Photo courtesy of Upstairs Film

Jim Waters is interviewed in the documentary "High and Dry: 20 Years of Tucson Music." Waters has recorded local bands Doo Rag and The Weird Lovemakers, as well as the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Sonic Youth and Shonen Knife.

Monday September 24, 2001

UA alumni create documentary about local music industry

Anyone who has attended college here knows about Tucson's long musical history - after all, college towns often breed an entirely unique music scene.

But for those who haven't been around long enough, or want to know what direction the Tucson music scene is heading for, a new film hopes to get audiences to appreciate Tucson's long and interesting musical past - and look forward to its future.

"High and Dry: 20 Years of Tucson Music" is the brainchild of Michael Toubassi, Chris Wagganer and Douglas Woods. While living in Los Angeles, the three University of Arizona graduates decided they wanted to document the changes the Tucson music scene has experienced over the last two decades.

"In about 1998, I was just sitting with some friends, and we were talking about how the scene was changing," said Toubassi, the film's director. "It was moving to a new era. It seemed like someone should do a documentary about it."

As members of the not-for-profit film collective Upstairs Film, it seemed natural for the three to do the film themselves.

"High and Dry" is the team's first feature-length documentary. They began shooting in Tucson in 2001, after six months of pre-production work in Los Angeles. The pre-production period was needed for research and to set up interviews with current and former Tucson musicians.

The project was originally set to cover the last 10 years of the Tucson music scene, but the project became bigger as research continued.

"Everyone kept on recommending people to interview," Toubassi said. "We'd talk to someone, and they'd say 'You have to talk to this person' or 'You can't do it without talking to this person.'"

The scope of the documentary became larger, starting with the punk revolution in the late '70s, Tucson's desert rock scene in the '80s, to the alternative, "rage rock" and post-alternative scene of today.

The documentary will be two hours long for its feature-length release, but the filmmakers are also planning on releasing the film on DVD, and producing hour-long segments for television.

So far, the team has conducted 50 interviews with musicians, producers and clubs. Their goal is to complete approximately 80 interviews before December. Some of their interviews have been with the Supersuckers, who moved to Seattle and are currently on Sub Pop records; Bob Log III, formerly of Doo Rag; the Sand Rubies; Machines of Loving Grace, who were featured on the soundtrack of "The Crow;" and Jim Waters, who has produced many local bands as well as bands such as the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Shonen Knife and Sonic Youth.

Some upcoming interviews include Calexico and Giant Sand. Interviews have been conducted in Tucson, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix, San Francisco and Austin, Texas. The filmmakers said they believe music scenes in other cities will be able to relate easily to the scene in Tucson.

"Anybody in any music scene will be interested in seeing this film," Toubassi said. "They'll be able to relate to the issues and problems any music scene has."

One of these problems is that it has become harder for local bands to break into the business now than it was 20 years ago. Even though it's more difficult now, home recording and do-it-yourself records mean that bands can forgo the traditional record creation process and just put out material on their own.

"A lot of musicians don't have to go through what bands did before," Toubassi said. This evolution of the scene is a part of "High and Dry."

Plans for fund-raising efforts for the film include soliciting local and regional businesses for donations, applying for grants in Arizona, and benefit concerts and raffles. Toubassi and the film's producers have also personally contributed money to the film.

"High and Dry: 20 Years of Tucson Music" is set for release in summer 2002. It will premiere both in Tucson and in Los Angeles. A double-CD compilation featuring music from the bands featured in "High and Dry" will be released when the film debuts. Event screenings and parties will follow the film as it opens in other cities.

The filmmakers said they hope other cities see a lot of their own music scenes in the documentary.

"Tucson is the perfect example of a college town music scene," Toubassi said. "Part of our documentary is to highlight these bands and show how diverse the music scene is, how they have had an impact and how Tucson fits into the bigger picture."