Hangin' With Gideon

(Photo copyright 2015 Subramanian)

A few years ago, producer Peter called me from his home in Woodstock,NY with an idea to make an independent film. A few years of pre-production went by, and as anyone who knows the film business be it indie film or big Hollywood level it was a crazy, crazy process. After many turns in the process of the film, we finally filmed it in about 25 days in North Carolina. We truly had a blast, it was so much fun filming it. It was not a documentary or typical band interview/show style anyone has seen countless examples of. We made a ‘found footage’ style indie film Blair Witch style, but about a guy in a rock band. In the end, it was entertainment but with a good message: Triumph over adversity.

We had many great actors and we were lucky enough to pull in many friends from my music’s history. It was so much fun filming it. The film was not released officially, but we did have it available for people to check out for a while and it got some amazing reviews from California, London England and Toronto Ontario not to mention my hometown of Charlotte. Yes, it was to our knowledge the first and only ‘found footage’ style film about a rock musician and non-horror, but it had moments of  a Paranormal Activity feel or other films in the genre but was described by one journalist as ‘an existential  art house film’. I couldn’t have thought of anything cooler.

After all these years I paid my dues and am still on my path.

I would love to name everyone involved and give a shout out huge thanks to all of you, but the list would be massive so I will just say it was an honor and a great thanks to all of you for being there and all the fun we had.   From choreographing gnarly brawls to sitting on the floor and jamming acoustic songs, hanging out in Charlotte spots and all we did, that was a magical time I will always treasure and remember. Thanks to everyone from Woodstock to the Carolinas, Asheville to Los Angeles who somehow had a hand in seeing our film actually get made.  There are no plans to release it but thank you to the many people who contacted us and ask for an autographed dvd.  We don’t have any and don’t plan on making any, but maybe one day in the future.

The film came at a rough time in my life as I was not doing music at all and fighting an uphill battle with arthritis. I was considering packing it in and retiring from music. I was honored to even be asked to have something like that happen. But when that train came by there was no way I was going to miss the chance to do something that cool and have fun with my friends too.  It made me aware during a dark time that there were people all over the world in all walks of life who knew my name or my music. Somehow my rep had gone from a demo cassette tape to an indie film offer from a massively accomplished producer with actors jumping on board.  It was an honor and pleasure to have so many people appear to be a part of it and greatly warmed my heart to feel so appreciated and respected.

Sometimes it was like stepping outside of yourself, thinking, damn we made a movie? that actually happened? When I first saw it on a television I had the reel to reel master tapes of the first EP we did back in 1997 sitting on a shelf.  I gazed over to the tv set and there was a scene with myself and actor Daniel playing out a Hollywood-ized version of the day we recorded it. How surreal, amazing and awesome to my life story.

Making the film taught me a lot about  life, people, and myself and sometimes reminded me of my own words.  My favorite line in the film is delivered by actor Bob who plays a character inspired by my Kung Fu Sifu who once said to me “Get out and live, you just might find the world isn’t a stranger.”  That kind of sums it all up for me.

“The Warrior Spirit” ‘s message in the end is to embrace the day and seize the night. Follow your dreams, don’t let the punks and haters grab your ankles and slow ya down, never forget the power of music and even if you dedicate your life to being a warrior remember to cherish the people you love. MAY LOVE NEVER ABANDON YOU AND MAY YOUR ENEMIES RUN IN FEAR.  INVICTUS –  G

POSTER ARTWORK BY THE GREAT JOSHUA LEVY OF ASHEVILLE ART FAMILY     PHOTO CREDIT - SUBRAMANIAN