In the mid-90s two bands set out on a mission to cause a musical revolution. The Dandy Warhols, a Portland psychedelic synth-pop-rock group, and San Francisco’s Brian Jonestown Massacre (also a psychedelic outfit, but with more of a 60s influence) formed something of a musical alliance and set out to change the world. Filmmaker Ondi Timoner went along for the ride capturing over seven years worth of footage (1,500 hours) and documents the simultaneous rise and fall of these two bands covering nearly every rock and roll cliché along the way.
DiG! focuses primarily on the tenuous relationship between the front men of the two groups: BJM’s Anton Newcombe and the Dandys’ Courtney Taylor, who also narrates the film. The two share a dynamic made up of equal parts mutual admiration, respect, competition, jealousy, and self-absorption. Anton and Courtney seem to need each other to survive musically. Taylor in some respects wants to be Newcombe, and while he wouldn’t admit it, it is obvious that Newcombe longs for the Dandys’ success that has somehow eluded his band.
The film begins with an interview of Anton singing the praises of his counterparts and runs the course of an alliance turned to jealously as the Dandy Warhols are picked up by Capitol Records and ultimately become a hit in Europe while the Massacre spin their wheels in a self-destructive path. Ondi Timoner caught every ugly moment on tape from Taylor rubbing his success in the BJM’s faces when he stages an unannounced Warhols’ photo shoot in the Massacre’s run-down Los Angeles apartment, to Newcombe constantly berating his band mates and even starting on stage fist fights with his band. In one scene BJM are caught by the Georgia police with Marijuana ultimately leading to the band’s break-up, while in a similar situation the Dandy Warhols are stopped in France and are able to escape trouble for the cost of a few t-shirts. Dandys’ guitarist Peter Loew sums it up by saying “We’re a lucky band… They’re an unlucky band”.
Taylor and Newcombe share yet another trait, they both come across as fairly un-likeable people. Anton is generally thought of as a musical genius among his peers, he knows this and uses it as an excuse to abuse and manipulate the revolving door of members in the BJM. Taylor doesn’t necessarily think of himself as a genius, but he certainly doesn’t let that stop him from thinking very highly of himself and his band. He clearly thinks that every bit of success his band has is due to their hard work and is well deserved. To some extent that is probably true, but at the same time he blames any little speed bump on major label executives who have no idea how to handle a band (at least in his mind).
Even though Anton and Courtney come across as detestable at times, it is the strange and fragile dynamic between them that makes DiG! such an intriguing rockumentary. The story of Newcombe ultimately is the most compelling; the general consensus is that if he could manage to get it together, the Brian Jonestown Massacre would be a huge band. The irony is that if he somehow controlled his madness, the interest in his band probably wouldn’t be any greater than that of any other run-of-the-mill garage band.
Related Links
Brian Jonestown Massacre at Amazon.com
