RETROSPECTIVE: DIG! is the Explosive Rock Doc You Need to See

Last month, The Brian Jonestown Massacre released a new track, ‘The Real’, and announced they would be dropping two albums in 2022 – one in June, and one in October. With a big year ahead for the band, now is a great time to revisit the band’s 2004 documentary Dig!.

The film follows the friendship, and eventual rivalry, between Anton Newcombe and Courtney Taylor-Taylor, the lead singers of BJM and The Dandy Warhols, respectively. It features various interviews with figures close to the band, and gives us an inside look into the creative process of the volatile Newcombe, as well as front row seats to the destructive fights that erupted while on tour.

For the uninitiated, the Brian Jonestown Massacre was formed in 1990, and is creatively spearheaded by Newcombe. The collective is known for their tumultuous working relationship and revolving door of members, promulgated largely by Newcombe’s violent outbursts and hectic live performances.

BJM’s sound draws on the psychedelic music of the 1960s and 70s, while also incorporating the grungy sound of 90s garage rock. Fittingly, their name is a play on both the Rolling Stones’ Brian Jones and the Jonestown Massacre of 1978. It’s edgy, strange and grabs your attention. Their music is the kind of stuff you can imagine listening to while laying on your bedroom floor, getting high and staring at trippy posters.

Shot on camcorders and early 2000s digital video equipment, Dig! has a rough edge to it that is difficult to replicate with the smooth, high definition cameras we have today, or the grainy film of analogue photography. The digital fuzz and prominent use of fisheye lenses gives the film an absolutely unhinged and unpredictable rhythm. It creates a dissonance between viewer and subject that only appeared for a brief period of time, as if we were simultaneously glimpsing into the real and the unreal. Like traces of the past, these are ghosts in the digital ether.

Some of the most interesting moments of the film eventuate from just watching Anton put together music for the band. The one remaining constant of Brian Jonestown Massacre, Anton is the real driving force behind their music, and it’s fascinating seeing him pick up random instruments, play around with them, and construct a whole song before our eyes in a matter of minutes.

But what obviously sticks in people’s minds are the concert scenes. Anton kicks members of the crowd in the face. People scream at each other. Guitars, sitars, heads and mic stands are all smashed. They play from 6pm to 6am at the local communist parties headquarters in Cleveland, Ohio, for a crowd of 10 people. It’s utter madness, but incredible to witness.

At the same time, we also see them truck along highways and set up shop in dingy rooms laden with rubbish, where they perform photoshoots and consume a litany of substances, both legal and illegal.

While BJM is the main attraction, we must not forget the other focus of the documentary: The Dandy Warhols. An obvious play on the American pop artist Andy Warhol, the band was formed in 1994 by Courtney Taylor-Taylor and Peter Holstrom, and sported an  accessible pop rock sound. . As we see in the film, BJM’s descent into degradation due to Newcombe’s manic episodes and explosive behavior took place as the Warhols were skyrocketing to popularity, with their songs gaining traction in the charts and the band starting to play sold out tours and concerts.

What emerges is a juncture and a fork in the road between art and commerce that serves as the main divider between the bands, and questions arise around auteur theory and creative genius. While Anton is a talented musician, his actions towards his fellow band members and self-destructive, drug-abusing lifestyle makes one wonder whether or not his talent comes at the expense of his own relationships with others.

It’s an age-old question that’s been around since Vincent Van Gogh, whether or not you need to be sad in order to produce great art. While the documentary briefly touches on Anton’s troubled home life, with a father who abandoned him at a young age and a family history of schizophrenia, the film would rather not delve too deep into what makes Anton tick.

At the same time, Anton berates Courtney Taylor-Taylor for supposedly selling out as he makes his sound more accessible. Even if you’re not the biggest Dandy Warhol’s fan, it’s hard to ignore how well Taylor-Taylor treats his fellow band members in comparison to Newcombe, who kicks, tackles and yells at his teammates. The documentary attempts to paint some divide between art and commerce, when in reality it’s a divide between kindness and cruelty.

It’s ironic then that BJM’s latest single deviates so much from their usual style, sounding more ‘Courtney Taylor-Taylor’ than ‘Anton Newcombe’. The song is very upbeat for the band, disposing of their usually slow, melodical, dreary and eerie sound for something more radio friendly and fun. While it still retains that edge that the band is known for, it doesn’t reach the same creative heights that their earlier stuff did.

Dig! is a fascinating artifact and primary source depicting the parallel rise and fall of two bands. It’s a terrifying glimpse at a self destructive lead singer who put his aesthetic pursuits over his friends and family, butit’s also a relic of a different time; the last breath of a sex, drugs and rock & roll lifestyle that is rarely seen these days – for better or for worse.