I didn’t realize what a happening music scene Olympia, Washington had until I saw the Kathleen Hanna documentary, The Punk Singer. Future generations need not suffer the same fate I did. There is help. That help comes in the form of another documentary, “Try This at Home” which is currently in the final stages of editing and mixing.
This documentary of the Olympia music festival, Yoyo a Go Go, was filmed in 1999 at the height of the local indie scene. Featured musicians include Negativland, Ramsted, C Average, The Microphones and the late Elliott Smith. As with most rock docs, it is a combination of live performances and interviews, the latter of which take place in parks, gardens, and even a grocery store. Having spent some time with musicians myself, I imagine a scenario like, “Sure, I’ll give you an interview if you can buy me a jar of peanut butter.”
Filmmakers Cris Dupont, Elina Shatkin and Thomas Logoreci have set up a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo.com. The funds will go towards editing, mixing, color correction and screening the film as well as paying the bands for the rights to use their songs. Fundraising will continue until March 31, 2014. The contribution page defaults to $100 but every little bit helps.
There are perks to giving a little more. I’d recommend at least $25 bucks so you can download the movie when it comes out. If I could, I would absolutely give $1500 to get the food tour of LA with Elina Shatkin. Not only is Elina a senior editor at Los Angeles Magazine, she is a co-author of EAT, which I believe is the definitive guide to the best food in LA.
Now pass the hat and let’s get this thing off the ground!
