Music

HIGH FIVES: Jason Collett

by Sam Sutherland

Every week, High Fives asks five bands five themed questions over five days. This week, we’re all caught up in the release of the Bruce Springsteen documentary, The Promise, and talkin’ music docs in anticipation.

This guy’s had a busy year. His fifth solo album, Rat a Tat Tat, was released in March and saw him grace the cover of national gossip rag, Exclaim! Magazine. A few months later, this part-time goof-off rock band he’s also in released Forgiveness Rock Record, which was short-listed for the Polaris Prize. Looks like he’s not done with 2010, squeezing in a new record of re-worked acoustic songs before the end of the year; Pony Tricks finds Collett working once again with co-conspirators Zeus in an attempt to recreate the intimacy of his solo shows. Currently only available from Collett on tour, you’re in luck tonight, if you live in Saskatoon. If you don’t, check the man’s MySpace for a slew of dates across the country that include Edmonton, Vancouver, and a return to his celebrated residency at Toronto’s Dakota Tavern in December.

What is the greatest music documentary of all time?

D. A. Pennebaker’s Don’t Look Back. It’s a small slice of just how much of an eruption from the past the ‘60s were becoming, and Dylan inadvertently leading this, while already trying to wriggle out of the burden of being the poster boy for something he didn’t really care for. It’s a seminal moment, I love watching him write songs on a typewriter and him snubbing the fey Donovan is so devastating, ’cause he’s already light years beyond all that twee folk shit.

What is the worst music documentary of all time?

Some Kind of Monster: Metallica. The documentary itself is quite good, but watching those guys and their creepy west coast shrink was the ultimate in myopic, shameless excess.

Has anyone ever followed you on tour or in the studio to document you? How did you feel, and what were the end results like? If not, do you dream of the day when someone cares that much?

Not so much. I imagine it would take a while for everyone to get comfy with dealing with the constant intrusion. It must be difficult to get to a place where it is truly candid.

Do you think increased interest in the behind-the-scenes working of bands and records is worthwhile, or does it remove some of that patented rock and roll mystique?

Rock and Roll mystique is virtually extinct. I really miss it. However, I do feel there is value in quality documentaries of behind the scenes, inner workings of any art form. Particularly if the objective is to capture the happy accidents that spontaneously happen while art is being made. We never get enough of those sparks.

What music documentary has yet to be made that you’re dying to see?

Al Tuck, future legend.