Mirrored studios in the rear of the old brick school at 2420 N St.—now the E. Claire Raley Studio for the Performing Arts and home to the Sacramento Ballet—reflect the toned bodies of 20 dancers to the eclectic sounds of classical piano, EDM and taiko drum.
These rooms are normally empty this time of year. Sacramento Ballet is off season and the dancers commit to summer jobs or other activities to pay the bills and stay in shape.
Last year, however, a cohort of dancers decided to complete a long-desired goal to perform beyond the constraints of the Ballet, displaying their full personalities and potential in a one-day, crowdfunded and sponsored show.
The first performance in summer 2015 as the Capital Dance Project (CDP) was more than a success—it created a local artist collaboration phenomenon. As a result, this year Sacramento Ballet dancers have teamed up with the artist group behind the hugely successful Art Hotel to bring a two-night local art experience to the Crest Theatre called Behind the Barre: Made in Sacramento.
Photo by Alex Biber
The CDP dancers run the gamut of putting on a show. They choreograph original pieces, raise funds, book the venue, design and make costumes, market and manage the collaborative process with visual, musical and digital artists from beginning to end.
Behind the Barre will be made up of nine original acts. One of those acts is choreographed by Kaori Higashiyama, who is also the main costume mistress for CDP and dances in five other acts.
CDP coordinator Alexandra Cunningham, who won’t be dancing this summer due to ACL surgery, says Higashiyama’s piece is one of several that stands out for her because of its personal connections.
Photo by Jason Sinn
Higashiyama, who started dancing at age three in Japan after seeing her mother dance (her mother, now in her late 50s, still dances), says she was inspired by the music of local violinist-looper Joe Kye, and had him record a piece her grandmother used to sing to her when she was younger. Her choreography reflects her Japanese background, with a winter theme. The costumes for her piece have a personal touch—they’re made from scrap materials from her parents’ decorative fabric company in Japan.
“I’m very excited that the fabric was made by my parents,” Higashiyama says one afternoon over tea at Temple Coffee on K Street. “This summer, I visited my parents in Japan, and they had these old scraps, which were beautiful but were not going to be sold. But my parents don’t make clothing fabric. I wanted to make a traditional tutu but for the first time I used a stiff, unstretchy fabric, so it was really challenging. But I thought I will give it a shot and see how it goes.”
That attitude resonates throughout CDP, as the dancers leave their comfort zones to put together performances unlike anything they have ever seen or danced in, all in a matter of a few weeks.
Photo by Alex Biber
Cunningham talks about another act excitedly, unsure how to narrow down which to highlight because each is so unique. Choreographer and dancer Julia Feldman, for example, is working with composer Andy Tan on an original composition with piano, violin and viola in which the dance movements showcase the music.
“Seeing the music come alive is how I describe her choreography,” Cunningham says of Feldman. “She focuses on full-body movement, showcasing the upper body and arms first and showing how simple arm movements are very expressive.”
Each choreographer envisions his/her own costume idea to match the piece, Higashiyama says. For Feldman, the inspiration included tulips with some tricks hidden within the costumes.
The tulip colors were hand painted onto the fabric by dancer and designer Jaime Orrego, who has been assisting Higashiyama while also rehearsing for several acts in the performance.
Photo by Jason Sinn
“I love that a painter and a choreographer can get together and create a cohesive piece of art like this,” Orrego says of the CDP performance. He just completed his first season with the Sacramento Ballet and says he was excited to have an opportunity to stretch his limits and utilize his formal artistic training through this summer performance.
“This is a great way to introduce people who aren’t ballet goers to ballet, but in a whole new way,” he says. “It gives us dancers a chance to be more free and experimental.”
Behind him, dancers, including Higashiyama, are rehearsing for choreographer Christopher Nachtrab’s piece, which includes technological art in the form of motion sensor orbs that light simultaneously with the dancers’ movements. Nachtrab, who has danced with the Sacramento Ballet for eight seasons, leads the dancers as classical music plays in the background. The artistic vision is in collaboration with Kevin Zee, with VSP providing the technical goodies.
CDP has been the beneficiary of several useful donations and grants to help jumpstart this summer’s project. Sacramento Republic FC, the local soccer team, provided a $15,000 matching grant from their Glory Glory Sacramento Fund, which will benefit at-risk children, says dancer Shania Rasmussen.
Photo by Alex Biber
One of the youngest Ballet performers, Rasmussen completed her third season at age 20 and is one of the choreographers and marketing heads for CDP.
“We are bringing 100 kids to each of our two shows and also doing outreach so if the kids can’t come to us, we will take the performance to them,” she says excitedly about the recent grant. “We want to make this accessible to everyone.”
Rasmussen, who also started dancing at a young age, says CDP has given her career opportunities that she doesn’t otherwise think should would find at her age without a degree. But, she and Orrego note, each dancer in CDP has a unique background, and each person’s skills have been utilized to make this performance a reality.
“We all do a lot of prep during the year, discussing funding and marketing, but the entire show is rehearsed and done in three weeks,” Rasmussen says. “We want the Sacramento art scene to grow and this is our way to do it.”
Like any artist, she, Orrego and Cunningham all note separately, their goal is to invoke an emotion in those seeing the art.
Photo by Alex Biber
“When people think of ballet, they may think of Swan Lake or tutus, that it’s rigid and boring,” Cunningham says. “But as a dancer, you have to be able to do any type of movement possible. You have to turn and flip up in the air, and yeah, we can do that.
“But what you’re going to see here, it’s not going to be your traditional ballet, it’ll be more innovative,” she adds. “You don’t have to speak a certain language to understand it, everyone can understand body language.”
The best part? Tickets to this exclusive dance party on Aug. 26 and 27 are only $25, available through the Crest. To help the dancers pay their rent this summer, check out Capitaldanceproject.org and contribute to their Crowdrise campaign. Open rehearsal schedules are available on their Facebook page. Check out Off to the Races Food and Wine Tasting at the Railroad Museum Aug. 20 from 6:30–8 p.m. for a sneak preview.
Catch The Capital Dance Project’s 2016 production Behind the Barre: Made in Sacramento Aug. 26 and 27, 2016 at the Crest Theatre, located at 1013 K St. in Sacramento. Doors both nights open at 6:30 p.m. with the show starting at 7:30 p.m. Tickets and more info are available online at Crestsacramento.com.
Anyone who doesn’t think that Yulya Burroum and her extended staff are doing a great job keeping the Crest tradition alive is not paying attention to her calendar of events. For the uninitiated, the 1928 silent film classic appropriately dubbed The Passion of Joan of Arc is a movie of great depth and fortitude. And while the $25 advance ticket price (not including fees) may scare many away, those in the know will be saving their Starbucks money for something a little cooler. Acted out by the Inimitable Renée Jeanne Falconetti, this show will be further augmented with the thoughtful live score composed and performed by George Sarah. Initially titled Le Passion de Jeanne d’Arc, this is easily considered one of the best films ever made by more than 100 critics (living or alive). Even Roger Ebert said in an earlier review, “In a medium without words, where the filmmakers believed that the camera captured the essence of characters through their faces, to see Falconetti in Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928) is to look into eyes that will never leave you.” I’m sold (again). Are you? Good. Go to Crestsacramento.com for tickets.
File this one under: very rare. Currently on her first North American tour in over four years, the wildly talented multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter Joanna Newsom is coming to the Crest Theatre on Tuesday, April 5, 2016 and she is bringing none other than Robin Pecknold with her, best known as the principal songwriter for the indie folk band Fleet Foxes. Newsom is on tour in support of her latest album Divers, which was easily one of the most praised records of 2015. The New York Times said of Divers, “This rather brilliant record is heaving you into the deep end. You might as well go headfirst,” and Slate called it, “the most perfectly measured album of her career.” Fun facts: Newsom was born and raised right up the hill in Nevada City, and she is married to one of the funniest dudes on the planet, actor and comedian Andy Samberg. Tickets for her April 5 show are on sale now starting at $35 and are available at the Crest box office, by phone at (877) 987-6487 or online at Ticketfly.com. For more information, visit Crestsacramento.com or Sblentertainment.com.
Crest Theatre co-owner Yulya Borroum has fiercely devoted herself to keeping much of the venue’s original vibe and aesthetic while keeping a varied calendar. From live music events to guest speakers, comedy gatherings to one-off screenings of older film favorites, it would seem everyone’s favorite K Street destination is doing great justice to the former management’s legend. The upcoming Noir Nights Film Festival carries on the rich tradition of showing five classic films in special formats preceded by a very cool speakeasy gathering in the Empress Tavern (just below the main theater). For only $35, attendees will be treated to two special nights on the big screen. Friday night kicks off in grandiose fashion with Orson Welles’ Touch of Evil (1958) and Mildred Pierce (1945) in a rare 35mm film presentation starring the ever-so-beautiful Joan Crawford at the top of her game. Saturday’s offerings are equally impressive with Stanley Kubrick’s The Killing (1956) and Out of the Past (1947) featuring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer and Kirk Douglas. As if that weren’t enough bang for your buck, the festival closes with a stunning 35mm Technicolor presentation of Leave Her to Heaven (1945) with Gene Tierney and Cornel Wilde. Impress your significant other and reserve your seat at Crestsacramento.com
Tones of Home
Jackie Greene spent his teens recording in his parents’ Cameron Park garage before graduating from high school and rolling down the hill to Sacramento, where he formally embarked on his professional music career.
He owned a cassette player with two decks on which he learned how to merge two recorded tracks onto one. That would free up the second deck so that he could repeat the recording-and-merging process again and again, adding layer after layer to his original songs—dirtying up the quality with each overdub.
His friend had a CD burner (the stand-alone kind, before they came standard on computers), which Greene used to burn five-song CDs. He printed out shoddy album covers at Kinko’s and sold the discs for five bucks at his café gigs in the foothills.
More than 15 years have passed since those first sessions, and Greene has left behind him a trail of acclaimed albums and incredible collaborations, but that free-flowing DIY spirit to continues to propel the process, with little regard to how his musical decisions will impact album sales.
Greene has played alongside legends like Phil Lesh and Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead as well as Levon Helm, Joan Osborne and the Black Crowes, with whom he toured for more than a year.
In August he released his seventh solo album, titled Back to Birth, and is scheduled to ring in the New Year with a full-band show at the Crest Theatre later this month.
Cutting His Teeth in the Capital
Upon arriving in Sacramento, Greene began playing regular coffee shop shows throughout the city, but within a year or so, he secured gigs at the Torch Club and Blue Lamp every Tuesday and Thursday night. He would start with an acoustic set at the Torch Club from 4–7 p.m. and then head over to the Blue Lamp for a full-band set that lasted until 1 a.m.
He put himself out there, and in time locals began to take notice.
“We had a line around the Blue Lamp for a stand-alone Friday show,” said Greene of his earliest tastes of success. “It was such a cool feeling and I’ll never forget it.”
While living in Sacramento, he released his first two full-length albums, Gone Wanderin’ and Sweet Somewhere Bound, to wide acclaim. The new attention led to opening gigs for legends like Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits and blues legends B.B. King and Buddy Guy.
Although Greene’s first two albums are chock-full of Dylan-esque strumming and free-form harmonica, the blues are thickly slathered across both, a nod to his earliest influences.
“When I was about 14, I found an old record collection I assume belonged to my parents,” he said. “Old Ray Charles and Lightnin’ Hopkins records. This was around ’94, so the popular music was very different than that. It was this whole world of other music.”
Greene became a “blues nerd” in high school, dragging his friends to B.B. King concerts and championing the music of his old-school idols. His early influences came in the form of that dust-covered record collection, but as he got serious about his own songwriting, Dylan and Tom Waits entered his life, and he invited them in with open arms. On Jackie Greene albums, those influences exist right alongside one another from one song to the next as he dips from genre to genre as he pleases.
“They’re like elements in a periodic table,” he said. “I like to take several of those elements and put them together into some compound. I’ve always just sort of followed my muse. I write the kinds of songs that feel good for me at the time and never really apologize for it.”
This is great for Greene and his diehard fans, of which there are many in the Sacramento area. But it presents a challenge for his record labels and the marketing folks who are tasked with selling his music to the masses.
“Every label I’ve been on has had a difficult time selling my records,” he said. “They don’t know what to call it. Folk songs? Straight up blues songs? Some are kind of jazzy.”
For concertgoers, he says, it’s an asset. But from a business standpoint, it’s kind of difficult. “Who do we sell it to?” is the recurring question he gets, but it’s not one he’ll linger on long enough to let it guide his sound.
“If you start doing things you don’t want to do, your career’s gonna be real short,” he says.
Back to Birth
A few years before Greene began tracking his latest album in the Portland studio of Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), he set out to record Back to Birth by himself at his home. He wanted a stark and simple sound, and he thought the truly solo experience would be the path toward making that a reality.
Turned out he was wrong.
“I became a little disillusioned, so I put it on the backburner,” he said. “The sounds weren’t quite what I wanted.”
He shelved those demos and jumped on a gig with The Black Crowes, spending the better part of a year with them on the road. He also cut an album with a collaborative project called Trigger Hippy, featuring drummer Steve Gorman of the Black Crowes and singer Joan Osborne, of “What if God Was One of Us?” fame.
After a year of collaborating with other musicians, it was time to revisit those demos and think about how to dial them in to his liking. He looked to Berlin and his Portland studio to set the project back in motion. Simplicity was still at the forefront of his mind.
“I find that a lot of the best songs are when something is stated in a very simple and pure way,” he said. “Often times it’s the hardest to write. On this record I try to do that with the music as well as the lyrics.”
In Greene’s own words, Back to Birth is “not a fancy record.” He points to literary works like Breakfast at Tiffany’s and The Catcher in the Rye—two books that can “kick you in the ass” but maintain a deliberate sense of simplicity and brevity. They make no attempt to be War and Peace or The Lord of the Rings.
“There’s a certain magic,” he said, returning the simplicity of the Back to Birth recordings. “We did the basic sessions in less than a week. There are no bells and whistles.”
A Full Album in the Age of iPhones
Greene says in his bio that he wanted to make an album that would “reward people who are willing to sit down and give it a couple of serious listens.”
It’s a bold move in the age of dangling ear buds and dwindling attention spans, but it’s one that Greene feels secure in making.
“It’s a little bit of a shame that music is so easily digested and spit out,” he said. “There was a time when you couldn’t wait for a band’s new record to come out and you’d wait outside Tower Records. A little of the magic is lost.”
Greene wanted to make an album that gets better with each listen—something that required top-to-bottom listening to get the full picture. He knows not everybody will grant him those 45 straight minutes of sequential listening, but many will, especially folks who have been following him in Sacramento for more than a decade.
New Year’s Eve at The Crest
Many of those diehards will be ushering in 2016 with Greene on Dec. 31 at the Crest Theatre.
“It’s a spirited event,” said Greene of the New Year’s Eve shows past. “There’s a fair amount of alcohol involved for sure. As a band, we try some stuff musically that we wouldn’t normally do. Everybody’s loose, so it’s a good time to do it.”
The band will play until midnight, at which point they’ll raise their glasses and lead a countdown to the New Year. After the clock strikes 12, they’ll launch into a closing set to punctuate the party and kick off 2016.
The past few years Greene and his band played their New Year’s Eve shows in South Lake Tahoe. Greene is excited to bring the party to the city where he got his start.
“We’ve never played New Year’s there,” he said. “It’ll be fun. Hopefully a lot of old fans will show up.”
Celebrate New Year’s Eve with the Jackie Greene Band at the Crest Theatre, located at 1013 K Street, Sacramento. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. for the 9:30 show. Tickets start at $35 and are available online at Crestsacramento.com
Funky Love Is All You Need
Peeling back the years, it’s almost preordained that the members of Joy and Madness have united in each other’s good company. A gaggle of motley neighborhood misfits, they’ve chain linked themselves as one to stand for something tried-and-true in the vast sea of the music business. Their CD release party is set in stone for Nov. 19, 2015, at the Crest Theatre, where they’ll be opening for Ozomatli. In the meantime, they’re taking their brand of feel-good funk and soul to the boulevards to promote their new EP with candor and style.
The band recorded their recent offering, Little Bright World at Oakland’s 25th Street Recording Studio. “The façade out front of the studio was this innocuous British car repair service,” says lead singer Hans Eberbach. “You walk inside, and it looks like this boutique hotel—then you’re greeted by the front staff. It was that next level of professionalism for us. We also got a chance to hit the streets, have some chicken and waffles and go hang out at Heinold’s First and Last Chance Saloon!”
Notwithstanding a vigorous three-day-session in Oaktown, the gang recorded several other parts of the album here in Sacramento as well, and even some other international locales. In particular, Eberbach traveled through Europe to lay down many of his final vocal tracks.
“I brought a suitcase of gear and set up in a couple of hotel rooms in Paris and Berlin,” he recalls. “All I needed was my little Shure SM7B microphone, my laptop and an audio interface. I wound up singing in some small closets—hanging up more of my clothes to muffle the sound … But, I was looking at the Eiffel Tower from our window while singing ‘How Do U Feel.’”
Eberbach was first noticed 20 years ago in the group Sweet Vine, which afforded him everything from a big recording contract, to an opportunity to record at the famous Bearsville Studios in upstate New York—a studio founded by Albert Grossman (manager of everyone from Bob Dylan to Janis Joplin). That, in essence, is what made Joy and Madness’ recent labor of love so special for him.
“This record is so indicative of the times,” claims Eberbach. “It doesn’t all have to be done in a thousand-dollar-a-day studio anymore. I was part of that ‘90s group of bands who got signed to major labels—and we were gonna be the next big thing. But, today, there are studio people who can help you create your sound; then you go home and knock out the rest on your own. And if it’s badass, it’s badass … Now everyone in the world can listen to it.”
Their EP offers original, soulful material that relates to the human disposition. For instance, the song “Gotta Slow Down” features hometown rapper Rasar (now residing in Las Vegas), and was inspired by a conversation he had with the band’s keyboardist, Jeremy Springer. The context reflected the “pace of the world today,” and is an overall comment on shallowness within our society as a whole.
“We’re all people that come from a place of ‘walking a mile in someone else’s shoes,’” admits Eberbach. “It’s about stepping back for a little bit … and getting some perspective about life.”
Felicitously, another track from their album has had a profound effect on audiences in no time flat. “A Love” is turning into a certifiable hit. Bobby G, the group’s renowned guitarist (who’s worked with greats from Prince to Lionel Richie), and Eberbach have frequently collaborated on electronic music in their spare time together, using groovy loops they create from software like Ableton Live. When they brought their home-recording of the tune to the band, as a new concept, they collectively said: “This has to be on the record!”
Eberbach exclaims, “The song actually came together a few weeks before going into the studio. We decided to start it on the chorus, and when we play it live, by the second time around … people are already trying to mouth the words like they’ve heard them their whole lives. Sometimes, they think it’s a cover song, which is pretty awesome for us.”
The band is a cool, calm and collected eight-piece (with a popping horn section), including a diverse ensemble of experienced musicians. Keyboardist Springer and bassist Miss Nyxi are, in fact, bound in holy matrimony—and they don’t ever bicker during band practice. Nyxi is also a school teacher on the Southside of the city, and manages to balance her weekly rehearsal schedule with shaping the youths of tomorrow.
“It’s crazy to be where we’re at, and to have made it happen our own way,” says Eberbach. “This band is really, more than anything else, blessed beyond the music. We may butt heads, but we’re nothing less than respectful with each other. There’s no centering on ourselves and what we think we need. When it came down to the songwriting credits, it was so easy for us. No one was scratching each other’s eyes out over that extra half percent.”
The upcoming CD Release at the Crest is being thoroughly promoted by SBL (Scott Brill-Lehn) Entertainment, and is a platform for the group to showcase their new EP as a genuine leap forward. Joy and Madness has paid their dues, and, without a doubt, is looking forward to giving the great Ozomatli a run for their money.
The group’s motto for the show is: “If it doesn’t sell out, we’re not going to play!” Eberbach expounds, “We want to die on that stage, and leave it all right there. We’re all killer and no filler, ya know. Each of us needs to feel an impact while performing, and to provide joy for others.”
In lieu of performing, the funky crew has taken to presenting a series of promotional music videos/spontaneous street parties in order to market themselves up until the release date. With the freshly gained momentum of their hit “A Love,” they have plans to shoot a fully conceptualized video for the tune on K Street—possibly with a lovelorn theme that includes another local frontman, Ideateam’s Garrett Wildgust.
“For starters, we’ll be at Pizza Rock soon—buying some pizza and beer for everyone. Then, we’re gonna go rock out ‘A Love’ in front of the Crest Theatre, and shoot a video of it,” excites Eberbach. “We’re also going to give away a couple free tickets to the Nov. 19 show, plus a free copy of the new EP Little Bright World, a T-shirt, and a concert poster. We plan on doing a few more rounds of promotion like this before the gig, too.”
Joy and Madness have a provable track record of super-duper funkiness, but furthermore, they’re jam-packed with an unbeatably sanguine attitude. Their bright mindset keeps on shining through to illuminate their musical, and personal, progression as a band. And, any posse willing to buy fans libations and fodder—just to hang out and watch them film a music video—are obviously humanitarians to no end.
“The album is a really good mix of who we are,” says Eberbach. “We’re at that point in our lives where it’s about being in service to the music, and there are never any egos involved—that’s an amazing place to be. If you move people, they don’t care how old you are and what you look like. We’re always looking for those ‘come together’ kind of moments.”
C’mon people, now, show Joy and Madness some love when they celebrate the release of their new EP live at the Crest Theatre on Nov. 19, 2015. As an added bonus, the band will be opening for the amazing Ozomatli. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Tickets start at $20 and can be purchased through Crestsacramento.com.
Trash Film Orgy may not be at the Crest Theatre anymore, but you can still satiate your desire for original movies on the big screen. Halloween weekend’s double-header of classic flicks A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) is certainly no exception. And while the two movies playing couldn’t be any more different in scope or storyline, both somehow oddly work well together in a movie-house setting. There are still many scenes in the original Tobe Hooper-directed Texas Chainsaw Massacre classic that make many horror film aficionados’ hair stand on end. Upon its release, the $300,000 movie was banned in many theaters around the country for simply being too realistic and, more importantly, too damn scary. Similarly, A Nightmare on Elm Street still holds up nicely more than 30 years after its groundbreaking cinematic release. If you live in Midtown, chances are your sorry self doesn’t have any trick-or-treaters. Tickets are only $12 advance and $15 at the door. Tell ‘em Submerge sent you. Advance tickets available now at Crestsacramento.com.
In the mid-1990s, Chris Hardwick began his career as a DJ on the Los Angeles radio station, KROQ. In 1998, he began acting and making appearances in horror films like House of 1000 Corpses and Halloween 2. Since then, he has been in countless movies, television shows and web series. Hardwick made regular appearances on Chelsea Handler’s late night E! television show, Chelsea Lately, and he now hosts his own popular late-night show on Comedy Central called @Midnight. His hilarious comedy and nerdy boy persona make him a force to be reckoned with and absolutely entertaining to watch. And come Friday, Aug. 14, you will be able to see him in person as he delivers his comedic genius at the Crest Theatre, located at 1013 K Street. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $37.50 and can be purchased at Crest Theatre or online at Axs.com.
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Take a trip to France without ever leaving town at the 14th Annual Sacramento French Film Festival, running from June 19 to 28 at the historic Crest Theatre. This summer you’ll exclaim “My Life is a French Movie!” as the SFFF presents two weekends of French films, food and fun including screenings of numerous 2015 César winners (French Academy Awards), as well as classics, a couple late night movies and “too many short films to count,” according to a press release submitted to Submerge.
“Our 2015 film selection includes every genre and style to please every cinephile,” they wrote. “Romance, adventure, drama, comedy, thriller, fantasy …”
You can see, there really is a little something for everyone and as always, all the films have English subtitles! The opening movie is a comedy/drama called Samba that screens on Friday, June 20 at 8:30 p.m., directly after the opening reception in the lobby of the Crest, which starts at 6 p.m. Another film to look forward to is Timbuktu on the closing night, Sunday, June 29. This drama was the most awarded French film of the year taking home Best Film, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay at the César Awards. Directly following the screening of Timbuktu there will be a Closing Night Champagne Party with desserts and live music! For a full schedule of screenings and film descriptions, keep an eye out at Sacramentofrenchfilmfestival.org. Prices range anywhere from $11 for single tickets to $95 for full festival access, with numerous packages being available. For more on the venue, visit Crestsacramento.com.
Free-ride Mountain Bike Sensation Brandon Semenuk and his Rad Company
At 23 years old, Brandon Semenuk has likely ridden, flown and fallen harder than most of you reading this. The champion mountain bike free-rider from Whistler, British Columbia, is staking out new parameters in the nebulous, fledgling world of the mountain bike free-ride, dazzling fans at events known (X Games Munich in 2013, where he placed second in Slopestyle) and not-as-known (Crankworx in Les Deux Alpes, France, where he took first in Slopestyle in 2013). Regardless of the arena, as Semenuk explains, it’s the terrain that counts, and he’s been blurring the lines and riding off-trail since age 7.
After a successful Web series, “Life Behind Bars,” made him and some of his contemporaries in the free-ride scene minor celebrities, Semenuk decided to capitalize on his newfound fame as the Face of the Sport, taking on creative cruise control with an ambitious cinematic journey through his unique world of extreme sport. The result, Rad Company, is a beautifully shot, cleverly edited slice of the free-ride world—in locations all over the world—also starring fellow riders like Yannick Granieri, Stevie Smith and a bunch of other rugged guys who don’t mind mixing it up with the elements. So long as they’re behind bars.
Semenuk took the time to chat with Submerge about Rad Company in anticipation of its Sacramento premiere at the Crest Theatre Aug. 28, 2014.
{Photo by Scott Serfas/Red Bull Content Pool}
Making movies of more extreme outdoor sports is pretty ubiquitous at this point; did you grow up watching those videos wanting to take the reins and steer yourself toward something like Rad Company?
Yeah, it’s kind of what I looked up to when I was super young. That scene took a left turn with those kinds of movies and I didn’t really think there was much out there. My motivation was just to bring it back and give something to the mountain bike community that we all missed.
Where did the concept for the film and how it’s tied together like a playlist with a vinyl DJ, etc. come from?
It was collaborative; we were trying to make a progressive mountain bike film. Progressive riding, progressive film work. We weren’t really trying to create a story; it was more a core mountain bike style film. The whole mixtape thing came together naturally. We wanted to have progressive riding to music and create a really cool visual story rather than a narrative. It was a no-brainer to just soundboard the whole thing and make it seem like you just popped in a CD or an album.
After watching the film, you and the rest of the riders must have been so shocked to see how beautifully it was filmed, how the musical tempos changed on and off, and just how truly cinematic it ended up being. Can you go over your thoughts on the final product, and how it was working with the folks who made it happen?
Yeah, we tried to be really diverse with it. It’s tough because you’re trying to find the right kind of music to go with the vibe of each session. But we had awesome music people helping us, and great editors and digital effects guys so we were able to find what we were looking for music-wise. We’d go from there and get more in-depth and soundboard to figure out which shots really worked. The editing part was pretty out of my hands; that’s not my skill. They wanted it to be almost sporadic, like you wouldn’t really know what to expect next.
Some of the courses are just as exciting to see as the riding being done on them. I’m thinking specifically of the course with the old diesel truck and the logs in the junkyard. What were some of the more challenging/exciting locales/courses you shot at?
There were some exotic locations, and then some locations where we really got to go all-out on building them. Each one has a bit of its own memory for me. The junkyard was pretty cool because we got to go big on the build and get really crazy. It was close to home so we could really monitor the build and make sure it was awesome. Fiji was a bit of a culture shock; that’s the first time anyone’s really ridden mountain bikes or built mountain bike trails out there, so to go and break ground and have the locals be cool with us building on one of the highest elevations in Fiji is pretty insane.
There’s the second terrain of the movie, which is this heavily wooded location, just after a very wide-open location with custom-made tracks, and night-time versus day-time courses. How difficult is the transition from one to the other?
It’s not so much the arena I’m in, it’s more the terrain I’m riding on. So the bikes change every segment. I ride almost a different bike in every segment. It’s really hard switching back and forth and getting comfortable. There was a night segment, so we’re riding at night, and there’s lights flashing where the cameramen needed them, but for us it was pretty hard. We’d do a jump and it was pitch black. You’re in the air and in the abyss for a second until you actually see the landing you’re coming into. There was snow during that, too, and we didn’t have goggles on so we had snow in our eyes. The fog was coming through and we were dealing with the mist, so there were a lot of factors. You’re trying to be progressive in your riding, but you also have some obstacles standing in your way. It creates that mood and even more dramatic shots.
{Photo by Scott Markewitz/Red Bull Content Pool}
Lots of the places you and the athletes are riding don’t look like they’re on track—a few moments there were shots of someone riding across loose volcanic rocks and jumping over a fallen log at a steep angle and didn’t look like there was a track there. Do you enjoy courting danger?
Yeah, that’s why I ride. I’m trying to figure it out and just learn and progress. We have a pretty good idea of what we’re capable of. We want to find that edge and see where you go from there. It’s a science, really.
There’s that whole sequence with the old yodeling folk song playing where everyone is eating it. What do you think about when you’re on terrain like that, in the air and you know you’re probably going down hard, especially on a film set? Does that ever get easy?
It depends on the situation. Most of the time it’s usually never that fun. When you do it a lot you get good at it. It’s as much a skill as it is being on your bike. A big part is staying healthy and doing new things with being able to crash.
There’s a method for crashing?
You can get out of a lot. Our bodies are quite resilient, but you definitely don’t want to crash in the same way every time, or landing on injured areas. Sometimes you feel pretty confident about landing out of it safely and sometimes there’s not much you can do but brace for a big impact.
Have you endured many serious injuries for that?
I’ve had a couple of injuries; I’ve been pretty lucky, though. A couple broken bones, but nothing to cry home about.
How has mountain biking in the way you engage in it gained popularity since you’ve started in your eyes? Is that a goal of yours? To make the sport more accessible or popular for more people?
That’s the goal, yeah, to get people pumped to ride their bikes. We’ve had good feedback on the film and from our Web show. I’d like to say that I’ve contributed somewhere. It’s been my life so it’d be cool to share that with other people who have the same passion.
Is it an easy thing to prophesize where the future of free-ride biking is headed? Or are you more learning as you go?
It’s such a new sport that I don’t think anyone really knows. It’s progressing so fast and it’s taking off in a bunch of different directions. There are so many different events and terrains you can ride on with different bikes. It could go any which way.
{Photo by Scott Serfas/Red Bull Content Pool}
Red Bull presents the screening of Rad Company on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014, at the Crest Theatre (1013 K Street). Doors open at 7 p.m.; show starts at 8. Tickets are $5 and on sale now. For more info, check out Brandon Semenuk on Facebook and Twitter.
