Interviews with Will.I.Am, Mark Hoppus/Blink-182, Tyson Ritter/All-American Rejects & Danny Clinch

In honor of music's biggest week with the Grammy Awards this Sunday night on CBS at 8:00pm ET/PT, Gillette has partnered with some of the world's top musicians to produce the Gillette UNCUT Music Film Series, directed by Danny Clinch.  The World Premiere was shown today, January 28th, 2010, at The Grammy Museum in Downtown Los Angeles.

A new precedent was set in the music industry today. An industry that has so vastly changed in the last several years with the advent of iTunes and the internet. Still photographer and documentary filmmaker, Danny Clinch, joined forces with Gillette, and together created a twenty-seven minute documentary that follows some of today’s top rock stars as they prepare to go onstage and perform to their legions of fans.

Clinch directed this fascinating look into the minds of these musicians as they mentally and physically prepare for a performance. The film follows Tyson Ritter of the All-American Rejects, Mark Hoppus of Blink- 182, Tim McGraw, and Will.I.Am of the Black Eyed Peas.

The Gillette Uncut Music Film Series was hosted by KROQ’s Stryker. Gillette is backing these bands and the result is a film that shows the viewer a side of these artists that is rarely seen. Fans get to follow these musicians backstage and see how they prepare for a performance. We see their pre-show physical rituals, such as stretching and vocal warm-ups, as well as get a glimpse into their minds before going out onstage. The reflection, self-doubt, anxiety and excitement are all captured by Clinch in this first of it’s kind film.

Clinch had previously filmed a documentary on Grammy award winning musician, Ben Harper, and wanted to make another. He is also a still photographer and integrated many of his pictures into the film. Per Clinch, “The web provides a lot of opportunity to combine film and photography, which has been very fortunate for me. This is just one more way of getting the music out to the people. It is a win-win situation for both the artist as well as the brand. We made a film with integrity. Any artist who aligns themselves with a brand must feel that it’s organic.”

Clinch likes to mix formats in a way that feels cohesive for a more unified look. Sometimes digital is too sharp, it shows too much information, so he shot in film. Shot in sepia on his favorite camera, a Super 8 Leica M6, he truly captured the authenticity and uniqueness of these artists. He accomplished his original goal, which was to capture an insider look into the lives of these musicians. As he told me, “I’m very proud of the result.” I did ask if he was working on another film and he said that nothing is being made “yet.” There is hope for more films of this kind in the future. It works in part because Clinch likes to document people and get their ideas, as well, which adds to the credibility of his work.

When asked about this new way of integrating brands with music, Will.I.Am had the following opinion. “I predict that in the next five years that the next big blockbuster will be produced by a brand and not a production company.” After seeing this film, it makes sense. These companies, Gillette in this case, have the money to market both their product as well as an artist. This prediction has a lot of merit. This is also the future of music as artists are losing money on record sales with people turning to the internet to download music.

One may not stay tuned to watch a Gillette commercial on television, especially with the advent of the DVR, and the convenience of fast-forwarding through commercials, but in a film such as this, you get the message and you get to see your favorite musicians behind the scenes.

Some of the things these musicians let us see in this film really shed a light on what it’s like to be a rock star. Tyson Ritter opens up about the process of writing a song. He begins with a melody and builds a song around that. He says how he goes out hungry each and every time he performs and that hunger is the driving force behind the performance. He and his now famous band mates all lived in a one bedroom apartment before they as a band became famous.

I asked Ritter one question, “What do you want your fans to know about the All-American Rejects from this film?’’ His answer was poignant, “I want people to know that this is real, we are real. Just four boys from Oklahoma, from the sticks. We are not a band that was put together by a record label, we did this on our own. We are just riding on our lucky dream.”

Tim McGraw is seen as he flies in to perform at a concert and he takes us backstage as he gets ready. In the film, McGraw explains his views on a few things. “No matter what you want to do in life, the biggest thing you can do is to make a decision and then follow through. I do make decisions quickly and I go with them.” He says that he and his band mates have all known one another for a long time, and that they know one another’s strengths and weaknesses. The hardest thing for him in regards to the preparation for a show is putting together a set list. He has to make sure that the songs flow right and he has to account for guitar changes. “Everybody is a product of their influences,” he says. One of his is Merle Haggard.

Mark Hoppus of Blink-182, when asked what the deciding factor was in getting involved with this project, says frankly, “I use Gillette everyday.” He also says that he had worked with Danny Clinch prior and had loved his work. “It’s also really cool for people to see what bands go through before getting onstage. Now I know they are all nervous like me!” He admits that every time he goes out to perform he wonders if he can pull it off. One of his pre-performance rituals is his need to brush his teeth because as he explains it, this cleans out his singing passages. Of this, he is adamant.

I asked Hoppus what his goal was in making this documentary. “It’s really a strange dichotomy in that we really are just normal dudes who are nervous before a show. Danny makes us look ten times cooler than we are in real life. We are just guys in a band, and he shows us as we really are. We struggled to get here. I wish I could live in a Danny Clinch movie 100% of my life because he just makes it all look so interesting.” Hoppus is a family man who loves his wife and seven year-old son. He says of music that he will never stop playing and you can see in this film just how much he loves what he does. He grew up in Southern California and the influences of Blink-182 are derived from the skate and punk rock scene.

The last section of the film focuses on Will.I.Am, of the Black Eyed Peas, as he gets ready for both a concert in front of thousands as well as a smaller, more intimate, DJ performance. He wanted to show the difference between the preparation for both a big as well as a small performance and even went on to say that the smaller ones are more intimidating because he can see every facial expression in his audience, both good and bad. As he puts it, performing is his life. He has been doing it for the past twelve years. With the Black Eyed Peas, he says that the music is all about heart. The music they make is colorless.

When asked why he participated in this, he says that he is a fan of Danny Clinch’s work. He was also intrigued by the fact that this is the first time that this has ever been done, where a brand embraced the music community in such a way. He says that his biggest fear is to lose touch; he never wants to not be connected to his fans and this film opened him up to them in a way never done before.

Will.I.Am can be described as both funny and approachable. As he raced out to make it to another appointment, he answered one question for me. I asked him what the one thing is that he wants his fans to know about him after watching this film. His answer, “The one thing that I want people to know about me is that I love music, all forms of music. I love the big crowds and the small ones. And I make the music.” A very charismatic man who regularly makes people laugh, he is very serious about his music.

This film is evidence of the importance of doing things differently. This has created the platform for a new way of getting the music out to the fans and it is exciting to see what will come next. The first of it’s kind, the fans will understand the necessity of the marriage of art and branding due to the recent changes in the music industry.
 

You can see the film at http://www.shavelikearockstar.com