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IN THIS ISSUE:
DVD Review
Page 1
Page 2
Page
3
Jeremy Arth:
"Close, But Not Touching"
Page
4
Page 5
The Bootlog
Page 6
Fan Profile / What Lurks Below
Page
7
True Experience:
New Orleans
Page
8
The Reviews
Page
9
Page
10
Page 11
Page 12
Page 13
Page 14
Page 15
Page 16
Page 17
Friends of Ezra
Page
18
News & Links
Page
19
Map of Ezra
Page 20
TTOY Hall of Fame
Page 21
BTE Impressions
Page 22
THE ARCHIVES
Volume 1
Mar.
2003
May 2003
July
2003
Sept.
2003
Nov.
2003
Jan.
2004
Volume 2
Mar.
2004
May 2004
July
2004
Sep.
2004
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JEREMY ARTH:
"CLOSE, BUT NOT TOUCHING"
by EnglishDave
By now you're probably seen the documentary portion of the Better
Than Ezra DVD "Live at the House of Blues in New Orleans." And
isn't it just great? Entitled "Close, But Not Touching," the
documentary footage was shot in Chicago in the Fall of 2001.
You might be curious about the story behind the making of the
documentary, so the Serenade recently had a chat with the
director, Jeremy Arth, to find out more about how the project came about
and how it ended up on the DVD.
Jeremy, thanks for chatting with the Serenade.
Thanks for giving me the privilege.
Can you tell us how you got the opportunity to work with BTE in the
first place?
It was a pretty spontaneous event actually. I had been to about ten BTE shows before then. During one of their Chicago shows, I worked up the
guts to ask Tom Drummond if they were interested in me doing a documentary
on them, and he seemed really excited. I got in touch with their manager
and we put things in motion.
Obviously there was a significant period of time between
your shoot and the release of the DVD. Were you surprised when BTE came-a-calling?
I stayed in fairly consistent contact with the band, but it didn’t
seem like anything was really going to come of it. Once their office
contacted me about the footage that they had seen on the Internet, we started bouncing back and forth about possibly including the documentary on
their new concert DVD. Of course, I didn’t want to get too excited, so I
pretty much didn’t believe it was going to happen until I got a preview copy
of the DVD and saw it on their. Let me tell you, what a rush.
And you were a film student when you shot the documentary?
Yes, I was a film student in Chicago, and actually, this was the first
only documentary that I've ever made (Although I'm pretty sure I told Tom
that I was a documentary major so he would take me a little more
seriously.) I was a semester away from graduating and I really wanted something
cool and compelling that I could show around once I left school. This video actually opened a lot of doors and helped me get the job I have now producing commercials.
It looks like the guys gave you pretty much unlimited access to the
band while shooting, right?
The band was great. We showed up at the hotel around 7am and sat with their road manager, who took us through the schedule for the day. Then I got to ride along in the van with the guys. We got to shoot the sound check before the fans were let in. And we had free reign during he
show. It was great, but we made sure that we stayed our respectful
distance, so the band would feel comfortable. If I was doing a larger scale documentary, where they would have had a chance to get used to the
cameras for a while, I would have been more aggressive. But we only had one
day, so I wanted to make sure we didn't tick them off too fast.
You have to be a pretty serious fan to deliver such an intimate
portrayal. ‘Fess up, how big a fan are you?
I always have one BTE disc in my CD turntable at all times, for easy access. I've been to a lot of shows. I've even done the ubiquitous Ezralite trek across the state to see two different shows in back to
back nights. I thought I’d be the perfect guy to make a film about them,
since I knew what I’d want to see as a fan.
How big was your crew? How and what type of equipment did you use?
The crew was a pretty decent size, and they were all my friends,
fellow film geeks, so it was great working with them. For the radio
stations, I had two camera guys, and then me and Marc Menet, the cinematographer.
Meanwhile (back at the ranch) there were a handful of other people at
the concert hall, setting up cameras for the show and taping the crew
setting up gear. During the concert we had 8 cameras running. We shot mostly
on Sony PD-150s, which are great miniDV cameras. They were light enough
that we could take them anywhere and still get a great looking stuff.
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Was it physically challenging chasing the band around with all that equipment?
Most of the challenge was actually in deciding who got to follow the
band where. Since I was the director and the biggest fan, I pulled rank a
lot and got to shoot at XRT and in the van. I’m the one shooting when
Kevin is on the phone at XRT. So when the shots move around and some of his
head gets chopped off, blame me. But, man, was it cool to be there.
Were the radio stations accommodating? It looks like you were
operating in some pretty close quarters...
The radio stations were awesome. It helps when you walk in with a rock band and camera equipment, but they were
so nice. Except for ManCow at Q101. That place was like a frat party. What kind of a radio show needs a stripper?
The radio station-sound check-live performance montage of "Extra
Ordinary" is very effective, how did you come up with the idea?
Tim Farrell,
the primary editor, wanted to start the long editing process off right by getting something done shortly after shooting. This was the first
thing he cut and it opens the video as sort of an overture. It was also great
to generate some buzz and keep us energized for the next few months.
You elicited some very candid comments from the guys, did any factors contribute to this outcome?
Two words: zoom lens. Honestly though, we
hung out with them all day and made sure that, while we were there for the important stuff, we left them alone long enough that they didn’t feel
like we were overwhelming them. So hopefully they felt comfortable with
us. And it wasn’t a large crew either, which can sometimes be intimidating.
Who ever thought grapes and glockenspiels played such an important
role in BTE music! Was that a totally impromptu moment as it appears on the
DVD?
It didn’t take long to figure out that they don’t take interviews seriously. I think it’s great, but I’m sure some rock journalist
somewhere is scratching his head, trying to decipher fact from BTE fiction. That was just one of many things that happened, that had us rolling. During
one of the radio interviews, Kevin helped the DJ read an advertisement for Peppers Bedroom City. When he riffed the line "Goodbye aching back!"
we lost it.
Was there any part of your work that you wished had made the DVD but didn't?
We shot the entire concert from 8 cameras, so I’d say there’s about
an hour and a half of footage that I wish were in there. But we cut it
out since the HOB Concert is the highlight of the DVD, which makes sense.
Is there anything you'd do differently if you did a similar project
again?
I'd get paid.
What are you up to right now? Got any projects in the works?
I’m just finishing up a short film that the band was actually gracious enough
to lend their music to for part of it. It’s taken me over a year so it’s great to finally be in the homestretch. Other than that, I’m
producing commercials and that keeps me really busy.
I'm guessing you'll be at the Chicago House of Blues shows in
November, right?
Oh, yes. I go to BTE shows like some people go to church.
What's your most lasting memory of "Close, But Not Touching?"
Halfway through the concert, I went outside to call my girlfriend,
and I thought for a second about how I had spent the whole day. I was
hanging out with my favorite band, making a movie, and now I’m standing
outside by the tour bus on this gorgeous August evening in Chicago. Ten of my
friends are inside working cameras, everything is clicking, "Rolling" is
echoing down the street from the open door to the stage, and I still get to
go back inside and watch the show from backstage before I interview
them.
What more could you ask for?
What more indeed, Jeremy. I think I can speak on behalf of
Ezralites everywhere when I say thanks to you and your crew for an
exceptional piece of work -- ED.
What was Jeremy's initial reaction to seeing the DVD for the first
time? He had some very entertaining things to say (next
page).
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