Stephanie Bennett

To my loyal readers.
Here is an article I wrote for 213 Magazine in regards to an interview I did with Stephanie Bennett, followed by a podcast of the interview.
For those of you would do not know who she is, she is a documentary film maker who is famous for films like Compleat Beatles and her new one Hail, Hail, Rock n Roll.

Living on the Dark Side of the Moon

They are all going to sound incredibly ancient like (warned Stephanie Bennett):

Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd

Sergeant Pepper

Joshua Tree

Blue

Nebraska

Artists live in a weird limbo. They occupy a space between nostalgia and optimism. They live in neither the here nor the now. They are either great visionaries or great storytellers of the past. This causes artists to become very enigmatic individuals.

On the one hand they are fiercely protective of their art form as Stephanie Bennett so eloquently stated, “Basically VH1 killed my business, because they did everything in house and I think they did a pretty bad job.” On the other hand they embrace new technologies that allow anyone to try and dethrone them; “I think it (Pro Tools) is just a necessity, it is just an evolution as hi definition is.” For the artists these issues are not problematic at all because they know the skill involved in creating their art; “I still think it is a question of the ears of the producer”. For others, like myself, this seems to be naïve optimism.

The basic assumption in music has always been that somehow the cream will rise to the top. Legions of fans worshiped The Beatles, John Lennon, and Chuck Berry because they were the best and people always seek the best; John Lennon, I think, I still get moved by Imagine. Or so the story goes.

What if, however, it is not based on talent but marketing? In this day and age it seems like our Rock G-ds are produced through some automated factory process. We have in essence become the generation of Behind the Music; we do not care for the substance but instead the carnage; but they [VH1] have this formula—all they wanted to know was all of the sex and drugs aspect. We no longer believe in gods and reveal when they fall of Mount Olympus.

While Mrs. Bennett acknowledges that my generation might not know who Chuck Berry is I doubt that my Generation knows who Bob Dylan or even Bruce Springsteen are. Maybe it is ambivalence but I fear it is a lack of exposure. Terrestrial radio is dead, Clear Channel owns everything; yeah I know, well that is a whole other story. The RIAA sues anyone who tries to innovate. While these may be the major culprits; the fence sitting of artists is also to blame.

On the one hand artists believe in the dissemination of information; I think people should be taught more about history generally, and not just American History. We all cling to the naive belief that if everyone hears The Times They are a Changing or Live at Folsom the world would be a better place; to me, what changed my life in a way, is the Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. On the other hand, we want to protect our rights because we also cling to the other naïve belief that someday we will become famous.

For many of us these questions might seem trivial but for a documentary film maker these quandaries combined together create one last, great question: are you creating a film that is based on a living, breathing tradition or are you documenting a dying one?

PODCAST

Tags: Stephanie Bennett Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll