New Orleans Music Documentary on Papa Grows Funk

Do U Want It? is a music documentary that tells the story of the New Orleans funk band, Papa Grows Funk, their residency at The Maple Leaf Bar, and then their indefinite hiatus that they announced in 2013. The film doesn't just capture a band in transition and the creative differences that came along though.

It also offers an insider's glimpse into what makes the New Orleans music community so special, which the film sometimes accents with New Orleans-styled animation. No surprise then that the film won the audience award at the New Orleans Film Festival when it screened there in 2017.

The film has also screened in festivals across the country including San Francisco Indie Fest, Oxford (Mississippi) Film Festival, and Chicago International Movies & Music Festival. Just a few weeks ago, the film won Best Music Documentary at San Francisco's Frozen Film Festival.

I had the chance to catch the film when it screened at the Louisiana International Film Festival in April.  That's where I met the film's directors, Josh FreundandSam Radutzky. I was captivated by their affection for the New Orleans music scene and by the way their film explores Papa Grows Funk's creative collaborations, both when they work and when they don't, so I invited them to come on the show.

Some of the things we discuss include

• How to connect with bands at shows
• What makes the New Orleans music scene so distinct
• The tension that arises between musicians who are content to preform locally and those who want to build a national following
• How much footage and editing goes into shooting a feature-length music documentary
• The way that Josh and Sam resolved their own creative differences during post
• Budgeting for animated clips in a film and an indie tip for getting a lower rate
• How to shoot a band on tour

 

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Want to hear from a band that played at Jazz Fest this year?  Then check out this interview I did with Daniel and Jesse Reaux from The Rayo Brothers.

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Sponsor for this Episode

nsavides productions– I make videos and tell stories.

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This is the video I shot of The Rayo Brothers at Jazz Fest this year.

 

Say hello: [email protected]

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Related Things

• Do U Want it?

  • Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

• Josh Freund - Facebook, Instagram

• Sam Radutzky - Facebook

• Abis Productions, Josh and Sam's company
• Hear the Papa Grows Funk songs mentioned in the episode on Spotify: "Do U Want It" and “Planet of Love & Hate”
• The Facebook postwhen the Papa Grows Funk reunion show was first announced
• Frenchy, the artist known for live painting concerts and other events in New Orleans
• Quint Davis, CEO of Festival Productions, the company that produces Jazz Fest
• More on mirror neurons
• The Music Stops Here, a documentary short about one of the last indie music venue in Manchester, the English city that was the birthplace of The Smiths, Oasis, and Joy Division
• The Preservation Hall animationdone by Jimmy Tancill and his TancoToons company. He also oversaw the animation in Do U Want It?

• Shortcut for the podcast: nicksav.show

Music for the show provided by Rob Costlow.

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Book Mentioned

• A Tale of Two Cities

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Bands & Musicians Mentioned

• Allen Toussaint
• Anvil, Canadian metal
• Aurora Nealand, experimental jazz
• The Brian Jonestown Massacre, psychedelic rock
• Corey Henry & The Treme Funktet
• The Dandy Warhols, alternative
• George Porter Jr.
• James Singleton, experimental jazz
• King James & the Special Men
• The Meters
• The Neville Brothers
• Oasis
• Papa Grows Funk
  • frontman John Gros
  • guitarist June Yamagishi
• The Revivalists
• The Smiths
  • frontman Morrissey
• Talking Heads
• Tank and the Bangas
• Trombone Shorty

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New Orleans Music Venues & Events Mentioned

• The Civic Theatre
• Jazz Fest, last weekend of April and first weekend of May at the Fairgrounds in New Orleans
• The Joy Theater
• The Maple Leaf Bar
• Preservation Hall
• Saenger Theatre
• Saturn Bar  -  King James & the Special Men play on Mondays
• Tipitina’s
• Vaughan’s Lounge -  Corey Henry & The Treme Funktet play on Thursdays

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Shows & Movies Mentioned

• Ant-Man and the Wasp 
• Anvil! The Story of Anvil- a rockumentary about Canadian metal band Anvil
• Dig!- a documentary about the love-hate relationship between the bands The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre
• Macbeth
• Stop making Sense, a 1984 Talking Heads concert film
• Treme, "Dippermouth Blues" (Season 4, episode 3)

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