Original subtitles

MAN: Dig it.

Hey, wait. Bring that thing out here, man. Let the kids dig this.

You getting that okay? Dig.

Bring that back here.

Now listen to this.

-I'll just say what I gotta say. -Damn right!

I'm here to destroy this fucked up system. I will do it. That's why I got the job.

I said, "Let it be me. Use my hands. I'll use our strength."

Let's fucking burn it to the ground.

1995, this is the year I met Anton Newcombe

and his band, the Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Anton was by far the craziest and most talented musician I had ever met.

I'm Courtney Taylor from the Dandy Warhols.

Anton was my friend and my enemy,

the greatest inspiration and, ultimately, the greatest regret.

This is the story of us and our bands

over seven years.

# ...up because here I come

# With a gift for everyone.... #

You guys took forever to get down here.

-Wait till I get the amps and just move in. -Our car broke....

-Hi, I've been waiting to meet you. -Ondi.

-Pleased to meet you. -Hi.

-Where do you want to go play tonight? -Right fucking here.

I guess we ought to take the shit back to the practice space anyways.

No, let's go somewhere and play.

No, we gotta have a revolution, man. We just got to usher the shit in.

If somebody wants to distribute our records and allow us absolute freedom,

then I'm not opposed to people making money.

It's just it's a mafia.

Until they can write the letter I'm writing, they're the postman and I'm the letter-writer.

Period. End of discussion.

We got a party to go to tonight. We got a party to play.

-Good to know. -You're gonna play a party?

210 Waller Street.

Hi. Hello. Hello. You guys ready?

Ladies and gentlemen, I want to introduce a band that knows where I live,

the Brian Jonestown Massacre.

(CROWD CHEERING)

# What she wants is she wants me to go-go

# Got turned off 'cause she's going too slow-slow

# I know what you want

# So just reach out and grab it

# I thought of a tune to write her

# Go #

ERlC: What's different about Jonestown? It's real.

It's the band that you love to hate, and the band that you hate to love.

Live performances are infamous for them.

-It's about the twelfth time I've seen.... -Brian Jonestown.

-Twelve. -Within six months.

I was completely blown away. I had never seen anything like that.

It was, like, so retro and so the future.

It was mayhem on stage.

Three guitar players, a tambourine player, an insane singer, the music was fantastic.

I'd never seen anything like it.

The only band I've made the effort to go see in the last three years is Brian Jonestown.

Anton, to me, is the best '60s revivalist

there has been since the '60s.

What made it so interesting was that it was not an act of invention.

It was not based off of any pretence of crafting something new.

It was a thoroughly post-modern music. It was a pastiche of everything.

Musically, he's a genius.

Oh, I think he has an incredible ear for music

and for reinterpreting the past and putting it in the future.

It's American heritage reinterpreted.

Anton created this kind of scene and everyone else has built upon it.

This is one of my friend's bands that us....

Between us and a couple of other bands, we're gonna kick off a full musical revolution

so forget about the other bands.

This is a whole other level of the American underground that I'm gonna help expose.

So, tell me right now you've never ever heard the Dandy Warhols before.

-INTERVIEWER: Never heard them before. -Let's see what they sound like.

ANTON: So get ready for a massive concussion of rock and roll

with the Dandy Warhols.

# Yeah.... #

We write our kinds of music together. We're really good friends.

-INTERVIEWER: Really? -We've got a full-scale revolution going on.

(SINGING ALONG)

-Really bitching. -Are they in Portland?

Yeah, we're neighbours. We're building a studio.

-Is that rad? -You know where you're building a studio?

Yeah, we're getting down. We're gonna take over the world.

Yeah.

And we're gonna show you how to do it, too.

-How to take over the world in five steps? -Fuck, yeah. On your movie.

We actually got a tape of Anton's, like, about the same time we formed the band.

And then a year later we went down to San Francisco to play some parties and...

sure enough, Anton walked in and we definitely recognised him instantly.

It could be nobody else.

We're playing and these two guys walk in

just like Mr Cool in their black-leather junky jackets and all this stuff,

and we're like, "All right, who's that?"

They just looked amazing.

They had the fucking coolest hair and they were styled out, like so hip....

It kind of intimidated us. We were like, "Oh, my God!" you know.

This is kind of what we expected from a big city. It's like, "Oh, shit."

And then, we just like, hung out all night and just got fucking loaded.

Yes, won't you.... Won't you join us?

God, that E just wore off in a hot second, man.

COURTNEY: It was awesome, we had, like, the best time.

Right on, brother.

-I swear they're the best band in America. -INTERVIEWER: Wow.

They're so fucking amazing.

No label will touch them. They are so crazy.

I've never seen them eat. All I've seen them do is drink liquor and snort drugs.

That's like.... That's all they do, you know.

That's funny.

Joel, do you want some more?

Yes, please.

Oh, my God.

This is a very strange gathering.

I suppose it's time for a costume change.

God.

They're just our buddies. They're our alter egos in some way,

inspiring each other to create and be successful.

COURTNEY: Our bands played together a lot over the next couple of years,

and it was rock.

# 'Cause I I believe it in my soul #

People will always say, "Well, what music do you like at the moment?"

and I would say Brian Jonestown Massacre and the Dandy Warhols.

Jonestown and the Dandys have a window of opportunity.

They can relate to suburban people, drug people,

and they can also relate to literary people,

and also to people who have some real knowledge of how music developed.

COURTNEY: In 1996, my band, the Dandy Warhols,

were in a studio in our hometown of Portland, Oregon,

recording our first album for Capitol Records.

Now, unlike the Brian Jonestown Massacre, we had just signed with a major label,

and, of course, they thought we were gonna be the next big thing.

They have the potential to be a very big band

because they have created a world of their own. It's a Dandy Warhols world.

And they don't therefore belong to any particular trend.

COURTNEY: Our first record for Capitol took two tries.

The first time it got rejected, they had the gall to tell me that there was no songs.

It just really pissed me off and I got all...uppity about it

and, "Who are you to tell me what a song is, you who have written so many songs?

"How many? None? Between the two of you, ever?"

So then, I think, I ended that by saying, "I sneeze and hits come out."

To which Perry said,

"Well, then, if that's the case,

"I'm sure Capitol will have no problem

"finding the funds to finance your handkerchiefs."

I think it's like something.... Like 85 to 90% of all records made never recoup,

which doesn't mean to say you really succeed, all you do is recoup.

So the odds are that the Dandy Warhols, like everybody else, will fail.

Today, I mixed 13 songs. I started at 7:00 am, was done by 1:00.

Found a drummer, taught him all the tunes, didn't do anything else on my birthday.

In 1996, the Brian Jonestown Massacre had a record out.

They were on a lot of A&R hot lists.

They were in hit magazines as one of the bands that was the most courted.

It's a fabulous record.

People are jealous of our sheer ambition that we have

and the fact that we're the most prolific people, albeit in North America.

COURTNEY: The Brian Jonestown Massacre had released three full-length albums

in just that year,

Their Satanic Majesties' Second Request, Take It From The Man!

and Thank God for Mental Illness.

INTERVIEWER: When he tells me he doesn't wanna sign with major labels,

is he serious he wouldn't go that route?

He always talks about doing it, though.

-Yeah, I mean, that's the plan. -That's why we came down here.

-That's why we came here. -He wants to rip them off in some way....

He doesn't want them to take advantage of him.

But in order not to get taken advantage of, he wants to take advantage of everyone else,

and then you're just as corrupt as the system that you're trying not to be corrupted by.

Five, six, seven. It's magic.

The guy does not.... He doesn't know how to support himself.

He's been homeless for five years or so.

Matt Hollywood was Anton's, like, cranky little brother who...

probably wanted to be Anton, knew he wasn't quite as talented as Anton.

Erm, still wrote some really, really great songs, and sang them well,

but Anton never really let him have the spotlight

the way that he could have or should have or needed to.

(PLAYING INDIAN STYLE MUSIC)

I think Anton understands that what he's doing

is part of a continuum of rock music,

almost like he is someone from the '60s who just happens to be living here and now

and is totally lost and doesn't really understand the ways that people do things.

I'm just saying don't fucking fuck with me.

I'm not fucking with you, I'm trying to explain things to you.

If you don't wanna listen to the way people feel,

if you don't want to listen to other people's opinions, then go off and do it yourself

and be loved by your fucking self and nobody will love you

because you don't want to deal with other people.

-Cool, I won't have any headaches, either. -Great.

I don't do anything wrong, that's why I don't say sorry.

You do. That's the first step in being human, realising that you do and making 'em better.

You guys are fucking cracked, man. I don't fucking worry about....

I don't even fucking worry about this shit.

I don't do it fucking wrong. I'm just telling you a fact.

-You know, every religion makes people.... -I hate religion

because that's what fucked up your mind.

Every fucking spiritual belief, you burn in hell for pretending to be God

and not being able to back it up.

I don't like being robbed from. It's highly against the law,

-stealing from people. -INTERVIEWER: How have you been robbed?

Well, we'll see, won't we?

Seymour Stein told me, "Sign them right away.

"With a name like that, you can't go wrong. You have my blessings. Go, girl."

And.... But I had to convince a couple of other people from the company,

and I took my boss, Nancy Jeffries, who was the head of the A&R department,

to a show in Los Angeles that we set up especially for her,

so she could witness them and make up her own opinion

and see if we wanted to put mega dollars behind them.

And it was the biggest disaster I had ever witnessed.

(CROWD CHEERING)

Hell, yeah.

ANTON: These songs we're playing tonight, we have a lot of records.

We put out six full-length albums this year,

and that's why we're gonna get the biggest record deal in history.

Because we're smart.

-Are we ready? -Ready?

COURTNEY: Now, if Anton thought that anyone screwed up during a song,

he would immediately correct them.

# Shine like the sun

# Set me free #

Fuck you. You don't tell me to "fuck you". I'm in your band.

Hey, fuck that. Nobody's gonna say "fuck you" to me on my stage with my band.

Fuck you. Get off my stage 'cause you don't have the band.

So what was that fourth song? I am Love? What?

(CROWD JEERING)

COURTNEY: This guy wasn't long for the Brian Jonestown Massacre.

ANTON: Okay, I need a fucking drink. I'm not getting paid.

Send a waitress up here right now, or else we're fucking leaving.

We already played for these people that stayed for us.

I'm working harder than you, motherfucker!

All right, this next song is about love, and it's called, well, Love.

Hey, quit.... I'm gonna have the bouncers beat you up

if you don't stop stepping on their mikes. They don't like that. Pick that shit up.

-Bring it on! -Pick that fucking shit up, and quit....

Hey, you fucking asshole, you get off.... You get out of here, too.

I'll play by myself and you go have a drink. Bye. Watch.

Pick that fucking shit up!

Stand the fuck back, motherfucker!

WOMAN: All right! Stop!

(CROWD HOOTING)

MAN: What the fuck's going on here?

Get me some flavour here.

(CROWD CHEERING)

He fucking broke my sitar, motherfucker.

-INTERVIEWER: You okay, man? -Yeah, I'm okay.

-Did you get hurt? Is that blood on you? -Yeah.

-From where? Your hands. -From people's faces.

He wants to be a rebel, he doesn't want to conform, he doesn't....

He wants to be successful in one part, but he doesn't....

He can't admit that to himself,

so he completely sabotaged that showcase. He knew what was at stake.

He knew he could have gotten a million dollar deal if he had played it right.

I think my running total is 21 official quits...

of the band.

INTERVIEWER: After last night, are you still in the band?

I don't know. Nobody punched me, so I guess I'm clear.

Most band conflicts I've seen, usually it's because two or three guys in the band

can't get along together because of some girlfriend,

or because they both wanna write songs.... It's some kind of typical situation like that.

This is not a personality conflict, it's a vision of the world.

Sometimes, people go past the boundaries of good and evil

or whatever boundaries of common sense we all operate under

into another realm, and we call these people prophets.

Jesus Christ was a person like this, so was Charles Manson.

They transcend the normal world and they set their own....

-MAN: Adolph Hitler. -Yeah, exactly, standards.

-Yeah, megalomaniacs. -Anton sees himself in that mould.

That's where his problem comes,

trying to integrate his mystical vision with his messed up personality.

And it's really heart-wrenching to see it. He's not just a jerk, you know.

He's almost like one of these people

who stumbles out of the desert, screaming, "I've seen God!" you know.

"We understand we are your backup musicians

"and take musical direction from you.

"You, on the other hand, understand that we are human beings

"and don't want to be treated like shit."

-Something like that. -Yeah, okay.

In his mind, no one can play the music as well as he could, you know.

If Anton had his way, he would clone himself

and he'd have six other Antons or five other Antons,

and they'd all be playing the instruments.

Anton on drums, Anton on bass, Anton on all the guitars, and whatever.

He's his own worst enemy because he thinks success and credibility

are mutually exclusive terms, which is an easy baggage to inherit,

but a very difficult one to haul through every decision of your career

because, as a musician, you want to reach the biggest possible audience,

and, as an artist, you want to impact culture in the deepest way possible.

I'm not for sale. Do you understand? I'm not for sale.

-Nobody says that. -What are you trying to do, then?

I'm fucking.... Love.

Do you understand what I'm saying? The Beatles were for sale. I give it away.

It cost me $17. I paid for this record, right?

-I used the money... -INTERVIEWER: It cost you 17 bucks?

17 bucks to make Thank God for Mental Illness.

No shit, and I'm gonna show you because we're gonna go up to Oregon.

I'm gonna record a bunch more records and you can see.

COURTNEY: Anton had been threatening to move to Portland for months,

but when he finally showed up with all of his belongings,

we realised that he had intended to move in with us.

We couldn't really take him in.

I'm in Portland now. It's been a rough trip.

-INTERVIEWER: It was a rough trip? -Yes.

Going up. Top floor.

Pantyhose, illegal drugs and cigarettes.

You're supposed to push "stop". Oh, well. My hairspray.

MAN: Protect your....

An after-rinse for that hold for weather you just can't count on.

Hello, darling. I'm home. What's for tea?

INTERVIEWER: Do you find Portland creatively inspiring, Anton?

No, I find it dismal.

It was a terrible mistake to come here, but we did it,

and now that we're here, there's nothing we can say, huh?

INTERVIEWER: Do you feel like you're in exile here?

(SNICKERING) Baby, baby!

JOEL: I've gotten on with him.

It's really been good for my hopeless, isolated, life-is-shit kind of vibe.

INTERVIEWER: Did anybody in the band invite Anton to move up here, or....

Well....

Or suggest it would be a good place for Anton to move, or anything?

I don't know, it's like inviting Anton to your house. This is a small town.

I don't know.

Maybe he expected to stay with us.

-We weren't gonna have him stay with us. -And make a record with him and....

Yeah, and we went on with our lives because we actually had stuff to do.

We had to get that record done. We had to get it out.

-We.... -Yeah, we were being productive.

-Happy New Year. -Happy New Year.

COURTNEY: We played a New Year's show that year,

and Joel, of course, came to party.

I didn't notice at the time, but Anton didn't show.

Any resolutions this year, Courtney?

Any revolutions for this year, Courtney?

Yeah, I'm gonna get this.... Like a tattoo of this here.

I like this 'cause it makes me feel like Amadeus.

Hence my theory the Dandy Warhols are nothing but a bunch of fags.

Six, five, four, three, two, one.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year.

Quiet, the artist needs quiet.

The artist is gonna create a sound for his concise purpose,

using a modular synthesising apparatus from RadioShack.

(SYNTHESIZED MUSIC PLAYING)

One, two, three, four.

# Ooh

# Say goodbye to Mum and Dad

# The two best friends I never had...

(RECORDED VERSION CUTS IN) # ...to be knowing where I'm going

# How about you? #

Tony was raised in a very affluent society.

He had every advantage a child could possibly have.

I mean, he had a lot of disadvantages.

He was raised by a single parent. He didn't have a father.

Well, that was my fault. Being an alcoholic, I left the family

when he was about a year, a year and a half old.

I had shown symptoms of schizophrenia. I drank every day.

You have to look at.... Here's a very, very superiorly intelligent child

who knows what the curfew is,

who knows that Newport Beach strongly enforces the curfew,

who has been arrested 50 times for it and yet continues to do it.

So when they called me at work and said, "You need to come and pick him up,"

when I went to the Newport Beach jail, I said, "I'm not taking him.

"I'm not picking him up. I'm tired of doing this."

And they said, "But you have to." I said, "No, I don't have to."

"What are you going to do? 'Cause I'm not picking him up."

I told him the last time, "Next time I won't come get you."

So he was taken to the adolescent unit by the police, not by me.

I signed the papers as his guardian, but he was taken there by the police.

I hate to see him repeat his life like myself.

Two divorces and...

and not getting a chance to raise your kid.

There was times when Tony appeared under the influence.

There was times when he was growing pot

and I was the first one to call the police and have them come here and get it.

And I guess I sort of thought eventually he'd get over all this nonsense,

and he'd grow up, and he'd get a real job, but he never has.

He feels starved for affection, I think. Love.

As a father, you know, I probably failed immensely,

you know, and I feel guilty about that.

If he has abandonment issues, they're as much my responsibility as his.

I know this is the album he gave me, Thank God for Mental Illness.

It's sad, isn't it?

-INTERVIEWER: Extremely sad. -They are the best two friends I never had.

He has no.... Really, as near as I can tell, doesn't have any family he can fall back on.

He doesn't have any money, doesn't have a home.

It's enough to drive anybody crazy. I think he's a little bit on the edge besides that,

but, you know, it's amazing he has....

He can be as sane as he usually is.

Actually, he has nobody.

You know, he gets help because some people are with him.

We are all with him. But I don't think his family has ever been very helpful for him.

When we got together, we all realised our parents were all still married,

and we were like, "We're the most well-adjusted band in America."

We're the most well-adjusted band in America.

COURTNEY: The BJM returned to LA.

Anton promised Greg Shaw of Bomp! Records, his next album

in exchange for the money to rent a house in Los Angeles.

He and Joel invited the rest of the BJM to take rooms in the house,

so they could make the big industry push.

Even Jeff Davies, Anton's genius guitarist,

who'd battled heroin addiction, returned from rehab, full of hope.

JEFF: I've been on couches and floors for so damn long,

I am very digging the idea of having a door that you can close.

-Where's Anton at? -He's taken Courtney to the airport.

COURTNEY: I'd been meeting with Capitol as I was finishing the record.

I wanted Anton's opinion on a song everyone expected to be a massive hit.

Anton, this is gonna be.... This is like such a ridiculous, like,

-super fucking thing. -I can't.... Bring it up.

-I'm ready to get silly. -Yeah.

(NOT IF YOU WERE THE LAST JUNKIE ON EARTH PLAYING)

COURTNEY: Anton didn't react at all.

It kind of bummed me out, but I think I knew why.

Anton inspired Courtney to go much farther than he's ever gone before.

It was definitely both of them kind of wanting to be the other person.

I know Courtney's always wanted that mad genius thing

but is unable or unwilling to let himself go that far.

Anton and Courtney, love-hate relationship, I guess.

I think they feel they're on the same level in many ways, with creative ability.

They challenge each other. They fuel each other's fire.

COURTNEY: I didn't have time to reflect on Anton's lack of interest in my new song

'cause mega-celebrity fashion photographer, David LaChapelle, agreed to do our video.

Capitol threw down $400,000 to make this happen.

Suddenly, it felt like we were going to be big time.

# I never thought you'd be a junkie because heroin is so pass� #

-Big money. -Turn around and look at that thing.

I didn't know it was going to be a deaf advertisement.

Yeah, the '80s angle.

-The '80s angle? -Yeah, it was a real '80s angle.

I'm not going to really collaborate.

You know, if it's great, I'm gonna think you're fucking great.

If it's not, I'm gonna be really pissed off at you.

Courtney's having second thoughts about the entire video.

If we could reshoot just the band stuff once my hair grows out.

Okay, redo it, but we have to redo it 'cause of the hair....

-I think they drove out.... -To the Junkie video shoot.

I'm sure we told them about it.

-"Come on over and eat some free food. " -Steal some vitamins.

ADAM: What a wonderful waste of money before they've sold a product.

Just on one video, they were in $500,000 or more.

I think I'm beginning to grasp the concept here.

The theme is.... Am I wrong?

Pass� things. Things that are pass�.

The whole thing.

Wow, look at this. Is this all for the Dandys?

INTERVIEWER: Yeah. You should have seen them performing on that stage.

-Wow. -Yeah.

Is it gonna happen for us?

(CREW CLAPPING AND CHEERING)

COURTNEY: Brian Jonestown Massacre left our video shoot convinced

that we had blown way off course.

I'm sober. I dig everything. Hello, Mr Policeman.

COURTNEY: The guys in the Brian Jonestown Massacre

actually did the drugs we were singing about,

and, still, they seemed to miss the irony in the song.

Whereas some members were able to use dope and be somewhat functional,

it seemed to bring out a really dark side of Anton.

Why don't you just fucking take her out of here? She's crazy or something.

Fuck, I asked her just to leave me alone for a fucking minute.

-Now she wants to like.... -ZIA: She just wants love.

-SOPHIE: Just love me. -Of course not.

-She just woke up. -Go to sleep. It's two o'clock in the morning.

Fuck this! Leave.

I wasn't gonna do dope with you every day.

-You're so fucking.... -Leave me alone.

COURTNEY: Sophie left Anton and never returned.

She actually joined the band the Minstrels, fell in love with George, the lead singer,

and together they moved to Tahiti.

Back at the house, the band was preparing for a new record and a summer tour.

# Time is a handle

# Lifeless on your wall

# Turn, turning

# They got lost #

We should have a fucking party here.

COURTNEY: The Brian Jonestown had a party

to show us their new house and their cool scene.

Apparently, it was a pretty good party. In fact, that's Harry Dean Stanton right there.

(SINGING INDISTINCTLY)

But we couldn't make it over because we were hanging in the hot tub

and partying with David LaChapelle and his entourage.

There they are. All right, bring the film crew in.

Nice hat.

-Hello. -Hi.

-Take it. -Look at the fingers.

# Get you out of my life #

COURTNEY: I decided that the BJM house, the day after they threw a party,

would be the perfect location for a Dandy Warhols photo shoot.

What I want to do is I wanna go out to this really, really fucked household.

COURTNEY: Yeah, well, I didn't bother to warn the guys.

ZIA: When we did the photo shoot in their house, I just could not believe it.

They had no furniture, hardly.

Everything was on the floor. It was like a squat, a hovel.

How do you guys live like this?

There was dish soap on the kitchen table and maybe an empty 40 ouncer

and some guitar amps and stuff in the living room.

INTERVIEWER: Matt Hollywood, there's a lot of people walking into your house right now.

There's a whole photo shoot about to happen. And your house is trashed.

You guys partied last night.

I think that it's a good idea, having the photo shoot here

so that they can pretend that they had a big party.

They've come for our minds.

This is great.

You guys, we have to do this other one because there's like....

It's tiny and there's two mirrors that face like this

so we can get the total shot with a bunch of reflections.

-You're the kitty-cat. You're the cat. -Give me five, baby.

Yeah.

(LAUGHING)

Is he looking weirder?

Good. Good. Okay.

They're comping our whole gig. We have to live there, baby.

Oh, no, we're certainly not gonna say it's our house. It'll be like....

No, but you're not gonna say it's our house, either, now are you?

-Yeah, we are. We're gonna say.... -Really?

-We should be in the background. -Every day, the Dandy Warhols wake up

together in the home of a different band. Today, it's the Brian Jonestown Massacre.

And how much do we get paid?

-I know, all we're talking about.... -Yo, baby.

Where's the dough? Where's the dough? Where's the dough?

Now if we take pictures in our own house,

people are gonna accuse us of ripping you guys off.

In our own house!

COURTNEY: I guess the Brian Jonestown Massacre wanted revenge,

so when they scammed some time at a local studio, they wrote us a song.

ANTON: Not If You're The Last Fucking Dandy on Earth.

That's the name of our song. She looks like she's about ready to rock to me.

"I want those fucking bastards dead, they're jeopardising the Dandy's career!"

Pretty hot, huh? In fact, I'll put it on.

It's so fucking funny.

Move on over, Dandy.

COURTNEY: They scammed a week to record from an A&R rep who believed in them,

so, as usual, Anton moved into the studio, had a bunch of his friends over,

and squeezed out an entire album called Give it back.

# And we like what you say

# You got things we should learn

# And we like what you're doing

# Do it more, baby, yeah

# You got speed to burn

# Pass it over here #

(SINGING INDISTINCTLY)

MARK: You guys were just fucking crazy at the Viper Room.

-Oh, you saw that? -Holy mackerel.

That's a fucking three-ring circus if I ever saw one.

But now I put pipe organs, doesn't sound so fucking psychotic. It's all....

(HUMMING)

Full speed ahead, Captain.

(HOOTING)

All the sounds I can make with my voice or my mouth.

A day at the studio with The BJM.

That's teamwork.

It's such an interesting case study. What, in the end, will yield people success?

We're like, "Shit, man, what if it doesn't happen?"

This is why you love me. It's recorded already.

Two steps or notches above that so that it blows up their speakers with a....

# I heard you say #

Okay, so that song dies out and then it's immediately....

(JOEL HUMMING)

No, the sound will just kind of like....

COURTNEY: The band finished the record and prepared to hit the road next morning

on their first national tour. They'd never before tried to pull this off.

They were sure they'd finally get signed so long as Anton could hold it together.

# And I tried to find

# Why you love.... #

We're rolling out of town at 7:00 pm.

In Raleigh, me and Joel are walking down the street

and this truck pulls up, drives by next to us, and I hear this,

"There's two dick suckers there." (CHUCKLES)

It was just like, "Whatever, man.

"Laugh all you want, redneck, I'm on my way to your girlfriend's house."

It was kind of embarrassing, though, 'cause we were....

We were sucking each other's dicks at the time.

So I'm really happy that everybody came.

This is our first time through America.

Un, dos, tres, cuatro.

COURTNEY: Under the local Communist Party's headquarters,

the band played for an audience of ten and performed for almost as many hours.

One, two, three, four.

(LAUGHING)

(MEOWING)

I got some pussy now.

I've listened to it. I can't listen to this.

-Play fucking video games. -I don't....

I can play fucking computer games. I can fucking escape into a fantasy world.

I can get you to Chicago and also leave you here, you fucking turd.

And now you have us and you have a fucking life.

No, you don't give me any life, man.

-You're not life, you're just fucked up death. -I've gotta go.

I've been busting my ass for you pussies for so long

and I get your fucking mouth and I get your shit.

I will fucking kill you.

COURTNEY: Matt and Peter left, intending to walk back to California.

We're gonna go on no matter what.

INTERVIEWER: Not without Matt and Peter, to New York.

It's going to go on no matter what.

Not this trip.

This trip's going on no matter what. I'm going to New York

with or without these people, whether they play or don't play.

Well....

I'll turn it into a vacation if I have to. I ain't out here for nothing, man.

Basically the guys walked off, away from our whole camp,

in the middle of the night, drunk as hell.

And Peter, being this young, immature fucking stupid.... Here comes a cop.

...hippie fucking dumbass that he's being, went with him,

and they walked away from my scene completely.

And we've been up the alleyways back and forth.

Here comes the sun. It's the next day. We've been looking forever.

And they're not here.

I'm sober, and I drank a lot more than they did, and I'm sober now.

They haven't come back, therefore, what do we do?

Choice one, we leave Peter and Matt in Chicago forevermore

and never see them again.

DAVE: We finally found them, but we were miserable.

We knew the whole time the Dandys were out there somewhere living the highlife.

(EVERY DAY SHOULD BE A HOLlDAY)

# Summertime If I was getting paid

# For getting drunk and getting laid

# I'd grab a phone and call.... #

COURTNEY: We came back to Los Angeles to discover that Capitol

had not been promoting our choice for a second single, Boys Better,

because our first single Junkie hadn't broken the top 20 on US radio.

I called the label but couldn't get anyone to assume responsibility.

I'd really love to have a successful single. I'd like to have, you know....

Yeah.

You haven't scheduled any time like a week or whatever to do radio?

As early as possible would probably really be good for my band at least.

You're saying that you don't carry a lot of weight around Capitol?

MAN: (ON PHONE) I'm just telling you that it's not up to me, really.

COURTNEY: Everybody says it's not up to them around there.

The suits were disappointed that we hadn't turned out to be an overnight sensation.

Apparently, the Junkie video had been put on hold

because Capitol repoed the footage from LaChapelle.

I thought they'd put too much make-up on me.

Take my name off of it. I talked to Courtney last night.

He doesn't want any close-ups in it. He wants it to be a performance spectacle.

He wrote me this smoochy-coochy letter. "You, Salvador...."

Compared me to Salvador Dali and Man Ray.

And, "You do whatever you want," and this and that.

As soon as I'm done with the video, he thinks he can just start screaming at me

at the top of his fucking lungs and acting like a huge spoiled Baby Huey.

He's not like an alternative rock star. He's a pop star.

I mean, he's like an R&B act or something.

You know, I'm "obsessed with the face", how they look.

I said to him, you know, "This is how you look.

"This isn't some weird, you know, sort of special-effecty video

"where, you know, this is like pretty diffused light on you, and you look....

"You know, Zia looks like how Zia looks.

"The dancers looked how they looked, and you look how you look,

"and that's how you look.

-"This is you." -INTERVIEWER: What did he say?

He started screaming that he's done thousands of videos.

He used the word "thousands".

"I've done thousands of videos and I know how I look."

COURTNEY: Dealing with diva fashion photographers

and evasive record label executives was starting to really get me down.

Seemed the only inspiration I found at the label

was looking through the pictures of the shoot we staged at the Jonestown house.

Didn't we have fun at the Brian Jonestown house?

COURTNEY: So I found one of those drive-away car deals,

caught up with the Brian Jonestown Massacre in Detroit

and found out that Anton had written a couple of songs for me.

# Courtney Taylor

# You're a hell of a guy, don't you know

# I met you in there after the show #

Okay, this song is called Not If You Were The Last Dandy on Earth.

Ready?

(NOT IF YOU WERE THE LAST DANDY ON EARTH PLAYING)

-It's psychotic art. -Dude, that's so good.

I will personally tolerate more shenanigans from that fucking Anton

than I will anyone else, just because he makes and has made

such unbelievably powerful and important records.

(SINGING INDISTINCTLY)

# And the good times all ended

# When the money was spent.... #

Fuck that. I'd enjoy the concert much more without any shit from you!

I work fucking hard. I work fucking hard.

COURTNEY: Well, they didn't know what to call this one. A newspaper called it a riot.

The audience had attacked the film crew for filming the band

and then jumped the band. I thought it was fantastic.

I could've hit you in the fucking face! You hit, you fuck with our people!

I love this. This is great. This doesn't happen to my band.

Not to my band. This is cool.

Yeah, that was funny.

It's pretty amazing that those guys make it through any gig without fighting.

There's this great sense of expectation and anticipation

when one goes and sees Brian Jonestown Massacre

about exactly what could go down. Will there be a knife fight?

Will one of the band members decide they hate the other person so much

they're going to slam them in the head?

Will they dissipate and fall apart after one song?

Or will someone antagonise the audience so much that you'll end up in a brawl?

I mean, you just never quite know what's going to happen.

Or will they even make the show?

You go and see a show, you talk to A&R people and say,

"Oh, by the way, I flew down there and I saw them and they're insane. They can't do it."

Too bad. We love them. We wish them good luck but can't work with them.

Are you gonna be a big waste of money?

They dump all this money, you make a record and then somebody kills....

You guys kill each other or split up or whatever?

MATT: We've been driving since Detroit. It's been quite a while.

Been driving with Dean and Anton in this car,

trying to stay awake and smoking a lot of grass

and doing a lot of dope, snorting China White.

-INTERVIEWER: How far are we going today? -All the way, baby.

Yeah, this is kind of nutty, you know. Like, this is how bands break up.

If they didn't know that. Ours almost did, you know.

Oh, gee.

You get a pack of fucking junkies on the road,

not eating much, drinking a lot, doing dope and not sleeping,

is anybody gonna get grumpy and irritable and start fighting with each other at all?

No, probably not.

It's not my tour so I'm just having a good time.

Can I get some reverb in the house?

All right.

I saw Dylan at Gertie's in 1963.

You know, I've been listening to this for the last 35 years.

These guys, whoever it is, these guys have it. What's the name again?

-Brian Jones.... ? -Town Massacre.

I saw this record, Satanic Majesties, and I went home and listened to that record,

probably about 100 times in a row, and I was totally obsessed with it,

and I didn't know what the Brian Jonestown Massacre was.

I didn't know if it was a new band or an old band.

I didn't know if it was one person or 100 people.

I just loved this record and then saw in the paper that they were playing three shows.

(WHOOPING AND CHEERING)

You guys are great, man!

And I went to all three shows.

I'm having the greatest time of my life. The first time I've ever been to New York.

ADAM: On the third one I asked Peter Hayes, who's now in Black Rebel Motorcycle Club,

who was in the band at the time, if he could introduce me to Anton.

I wanted to give Anton my number so he could call me

and I didn't have anything to write on except for this card that I had in my wallet

of all my important phone numbers.

I crossed out all my numbers. I wrote down my number on there and gave it to him.

I was like, "You're the only person I need to talk to now."

# ...inside

# Won't beg you

# Step inside

# Let me take you down

# To the place I'm going

# More than treasures found

# It's just knowing you.... #

I didn't know anything about their reputation

and I was like, "Anyone who's making music this good

"deserves to have a record deal and deserves to be signed."

Hey, listen. Hey, Dennis.

When people like you and Dave that know us and are hanging out

and fucking drunk guys are hassling Matt in the front,

you grab Matt or you grab a bouncer or you grab the fucking drunk guy.

I don't want no hassles out of people like these leeches behind me

that fucking hang out and don't do shit when you need it.

I quit. Anton is a great songwriter and an arranger,

but he is so horrible in so many ways.

I mean, we can talk about truths about me, but luckily I'm not on trial and he is.

-I won't. Who's on trial? -Anton.

-With who? -That thing.

He'll fire Dave on Easter Day.

I've been sitting out here in this damn van all day.

I've been looking at all these penthouses and all these gutters

going eenie-meenie-minie-mo.

It's really....

Is Anton gonna be able to work something out, get you guys back on the road?

We're having the time of our life,

the shows are getting better and better and people are really going nuts.

He's gonna totally try and negotiate an immediate one-off record

and, if he can advance us the money, I'd go, "Cool."

If I can get a third up front, we'll buy a fucking van.

Taxi!

COURTNEY: The Brian Jonestown left New York the next morning

to play a round of shows in the South, but only got as far as Homer, Georgia.

How you doing?

-Can I see your licence and insurance? -Okay, it's hers.

Okay. Well, need to see your licence anyway.

-It got stolen. -Huh?

It got stolen in California. I'm on tour.

-We're just gonna pick up a van.... -I have my licence, sir.

She has all of her stuff. We're making a documentary.

Okay.

-What's your full name, son? -My name's Anton.

All right, pull over there and let me run your licence.

-Sure. Whereabouts? -Just right over there anywhere.

By this gentleman?

How you doing today?

Don't have anything illegal? Any guns or drugs?

No. You're welcome.... You can search the car right now.

Okay. You don't have any problems with a search?

No. In fact, I'll wave that right right now.

-All right, would you step out of the vehicle? -Sure.

All the way, you know, from California, Oklahoma, Minnesota, all that.

This is, Georgia, is the most beautiful state, I'd say.

Really?

Georgia.

We're in Georgia.

-Yeah, Banks.... -We're in Banks County?

INTERVIEWER: And when's the gig tonight?

-When's the gig tonight? -I don't know.

I'm starting to figure I shouldn't have come along for this ride.

What I heard was, they searched the car and there's weed and they get taken to jail.

-I'm gonna advise you each of your rights. -It's my own fault, whatever happens to me.

But I consented to have a car search.

COURTNEY: Anton was eventually bailed out by Bomp! Records' Greg Shaw,

but the band broke up that night.

Anton played solo all the way back to Los Angeles.

The rest of The Warhols met up with me in New York

to play MTV and a few club shows.

Weak album sales and an industry showcase gone awry were kind of stressing us out.

It was the EMD Convention, which is the distributors.

All the retailers were there from Europe, Japan, everything.

We just sucked. We just sounded like shit and I was just like,

"Look, I'm not going to lie about it, pretend we're rocking, man, feeling it."

So I was like, "This sucks. This sounds like fucking shit up here, you guys.

"Can you just be patient for a minute?"

Meanwhile, Girsh is in the back freaking out.

"This is the fucking last time they embarrass me, motherfuckers!"

You know, how about, "Fuck you, man." How about you get up on stage

and fucking pull your pants down, you know.

INTERVIEWER: But who was there? Was it just like....

Industry, fucking huge industry.

Everybody that Girsh and those guys had said,

"This is the Great White Hope. This is the next huge band.

"These guys are fucking amazing, you know?"

So, now, Japan's like, "Well, I don't know."

Japanese guys are like, "Maybe we'll put it out. Maybe we won't."

The Dandy Warhols were a very big popular band among A&R people.

I kept pulling up their SoundScans, too, and I guess, you know,

the A&R people were, like, the only ones buying the record.

The record's SoundScan, first week, at, what, below 3,000

and has been dropping for the two weeks since.

The Dandy Warhols are the reason why people get laid off of record labels.

I think that people spend so much money on these bands,

and they were making ridiculous videos,

and, when it doesn't all pan out, somebody's gotta pay for it, right?

When you sign with a major label, they always tell you things like,

"You know, we're into careers, not hits."

And you go, "Wow, that's got a nice ring to it."

Yet if you don't produce a hit,

they don't really give a fuck about your career, you know?

ADAM: Radio promotion costs are ridiculously out of hand.

Video costs are retarded.

Executive salaries, expense accounts.

The music industry is supposed to be this middleman

between the artist and the consumer

so that people can buy the records that they like,

but somehow the music industry turned itself into this, like, evil beast

that tries to screw the artists and tries to screw the fans,

and it's really obvious.

I have no respect for anyone working for any major label

in any capacity whatsoever in the executive.

They're all liars. They're all mediocre people with no talent.

They don't know talent.

They don't understand or like music in any way whatsoever.

I dread to think what they're like in bed trying to have sex

because, you know, their mind and body are not connected.

It's a fool's game to spend your life blaming the record company.

Every label can break a band, every label can't....

Ultimately it's in the band's hands,

so anybody who thinks, like, "Oh, now we've got a major deal.

"We're home. We're safe. We're gonna succeed." It's just bullshit.

Record companies screw up virtually everything they possibly can screw up,

not because they intend to, but that's just....

It's probably the nature of all corporate organisations.

Major labels lose money on nine out of ten records,

and they have one record out of ten

that makes enough money to cover everything,

and I don't think there's another business in the world

where you can have a 90% failure rate, and still say you're successful.

It's crazy. You should be able to make money off every record.

You just have to spend accordingly.

lndie rock happened because of this.

You know, because of what we have experienced being on a major label.

What every major label says won't happen to you.

They won't tell you what single to put out. They won't pick your, like, pop song.

I mean, that's just bad advertising for the band, you know? Fucking clowns.

If I had only been just a little bit smarter, you know?

I mean, we're at a level where people are getting to know it and acquire the music.

That hasn't been done from being signed.

That hasn't been done through your Buzz Bin video or anything.

That's been done all on our own. You're on the cover of magazines,

not because of some suit is backing it with his bread like everybody else.

We're there because we get there on our own,

and that is the vibe we exist on.

I've been trying to talk Perry into signing them for a long time.

Like, look, this is the last real rock'n'roll band,

and they're fucking awesome. They make great records, you know?

You couldn't do anything, you know,

like trying to control what happens or anything like that.

But just give them money. They'll make great records,

put them out on the road, and they'll do great.

COURTNEY: Before their first American tour went south literally,

the Brian Jonestown Massacre had managed to attract

quite a bit of industry attention on the road.

Capitol may have finally listened to me as they offered Anton a modest record deal.

He asked Michael Dutcher to represent him at the meeting,

but Anton blew the deal within an hour.

I thought he was more together when I first met him.

He gave that illusion for a period of a week.

I think, Anton, if he could really focus,

could be in that elite group of people

with, you know, Lennon, McCartney, you know, Bob Dylan.

COURTNEY: Meanwhile, Adam Shore convinced TVT Records,

the largest indie label in America,

that the Jonestown Massacre was the best band in the country.

Michael Dutcher feared that Anton's manic behaviour would again blow the deal,

so he sent Joel to New York in his place.

I've arrived in New York City. I'm going to swanksville here.

The gutter boy.

-Did you meet Joel? -Yeah.

Anton's got an ear infection, and, this morning, we had to switch them up.

He was just, he was not feeling like himself, and the doctors were a little worried.

I don't know, he said, at one point or another,

he got in some kind of accident with his ears.

COURTNEY: The TVT execs seemed to buy Dutcher's story about Anton's earache,

and Joel charmed them over dinner.

Now, I'm gonna show you four places to sign.

(DIAL TONE BUZZING)

-Just like the Declaration of Independence. -Exactly, put your...your Joel Gion.

(DIAL TONE BUZZING)

-My briefcase, it's around here.... -MAN: I don't get it.

Not bad. Not bad.

(PAPER RIPPING)

ALL: Whoa!

-Two points off. -Is that bad?

It'll still be enforceable, so now....

ANTON: (ON PHONE) I wanna say that I'm making a personal commitment

not to screw with anybody's head, like, in a bad way, you know what I mean?

-Only in a good way. -Push drugs on little kids.

And I'm not gonna promote fascism in any way. I'll promote....

Oh, come on.

I love making music, so I don't think we're gonna have any problems.

Okay, Anton, I'm going to pick up the phone, and then Steve's leaving.

Thank you, Steve, for your time, and I'll talk to you as soon as possible.

Take care, man. I'll talk to you later.

-Thank you. -Okay.

ADAM: One thing that we're absolutely 100% sure of,

the Brian Jonestown Massacre can make records.

They've made five records in two years, and more and more and more.

You almost have to stop them from making records. They're making so many.

We're a record company, so all we have to do is put out their records.

Elektra and Sire and Apple and all these labels,

I'm like, "What's their problem?"

You know, it's like, I like this band. I brought the band and the CDs to my boss.

He really liked it, and within three weeks we had a deal.

You know, it's done. It's so easy.

Like, why is everybody so scared? What's the problem?

-That is your first signing? -Yes. Yes.

You know what? It's very easy. Everyone should try it.

Hi.

You guys have no idea who I just became yesterday.

-Who? -I'm very big. Very big.

What?

They don't want just Anton. They want Anton, and myself, and yourself.

And that's all right, you know? That's a whole different gig, you know, by contract.

Adam's really scared about what the fuck is this between you guys and the Dandys?

Yeah, I tried to explain it to him. The history and whatnot.

He's like, "I can't believe you're playing, like, the Beatles versus the Stones gig

"when you guys are, like, so much better than them

"and you're gonna totally transcend them like lickety-split."

And it's like, well, you know, yeah, you know they're target number one,

and then we'll move on, and from there we'll go to Oasis, you know, whatever.

They're just the first in the line, you know,

that's kind of the whole gig, you know what I mean?

I keep hearing little things in the press.

There's just little mentions that.... You know, they'd be dissing us,

and it's just like, why?

Just didn't understand

that, supposedly, it was a rivalry that they were trying to start up to get press,

but they didn't tell us that, so it was just sort of insulting.

Well, this is a special little present from our dear friend Anton.

We were in San Francisco, and we're playing a show at the Purple Onion,

and he just drove by in a truck,

and I just happened to be outside, and he said, "Here, here's a present for you.

"I'll see you in a month. I'm going to lndia."

There's a whole bunch of fun stuff in here.

This lovely bar of soap came attached to this nice little card

with a little message, "Clean up your act!"

"Courtney Taylor, surrender!"

I was with Eric and we each found these little things in here

with individual names on them.

Well, they're shotgun shells.

Mark Eiger had a restraining order taken out against Anton.

He's stalking us now.

Making phone calls to Courtney's room...

-Did you hear that, Bob... -...in the morning.

...Mike, and Heather are trying to get them off the CMJ show.

INTERVIEWER: Do you get tired of driving around?

Yeah, I don't.... I mean, I feel bad for everybody else in the band,

but it's like, I can't have Anton the insane guy....

I will not have him anywhere near me again as much as I can avoid it.

I will not share dressing rooms with him or back-stages. Anything.

I'll still buy their albums, though.

COURTNEY: Our management had thrown

the Brian Jonestown Massacre off our bill at CMJ,

but Anton showed up on the TVT records dime to distribute his ode to us anyway.

INTERVIEWER: What exactly is the adventure tonight, Greg?

We're going down to this stupid club

to hang out in front of the place and annoy people

to show them just how lame we think CMJ and the entire music industry is.

You mean.... I can't possibly know that....

(NOT IF YOU'RE THE LAST DANDY ON EARTH PLAYING)

Taxi!

Hey. Go in back seat or the trunk, man.

Whoa!

In the trunk, thank you.

Whoa, that was dumb.

-If you have a stamp, you can get in. -All right.

I want him out of the building.... with the furry hat. Yes, he's not getting in.

# Yeah, in a slumber I'm sawing lumber

# I saw my baby dance a Latin number #

-Ready? -I'm ready.

-Take that for me. Excuse me? -Thank you.

Sir? Capitol?

-Ready? Are you from Capitol? -Er, no.

Take this anyways.

Not If You're the Last Dandy on Earth. You two will never meet.

Take it anyways.

How did you get Jason Cropper's badge?

-Because you know what? -He loves you?

No, I'm the Son of God. I take whatever I need.

That's how you got it there?

-Hey, Jackie. -Fine.

-Keep this. -All right.

-This is the Brian Jonestown Massacre. -Oh, really?

This is the hot new single, Not If You're the Last Dandy on Earth.

Oh, I was confused.

-INTERVIEWER: What do you think? -About what?

Of the 12-inch.

I think it's great.

I read it wrong. I thought he wanted to kill us all,

but he's actually someone else, some secret alter-ego.

Did you see them, our signed copies?

It's his, like, little ideal. We could get this whole Blur-Oasis thing going, you know?

Yeah, maybe if both our bands were selling, like, five million records.

He was like, "You don't even understand the....

"You don't realise how much money I've gotten for us."

-Give me my cut. -"I would never wanna hurt you, Zia.

"If I wanted to kill you guys, I would have already did it."

-Great. All right, then. -That's good to know.

(KNOCKING ON DOOR)

Come in.

-How are you? -Good. How are you?

-I'm doing dandy. How are you? -Thank you very much.

"Not If You Were the Last Dandy on Earth." That's dandy.

-Cheers. -Thank you.

No problem, sir. Goodnight.

I gave him $300 in tips today.

I told her it's $900 without tipping anybody in drinks.

If I charged $900 in tips and then plus my drinks,

what do you think they're gonna say?

They're gonna say, "You're not allowed on our label anymore

"because you charge $32,000 in tips."

Anton, this is Steve Gottlieb.

-How you doing? -Anton, good to meet you.

This is Greg Shaw from Bomp!

-Greg Shaw. -Hi, Greg.

Anton from the Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Hey, how you doing?

Hey, guess what? Can you put them on hold for one second?

I will make you a shit-load of money. You too, mister. You too, all right?

Go right ahead and make all the money you want.

Okay, you're gonna need a backpack or a duffle bag to carry this.

All right?

-Accounting? -Yeah.

You guys handle the numbers?

-Brian? -Guess what?

You're gonna have to be counting a lot more money

because I'm gonna be making you a shit-load of money, all right? Are you guys ready?

I'm not trying to, like, jack you for everything that I can get.

It's quite the opposite, you know?

I turned down bigger things to do this because I'm hoping that freedom

translates into something better.

I can play 80 instruments, and I produce the records, right?

-But do you play an accordion? -Yes, I do.

-You do? -A didgeridoo?

I play all that stuff. Weird fucking Chinese shit I play.

There was never another artist on TVT before or after

that had more excitement inside the label.

The people who worked there were so excited to work the record,

and they convinced the music industry at large

that the Brian Jonestown Massacre were the next great thing.

# I walked to New York and back from LA

# I lived on a mountain and once by the bay

# I bought an apartment and I slept in the hay

# But there's no place that's softer than.... #

Definitely not an act.

If he wasn't playing music, it's not like he would get another job.

It's not like he's like, "Okay, this music thing isn't working out,

"I'm gonna go, like, work in an office." Like, Anton can only do this one thing.

He is for real. What he's doing is for real.

# I prayed to Buddha, to Allah and Jim.

# I turned to Jesus and stayed there with him

# I fell in deep but I learnt how to swim

# Now there's nobody cleaner than me or than him #

COURTNEY: Unlike America, European radio actually played our record.

Only days after its release, the album was topping the charts in several countries.

Eric, our drummer, had quit the band two weeks before,

so I brought my cousin Brent to London instead.

Eric had wanted more of my songwriting royalties, and I had refused.

"I don't think about you, I think about me. This is a business."

Oh.

Really? I write all the songs.

All the songs. I produce the records.

All the records, you know?

I do everything.

And....

And yet, I'm giving away half of my songwriting money?

Half of it.

So that the band can pay rent, and have fun, and enjoy it, you know.

And that's not enough?

Are you fucking stupid?

He said, "We're going to Europe in two weeks".

And he says, "Do you think you can learn all of our songs in two weeks?"

And I said, "Are you going to make me sing already?" And he stops.

He says, "Yeah, 'cause if you can't sing there's no real reason for you to be here.

"'Cause, you know, we'll go out and get a drink if you can't sing."

Stockholm to Madrid. There's gonna be a bus.

# You were getting older I was getting wiser.... #

We are not a heavy airplay band, you know, we don't get the kind of airplay

that Green Day got or the Spice Girls, you know.

But it's mostly in America because here in Europe you've got a lot of airplay, mostly.

Do we?

# You get what you got and you learn how to like it #

You know our record is number 16 in the UK?

That's pretty incredible. Our tour was sold out.

Brussels.

Copenhagen. We love it!

Stockholm. Malm�.

Madrid. Barcelona.

Hello, we love it.

It's gone ballistic.

Erm, I've got some press cuttings in my bag to look at, and it's gone a bit mad.

Everybody suddenly knows who The Dandy Warhols are.

MAN: Tickets for tonight, buy or sell tickets.

Tickets, Dandy Warhols.

# Darling, you give me a rope

# I'll hang myself

# It doesn't take a genius

# To figure it out #

Including our parents?

WOMAN: Yeah.

-Exactly. -And in England?

About the same number.

40,000 something.

That's over a year in America,

and that took a little under two weeks in England.

COURTNEY: Our tour was running very smoothly

until a surprise visit by the French police.

Yeah.

Courtney, the special box.

For where you smoke cocaine, your special box.

Cannabis arrest.

I thought he was being real tricky, like I was going to just fess up, you know....

COURTNEY: My band got away with paying a fine

equivalent to four Dandy Warhols t-shirts.

And we kept the grass.

We are a lucky band and they are a not lucky band.

Look what happens they get pulled over by the police

in Georgia, or wherever it was.

And look what happened when we got pulled over by the police in France.

That's lucky.

'Cause we could have had, it could have all ended right there.

Not the band's career, but that tour.

If you were going to be on the Jerry Springer Show,

what would your topic be?

And who would they invite on to slap you?

What is it? The Brian Jonestown Massacre?

"Stop stalking me."

"Write songs about some.... About your own fucking band."

They'd have that. Would that be the episode?

And then they'd have The Brian Jonestown Massacre on.

And who is it? Who is this guy, now?

They're this band, they're great, and they're really good friends of ours.

They're just, kind of, not very well-adjusted people.

They're not right in the head.

It's kind of sad to see them be so dysfunctional.

'Cause the potential.

Like, they're like The Velvet Underground of the '90s.

COURTNEY: By this time, Anton had set up a really impressive home studio

with his recording budget from TVT.

He had his band around him again and he was excited.

Ready to begin his career as a signed artist.

Instead of renting a studio and hiring a producer,

something I'm really proud of is we bought Anton a studio

so he could do it himself.

And not only that, but so he could continually make music on his own, forever.

-This is a whole studio, right here? -This is a whole recording studio.

COURTNEY: The TVT deal got Anton worldwide exposure as well.

We couldn't believe it when we heard

that they had been invited to Tokyo to play some shows.

There were a bunch of girls, "Brian Jonestown Massacre".

And like, he was talking to them and they started to cry and stuff.

And then they laughed.

# I may not know how you feel

# Desire

# I hope it's waiting for you

# You should be thinking of you

# You took your plan into town

# I could believe in you

# But baby you're not around

# Now there's nowhere to run #

That was so cool.

Anton jolly good!

-Anton? -Cool!

-Nice to meet you. -Anton.

COURTNEY: The feeling of hope

that The Brian Jonestown Massacre had had in Japan

died upon their arrival back in Los Angeles.

Anton started using heroin heavily

as he was supposed to start making his most important record yet.

Yo, dude, it's going to be interesting how our record comes out

versus, like, The Dandys' approach to everything like that.

Like how they did their shit.

WOMAN: How did they do their shit versus how you do yours?

They had, you know,

a producer and they went to his studio

and that guy ended up getting more gear for his studio.

Courtney got whatever, you know.

Tickets to go to Loveline and shit.

Didn't you see this? How we got nominated for

the California music awards for outstanding independent album.

Look at that, The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

The industry's thing's just negative whenever I'm kind of down, you know?

Like loaded or something.

I take all these bad feelings, and then just...

put it into music, you know?

I let people interpret it how they will.

I regret the fact that I didn't know

how far gone Anton was in the beginning.

You know, I realise now that,

sort of, I walked into a sort of a MASH unit, you know?

And I'm working in triage.

You know, I had to put as many pieces together to keep it working as I could.

By December I realised he was in no shape to make a record.

I mean he couldn't get it done.

And then we had to enlist the help of Muddy.

Yeah, hi.

We need to rent a DA-38 or a DA-88

in the next, you know, five minutes.

Hey, you have Courtney's telephone number, tell Courtney to call me.

I think Courtney's in Europe.

-Oh, really? He's playing, huh? -I don't know, I didn't talk to him.

Fuck, I wonder when I'm going to hang out with that guy? Probably never, huh?

He hates us anyways. You know that? I'm sure of it now.

We'll never, ever play with those guys again, I bet.

-Unless it's a part of like.... -MAN: Who?

The Dandy Warhols. Unless it's part of like such KROQ Christmas fucking thing.

And he can't get out of it.

(BRITISH ACCENT) "We're fucking Oasis,

"and we're gonna fucking take over the world."

COURTNEY: Spirits were still good in the backrooms of the house,

as the clock ticked on the recording process up front.

But it was floundering under the weight of constant drug abuse and fighting.

Okay, that's it.

I know it's a party back here

but I may have to ask you guys to go outside or go

because there's no way we can record, you guys are just too loud.

Good God, man, we had no idea you were recording.

We are recording.

We're going into the house.

It's a great sound of all these

hundreds of instruments, because that's the beauty of Anton.

He loves music.

He had every possible instrument you could think about.

He had it there and they were playing it.

But, he walked into the house and he just felt like death was everywhere.

It was just a smack house.

It was reeking of death.

And I thought that was the last time I would actually see them.

There's so much of our shit that has to be done now.

Is it really a lot?

Well, a lot of the music doesn't sound done to me.

COURTNEY: You know, if it weren't for Matt,

this record would have never come out.

Anton wouldn't have been able to write any more songs.

I'm trying to make this good too, man.

Don't even do that intro, leave whatever's there, record the rest of the song.

I'll punch it in if it's not right.

I don't care, just like....

Yeah, 'cause we got all sorts of time to fix punches.

Want to put the controller right here? I don't understand what the problem is.

That's not where I want to stick the controller.

Well, Muddy, then go home so I can work.

-Okay, I will. -Thank you.

Anton fucking kicking Muddy out of the recording,

fucking saying, "Muddy, maybe you should just leave,"

telling him to go.

Doing fucking dope again

when Michael Dutcher, our manager, has told him that if he does it again,

he's going to quit and not manage us anymore.

Anton is making a decision for all of us that he wants to fail.

All right, the name of our band is The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

And, the reason why we haven't been playing out

is because we've been recording a new album.

It's called Strung Out in Heaven.

# She said I love you

# And I know it can't be wrong

# 'Cause I've waited for so long

# I've waited for you #

Thanks.

I know, it's Matt. It's cool. He's doing revenge.

Now you know why they don't let kids do dope.

They don't let kids drink

because fucking full-grown adults can't even fucking deal with booze.

And some adults can't deal with reality.

Now you know why we don't have any friends.

WOMAN: Play a love song.

WOMAN 1: Love each other. WOMAN 2: Yeah.

Find me some fucking friends that are worth loving and I'll sing.

Play your fucking guitar now, asshole.

# Almost fell in a box.... #

(FEEDBACK HOWLING)

COURTNEY: This was Matt Hollywood's song.

He always sung it.

# You don't hit me

# Now say you believe #

(MUFFLED SINGING)

COURTNEY: This was Matt Hollywood's last show

with The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Don't break up.

Righteous, brother.

Bombs away.

It's like seeing the dark, dark side....

Of what drugs do. Well, it's 'cause, like, all those '60s bands

got into drugs and they were famous first.

MATT: There's just too much stress on my soul.

I just want to be around some people

that aren't hell bent on destroying themselves.

Hello, this is Matt from The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

Anton completely flipped out on me last night and attacked me.

I've got a huge bump on my head and a giant bite mark on my side.

And, uh...y'know, I just wanted to talk to you about that.

And maybe, like, what the future of this band's situation

and contract is going to be.

What are you going to do about Matt?

What is Matt going to do about Matt?

I don't babysit fucking 26-year-old guys for a living.

Right? I make great records for a living.

Who's in the band now?

Who fucking gives a shit? Who was ever in the band?

Whoever I say is in the band.

I don't really know the person that he is now.

I would rather almost just think of him as if he's dead or something.

It's my fucking band, I invented it.

These guys quit and join as they feel like it.

And that doesn't matter.

I would never manage another person like Anton again.

Because you can't have

the hardcore sit-down with him at times and say,

"Guy, you know, this is what's really happening in your life.

"You know, the illusion that you want to build in your head is one thing

"but the reality is this."

I'm really tired, 'cause I've been doing business for 24 hours

for fucking months, I still haven't been off work yet.

And you've missed everything. You don't even understand how big this is.

They're flying fucking photographers from New York and making them do what I want.

You're going to follow me to a location right now.

We're going to go. We'll use your lD, your California lD, right?

-You have one? -No.

And we're gonna go pawn one of my guitars.

Okay? We're getting $300 to make this photo shoot happen.

And have some scratch, do you understand that?

-Right. -So the movie gets better.

So let's go do that.

Invite everybody you know.

Say, "You want to be in a Brian Jonestown Massacre two-page spread in Magnet

"by a pro photographer?

"You want to be in pictures and record covers and shit?

"You want to, like, be there like a Coca-Cola commercial for all of history?"

I go.... Check this out, ready?

Are you ready for this?

Tell them to wear fucking white and come when I call.

-Watch out. -Very scary.

Anton.

Do you need one of these, Joel?

A scarf?

Yeah.

That guy who walked by, who ran by with the white shirt on?

Yeah, he was walking beside me and asked me,

"Excuse me, are you guys members of a cult or are you just shooting a video?"

And I'm, like, um....

"That's a really good question, sir.

"I'm sorry that I can't answer it for you right now.

"I'm still figuring it out myself."

# I'm heading down to Arkansas

# To bury my old ma and pa #

Cool, have a break.

You happy with it?

Well, I want it to be funny and rad and a curiosity.

I don't want none of that pre-packaged bullshit

like the Dandys are getting pumped.

You know what I mean? We make it up as we go along.

Do you what I mean?

I don't need some guy that lives in, which building is it?

Capitol?

I don't need some square in that round building

pre-packaging a fucking idea for me.

I got more ideas than that whole fucking little office of theirs.

Courtney is a troublemaker artist, I'm not. Do you understand that?

Shot. Beautiful. Hold on, it's beautiful. Shot.

COURTNEY: Upon our return from Europe, we began recording our next album,

Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia.

We recorded Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia.

Above a parking garage?

Above a parking garage, all above....

COURTNEY: Recording Thirteen Tales was probably the best recording experience.

The level of creativity was really intense.

Every single day a lot got done.

And it was really inspiring. That's the way I work the best.

-You ever done that? -Yes, I'll say.

Okay, here we go.

# Give it to me

# Ride me, yeah

# Give it to me

# Ride me, yeah #

ZIA: How did I get in, like, the coolest band on the planet, like, my first try?

Like, I saved up a lot of good karma, I think.

Like, when I paid for all the coke, and everyone smokes my cigarettes, and....

You know, I'm like, okay, I'm getting paid back

by being in a really awesome band, you know.

My good luck comes from all places.

# So what do you do

# Oh yeah I wait tables too

# No I haven't heard your band

# Cause you guys are pretty new #

COURTNEY: We released a psychedelic rock record during the heyday of boy bands.

So, naturally, radio and our record label disregarded us completely.

A year and a half later, a cell phone commercial

put Bohemian Like You into households all across Europe.

We went there and it was huge.

They are still one of the biggest and the most famous bands here in Greece.

We heard pieces of 1 2 different songs of ours on radio stations here.

# Baby, come on, yeah

# If you have a hard time gettin' there

# Maybe you're gone

# But if you find, you find yourself Forget yourself

# Hey hey hey #

I've seen them tonight and I think they are the best ever.

-To the drummer! Fantastic harmonies! -Hello, it's us again!

Courtney, you've got the best fucking voice ever, man.

And it carries well, you're fantastic.

COURTNEY: After feeding our fan base across Europe,

we returned to the UK to headline a major festival run

with other highly successful acts.

(PLAYING BOHEMIAN LIKE YOU)

# So what do you do

# Oh yeah I wait tables too

# No I haven't heard your band

# 'Cause you guys are pretty new

# But if you dig on vegan food

# Well come over to my work

# I'll have them cook you something that you'll really love

# 'Cause I like you, yeah, I like you

# And I'm feelin' so Bohemian like you

# Yeah I like you

# Yeah I like you

# And I feel wahoo, wooo #

You guys sounded great.

I was totally like, "God, I'm so glad I like them."

'Cause they're nice people. What if I didn't like them?

-Isn't that the worst? -Yeah.

-It was great, though, man. -Thanks

Glad to hear you.

Great set, great set. Really enjoyed it.

COURTNEY: We had hit another peak. We were playing sold-out shows

and festivals for 70,000 to 100,000 people.

And we were loving it.

I guess TVT wound up losing a lot of money on The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

At the beginning there was lots of success. We shipped 30,000 records.

We went number three at CMJ.

And then the sales didn't really come up.

There were eight people on the road.

They did, you know, 147 shows,

but I think people wound up going to the live show

to see if Anton was going to punch his bass player,

or if Anton was going to walk out on the show.

-That's fucking it right there. -Your fucking crap.

That ain't your shit man, you don't do that to people's property.

COURTNEY: With disappointment at the label and strife inside the band,

it seemed like the end of the line for The Brian Jonestown Massacre.

The line up that they put The Brian Jonestown Massacre on the map

dissolved in the coming days.

I have another band. It's not like I.... Like this was my only thing.

-Yeah? -I feel bad for the people that it was.

I can do it with other people.

Not be a tambourine man or anything,

but just put something together with people, and share ideas, and....

You know, have a good time.

I can't come to phone right now because I don't have a life,

and I just wasted four years on.... a total fucking waste of time.

ANTON (ON STAGE): That wasn't supposed to be the finale....

What a gyp.

ANSWERING MACHINE: Message four.

JOEL (WHISPERING): Are you under enemy lines right now?

ANTON (OVER PHONE): All right, you bunch of turds,

get your asses over here. We're drinking.

(PHONE RINGING)

WOMAN: Hello. MAN: Hello.

MAN: This is going to be so cool today.

-Shit.... -I'll rent the studio Monday, to record....

The first song is just gonna be all....

So, I'm in the middle of working on my ninth album,

if you can you believe that.

I'm the fucking world champion.

Fired or kicked half of the people out of our band and then they got good.

Seemed like a good idea at the time. But, uh....

It sounds pretty good. It's pretty rocking, pretty crazy.

MAN: Joel!

Yes, it should be pretty crazy. Joel?

Joel wussed out.

He said, "I don't want to be in band with any drug-freaking, fighting zeroes anymore. "

If you can imagine that.

(PLAYING THOSE MEMORIES)

# I close my eyes

# And you're there with me

# Your kiss I feel

# Your face I see

# It's not your touch girl

# That's driving me crazy

# It's just those lonesome memories

# Those memories, those memories #

(ISOLATED WHOOPING AND WHISTLING)

Oh, yeah, that's so cool, you're going to, like, sit here and hide?

Hide in the darkness and throw fucking fruit at me?

Seriously, no, don't hide in the back and throw fruits

when we're trying to play music, okay?

Come on up here in the light where we can see your fucking cowardness.

We can see your fucking shaking little hands.

Or, no, just stand back, and why don't you throw a fucking glass or something?

You got a gun? Why don't you shoot at us?

What are you fucking doing?

-I'll just fucking leave, man. -AUDlENCE: Play. Play. Play.

Check it out, Jeff. You threw down my guitar, right?

I'd like to see you get paid for that.

That's cool.

You know what?

I never got paid for all the years that I got fucked in the ass by you.

So why the fuck am I gonna get paid now?

Whoo!

WOMAN: Biatch!

Anton, just don't die.

Please, just don't. Like, what's the alternative?

You either get straight or you die.

Oh!

COURTNEY: Up in Portland, we were wrapping up our fourth record,

Welcome to the Monkey House,

and turning our label's promotional budget

into a Dandy Warhols version of Andy Warhol's Factory.

The idea of a community of artists

that are not being judged negatively by what's weird or screwy about them

but being glorified.

He took the video budget and instead of building sets

and having them torn down, we had sets built permanently.

And now we'll be able to rehearse and have our own shows in that room.

That angle looks fucking great.

# Just remember me when

# We used to be friends

# A long time ago

# We use to be friends #

It's controlled chaos, really. A stage show.

I'm looking forward to seeing him on the new record. It's different, which I like.

This is Nic Harcourt, your host for Morning Becomes Eclectic.

Up next, brand new music from The Dandy Warhols.

(PLAYING YOU WERE THE LAST HIGH)

Always by the time I am ready for it to change, and to get bigger, it gets bigger.

And hasn't stopped getting bigger yet.

# I am alone but adored

# By a hundred thousand more #

ZIA: We established so early on that we're going to be big for just being who we are.

And that just saved us so much work, I think.

It's fun on tour.

It's fun in the studio, it's fun at dinner, it's fun at the bar.

The secret is...

if it's good, it's fun.

And if it's bad, it's funny.

# You were awake and I should have stayed

# But wondered #

We don't want be a dysfunctional family.

We're responsible, much more responsible people.

Now half the band's married.

I don't know, we all have cars, and we take our job seriously.

Dave Deresinski was amazed

that all of us managed to keep...what was it?

A job, a car and a house.

Whereas his band never could have all three.

They have one or two, but never all three.

The Dandy Warhols are the greatest cartoon.

That's what I think it takes to be successful as a pop star.

I don't give a fuck what they do.

It's not for me. He's not singing songs for me.

Minnesoter? You know?

You're, like, fucking "hot-diggity-dog, all we want to do is get off"?

Go read my fucking lyrics, man.

He's a joke, but The Dandys rule okay, you know?

Hey, that's a great record.

COURTNEY: They were absolutely our favourite band,

and they were the most interesting and amazing characters.

But it's basically like a pack of 14-year-old boys

from abusive, broken homes... set loose in the ghetto.

You know what I mean? That's basically what that felt like.

Like, yeah, let's go hang out with them, but come on.

You know, these kids are all gonna end up in prison.

COURTNEY: Last I heard, Anton had cleaned up,

put together a whole new line-up

and gone on an independent tour across America.

Though successful financially, the tour was riddled with fights and anxiety

as Anton heard the news of the birth of his son.

The last show of the tour was in Los Angeles.

It's been a tough year. Let me entertain you, okay?

Let me just do this. 'Cause I am sick. I don't need to be here.

I don't have a record company. I am the record company.

Listen to my voice, I am not joking.

I am not for sale, this is a gift for you.

You paid for it, enjoy it. Don't piss in the fucking well.

I have a son. Listen.

I want to go meet my son. I'll take your money,

see my son, and buy him something nice. Let me entertain you.

Thank you, I love you too.

You may have seen her around town. Her name is Sara. She's my sister.

She's going play a song for you now. Sara come up here.

# You were gone

# I felt

# I felt out of place

# Go on #

Just like how a shark has to keep moving and if they stop they'll die.

I honestly don't know what would happen to him if he were successful,

and he stopped having things to...

really battle against.

Hey, you're gonna get your head kicked in. Say it. Come up here.

And say it to my face, right now.

Say it to my face. I don't think that's funny, I'm not into incest or child molestation.

Come up here, be a man. Don't hide back there.

MAN: Relax.

Don't talk like that to ladies when they're entertaining you.

I'll kick your fucking head in.

Come on back up here. I'll hit you again, come on.

Holy shit. He kicked me in the head.

Hey, I'm gonna beat your fucking ass.

Hey, bouncers, bounce this guy or else I'm gonna kill him in your club.

Hear this. Do you guys have him? I'm stopping this show. Good night.

MAN: (ON RADIO): Now restraining the lead singer.

He's on his way to you with three security guards.

The police are coming to him.

Anton.

-They're coming to you. -That's fine.

-We are taking him back to the green room. -That's fine.

Have a seat.

-They want me dead. I am not joking around. -Do you think so?

I know for a fact it's over.

I've already won. My son's here.

I keep the door locked.

Today is a wonderful day to die.

Those guys are gonna kill me.

Just put your hands behind your back, palms together. Face the wall.

-Careful with my fingers. -You've got it.

Okay, now put your hands behind your back, palms together.

There you go. If you want, we can double handcuff him.

Sorry I didn't ever get to see my son, but that's the breaks.

I didn't do nothing.

Our watch commander's probably going to advise that we book him for ADW.

Assault with a deadly weapon. Anytime you use....

-Anything besides your hands? -Yes. Yeah.

When you use your feet,

because of the power you can generate in your legs,

and you kick somebody in the head....

I cannot get out. I'm in till Tuesday and they're putting me with the bad guys.

Ondi, tell my son I love him. I'm never going to see him again, d'you hear me?

I'm telling you the truth.

ANTON: So we weren't even going to play tonight,

but we want to make sure that everybody knows

we're gonna fight the good fight.

# Three words you have spoken

# You don't think we get old #

He's like, this brilliant monster creator of art

that generally is like three years ahead. And I always think I'm catching up to him,

and then he comes up with something that I just can't believe what he just did.

He's just always ahead. He's so amazing.

# Please play by the rules

# Please play by the rules

# If I knew my way out #

There's no way to have a revolution if you stay underground.

What the fuck's the point of that?

The whole point was for him to get above ground as well.

And then he could have his revolution.

ANTON: There has been a revolution.

Do you hear The White Stripes on the fucking radio?

There's a big difference. Because when I started, it was Pearl Jam.

I just think the revolution happened.

How many people are imitating Pearl Jam right now?

Not that many. How many imitators do I have?

I played a part in opening that up.

Why don't they tell people who influenced them?

They don't, because they're self-serving fucking bastards.

Everyone that Anton's ever met has gone on to make great music.

Peter from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club used to be in Brian Jonestown Massacre

they're signed to Virgin. Miranda Lee Richards, she signed to Virgin.

The Warlocks gave us

the Beachwood Sparks and The Tyde and The Lilys,

which is all kind part of Anton's scene.

And he is exactly where he was before.

'Cause Anton was never really interested in having a professional career.

He just wants to play rock'n'roll.

The fuckers, the bean-counters, the lawyers.

All these assholes, at every label, those are the people that wreck the music business.

Not Napster, not some college kid downloading shit,

the people without vision.

The music's strong enough that there probably will be a generation

that discovers them like this rare, fossilised gem.

And mine it for all it's worth.

PETER: They continue to make good records, and they continue to inspire us,

even though they're not, maybe, at the same level.

And they'll be remembered forever.

You know their records will become collectors' items, when....

And who knows, we might just be forgotten.

# Oh, please, understand

# Oh, please, understand #

(PLAYING THE GODSPELL ACCORDlNG TO A. A. NEWCOMBE)

# Well I had my share of fistfights

# And some good loving too

# Although I'm getting older

# Oh, I'm sure I am not through

# 'Cause I'm alive

# And I'll survive

# 'Cause I came for you

# I came for you

# I came for you #

-That's pretty much it. -That's hot.

-That last line. -"I came for you"?

No. "I had my share of fist fights, and good loving, too,

"although I'm getting older, I'm sure that I'm not through."

You know what I mean?

(GODLESS BY THE DANDY WARHOLS PLAYING)