Come on down to The New Parkway, in Oakland! One of my fave theatres, which I had the privilege to frequent many times during my time in SF and Berkeley. Tuesday, March 5th, at 6:30pm — more info below!
https://www.thenewparkway.com/event/it-came-from-aquarius-records/
The new music mix for Amazon is finished! More on that soon!
But, if you HAPPEN to be in Barreiro, Portugal on the 27th of October, check out the AMAZING Sonica Ekrano Festival. Lots of amazing music-related films! We are honored to be a part of their programming. More info here:
In Sparta, NJ, on July 15th? Check out the New Jersey Doc Fest! Great lineup, and not just cuz we’re a part of it! We cannot be there, because we’re going to be getting ready for Seattle…. Buy tix for NJ Doc Fest here:
Speaking of Seattle — we are having our Pacific NW Premiere at the almighty NW Film Forum! My first doc — Blood, Sweat + Vinyl — played here in 2012, so it’s thrilling to be back. Get tickets here!
What’s even more thrilling is that we are having an after-party at The Runaway, just mere footsteps away from the theatre. DJ Veins, who hosts Seattle’s Obscenely Obscure, will be spinning, and we are super-stoked for that. He’s Seattle’s premier DJ of all things library music, obscure, odd psych… pretty much, all things Aquarius Records would love. The after-party is free, so come on down!! Flyer below.
And, streaming… we are 90 percent done with clearing music and video for the film, so the goal is to get it on Amazon Prime Video, and maybe Night Flight, by September. Stay tuned!
The doc has been hitting festivals and has racked up a couple of more awards: Spotlight Documentary Gold Award, and The California Music Video Awards’ Breakout Storyteller award! We were up in the bay for my birthday when we got the latter one. Combined with good friends, #sfbeerweek, getting more #aqdoc t-shirts, and a rad Velvet Underground cover at @gestalthaussf from @jeffreylucklucas , it was a pretty stellar weekend! Still working on getting it on a streaming network... in the meantime, stay tuned for screening dates in the pacific northwest and elsewhere!
Art by the legendary Savage Pencil, lovingly printed by About Being Seen. Tote Bags, Posters, and T-Shirts!
Details:
11x17 poster - red ink on light blue
11x17 poster - red ink on lime green
11x17 poster - black ink on light grey
tote bag - black ink on light grey
t-shirts - red on white
t-shirts - red on lime green
t-shirts - white on black (add'l girl size in this one)
Pics below, click through to see them all - send me an email with what you’re interested in, and I’ll hook you up with the order info!
That’s right, we’re coming to NY on Tuesday, November 1st, to premiere It Came From Aquarius Records on the East Coast!
The fun starts at 7pm, at Nitehawk Cinema - Williamsburg, with the film and multiple special guests doing a Q+A after the screening.
Then, jam on down the street to Union Pool at 9:30pm, for the premiere after-party — Holy Sons and Steve Shelley will get the evening rockin’, before the mighty Oneida takes the stage! A full night of film and music, Aquarius Records-style!
AND! You get a discount on the Union Pool show, if you also go to the movie... click links above to get tickets!
Big day over at #aqdoc HQ! First off - we are featured in the latest ep of Sup Doc Podcast - listen to Andee Connors , J. Allan Horrocks, Windy, and myself talk to George Chen all about Aquarius Records - some fun insights here that aren't in the doc. And, it's a great primer for the LA PREMIERE tomorrow night! Reminder of that forthcoming...
The new and OFFICIAL poster for It Came From Aquarius Records! Created by Savage Pencil - the one responsible for the original poster in the mid-1970s, which was used in the doc's opening credits! So excellent to have his handiwork grace Aquarius Records once again!
We will have a short fun of posters, shirts, and tote bags with this design. Stay tuned!
Reviews have been coming in from CBS, v13, and now The Wire Magazine. Check it out!
Mark your calendars for Friday, June 3, 6:30pm PST, at the Roxie Theater in the Mission District!
This is exactly what I had hoped for this film, to premiere at a local SF cinema, right down the street from where aQ was located. And being part of SF Doc Fest is the honorable icing on the cake!
Screening, Q+A, and libations to precede (and follow) the screening! If you were in the film, this would be an amazing way to see it, get together, and see all of your aQ pals. More details to follow, but, for now, click on the graphic below to get tickets!
Update, December 30th, 2021!
In the penultimate final stretch of post-production, tying together the various parts of the film into a flowing, cohesive, 100-minute epic... At least, it feels epic on my end, with all of this footage from so many people that love this store!
After these pieces get tied together, it's all about color correction and audio mixing.
Projected finish date - end of January 2022.
I will be posting another clip when I get to the color correction stage in mid-January. Until then, check out the below list of folks who are in the film.
There will be a few more people that will be added to this list, when I finalize the cut, as around 75-80 people were interviewed. Weaving their stories together into something cohesive has been the most challenging edit I've ever taken on... but it's been a big thrill to bring these voices together. So stoked for you all to see it!!
Bruce Ackley (Saxophonist, aQ Employee, 1970s - 1980s)
Emil Amos (Grails, Om, Holy Sons)
Jacob Bannon (Converge, Deathwish, Massachusetts)
John Benson (Musician)
John Botz (aQ buddy)
Butch Bridges (Former aQ Owner, 1980s - 1990s)
Windy Chien (Former aQ Owner, 1996 - 2004)
Andee Connors (Former aQ owner, 2004-2016)
Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips)
Eric Craven (hangedup, Constellation Records)
John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats)
Jan De Vroede (Greenland, Nive and the Deer Children)
Jeremy DeVine (Temporary Residence, Ltd, Records)
Barbara Duffield (Executive Director, Schoolhouse Connection)
Scott Evans (Kowloon Walled City, Antisleep Audio)
Father Murphy (Italy)
Jon Fine (Bitch Magnet, Inc Magazine)
Stevie Floyd (Dark Castle)
Justin Foley (The Austerity Program)
Josh Gottlieb (aQ buddy)
Matt Groening (The Simpsons)
Liz Harris (Grouper)
Harvey Milk (Athens, GA)
Tam Henderson (Original aQ Owner)
Larry Herweg (Pelican)
Allan Horrocks (Former aQ owner, 2004-2016)
Pennie Hoyle (Fomer aQ Manager, 1970s)
Matt Jacobsen (Relapse Records, Wayfinder Brewing)
Alee Karim (Writer)
David Katznelson (A&R, Warner Bros)
Howie Klein (Warner Bros, Reprise Records)
Chris Knab (Fomer aQ Owner, 1970s)
Jussi Lehtisalo (Circle, Pharaoh Overlord, Finland)
Ed Luce (Cartoonist, Wuvable Oaf)
Josh Madell (Other Music, NYC)
Pete Majors (Amoeba Records, Harrassor)
Gabe Meline (KQED)
DJ Praj Metal (She Likes It Heavy radio show)
Tony Molina (Musician)
Mark Mullins (KFJC, Los Altos, CA)
Marissa Nadler (Musician)
Tom Neely (Cartoonist, Henry & Glenn Forever)
Nate Newton (Musician)
Tom O'Shaughnessy (Econo Jam Records, Oakland)
Tom Henry Olsen (Norway)
Terje Øveras (Norway)
Henry Owings (Chunklet, Atlanta)
Ned Raggett (Journalist)
Eugene Robinson (Oxbow)
John Scharpen (aQ buddy)
Gregory Scharpen (KALX, Thomas Carnacki)
Ty Segall (Ty Segall Band, Fuzz)
Steve Stevenson (1234 Go! Records, Oakland)
Aaron Turner (Musician, Hydra Head Records, Sige Records)
Brian Turner (WFMU, Gimmeradio.com)
Juho Vanhanen (Oranssi Pazuzu)
Jef Whitehead (Leviathan)
Gary Worsley (Alien8 Recordings, Cheap Thrills Records, Montreal)
*** plus, tons of in-store action with aQ regulars!
My Twin Peaks: The Return - Focus on the Donut, Not the Hole class ended a few weeks ago, but some folks requested a viewing of the syllabus I created. Here you go! The school, SFAI, uses Moodle as their Learning Management System, so you will be able to download the syllabus, peruse the weeks' readings, and see the different subjects and themes we unpacked in class. The link and password are at the bottom of this post.
The only readings you won't be able to access are from the 3 required texts for the class. Most of the readings are PDF's, though, so you'll be able to download those.
Teaching this class was a dream - thanks to SFAI and Christopher Coppola for putting this into the schedule for Fall and giving me the chance to teach it. Hopefully, this can happen again in the future!
link: https://moodle.sfai.edu/course/view.php?id=4885
password: twinpeaks
My third film in the Aquarius Trilogy is now on the Post-Production Bullet Train, with a completion date by Summer 2020! Read on for more, and click on the below link to see the first 7 minutes of the film, along with outtakes and extended, unedited clips…
IT CAME FROM AQUARIUS RECORDS is a feature-length documentary about the SF-based independent record store, Aquarius Records. Having closed in 2016 after 47 years, this small apartment-sized store championed local, underground, independent, and challenging music to the masses - most memorably with their infamous bi-weekly, college essay-length, new-release lists.
This doc has interviews with the aQ owners dating back to 1970, other record store owners from around the world, musicians, label heads, music journalists, and INTENSE music collectors. Interviewees include Matt Groening (The Simpsons), Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips), Bruce Ackley, John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats), Ty Segall, and Liz Harris (Grouper).
Aquarius Records influenced and enriched countless peoples’ musical tastes with their curated selections - but this film also shows the realities of an indie record store trying to survive in an increasingly difficult market of brick-and-mortar music shops, especially in the ever-changing and price-gouging Mission District of SF.
Six years in the making, the film has a very personal angle, with lots of behind-the-scenes footage (and drama) that shows both the joy and excruciating stress that comes with running — and closing — a store like this.
Produced, Directed and Edited by Kenneth Thomas.
Currently in Post-Production.
Projected finish date: Winter 2022.
On a personal note: the original goal was to have this completed in 2017. Various life events — moving to LA, bouts of depression, re-finding and enjoyably embracing a career road into teaching, and all that “life stuff” — prevented this from being completed in a timely manner. Having been re-invigorated by the positive life turn, as well as looking at all of this footage again, this project is back on track!
So, stay tuned for more news and please peruse the YouTube channel to view outtakes and extended cuts!
Caleb Scofield, bassist and amazing musician / songwriter in SO MANY bands (a few of which are in Blood, Sweat + Vinyl) died in the spring of 2018. The music community around him has majestically risen up to help out his family, through various fundraisers — central to this were 2 concerts: one in Boston, and one in Los Angeles.
I was honored with having been called upon to co-direct the Boston live video stream, and to produce and direct the Los Angeles live stream.
The link below is the archive — complete with chat transcript of that Los Angeles show, which took place on October 13th, 2018. 6 cameras and a live sound mix documented this event, which brought about the triumphant one-night-only return of Isis — billed as Celestial (the name of their first LP) for this show.
27, Old Man Gloom, Pelican, Celestial (Isis), Cave In, and a special-guest-heavy set of Zozobra songs. It was a thrill to produce and direct this live stream - please click below to check it out!
Preceded by a 14-minute mini-documentary about the Boston show, also directed by me, containing rehearsal and live footage.
Influenced by Night Flight, I just created a YouTube Channel containing my music docs in full, music videos I directed and/or shot, and tons of live footage I've directed, shot, and/or edited, from 2000-2015. Click on it and let it play as you work, knit, or make out.
Live videos include Neurosis, Queens of the Stone Age, Old Man Gloom, Yanni, Dandy Warhols, Peter Murphy, Sunny Day Real Estate, Chameleons, X, Isis (the band), Silver Mt Zion, and some stand-up comedy to break up the musical onslaught.
It was a good run. And at least it's saved for semi-eternity on a server somewhere. Now to finish the Aquarius Records documentary. See you soon.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLatEL-k0qyjJsGh4ZkWiDqZrH2D0lfamW
The official documentary about SF's beloved record store and champion of all that is awesome and weird in the world of music - Aquarius Records. Produced and Directed by Kenneth Thomas / The Scourge Proudctions.
Release Date: Winter 2022.
Go to https://www.facebook.com/aqdoc for regular updates, with pictures and video.
Go to the vimeo channel for clips and outtakes, taken out whilst we edit!
Description:
This is a documentary on the SF-based independent record store, Aquarius Records. This small apartment-sized record store just closed its doors after 47 years of championing underground, independent, and challenging music to the masses - especially with their infamous bi-weekly new-release lists.
The doc has interviews with all of the aQ owners, other record store owners from around the world, musicians, label heads, music journalists, and INTENSE music collectors. Other interviewees include Matt Groening (The Simpsons), Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips), Bruce Ackley, John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats), Ty Segall, and Liz Harris (Grouper).
In a nutshell, the film is about a store that’s influenced countless peoples’ musical tastes with its curated selections - but it’s also about the realities of an indie record store trying to survive in an increasingly difficult market of brick-and-mortar music shops, especially in the ever-changing Mission District of SF. Four years in the making, the film has a very personal angle, with lots of behind-the-scenes footage (and drama) that shows both the joy and excruciating stress that comes with running a store like this.
Just found this very rough, partially edited collection of interviews for my unfinished doc about coffee culture in Seattle, from 2001-2002, when coffee shops exploded as dot-coms vanished. Shot on 16mm and DV. Seattle folks from that time, watch and see who you recognize! M Violet Leonard - co-producer on this one!
I'm leaving on 28 May for 5 weeks - starting with a visit to Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Followed by Iceland for 4 days, and then Boston, Atlanta, Montreal, and Ottawa. Finishing off with a few days in Central Oregon with mom+dad, and to try and put my brain back together. This is all for a documentary I've been producing for the last 4 years, about a tiny record store in SF called Aquarius Records - but not so tiny that it doesn't have tons of fans and rabid record collectors that frequent the store... from all over the world. HOPEFUL completion date is fall 2017. There are so many people to interview, so I'll have to rein it in to meet that date!
But the trip isn't all business - for example, hope to meet this lovely horse whilst in Iceland.
A couple of outstanding festivals have chosen my music documentary, Blood, Sweat + Vinyl: DIY in the 21st Century to be part of their music + film programming. This film was completed in 2011, and it had a big festival run in 2011-12 - so it's a thrill to see that folks are still affected by its celebration of underground and independent labels and bands. Links and details below!
Restless Natives Independent Art & Culture Festival (live skype'd Q+A to follow the film) - Glasgow, Scotland - 9 May 2016
A Colossal Weekend Music & Film Festival (playing with Pelican, one of the featured bands in the documentary) - Copenhagen, Denmark - 13-14 May 2016
Find more info on the film, trailer, and clips, in the Documentaries section of this page.
The 2nd episode of Heavy Brewing, the craft beer show for those that are craft beer curious, is currently in production. This episode follows the creating and release of the Heretic Brewery's limited edition Triple IPA, Evil3. Brewed as a triple collaboration between 3 old brewing buddies, this is for sure going to be a fun episode. Check out a clip on the Heavy Brewing page to the left.
Episode Premiere on March 31st!
