US filmmakers Jason Axel Summers and his wife Kate Fix return with a new documentary 20 Years In The Crypt about Portland rock outfit Dead Moon who became like family after spending time on the road with them more than two decades ago.
Since then, Summers has digitised more than 180 hours of live footage captured on the road to make this new documentary. It’s here we get a glimpse of live never-seen-before footage and performances of the band as they took their DIY punk grit around the USA.
In 2001 documentary, Summers and Fix released Unknown Passage – The Dead Moon story [the title taken from the band’s second studio album] – a first of its kind and one that tells the story of husband-and-wife duo Fred and Toody Cole – showing them at their gruffiest and toughest DIY best. Known for their proto-punk influences, you can hear all the moments they lean on from blues to heavy rock, rockabilly and punk; Fred Cole was influenced by Link Wray and started playing in bands with his wife in the early 70s.
Dead Moon might be no longer with the passing of Fred Cole in November 2017 aged 69, but the legacy of the band lives on and with the blessing of Toody Cole who gave the green light to make another documentary about the band. 20 Years In The Crypt is their gift to fans.
According to Summers, there’s a laidback feel to the documentary; it’s less formal in nature and shows lots of time on the road traveling and hanging out pre- and post-shows.
“I first encountered Dead Moon while working at a college radio station Chapel Hill, North Carolina when I was a student,” says Jason Summers who went on to work in the fashion and music industry when he relocated to New York in 1997; aligning with the likes of Marc Jacobs and Vice Records.
“It wasn’t until I met my wife Kate in 1997 while working on a feature film in Long Island, New York that we saw the band in together in New York,” he says.
“She spotted a poster of Dead Moon who were playing one of their first shows on the East Coast. It was 1998 and Kate said, I know these guys – she was friends with drummer Andrew. They were playing just up the road from CBGB’s at the time,” says Summers.
“We made our way to their dressing room, helped them with their gear and hung out all night. They ended up staying in our apartment because they had nowhere to go and the rest is history,” says Summers.
Throughout their career, Dead Moon played with everyone from The Ramones, Jesus Lizard, 7 Year Bitch and Soundgarden. The three-piece formed in 1987 with drummer Andrew Loomis.
“Every time you hear Dead Moon it’s the lo-fi sound that hits you. As the late Australian Tim Hemensley of Bored/God fame once told me, they give a shit about being given special equipment when they play. It’s not about making the gig technically better. What Dead Moon create is straight forward punk rock earnestness that’s apparent in everything they do from the music they create, to the way they approach people, it’s all real,” says Summers. “What’s more their music is undefinable.”
Summers first visited Australian when their first documentary about Dead Moon premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2004. He hasn’t been since, but has certainly forged some great relationships here. In fact, he also made a documentary about underground rocker Stuart Gray aka Stu Spasm called I Should Have Been Dead Years Ago; the former Adelaide-born musician found fame and a new music life in the USA in the 1990s as lead singer of Lubricated Goat at first. The pair worked together in filmmaking too.
“That trip to Australia was unbelievable,” recalls Summers of the MIFF experience.
“We were treated like rock stars and taken to party after party around the city. We encountered Australia’s weird version of punk rock and how it fit in with our world. There was a real affinity there. People were into rock’n’roll, and sleazy scum rock’n’roll – what spoke to me was that the Australian sensibility of doing your own thing on your own terms; it resonated with what Dead Moon is about,” he says.
You can see the only Melbourne screening of 20 Years In The Crypt at Cinema Nova on Sunday 13th April. A special solo performance by Joel Silbersher (God, Hoss, Tendrils) will also take place.
https://events.humanitix.com/dead-moon-20-years-in-the-crypt
A BAR TO VISIT
Head to the Local 506 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It’s on the main drag and just down from the university. It’s where several songs from both Dead Moon documentaries appear of them performing here. It’s a storied club that I helped found and it’s part of the long history of the music industry and scene.
JASON’S DRINK OF CHOICE
An old-fashioned with dark rum.
