We Jam Econo | |
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Directed by | Tim Irwin |
Produced by | Rocket Fuel Films Productions Keith Schieron |
Starring | D. Boon George Hurley Mike Watt |
Release date |
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Running time | 91 minutes |
Language | English |
We Jam Econo: The Story of the Minutemen, is a full-length documentary about the influential 1980s punk rock band Minutemen, created by director Tim Irwin [1] and producer Keith Schieron [1] in association with Rocket Fuel Films. The film premiered on February 25, 2005 at the historic Warner Grand Theatre in San Pedro, California, after two years in production.
Poignant recent interviews with the band's two surviving members Mike Watt and George Hurley, as well as first-person anecdotes from notable musicians including Ian MacKaye, Flea, Henry Rollins and Thurston Moore, complement the archival concert and interview footage of the band. [2] [3]
As fans of the band, director Tim Irwin and producer Keith Schieron had discussed making a documentary about Minutemen since they were in high school, around 1989. [4] The two approached Mike Watt who gave the project a thumbs up [4] and that inspired them to start calling and emailing potential interviewees. [4]
The title is a lyric from their song "The Politics of Time." It's also referred to in a comment made near the end of the film by Mike Watt, in a 1985 interview, when the band is asked if they have anything else to say. He answers for them: "We jam econo." Econo was local slang for economic and described the band's dedication to low-cost record production and touring. It also describes the band's (and burgeoning underground independent music scene's) do-it-yourself attitude and philosophy. [5]
Film includes interviews with the following individuals (in alphabetical order):
The 2-disc DVD (with 16-page booklet) was released on June 27, 2006 on Plexifilm.
DISC 1: Feature "We Jam Econo - The Story of the Minutemen"
DISC 2: Three live performances:
The A.V. Club declared "We Jam Econo catches a lot of what made the Minutemen great" and said "The cold comfort that We Jam Econo offers is the notion that genius is fleeting, and the best anyone can hope for is that someone will record it before it fades." [8] Variety called it "a suitably unfussy tribute to a band that disdained even the slightest rock-star flash" and predicted the DVD release would be "a must-have for music aficionados." [9] PopMatters said We Jam Econo was " an endearing, heartfelt documentary that's made by the devout, for the devout, but which is sure to win over anyone except the occasional racist who mistakenly intended to watch a movie about border vigilantes." [10]
Kira Roessler is an American musician who was the bass guitarist for the influential hardcore punk band Black Flag from 1983 to 1985. Since the mid-1980s, she has been a member of the rock duo Dos with her now ex-husband Mike Watt.
Michael David Watt is an American bassist, vocalist and songwriter. He co-founded and played bass guitar for the rock bands Minutemen (1980–1985), Dos (1985–present), and Firehose (1986–1994). He began a solo career with the 1995 album Ball-Hog or Tugboat?, he has since released three additional solo albums, most recently in 2010 with Hyphenated-man. He is also the frontman for the supergroup Big Walnuts Yonder (2008–present), a member of the art rock group Banyan (1997–present) and is involved with several other musical projects. From 2003 until 2013, he was the bass guitarist for The Stooges.
Dennes Dale Boon, also known as D. Boon, was an American musician, best known as the guitarist, singer and songwriter of the punk rock trio Minutemen.
George Hurley is a drummer noted for his work with Minutemen and fIREHOSE.
Double Nickels on the Dime is the third album by American punk trio Minutemen, released on the SST Records in July 1984. A double album containing 45 songs, Double Nickels on the Dime combines elements of punk rock, funk, country, spoken word and jazz, and references a variety of themes, from the Vietnam War and racism in America, to working-class experience and linguistics.
D. Boon and Friends is a compilation album of home recordings featuring American musician D Boon, of the band Minutemen. The album is the inaugural release of the Hermosa Beach, California-based label Box-O-Plenty Records, started by Boon's one-time roommate Richard Derrick. Most of the tracks are living-room jam sessions done by Boon, Derrick, and Crane, who had previously contributed backing vocals and trumpet parts to Minutemen's Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat and Project: Mersh EP's.
Buzz or Howl Under the Influence of Heat is the fourth EP by American hardcore punk band Minutemen, released by SST Records in November 1983.
The Politics of Time is the first compilation album by American hardcore punk band Minutemen, released in 1984 through New Alliance Records.
The Missingmen are an American punk rock trio fronted by Minutemen/Firehose/Stooges bassist Mike Watt. The band features Watt, guitarist Tom Watson, and drummer Raul Morales.
"Ballot Result" is a posthumous live album by Minutemen, released in 1987 by SST Records.
3-Way Tie is the fourth and final full-length album by American punk band Minutemen, released in 1985 by SST Records. It features covers of songs by the Urinals, Meat Puppets, Blue Öyster Cult, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Roky Erickson. The last song, a cover of Erickson's "Bermuda", was sung over the phone by Mike Watt.
Plexifilm was an independent DVD label and film production company co-founded by Gary Hustwit and Sean Anderson in 2001. Plexifilm produced original films, released films theatrically, and produced, distributed and marketed DVDs.
Charles Edward Crawford, known as ed fROMOHIO, is best known as the lead singer and guitarist for Firehose, an alternative rock band he formed in 1986 with former Minutemen members Mike Watt and George Hurley (drums).
Our Band Could Be Your Life: A Tribute to D Boon and the Minutemen was a tribute album for the band The Minutemen released in 1996. It contains 35 tracks of alternative bands covering songs by The Minutemen.
The discography for the Minutemen, an American punk rock band, includes four studio albums, one live album, seven compilation albums, four music videos, and eight extended plays.
"History Lesson – Part II" is a song from the 1984 album Double Nickels on the Dime by the American rock band Minutemen. The song, written by Mike Watt, is about the relationship of singer D. Boon and Watt as they played music together.
The Urinals are an American punk rock band from Southern California, United States. Known for their minimalist approach to songwriting and recording — their lyrics have been called "punk haiku" — the band influenced other punk rockers of the 1970s and 1980s including Minutemen. They have also been known as 100 Flowers and Chairs of Perception.
Minutemen were an American punk rock band formed in San Pedro, California, in 1980. Composed of guitarist/vocalist D. Boon, bassist/vocalist Mike Watt, and drummer George Hurley, Minutemen recorded four albums and eight EPs before Boon's death in an automobile accident in 1985; the band broke up shortly thereafter. They were noted in the California punk community for a philosophy of "jamming econo"—a sense of thriftiness reflected in their touring and short, tight songs, and for their eclectic style, drawing on hardcore punk, funk, jazz, and other sources.
Randall Jahnson is an American writer, director and producer. His works include Dudes, The Doors, The Mask of Zorro, Sunset Strip, and episodes of the HBO TV series Tales from the Crypt. Also, Jahson co-wrote Dryads - Girls Don't Cry with Stan Hellevig, which was released in Norway in 2015. Jahnson also directed music videos for Stan Ridgway, Henry Rollins, Black Flag, and Minutemen. In 1987, he launched the independent record label Blue Yonder Sounds in Los Angeles. The label released four albums: Civilization and Its Discotheques by The Fibonaccis, Bigger than Breakfast by Slack, Three Gals, Three Guitars by The Del Rubio Triplets, and Motel Cafe by Michael C. Ford.
Hyphenated-man is the fourth solo album by Mike Watt, and the first full-length recording he made under his own name since parting with Columbia Records in 2005. Initially released in Japan by Parabolica Records in October 2010, the album was released in the rest of the world on clenchedwrench, an independent record label newly founded by Watt. He is accompanied on the album by his Mike Watt + The Missingmen bandmates, guitarist Tom Watson and drummer Raul Morales.