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MARTIN LYON
Minutemen Documentary
Examines The Seminal
Band’s Life As Art
hen high school friends and eventual docu
mentary filmmakers Keith Schieron and Tim
Wilson discovered the Minutemen—sepa
rately—on the same day in the late '80s, their
fates were sealed. After acquiring a copy of the
group's 1931 debut IP The Punchline, Schieron
called Wilson to tell him all about it “I put the
record on and called him, but he wasn't home."
Schieron recalls. "I spoke with his mom for a
couple of minutes, and by the time we hung up,
like six songs had already played. I thought, What
in the world is this?"
responsibilities as producer and the project was
underway.
The fruit of their collaboration We Jam Econo:
the Stoiy of the Minutemen is a 90-minute fea
ture-length documentary that chronicles the
band's terse, four-year lifespan. From the day an
adolescent Boone fell out of a tree onto Watt to
the sudden and untimely death of Boone in '85,
the film follows the group ev^ry groundbreaking
step of the way.
footage from live performances mingles with
interviews with Watt. Boone and Hurley in the
Later, he found Wilson immersed in a Santa
Cruz skateboard video from which the Minutemen's
song “I Felt Like A Gringo" was blaring. Schieron
recalls that moment of discovery with starry-eyed
reverence. The two were already submerged in the
trenches of punk rock. But the Minutemen's
punchy and enlightened bursts of politically-
charged punk, funk, folk and free jazz were worlds
apart from the brash and aggressive punk bands
of the era. Black Flag, Saccharine Trust, Sonic
Youth and Hiisker Dii all swelled with outward
energy, but the Minutemen's sound came from a
much more refined and cryptic sense of person
ality. The blasts of abrupt, angular smart punk
emanating from guitarist-vocalist D. Boone,
bassist-vocalist Mike Watt and drummer George
Hurley offered so much more than the grit and
gruff of punk stereotypes.
In a Punk Minute
Though they were able to go to their local
video store and check out live videos by the Dead
Kennedys, Black Flag and so on, Schieron and
Wilson could never find anything on the
Minutemen. "Before the Internet was around,
information was sent across the country in much
slower and mysterious ways," Schieron says.
"When we discovered the Minutemen, we had no
way of knowing which bands were more popular or
really anything else, other than the music," he
adds. "This was clearly the greatest band ever, so
why wasn't there anything made on them?"
The two talked about making a film on the
Minutemen themselves, mostly because they
wanted to see it. But it wasn't until 10 years after,
graduating college that they actually got to it
Wilson had been working as a filmmaker,
shooting BMX, skateboarding and various other
extreme sports for television and film. After
agreeing to be the director, Shierori assumed
'80s, as well as interviews with Minutemen peers
including Ian McKaye (Fugazi, Minor Threat), Flea
(Red Hot Chili Peppers) and Greg Ginn (Black
Flag/ SST label) make up the bulk of the film.
Art Imitates life
With a deluge of inside information, the
group's mystique is revealed. Scenes from the '80s
where Watt explains the significance in the title of
the group's most cohesive effort, Double Nickels on
the Dime is a reference to Sammy Hagar's "I Can't
Drive 55." Watt ponders why nn one "got it,"
seeming justified as he explains that, for the
Minutemen, life was art.
We Jam Econo is the ultimate testament from a
truly devoted fan. "In many ways this is my life's
dream," says Schieron. "It's one of those funny
things, like when you're a kid and a parent or a
teacher asks if you could do one thing in your life
and money was not an object, what would it be?
Ever since high school. I've said 'Make a documen
tary on the Minutemen.' So I've done that and it
feels kind of odd," he continues. "I loved the
process in many ways, but I feel like I've accom
plished what I've always wanted to accomplish, so
I don't know if I'm going to do another film after
this or not. Of course, Tim will continue doing
things in the action sports world, but as of now I
don't have anything else on the docket"
Chad Radford
/ r— ^
WHAT: We Jam Econo: The Story of the
Minutemen
WHERE: 40 Watt Club
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WHEN: Wednesday, May 4,9 p.m.
HOW MUCH: $5
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APRIL 27. 2005 • FUGPOLE.COM 35