Mondo Film + Podcast

This project has been so much fun. I've concluded that not only do I prefer research work over writing itself but that I also really really enjoy the "thrill of the hunt." I've been able to track down over thirty members of the cast and crew of the film to date and talk to them since I was first asked to take part in this project early last year. My goal is to finish up the interviews by the end May 2013 and then I'll have two months time to finish and polish my chapters for this incredibly detail oriented and beautiful packaged volume on Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film, THE SHINING. The publisher in my opinion puts out a better quality product that the ever so mighty Taschen Books.

This volume on the film, will not only be insightful into the films production, but it will also break down many of the "conspiracy theories" on the internet about the film's "meaning". As if art, was to have a literal meaning. My chapters specifically look at the various interpretations of the film by people like Rob Ager or Geoffrey Cocks for example (which are very entertaining to read) and concentrates more on what I consider to be the true intentions of the filmmaker himself and his keen interest in the specific aspects of the genre, psychology and fairy tale aesthetic. The goal of this volume is to explore film intention versus unconscious effect. Once a work of art is released onto the world does it still belong to the artist after its entered into the public consciousness? The book will feature many interviews as well as memorials to SK written by those that worked with him. The book will be coming out in Jan. 2014.

An Interview With Steve Hicks; Writer & Director of Fuzz Track City (2012)

Justin: Tell me about the idea behind FUZZ TRACK CITY. What was your initial inspiration for the film's story?

Hicks: I’m a big fan of the private detective as a protagonist--from any time period, really. They’re usually pragmatic underdogs who are under appreciated, disrespected, overlooked--hired to do something that inevitably introduces them to all brands of unique characters and dumps them into a world of shit. A perfect set-up for an interesting story. And private eyes are independent--they’re not police detectives who are a part of a force or a team or something. PI’s work alone without a net. I'm also a huge fan of classic guitar rock. The guitar gods of the 70's and 80's were a huge part of my adolescence--Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Eddie Van Halen…etc. That music really inspired me as a kid and still does. So, a classic guitar rock infused mystery seemed like a perfect fit.

Justin: It's such a musical film. From the editing, to the soundtrack, the dialogue, and the story. How important in your own life is music?

Hicks: Music's integral to every aspect of my life. Every day. It gives my life chapters and montages. The Beach Boys, Zeppelin, Jack White…man, what rush. It’s a way to inspire thoughts that might otherwise never pass through your head. Music truly is the drug that everyone needs, everyone takes and everyone enjoys…I'm just finishing a long classical music phase. Now, I'm listening to nothing but The Grateful Dead. I need music, indeed.

Justin: Top five favorite albums?

Hicks: Brutal question. As soon as I say them--I'm gonna think of five more and then five more…Obviously, it depends on what you wanna hear and when you wanna hear it, but, fuck it:

PHYSICAL GRAFFITI - Led Zeppelin (1975)

VAN HALEN - Van Halen (1978)

EXILE ON MAIN ST. - The Rolling Stones (1972)

CHECK YOUR HEAD - Beastie Boys (1992)

NILSSON SCHMILSSON - Harry Nilsson (1971)

Needless to say, music is very important. Perhaps as important as water.

Justin: It was really nice to see Dee Wallace in FUZZ TRACK CITY. Was she someone you had wanted to cast from the start?

Hicks: I wrote the part with Dee in mind from word one, but I knew we didn't have any money behind us so it was just a hope and a dream that we would actually get the script to her and she would see the value of it and do it. And as it turned out, Todd Robert Anderson’s (Murphy Dunn) mother-in-law knew someone who knew somebody that knew somebody else that knew Dee's manager. We got the script to her manager and as luck would have it Dee found herself getting on a flight from NYC back to LA without anything to read--so she read our script. And she just happened to like it enough and agreed to do it. The first time I met with was for lunch in her neighborhood. I was nervous as hell, but I was dead set on playing it cool.

Dee's a strong personality, too--she's doesn't suffer fools gladly…While we were out to lunch she asked me point blank and steely-eyed, "Do you know what you're doing?" I'm thinking, 'This is a woman who has acted in over 100 films--not the least of which are THE HOWLING, CUJO, THE FRIGHTENERS and 'E.T.'…My answer was a short and simple, "Yes…Yes, I do." She bought it and off we went. After lunch, we went back to her house and picked out her wardrobe from her bedroom closet.

Justin: What was your experience working with her? Do you eventually get over being a fanboy as your working with her? How long does it take?

Hicks: It was certainly somewhat intimidating at first, but it doesn't take long to recognize what's at stake and get in touch with the raw humanity of it all. When you're meeting Dee Wallace (or anyone else for that matter) at 6:30 in the morning when it's still dark out at a shitbag motel for the fourth day in a row--it all gets very real. Especially when you've got five pages to shoot before sundown (with fight choreography). The fanboy side of things quickly subside because of the tasks at hand. And luckily Dee's down with the program and knows the score--she's a professional through and through. She shows up with a smile and she delivers. Dee is a very special talent.

Justin: It seems like FUZZ TRACK is just a total labor of love. Did it take you long to raise the money to shoot it? How long did it take from conception to completion, and did you encounter any big challenges along the way? And how did you get around them?

Hicks: I started writing in 2005 after watching David Lynch's WILD AT HEART. For whatever reason that movie rekindled my love of film noir and the detective genre. I work as a television editor regularly, so I would write the script after hours--from around 7:00 to 2:00am. In order to secure the budget, I took on several additional editing gigs (cutting shlocky horror film trailers) for extra dough that I weaved into my night schedule. After a few years--with the help of my wife, Maile--we had saved enough money to make the film. In 2008, we gave ourselves the green light and commenced principal photography. We shot for 19 days in the summer of 2008, but didn't quite finish. We followed up with random production weekends to finish it all--(Peter Jackson's) BAD TASTE style…

Justin: I've seen reviews online for the film that call it a neo-noir, or a comedy or a throwback to '70s cop shows. What's your take on those descriptions? Everything is in the eye of the beholder I suppose, but do you ever worry or wonder why or how distinctly people read things a particular way in regards to art, and in particular your art?

Hicks: I try not to invest too much in how people judge or categorize stuff after I've put it out there…but, it does bother me if the criticism doesn't seem to come from an intelligent foundation. If someone doesn't like what I do or they misconstrue something about it--that's frustrating, but it REALLY bothers me if it is presented in an inarticulate or uninspired manner. So many reviewers out there can't write. And I'm talking about the basic fundamentals of grammar here--forming a proper fucking sentence, man! I've been embarrassed by some of the reviews I've read simply because it reads like a fifth grader writing with a broken crayon in the dark. I mean, if you want to critique something that's fine, but is it too much to ask that it be well written? Oh, well.

Justin: I was wondering if you could tell me about a project that's listed on your IMDB...a documentary called FINDING BYRON? Is this something that was completed or released? Where can people see it? It sounds incredible.

Hicks: FINDING BYRON is a documentary that I made with Josh Adell (who plays Ziggy Schultz in FUZZ TRACK CITY) and I'm incredibly proud of…It premiered at the DANCES WITH FILMS festival in 2005 and was very well received. Due to music rights issues, it was never got distribution. In 1999, and agent/ friend showed Josh and I an audition tape made by a young guy from Ohio who wanted to be on Saved By The Bell. He videotaped himself in his basement auditioning (dancing in front of the camera) and sent it to the casting director of the show in 1990. The casting director thought it was ridiculous, made a dub and sent it to friend who also dubbed it and sent it to another friend and so on (this is pre-Internet). By 1999, when Josh and I saw it--the tape was all over town. It had 'gone viral' all over Hollywood. In the film, Josh and I travel to the address Bryon gave on the tape in Ohio and found him. We ended up living there for three months in an $18 a night motel and making a movie about him and the town. One of these days I will get it up online for people to see, but, until then...If you want to see it, let me know--I'll slip you a copy. It's a cool movie.

Justin: Could you tell me about how much work went into the FUZZ TRACK soundtrack? How much music does one have to go through to find the perfect songs and then get clearances etc? Was there anything that you wanted to include but couldn't get in?

Hicks: I felt that the music in FUZZ TRACK CITY should be as a strong and prominent character as the protagonist…Of course, in the initial cuts of the film, I used Bob Seger, Led Zeppelin, Strawberry Alarm Clock--all the while knowing that one day I had to swap them out (for cost/licensing reasons--too much $$$). However, two music libraries that I can't say enough good things about (APERTURE MUSIC and DeWOLFE MUSIC) helped me find legitimate music tracks from the actual eras from their vaults to redo the film's song soundtrack. I was able to replace every 'popular' tune with songs from their libraries that--in almost every case--I liked better than my original choices. And they could not have been more helpful or more “indie” friendly when it came to negotiate. Thanks to APERTURE MUSIC and DeWOLFE MUSIC.

Was there anything that I wanted to include but couldn't get in? Yes. Two songs. Song one: The Strawberry Alarm Clock's 'Girl From The City.' I'm a big Russ Meyer fan…Song two: Euphoria's 'Lisa.' So be it…Music is money.

Justin: It seems like your parodying record collector snobbery a bit in the film. Do you think that record snobs have a right to exist in the internet age?

Hicks: I have a lot of respect for record collectors…If it seems like I'm parodying record collectors in the film it's only because I'm poking fun at being obsessive--because, I myself am extremely obsessive. Personally, I think that record collectors genuinely value something that the internet has made cheap and expendable. Physical will always be more valuable than digital or virtual…Letters are more valuable than emails. A novel will always be more valuable than an eBook. Records vs. mp3s…What do you think?

Justin: What's next for you?

Hicks: I'm adapting a book (a memoir) called GROWING UP DEAD by Peter Conners…it's about a high school kid who 'finds himself' through his passion and connection to The Grateful Dead. It's set in the late 1980's in upstate New York. And then I want to do a sci-fi epic called FEEDBACK. Onward…

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