because it's all-encompassing. And a lot of filmmakers, you know, can relate because, because you don't, I'm usually don't have the budget where I can hire people to do other things. You know, I have to kind of do everything myself, and so you just have to do everything just to make it work and to make it happen. Otherwise you're relying on other people and they may not um be accessible, or or it may not just work out, um, but film is a collaborative experience, but now, with smartphones, you know, you can shoot stuff on your own and and I'm not talking about content, I'm talking about those were air quotes, by the way. I'm talking about.
Speaker 3:those were air quotes, by the way I'm talking about. You know narrative shorts or narrative? You know films? Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 4:You know, because I just shot a film for a friend of mine on my iPhone and it looks amazing, and so because I shot it in log, which gives you more color dynamics, it just basically it's sort of like equivalent when you shoot a photo in JPEG versus RAW. Okay, it kind of gives you like that color spectrum that just looks amazing, mm-hmm. And when you shoot professionally, the shooters or the DPs that shoot professionally, they shoot in log. Well, now, the iPhone can do that and other smartphones can do that. So it gives like filmmakers so much more other smartphones. So it gives like filmmakers so much more. It doesn't replace a camera like a, like a high-end camera, but it gives you at least options right?
Speaker 2:I know that apple does all of those like free workshops. Maybe I'll just sit in one of those.
Speaker 3:Well, I mean, for me it's like when you're talking it just reminds me of you. Know, it's just a new change in the genre, like you know, even as crazy as like. Did you ever read easy rider raging bull, you know?
Speaker 4:I've read the scripts actually, but like the well it was.
Speaker 3:The book based on the guys that came in and sort of redefined filmmaking right the spielberg, scorseses, you know, all those um guys that just came in and took over old hollywood with their cameras and just kind of doing this thing. You know, it sounds like it's just evolving again, which is a beautiful thing because it's less money, accessibility and you can access a lot of people, right I? I?
Speaker 4:really try to empower other filmmakers to make their short films, to do their projects, because we have the power to do it.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 4:And it's you know, I agree, I think you know, looking back at those older filmmakers that have done a feature film, like Roger Rodriguez did a film for like $10,000.
Speaker 1:And it's.
Speaker 4:You know you can. You don't have to have the top of the line red camera to make your film. You know you can do it with your phone, as long as you understand the restrictions of it. You take a box and you figure out how to jump outside that box, whether it be your budget, your camera, whatever it might be, the lack of talent that you have around you. Then maybe, instead of five roles, you narrow it down to three roles, three characters, let's say so you just have to kind of like mold it to make it fit and then, with that fit, you grow from that and you think beyond that yeah and and so.
Speaker 4:But it comes with experience too. I think the more you shoot and I'm talking again just narrative shorts or features the more you shoot, the more you know how to create within your limitations right, right.
Speaker 3:Well, I mean and we've seen it countless times right, I mean, think about as something like blair witch project right you know something that just came out with this minuscule budget and destroyed the film industry.
Speaker 2:It was awesome right, you know and remember everyone. No one knew if it was real. Yeah, I mean, I remember seeing it in theater and just being like what?
Speaker 3:the fuck, yeah, but I, I love to hear that that is still happening and evolving and you know that. I just hope you know people are kids, I mean. Another great example. You know I, we, I love film good, no you know, like I could do this all day. You know just these ideas of people just kind of like street street style filming, right, you know, doing it with what you have.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's crazy well, I think in our friend circle a lot of it comes from, like the skateboarding boys yeah, and then them filming each other and then taking it to the next level and throwing in some level of narration, making it a storyline, while they're also highlighting each other and like throwing in you know, crises or whatnot, which is pretty cool wasn't there an old film called gleaming the cube?
Speaker 4:oh yes, christian slater. Yeah, yeah, yeah totally.
Speaker 1:A hundred, yeah, blonde, bleach blonde, Christian Slater. Yes, oh yeah it was fantastic.
Speaker 3:It was around the time of.
Speaker 2:Legend of Billie Jean and like all that stuff.
Speaker 3:Pump up the volume.
Speaker 2:Pump up the.
Speaker 3:I know let's not get started on that. My love for Christian Slater.
Speaker 1:That was Anarchy Radio.
Speaker 3:That was when he had his own radio station in his basement.
Speaker 2:That was quite long. That just cost $20 to download or a shitty book.
Speaker 3:Oh God, I'm sure now, if you can even find it. But yes, Gleaming the Cube. So are you working on anything right now? Yeah, what's going on with you.
Speaker 4:I have a lot of projects that I have to edit. My mom, who's 89 years old. I did a lot of interviews with her. She was very much involved with the art community in Long Island and she was the director of the Discovery Art Gallery in Glen Cove and then she retired as the director of the Northport Historical Museum. So I grew up, you know, immersed in art. My father, before they got divorced, I mean, he's always been an artist, but he's since passed on. He was an art teacher, but anyway. So, like I've done a lot of interviews with her, what's remarkable and what I think that I think is so important, is that she was talking about how, as a gallery owner, she would take these artists that she thought were that had something to say but didn't have a lot of representation, and she believed in these artists and she would, you know, go out of her way to get press on these unknown or lesser known artists.
Speaker 4:That's amazing, yeah, and just that support system. And it's amazing to me because I think that's something that I feel is lacking when I talk to other people, because we live in a very me culture, it's all about me and as long as you give something to them, they're happy because we live in a very me culture.
Speaker 4:It's all about me, and as long as you give something to them, they're happy. And then it's like, okay, well, I thought we were going to do something for each other and I'm the type of person like I'll do it very quickly If you want me to review your film or whatever you want me to do, I'll do it. But then I have to then hunt them down to do it for me and, and I'm seeing, and I'm seeing that quite a bit, and and that's not how I was raised, that's not what I was, I I think a rising tide lifts all boats, but apparently, um, that's not the case with everyone and so, um, so, anyway, so like I, you know, I I shot a lot of stuff with her, um, so I'm, I'm in post with that. I, um, yeah, I'm looking forward to that because you did a.
Speaker 2:You did a, a film on your father who's a beautiful painter.
Speaker 4:I watched that, oh my god yeah gorgeous gorgeous, so personal projects yeah, personal projects I'm I'm also producing we're in the very beginning phases of of documentary about wilderness therapy, which I had no idea about. Basically it's a program where they take people that have certain addictions it could be anything from porn addiction to drug addiction, to cell phone addiction and mostly kids and they basically give them an environment where they're surrounded by nature, give them an environment where they're surrounded by nature and so they kind of like strip down all like the unnecessary peripherals and let them reconnect with nature. Now, unfortunately, there's been some negative press with that because, like anything, there's been negative stuff that's happened with that. But this documentary that I'm working on we want to kind of we're going to interview both the naysayers and the people that support it.
Speaker 4:But at the end of the day, when, when people are really addicted to something, especially with drugs, um, sometimes you need to really help them and and this seems to be a very successful route. You know, I had a brother who passed away, um with, he did an uh, an eight ball and he and he, um, you know, passed away and I knew that he would have excelled in this program because he was in the.
Speaker 4:Navy. Before he passed away he was going to get a dishonorable discharge. But my uncle, who was very high up like, worked at where he got an honorable discharge but unfortunately, like maybe like seven years after that, he um, yeah, he was stupid. He was, you know, doing major drugs and listen I I relate so hard.
Speaker 3:I have a younger brother who's a lifelong heroin addict and has tried everything you know and I remember you bring this up and I remember my parents talking about when he was young. You know, because he started at a very young age, you know 15, 16 years old and um, I remember them talking about either military school or you know these um confined environment, controlled confined environments. You know I've also seen a lot of horror movies based on this. Oh, yeah, oh yeah, but there's horror movies based on everything.
Speaker 3:But I'm so sorry and I feel everything that that feels like it's hard.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I directed a documentary about the Holocaust and I was at the Catalina Film Festival and I met this amazing person Mark is his name, who is actually the name of my brother, who passed, and he had a short film there and then, maybe like six months later, he reached out to me. I think I actually sent him a short film and he said hey, you know, we're doing this documentary. You know, would you, you know, want to maybe jump on? And and I just fell in love with everyone involved. Again, we're in the very beginning stages, but it's. But it's nice to have. I'm very used to doing everything myself. I'm not used to having people doing things and helping. Yeah, so it's nice. It's nice to have other people that are invested, that are really, you know, making certain calls or sending certain emails or finding certain things out, or whatever, and it's like, okay, this is, this is a little uncharted territory for me, because I'm I'm used to doing everything yeah, and it's you know so.
Speaker 4:So hopefully we'll raise the money for that and um, you know. But yeah, I'm working on other projects as well, you know well, because you, I mean.
Speaker 2:so this goes back. You started your own production company, yeah, and I think it's been over 20 years since you've been doing that now.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, I was working at the. I was a writer, producer, director for Cablevision. It was a fun job because I was doing these very low budget commercials for local businesses.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 4:And I remember I did this TV spot for a pet store and I remember when I wrote the script I said, because they had a lot of puppies, and I said you should say in the script that says a plethora of puppies. And the guy goes oh, no one's going to know what a plethora means. It's my favorite word.
Speaker 3:I know I love plethora. I love my favorite word.
Speaker 4:I know I love that word and and it's, and so we did two, and the one that had plethora of puppies that that one like did very well for them. Um, but in any event, like the, the whole process was you go into a local business, they have a very limited budget and you have to make shit shine. You have to write a fun commercial that's going to get eyeballs because these people are going to spend at least $15,000 on the air buy. And so that's how Cablevision hooked them. They didn't pay much for the commercial, they paid for the air buy. And so I had a client who said well, this internet thing is, you know, maybe I want something on the internet. So I went back to my boss and said we should do the internet. And she's like no, we just want to do this.
Speaker 3:So the client goes well, I do the internet and she's like no, we just want to do this, so the client goes well, I'll hire you on the side.
Speaker 2:So one client came to another and I started my own business. Oh my god, that's amazing. Yeah, that's awesome. You know, that kind of reminds me watching some of your stuff, your, your humor, um, reminds me a little I apologize, no rita loves. Uh, tim robinson. We both love Tim Robinson and and Nathan Felder and I feel like some of your stuff has that kind of like like uncomfortable, awkward humor.
Speaker 3:Where you're very awkward, I don't want to make eye contact, but I love I mean, but I love that so, like the short that you sent us hey, it's just Jim, I'm dying.
Speaker 2:It's this guy in a park with a paper bag on his head and he's like hey guys, I'm your best friend and it's so just simple and weird and wonderful. And then, like the Nathan Felder stuff when he would go into failing businesses, be like, hey, I'll come up with a new plan for you. And he's like, oh, you want a workout gym, Well, we'll combine a moving company. And people are like I'm paying $200 to move people's bodies.
Speaker 3:Dead, dead. So for me you're in that vein, and both Reid and I are tickled. We just had Tim Robinson film here, actually his new show.
Speaker 4:Oh, wow.
Speaker 3:The Chair Company, I'm plugging it. Oh nice that's great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it was awesome because I filmed here. That's great, yeah it was awesome With.
Speaker 3:HBO production, I mean.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But I will say, you know, when I was dealing with the production company, you know they were constantly telling me like look, just so you know. I know it says HBO, but we don't have Severance budget and we don't have the Last of Us budget. We have the guy kept saying this over and over to me.
Speaker 2:He's like we have high maintenance budget so think about that, you know, and he just kept saying that, not Oliver. I mean, he can get like planes and yeah, you know, they didn't have that and this is a huge star, so you know, you don't.
Speaker 3:You know, not everyone's going to get what tom cruise has oh god, I love just a fraction of that oh yeah, of course.
Speaker 4:I mean, we all would right for anything but you know, but having the money doesn't necessarily mean it's more creative agreed right, you know, because I've seen a lot of great I I I prefer low budget films because I love to see what can this filmmaker do with not much exactly and you know, I grew up watching clerks and brothers mcmullen you know, and it's like those kind of films were like I there's just something about them that.
Speaker 4:And then, unfortunately, hollywood's like oh, everyone seems to like these low budget into. They were just called independent films at the time yeah and independent meant you were low budget. Now it's like independent films could be like 10 million dollars, like wait, wait. That's not independent. You know what the hell is that?
Speaker 3:well, that was kind of the book that I brought up. The easy rider raging bull is how these young art school kids came in and they say in the book kind of metaphorically you know, that spielberg kind of ruined that art kid movie when he made jaws because it was the first blockbuster, right, it was the first movie that started to make so much money that that the studios were like, oh, we're going to get involved again, but before that, you know, they were making easy rider mean streets, I mean these are all things you know scorsorsese's mother would play in the roles.
Speaker 3:Hopper and Jack Nicholson were basically paid in cocaine to ride around on motorcycles, you know. So it's so true, but it's nice to see it coming back around a little. And we do have studios like A24 now that are kind of They've got the money money, but they also have that like vision independent, creative, not necessarily mainstream, focused on commercial kind of content yeah yeah, like everything everywhere.
Speaker 2:It was like the fucking hot dog fingers yeah, oh yeah. I know so many things, yeah, and and doing things with, with people who are not just white, yeah yes one of stories, but also just being cast yeah, yeah, right oh no, we just need a blonde. What, what? What about? This role says only a blonde person can play it like.
Speaker 3:So I appreciate some of the things that that they're doing yeah, as far as where their money is going right, I mean it's still a very uphill battle, I assume well, yeah, well, they're.
Speaker 4:They're dealing with budgets that are, you know, bigger than mine yeah but I mean it's nice to see um films that are a little bit more weird, because I I think people um want to see different content. They're kind of getting over the whole tropes and the predictability of these Hollywood movies and Hollywood studios. They just keep pushing them out because they know the formula works.
Speaker 2:It's the auto-tune. It's the auto-tune of storylines and you have 20 actors doing everything. I love Nicole Kidman, but why was she in like 10 movies last year?
Speaker 3:Because she said that she wanted to film with female directors.
Speaker 2:So she ended up doing like 18 out of. There's a lot of other talented women that could have been on the screen. Alright, let's not hate on.
Speaker 3:Nicole Kidman.
Speaker 2:Don't you fuck with Nicole Kidman. I'm not fucking with Nicole Kidman.
Speaker 3:The girl kid, no, oh, this is an ongoing battle because I love Tom Cruise more than anything.
Speaker 4:What's your favorite Tom Cruise movie?
Speaker 3:oh man, you know what's funny is I was just going through his like um IMDB, there's really not one I don't like that's. I mean Magnolia probably. But listen, I just saw mission impossible in the theater I loved it fantastic yeah, I loved it.
Speaker 3:Look, I know people hate on his religion and the do you? Know how many people slips into our conversations almost every episode. How many people have killed for the sake of christianity. Like, come on man. This guy jumped out of the airplane 60 times with a burning parachute murder versus tom crew I'm just saying that's like I, I, I just I think he's fantastic.
Speaker 3:I do blah, I mean outside, don't even get me started. But I was gonna ask you my favorite question, so top five, like if you had to movie wise top five of all time of it. I know it's really hard, isn't it okay? Or even just give me one or two I mean this is my favorite. This is my favorite topic I I mean like first thing that comes to mind that that is.
Speaker 4:That is a two-hour conversation, or?
Speaker 2:perhaps influential.
Speaker 4:Well, I can, I can go one of the films that I that I go back to is Dracula, the 1943, I think it was in 1943, with Bela Lugosi.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah.
Speaker 4:Because what happened was is that they were going from silent movies to now sound, and some of the directors they still had the silent movie mentality. So when you watch that film, there's a lot of silence, a lot of scenes where there's not much score going on, and I, for me, I think that's so amazing because I think that a lot of films now it's almost like there's too much sound. And so when you look at these older films, I mean I just came back from the Met right now, but I came back from the Met last night and they have three nights of showing old short films from the early 1900s and even late 1800s, mostly of silent films. So I love watching old films. And so Dracula, with Bela Lugosi first of all, I think he's such an amazing actor. I think all filmmakers really need to rewatch that film because it's so creepy, it's so great, it's so great, and as a kid I was so pissed off that he dies at the end.
Speaker 3:Spoiler alert.
Speaker 4:But it pissed me off because I love vampires, Growing up watching Christopher Lee playing all these vampires and it angered me that Dracula would always get killed at the end. I'm like what the fuck? He's the most interesting character, but that film in particular. I just think it's just so romantic and beautiful and just the pacing is incredible and Bela Lugosi is just so charismatic. That's just one, but you mentioned Jaws.
Speaker 4:I absolutely love Jaws. I think one thing that everyone should do take your best film or one of your best films and watch one of your favorite scenes without sound at all and look at the camera movement. Another film that's a favorite of mine is Days Confused by Richard Linklake.
Speaker 3:Oh, love it.
Speaker 4:And that film. If you watch it without sound, every setup, the camera is kind of moving and that film sort of pays homage to American graffiti.
Speaker 3:Yeah, agreed.
Speaker 4:Very similar. I mean there's so many.
Speaker 3:Oh, me too. I know I kind of opened Pandora's box because I'm the same way, Like don't get me started, Fitcher, I mean, and Bruges. You know I kind of opened Pandora's box because I'm the same way, Like don't get me started, Fitcher, I mean, and Bruges, you know just a few. Yeah, I mean we could talk, you know, but that's a great idea you know just the idea of watching it without oh yeah, and then we haven't even gotten into horror, right? Oh well, that's a whole other yeah.
Speaker 4:But yeah, I definitely think watching films that's one of the things that we did at School of Visual Arts, because it's a whole other you're watching, I mean, if you take your favorite scene and you strip it down from the sound and you just look at the camera and you start to notice things that you didn't notice before, so you then appreciate your favorite film even more, which is so cool, that's great yeah.
Speaker 2:I wrote a short screenplay. A friend who's starting a production company asked me she's like I like your writing. What about doing something? She's like just a short, because you want to start rolling out with a doc and a short, nice, and, and then covet hit and all of that. But I wrote it. I was like, well, I've had this idea, I have this vision or this visual and I can expand upon that and then build the story. But I'm very verbose. My dialogue I like kept having to pull it down and pull it down and then flipping the switch of thinking about the camera speaking and giving them tools in, in in the script to create this nonverbal story.
Speaker 2:And it just really was a great lesson for me, but I didn't think of watching something without sound and, yeah, I wholeheartedly agree that that would be a great exercise. Oh, definitely, but it just when you're thinking about the visual without using words, and how to convey that in a script with words like that was just like a really fun challenge, and I'm still learning.
Speaker 4:Everyone's still learning. You never stop, and that is a hard thing to do. How do I convey this message without dialogue?
Speaker 3:Can I?
Speaker 4:do it without dialogue. Can the person maybe tap his glass with the ring, making that sound of the ring clinking? Does that say something about the character that he doesn't have to say?
Speaker 2:Looking at a postcard, looking at a thing picking something up, save the cat picking up the gun from the purse. Well, Thelma and Louise, you told so much just by that gesture. But then I'm also a big Richard Linklater fan and I love just before sunrise and they're just fucking talking for two hours.
Speaker 3:Then you have the antithesis right. You have the Tarantino's or the Martin McDonagh's where it's like. So, based on conversation, you know that you're. You know, as a writer, I'm very drawn to that. It's the same way. I listen to music. You know I envy those people like my brother, who couldn't hear the music without the, the lyrics, and I'm the opposite, you know, like my, my, what I like is mostly based on lyrics you know, so, I think you can go both ways but that's what's beautiful about the art, and everyone has a propensity for one or the other, and if you are that lucky that you can do both, yeah.
Speaker 4:Slacker is another favorite. Oh yeah, I love that film because it's so quirky and the acting is so great and I don't think any of them were actors per se, but they're amazing.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:All these kids when they're like picked Rosario Dawson from gorgeous sitting on a stoop and they're like let's take you.
Speaker 3:I'm just fucking kidding, yeah, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so there's that certain rawness, and when people don't prepping and learning and studying, I think that there definitely is a place of being educated about whatever your craft is to learn from others and to not reinvent the wheel but, then there's a certain spark, when it's night or ignorance, and you're creating something and you don't know the rules and you don't know what you're not supposed to do or what is not the norm, and then you come up with these things and you're just like some of the most beautiful creations.
Speaker 4:Um yeah like ignorance is bliss kind of situation I was just about to say that when we were doing the Loring, that was my first narrative film feature and none of us knew much about distribution. And that's a major part of filmmaking and we didn't know a lot about a lot of things, because once you step into the realm of making feature films, it's just very different.
Speaker 2:It's a business.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's a business, and so you, um, you learn fast, you make a lot of mistakes, but you can't be too harsh on yourself because you know we all grow and you, you know the best thing is you just don't want to make the same mistake twice. But I mean, I think with all filmmakers, what they should do is don't be so hard on yourself. You're never going to know everything and there's always a leap of faith, yeah, and so, um, there's plenty of times when, like I'm making a film or whatever, and and I'm like, what the hell am I doing? I'm looking at my dailies. I'm like, oh, my god, I can't believe I, I, you know, when you're looking at your dailies, nothing is together, so it looks like shit you start to feel like, oh my god, like, yeah, I, I, I suck.
Speaker 4:But once you start editing it, it's like clay. Once you start molding it, you're like wow, this has really come together.
Speaker 2:But you always have those highs and lows as a filmmaker and it's very easy I think any creative endeavor, especially if you're making something for the outside world to read or to see or to consume, to listen to. It's that process of that creation and those bits and pieces that we are most judgmental. We have those moments of spark when you're like yes, it flows.
Speaker 1:And then you look back later and you're like what the fuck?
Speaker 3:It felt so good and this is terrible.
Speaker 2:But then you're like now I can pick away the parts and then I can go back to that beautiful thing that I thought I saw.
Speaker 4:It's also when to know when to be done with it, Because a lot of times people they'll work on something, they'll write something, but they can't finish it. Or when they're working on a film and they just can't finish the edit because they're nitpicking little things and you have to sometimes just walk away, walk away and be done with it and and and that's hard or never easy send it out, yeah yeah send it out.
Speaker 2:It will never be ready, so just fucking send it out it will never be.
Speaker 4:You're never ready to have a child, just one wow, okay, that's a big lead all right, elon musk, I know it's like um, you know what I mean, yeah you're never.
Speaker 2:It's never going to be the perfect scenario. You're never going to feel like 100 absolute and maybe sometimes one glimmer of a moment, and you're like, yes, this is it perfect. I'm stepping now.
Speaker 3:It exists outside of me, but that's so with that being said, how, how, approximately about how long does it take for each project? Do you have a project like you know me, for instance, as a writer? You know I've been working on the same. You know I have a non-fiction novel I'm working on in a fiction novel. I've been working on this fiction novel for 15 fucking years, you know do you have any projects that are just never done, or do you try and have a timeline when to get them out?
Speaker 4:Well, the best, I think, for creatives, the best thing to give yourself is deadlines. And a good way to give yourself a deadline is to have a friend say hey, this Friday I'm going to send you something, can you read it for me?
Speaker 4:Obviously, they have to want to read it or look at it or whatever you don't just like put it on them but want to read it or look at it or whatever you don't just like put it on them. But it gives you accountability, it gives you a deadline and I think that, like, if you're going to submit to a festival, you have to get it done to submit it. So it's the same thing and I think creative like you can't give a creative person a blank piece of paper and say create whatever you want. You have to give them guidelines. You say look, I want you to draw this, you know, in personistic painting with you know you give them direction, you give them, you know, a north star to walk towards. So I mean for me, I mean I do have a few projects that I want to finish. I shot a short horror film that I want to edit. I have a small documentary. This woman who she took over this little mass of land that's right across the street from me and she made this beautiful garden.
Speaker 4:It's called the Tim Shell Garden and it's on Google Maps and she just spends money and she just beautifies it and it's not her property and she's been doing it for like 15 years or even longer, and so I interviewed her. She's a bit of a character and but I I need to finish it you know, but you know things happen.
Speaker 4:when you know like a job might come up or whatever, you're like, well, fuck it and but it's a project that's, you know, keeps talking to me and I and I, you know I try to finish a project, especially when there's other people involved. If it's just me, it's a little bit easier to kind of like push it aside because you know life does happen.
Speaker 4:But you know, obviously, when you have other people when I say other people, I mean like, let's say, another producer or another you- know, whatever, you kind of have to do it because they're thinking, hey, we got to get this into this festival, or you know, whatever, I'm working on a script called elimination strain.
Speaker 2:So I shot a proof of concept which I did with the learning.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I saw that, and so that that short is basically more or less the beginning, the the first scene of of this feature script. The reason why I'm talking about is because I was taking forever to finish the script and my friend, mary McGloin, who I just shot a short film and just edited for, she said hey, you know, why don't you submit it? Submit it to XYZ festival, I don't want to say the festival because if I don't get in, I'll be yeah, right, and so but?
Speaker 4:but so I was like, oh my god, that's in three days. I haven't looked at my script in like six months, but but having that kick in the ass made me hunker down.
Speaker 4:And for three days straight. I just was, like you know, typing my ass off and it wasn't perfect. The last 10 pages I didn't get a chance to really like comb through it, and I know that there's mistakes in it or whatever. Fuck it. I did it anyway because now I have, now I upped my way because and now I have now I upped my and it wasn't as bad as I thought, because sometimes when you take a vacation from your script or project, you think, oh my god, how am I going to go back to?
Speaker 4:it like there's no way and you and you and you, you, you give yourself a reason not to do it, and but when you have that deadline, that goes out the window and you, you gotta man up, you gotta do it, and so I was glad for that update you know for that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, you're totally right and I think that's great advice.
Speaker 2:June 30th I didn't realize that this shit was due june 30th.
Speaker 3:So hey, yeah, no, but I mean I think that's, that's great advice for everyone, including myself, you know is putting that deadline on your you know, or or getting someone involved yeah, get someone involved you know, I think for us to having the monthly reading series kind of pushes us to have something prepared, because we
Speaker 2:often read our own stuff. Our whole thing is being on the same page as our performers and readers. We're also feeling awkward and nervous and we're also burying our souls and vulnerability and sharing stuff too. So that helps me at least sometimes even just edit things that I've already done and look at a different perspective and make it better or tighter, or hopefully writing new things. Um, but just that, accountability, literally it's. It's my party, yeah.
Speaker 4:And little victories like that I mean. I mean they're big victories but like you know you, it's important to treat yourself and recognize the, the, the small victories you know the small things that you can do, that you say OK, that's great, I accomplished that, whatever it might be, and so that helps motivate you to do these other projects, the bigger stuff, the bigger stuff, you know, but holding yourself accountable by having someone to say hey, I'm going to give you this by Friday, because if you don't, you're just your pride a little bit.
Speaker 4:And you don't want to be that person where, like, okay, well, look, I was going to read your script on Friday and you didn't give it to me, so maybe I'm not going to read it the next time.
Speaker 3:So you have to kind of do it yeah, disappointed me and you yeah, Accountability, you know for sure.
Speaker 2:We should help each other more. Yeah, well, we do, I mean we do, but it's hard.
Speaker 3:I'm very much like the well is full and then the well is empty. You, know, I have just the worst dry spells. It's pretty awful, but that's me. Everyone does Everyone's different. Yeah, it's tough.
Speaker 4:It's not easy, especially living well anywhere. I was going to say living in New York, yeah, but happens and curveballs are thrown our direction and sometimes you just have to, you know, say fuck, you know I, I gotta push this aside, I have to. When I came back from virginia, my, my laptop stopped working. Well, that really kind of threw a wrench in the works right and and it's still in repair and so you know things happen.
Speaker 4:But yeah, but again, like you have to just sort of, like you know, remember those little victories and and it you know, because sometimes you have to pick yourself up a little bit, you know, and say well, but I did that yesterday and I did, you know, and I went to this museum and I feel you know, whatever it might be, yeah Little checklists.
Speaker 3:So you have the dailies and this is just me, but age too. You know, when I was 20, running around playing in bands and touring the world, and you know, doing all these great things, I didn't have a lot of responsibility. But I'm going to be honest. You know, I'm 46 years old, I've got a business I own. I have.
Speaker 3:You know, there's a lot of responsibilities that distract me from my art, and that's just the fucking truth, you know. But I, I, but I do get inspired. I, you know I was. I went to the um premiere of the peewee himself and that was incredible and that I mean I highly recommend it to anyone listening and our guests like what an incredible documentary, mind-blowing. This guy is like my hero um, but it's on my queue.
Speaker 4:I, I, oh, it is it is fantastic.
Speaker 3:I was crying in the first two minutes like tears of joy, tears of sadness, I mean, and um, it was just lovely and to be at the premiere was so fantastic and fun, to like meet the director and see everyone, but oh wow so, but this is very inspiring. But then I go home and I'm like, oh, I'm exhausted yeah, I'm just gonna put on Law and Order and not write well, tv could be oh god, it's, it's some.
Speaker 4:It's very hard to turn it off. You know it's.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that could be tough oh my god, it's like my number one addiction. Yeah, everyone's. Yeah, I mean it's. Yeah, you're right, right.
Speaker 4:We can't leave without a phone.
Speaker 3:Yeah right.
Speaker 4:I mean for me I like to just do a nice edible, turn off everything, put on good music, the music, the tone of the music that I want to write and I just kind of get into it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's great, I'm a big advocate for marijuana. Oh, me too. Are you kidding me? Same baby me. It helps you focus. Yeah, it's great for yeah, I mean it's not for everyone, but no, I but I love it and it's so I started low dose thc, combo, cbd and like five, five and yeah that's, that's my like.
Speaker 2:Chill, literally my chill.
Speaker 3:Pill yeah, yeah and uh, yeah, it's better than booze and you know but really help, help you tv man, the minute you turn that thing on it's just like the stimulant, like alcohol is a depressant and like yes, it feels good right in the minute, but then I'm just like it builds something dark inside.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and the hangover.
Speaker 2:I can't you know, yeah, the older we get the two-day hangover slow sipping a little tequila on the side, but you know mind-blowing.
Speaker 3:I mean, I remember having a boyfriend and he was 10 years older than me and he'd always talk about the two-day hangover and I'm like you're crazy. The minute I started to hit my 40s I was like, oh, this is real, yeah, this is awful. Well, we just start dehydrating like yeah, the minute you wake up exactly exactly um, exactly um do you want to do some? Yeah, I think it's question time. Oh, do you want to plug anything before we do some questions?
Speaker 4:oh, oh god, I mean I, I mean I like where can people find your work kaleidoscope? Well, they can go to kpicturescom, like the letterk that's. That's probably the best place because I usually put all my films there. I am going to be starting a festival called Weird Short Films, because I own the domain weirdshortfilmscom.
Speaker 2:Awesome, when he has a bunch of weird short films that I spent an afternoon watching.
Speaker 4:Yeah, talking to filmmakers going to a lot of these networking events, I realized that a lot of filmmakers they need help and everyone needs help.
Speaker 4:And so I have a YouTube channel that I thought you know what. Let me turn it into a platform where I can bring other filmmakers and not only market myself but market them, and I generally love people and I generally love people and I generally love the success of others. And so if I can help in in a way cause I love art um, I haven't started it yet, I'm still kind of creating, you know, creating the rules and all this kind of stuff. But we're going to have a lot of fun stuff like um film challenges, where you have to do a film, um a short film, and it has to have these elements or whatever.
Speaker 1:Cool.
Speaker 4:Yeah, but once weirdshortfilmscom. They can go to it and they can look at the films. But kpicturescom weirdshortfilmscom, that's probably, and if they can watch my film, the Luring, that's on different platforms. We're always looking for people to watch that film if they like weird shit. It's a very dark fun film.
Speaker 2:We can sit in opposing apartments and watch it.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 3:I love that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's a psychological thriller with a midnight movie vibe Cool. Okay yeah, we had to make it within 40 days because the house that we shot in was being sold. It was my parents' house, but when my stepfather passed away, my mother just couldn't afford to keep it. So I said, well, let me shoot a film there. But it was being sold, and then when we were going to production, it was actually sold.
Speaker 4:So we had to get in and get out and we couldn't wreck the house and thankfully they bought the house because having a crew for Can be a out. And we couldn't wreck the house and thankfully, uh, they, they bought the house because you know having a crew, you know for can be a little. Yeah, could you know, my mom's fingers were crossed like please don't screw this up.
Speaker 4:And yeah, and thank god we didn't um, but yeah, the learning was was a really fun project and my dad's artwork is in it and um, so you know it's. It's yeah, it's a dark but fun film.
Speaker 3:Love that. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I just binged all your shorts.
Speaker 4:Yeah, no, I'm surprised you did that Well because you had me with.
Speaker 2:hey, it's Jim I was like all right, what else?
Speaker 1:where else are we going? You got weirder.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I appreciate that you are often in front of the film, in front of the camera, I mean, and behind it. So, yeah, it gives a definite look into the workings of your mind.
Speaker 4:I can play weird pretty good. I may not look it, but I can do weird. You know, I guess, growing up feeling like an outcast, I guess I sort of embraced it as an adult. And so guess I sort of embraced it as an adult and so now I kind of wear like a badge of honor, but as a kid it was like you know, it was close knit.
Speaker 2:I didn't want to wear it as a kid. No, no, you just want to be normal now. Yeah, I don't want to be normal. Yeah, exactly, Exactly.
Speaker 4:But I think, growing up in a household of artists parents, that it was more supportive, at least at home, supportive of my parents. Oddly enough, I never had the support of my siblings. Not one time did I ever have any of my siblings um like generally want me to succeed wow, that's awful.
Speaker 3:How do I want them to?
Speaker 4:succeed. I have assholes for for siblings. How many, how many? I almost said how many assholes you have personally one but one.
Speaker 1:But, thanks for asking, and I have a bidet by the way. So it's very clean.
Speaker 2:I love bidets.
Speaker 3:They are the best.
Speaker 4:When I go on vacation or whatever, and there's not a bidet, I don't feel like myself.
Speaker 3:You're like this isn't a vacation, this is a hellhole.
Speaker 3:My butt is not warm and air dried yeah, um, I wasn't saying really quickly. The filming thing, though. Like you know, one of my favorite things I went through a stage for a while was like going back and watching everyone's you know directors and writers that really inspired you, their very first project and that is really fun, and one of them that I stumbled I was just thinking about this a little bit the way you were describing your film was Murder Party. Did you guys ever see that? It was a guy that did Green Room but Rebel Ridge, blue Ruin. He's very successful now, but his first film was filmed right in this area and very simplistic. It was just about this guy that gets invited to a halloween party and it ends up being these art kids that want to murder him.
Speaker 4:Wait is that the one where he, one of the women who's who's kind? Of blade runner no, no, no she yeah, I think she eats one of the things and she's got a nut allergy and she dies. I don't remember. Maybe they're like in a warehouse.
Speaker 3:They're in a warehouse and one of the women is dressed up as Daryl Hannah from Blade Runner.
Speaker 3:And they're like discussing killing this poor guy, so that budget was minuscule and he ended up going on to create phenomenal films Like a great director. But it's so fun to see that and I think about it every time I walk through this neighborhood because it's like right off the g I think he lived in bushwick, the guy and then he gets off on the g and then or the l I'm sorry, the l and um. Oh, it's just magical, but I love that film yeah, but you know again like I think that was his like thesis in college.
Speaker 2:You, know it'sier.
Speaker 3:Exactly exactly, jeremy Solmier. Or even you know, you think of Lena Dunham's in Tiny Furniture right Her just filming in her parents' house. You know whether you like her or not she's very influential.
Speaker 4:Yeah, or Broad City.
Speaker 1:Exactly Broad.
Speaker 2:City was magic yeah.
Speaker 4:No, there's so much talent and there's so much, so much talent and there's so much untapped talent on the internet, and so there's so many of these amazing undiscovered people that artists that you know that you can watch. That are you. Can you know before they blow up and whether they blow up or not? I mean it's you know. I hope everyone does, but there's so much great art, there's so much out there that I love watching and being in york city is. It's great because we get to see it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we're definitely in, you know, one of the hubs of like touching on, but you know, and that's like I, I'm not a big internet person or whatever, but but it has given us access to musicians and writers and filmmakers that we never would see yeah if it wasn't for that, you know, so it is. It is kind of exciting it is.
Speaker 4:I just wish that these platforms would pay more because, it just sucks because there's these opportunities to be discovered or someone to to see you, but there's almost less opportunities to make money. Yeah, you're right to subsist, it's not even just to be famous yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:It's like, can you just to live, provide for yourself?
Speaker 2:yeah, with your creative endeavors and that's really every you know 20 side hustles yeah goodness, we're in new york because you can have 20 side hustles to be able to support your artistic endeavors kind of have to yeah yeah, you do and it's, it's too bad because, you know, where would we be without art?
Speaker 4:I mean, where would we be?
Speaker 3:I mean, it's too bad, because you know, where would we be without art?
Speaker 4:I mean, where would we be? I mean it's— oh, definitely, I don't—you know, it's scary.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it is All right, Marissa, let's pop out a question.
Speaker 2:All right, A little question roulette. This is our question roulette. It's like a little box and she just pulls a question the questions are I don't know what music has influenced your attitude to life oh, that's easy shoegaze I love shoegaze do you love shoegaze?
Speaker 3:like what?
Speaker 4:well, I mean, there's so many amazing artists and we were talking like bright eyes.
Speaker 3:Are we talking?
Speaker 4:no, I'm talking about uh, there's an artist named phaser days um who I love. I've seen her live um. And then you go all the way back to the cure and the smiths and how soon is now, and um, uh, it's for me.
Speaker 4:you know, I personally like to be just chill, um and and shoegaze or shoegaze or music to me, I just love it. And I'm actually talking to an artist now. I'm hoping to direct a music video for her, because that's something that I really want to get into and her song is amazing. I don't want to drop her name only because we may not work together.
Speaker 4:But I think she's so talented and so I reached out to her very much like I reached out to you guys. I said, look, I love your music. I'd love to talk to you about maybe collaborating in some way, and I'm really hoping that we can. But I just love Shugay's music. I just absolutely. It just puts me in such a great frame of mind and when I'm listening to, when I'm writing, I tend to listen to the music that is the mood of the scene, and a lot of it um is shoegazer music and so I love that one.
Speaker 3:You know, one of my first concerts was actually um. I'm from minnesota originally and it was jesus and mary, chain and mazzy star and it was at first avenue, this really famous club, and everyone sat cross-legged smoking cigarettes on the floor watching us and it was really cool. Yeah, yeah, but oh, shoegazer, that's a great answer. Thank you, yeah, I love music. I mean me too it's.
Speaker 4:It's such a part, I think, in everyone's life it's it's. I'm not special in that way, but I think that it's. Art is important and and it's interesting to hear what people, what their passion is, what what influences them and what inspires them, whether they're an artist or not. But music especially, it's just, it's such a great. I wish I was a musician.
Speaker 4:It was just it's, you know, to be able to play something and to hear it. You know, with a film there's so many moving parts and it's you, it's, it's a little difficult right, but being a musician. It's, it's. You know that that's or having. I'm tone deaf.
Speaker 2:I can't sing for shit yeah, you know I wish I could, but yeah, I always wanted to show up to like house gatherings and like bust on the piano or bust out a guitar and then everyone gathers around me and I'm just like like say anything style. Yeah, I mean, you know.
Speaker 3:I was a musician for or in bands, at least for 20 years, but not good, you know I mostly sang I mostly sang keyboards and guitar. But I remember in the beginning, like on stage, turning down my amp and just kind of pretending performing because I was not good at it.
Speaker 1:But you know, yeah, I kind of relied
Speaker 3:on everyone else in the band, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:Well, I think mine. I'm going to say I go back to like being 15, 16 maybe and being in the house alone and getting into my dad's old records and Immigrant Song Led Zeppelinelin I would crank that and I would just and it was such a release for me and then velvet underground to like be sad about things I didn't even know about yet, but I felt connected to like drugs and depression, and then later encompassed it more and also.
Speaker 1:I was, but at the same time.
Speaker 2:I didn't have the vocabulary uh for that.
Speaker 3:I just thought I was a lonely weirdo, um so I'd say that that takes me of, like my first earliest, like really yeah kind of like influence of feeling connected, definitely like my father is a musician and a writer and and I just remember, like watching him play guitar and listening to his records and all that you know definitely for me, right now I'm going through, you know this, I'm going through a very weird stage. I don't know if it's a New York thing or or what, but like I am just too old where I miss this new metal thing. And now I'm going back, you guys, obsessed with System of a Down obsessed, I mean just walking the streets, running errands. It's so inspiring to me and I and I'm embarrassed by it.
Speaker 2:I'm embarrassed, it's beautiful it's, it's melodic and it's aggro it's very operatic. When I was like 19, working in a bar in Mexico, we had a house band and they I mean they're Mexican they're playing perfect, beautiful covers of System of a Down. So, like my core memory of Mexico is.
Speaker 1:System of a Down. That's hilarious, and.
Speaker 2:I actually just had a reunion with my girlfriend. It was like 25 years later she's living at the Down. That's hilarious. And I actually just had a reunion with my girlfriend. It was like 25 years later she's living at the beach. She has a little restaurant, Closes up shop, pulls out a bottle of Mezcal we're like chain smoking cigarettes and put on System of a Down just scurrying.
Speaker 4:Oh my God, the best. Yeah, that's funny. Are you guys listening to any contemporary artists that you really like, any ones that strike you like Olivia Rodrigo?
Speaker 3:Oh, I mean she's beautiful. I mean like musically, you know I haven't. I'm so bad with contemporary, you know I get real stuck in my genres. You know, Ice Cube is a big one for me because you know I was in the rap scene for so many years of my life. You know was in the the rap scene for so many years of my life, you know, with these musicians. So I got really into that and I kind of got stuck there, if that makes sense. Yeah, you know, I uh, how about you?
Speaker 2:um, I try not to listen to music walking, so I can just write or think in my head so a lot of like the alone music is uh working out and um there's a little left field. Uh. Lesbian trap in spanish wow, okay, that's a.
Speaker 2:There's some like 20 something, young, fucking dynamic women a puerto rican and a dominican, uh young miko and Tokisha yeah, it's just fucking fun and they sing in Spanglish and it's like female empowerment and it's sexy and it's raunchy. And they both have done collabs with Rosalia, who is a Spanish artist who does rap but also like classic flamenco. Super talented. Oh wow, Ridiculous stuff. So yeah, that's my left field.
Speaker 4:Is it like css? Do you ever hear that band? Css? She, um god, I can't think of the names of their. I mean, I could picture the, the music videos. But she also, the lead singer of css did a song for the movie. I think it was called Drive with Ryan Gosling.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, it's an opening scene.
Speaker 4:That opening scene.
Speaker 2:Oh, like Kavinsky, oh, I used to be obsessed with that soundtrack. I love that stuff Like kind of the new, new wave yeah yeah, like it harkens back to like the 80s wave but it's like contemporary.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah Cool, I gotta write that down.
Speaker 3:Oh, I love the Idles. Have you seen the Idles yet?
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 3:Oh, they're incredible Band coming out of England but just so intense and beautiful.
Speaker 1:What kind of?
Speaker 3:genre. It would be like rock. It's like elevated garage rock. I don't even know how to describe it. It's just like punk garage. You know that old 70s English sound, but it's just like punk raj. You know that like old 70s english sound, you know but it's really great. They're just like young and inspiring and so dynamic on on stage, you know so css stands for cance de ser sexy.
Speaker 2:It's in portuguese, they're brazilian portuguese I'm tired of being sexy. Is that what translates to?
Speaker 3:alright well on that note.
Speaker 2:I think we should end it.
Speaker 3:I'm tired of being sexy we are tired of being sexy. Well, chris, thank you so much. We really appreciate you coming out here to the bar and hanging out with us and talking thank you for having me we'll
Speaker 2:plug all your stuffs in the notes.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I hope people read them. Anybody have any last big thoughts?
Speaker 4:say yes. Big thoughts, I think, just everything I think.
Speaker 2:Tonight I'm gonna watch luring, I think that's my. Oh, I love that plan yeah that's great I appreciate, appreciate it, even though after I submit the thing that's due tomorrow.
Speaker 3:So I can at least submit the day before it's due.
Speaker 2:Perfect.
Speaker 3:Yeah, alright, I'm going to go check on a cat and work and hang out with my dog, dogs, cats, peace out everyone Cheers. Thank you so much, Alright, babes.
Speaker 2:Bye.
