Directed and produced by Bill Perrine. 2017. 77 minutes. Available on DVD, digital and streaming platforms.
“Why Are We Doing This in Front of People?” is a grunt’s-eye view of the pleasures and perils of a life of music. In this tragicomic tale we follow San Diego based garage rockers Octagrape (ex Trumans Water, Fluf & Soul Junk) as they hit the road, encountering friends, fans, fellow travelers, disinterested witnesses, hard floors, strange times, open landscapes, Tim Hortons, bad directions and a persistent question: Why are we doing this?
Equal parts tour documentary, variety show and meditation on the transactional-communal nature of art, the movie may gently nod at D.A. Pennebaker’s “Don’t Look Back” and Jem Cohen’s “Instrument” but seems equally besotted with the availability of fart storage systems on the Eastern Seaboard. It’s a road movie, a music movie, a strange funny road music movie about the quixotic life of music. It will either inspire you to tour the world or to never leave home.
Featuring performances by Octagrape, Major Stars, Bugs and Rats, Fly Ashtray, Silk Purse (ex Sightings) , Mark Shippy & Maigin Blank (ex US Maple), Porn Persons, William Sides Atari Party, Byron Coley & The Cawl and Complete. Filmed in Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, Northampton, Providence, Brooklyn, Jersey City, New York and San Diego.
PRESS
San Diego Reader -interview
Local filmmaker Bill Perrine and his camera follow Octagrape on tour