Dig this Documentary

Newcombe (guitar) goes all wiggy on tambourine thumping Joel Gion.

I recently went to a double feature to see the Metallica documentary Some Kind of Monster, and was even more impressed with the second half of the bill: A completely raw look at two indie bands struggling with the old art vs. commerce debate, DiG!

The film follows The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre for a period of seven years. At the outset, Brian Jonestown is one of the top unsigned bands in America and the Dandies are just starting out in Portland. The two bands form a friendship, and Dandies frontman Courtney Taylor admits he is awed and inspired by the creativity of Anton Newcombe, the mercurial leader of the BJM (as the hip kids say).

Newcombe is one of the most fascinating people I have ever seen on film. He is a feverish songwriter who plays over 80 instruments, and no one seems to dispute the label of creative genius. But no matter how vast his talents, they are exceeded by his egomania, self-destructive tendancies and heroin addiction. At a showcase for record executives at LA's Viper Room, Newcombe halts the show after 10 minutes and begins ordering other band members off the stage for supposedly making mistakes. Fists begin to fly and the show abruptly ends with a full-scale brawl between band members on stage. He takes the band, most of whom are also riding the white horse, on a nationwide tour, where more shows end with violence, or Newcombe simply storming off stage.

Meanwhile, the Dandy Warhols sign to Capitol records, but after dumping big money into their first music video fails to produce a hit, the label leaves them out to dry. The Dandies are depressed and feel they've lost control of their careers.

What's remarkable about DiG! is that regardless of their own successes, Taylor and Newcombe constantly feel inferior for lacking what the other has. Newcombe, despite his frequent diatribes about musical freedom, clearly envies the popular and financial success of the Dandies, who eventually carve out a niche for themselves. As for Taylor, even when his band is selling out stadiums in Europe, he confides his belief that Newcombe will always be about five steps ahead of him creatively.

It's a resonant film not just for those in a rock band, but for anyone trying to make a living in some kind of art world. No DVD has been announced yet, but it has screened occasionally on the Sundance Channel.