A film by Vice: Heavy Metal in Baghdad

Photo courtesy of VBS.tv

I really feel metaled out this week...
I was invited to take some photos at the Sydney film festival for the premiere of "Heavy Metal in Baghdad" for Vice Magazine last night. There were lots of familiar faces and with free booze from McKenna (MCK) Bourbon, the night was destined to end in obscurity and looseness.

The film was pretty hard hitting as most Vice projects are....As the title of the documentary reveals - it is about a band Acrassicauda (translates to Black Scorpion in Latin), they are effectively the only heavy metal band in Baghdad to date. The feature film documentary follows the band from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to the present day.

Forget the CNN and Al Jazeera, this film is probably as close as you get to the real deal on the streets of Baghdad and it is no joke. The guys from Vice had an entourage of bodyguards to take them around town to shoot very lo fi footage from their bulletproof SUV's and conduct low key meetings in various well protected places to speak to the band. It had to be this way not because Vice wanted to achieve a visual aesthetic, because it is just not safe to do proper reporting in public with the state of chaos in Iraq which evidently continues to grow on a daily basis.

For me personally, it is not just a visual shock, the story told by the band is more than musical freedom, it is their very struggle to stay together as a group and more importantly to stay alive, refusing to let their dreams to be killed by the world they live in. Their story not only echoes the unspoken hopes of an entire generation of young Iraqis, it also serves as a reminder for the rest of the world what life could be like on the other side (where it is not very green at all) ...when you accept people dying in the hundreds and living in a constant state of fear and paranoia is the norm of society, you just know something is not quite right!.

For more info - go to http://www.heavymetalinbaghdad.com/

The story of Anvil

I went to the Sydney Film Festival after work...impulsively....I guess that is when life is really blissful when logic does not come out to play. My friend had told me about this metal documentary about Anvil vaguely and I had no clue about the band, since I am pretty oblivious to the metal scene.

I was so glad I went to see Anvil: The Story of Anvil though... more than words could really express the feelings I had last night when the film finished. It was a sad, funny & inspiring film about a bunch of guys who just loved heavy metal. The story of Anvil was truly heart felt & uncompromising or perhaps candid would be a better word? The band members revealed an insight into a lifestyle they lived during the 70s to today, as a result the harsh realities of the "untypical" Rock 'n' Roll lifestyle was exposed.

When I say untypical, I should point out Anvil is from Canada and their sound was super heavy, their style of music has subsequently influenced a whole new generation of super metal bands that has become pop culture icons today - with names such as Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax citing them as inspirational. This is no joke but there was one big difference, since Anvil's career took a very different path to the bands who thought they were amazing - they basically went straight into obscurity.

Basically as Lips, the lead of Anvil, had put it....getting your CD to the major (record labels) is like playing musical lottery. That is the harsh truth about super stardom in the music world, it is almost as rare as winning the lotto. Some bands might throw up the white flag and say too bad it didn't work out, but not for the guys in Anvil, they had their own legion of fans all over the world and they continued to play on for the next 30 years and still do today.

The film was thoroughly enjoyable & well produced, it offered me with much hope and a magic eight ball into what extreme persistence actually means in today's world. I was really down when the film finished but also inspired by Anvil's dedication to make their vision into a reality!

Last night...as I was laying on my bed thinking how it would feel to be like Anvil and I pondered before I wrote this words down....

Drums slam...strings vibrate
Sweats slide off my body
Kids of Japan scream and cry
Playing along side the gods of rock
15 minutes of fame later
It became my energy & mission to succeed
I persevered to follow my vision & dream
Although success seemed far reaching
I did not give up on hope
Even if things got worst
Music has been made
Fans have smiled and cried
A moment of bliss has been created
By us
The feeling of appreciation & support has never been more rewarding.

http://anvilmovie.com/