DEREK - Pilot Episode Review

It's magnificent!

And I always think Ricky Gervais is magnificent, but I forget every time. There's a huge anti-Gervais bandwagon that is so strong and dominant that you can't help but be influenced by it, your mind gets turned.

But then you look at the work, and you get blown away. 'The Office' was a masterpiece. 'Extras' was great fun, and 'Cemetery Junction' was subtle and wonderful.

The problem with 'The Office' was that it was TOO successful. Filmmakers couldn't have any scenes set in offices for the next ten years, because everyone would say "You're ripping off that Gervais show!". What I love about "Derek", is that it's kind of similar to "The Office". You can feel it's the same writer/director (not forgetting he co-created 'The Office' with Stephen Merchant).

When Gervais ridicules people at awards shows and can't shut his mouth in the media -- you think that's all he is; this outspoken egotistical comedian.

But he has a bit of genius about him. And most of that reputation is media nonsense.

"Derek" is beautiful. His character is fascinating, complex, hilarious, and more than a bit sad. I don't have a clue who Kerry Godliman is, but she absolutely broke my heart in this pilot. So subtle, so honest, so real. And the scenes with the 'gay' guy were incredibly heartfelt and romantic. Reminded me so much of Tim & Dawn in 'The Office', especially those scenes at the Christmas Party, you remember those? So REAL. Ricky Gervais has a way of filling your heart up full; yet we always seem to doubt him, why?

They're saying this show could end his career? They could be right, but only because he may have trouble topping it. It's 'The Office' but with ten more years experience. And they say it takes ten years to become an expert. But he was already one when he made his first show. Now, he's approaching mastery.

Not everyone was sold by the first episode of 'Derek', but that's fine! Ricky Gervais is like Woody Allen and Larry David; a hilarious guy who is after expertise, after doing things from the heart. What matters to him is that he NAILS it. He'll always have an audience. And not because he's a celebrity, but because he's an artist. I'm in it for the long haul, wherever he goes. I'm looking forward to seeing where 'Derek' takes us.

Care to share?

Tweet

Your Kid In The Front Row Reading Habits

I'm intrigued! Are you a regular? Is it your first time here? Do you have it bookmarked? Or do you subscribe by email? Or do you only read articles when you see my tweets or Facebook links?

Do you have a certain time of day you like to read the blog? Do you have certain types of articles that you prefer over others? Does the title of the article influence whether you'll read it?

Would love to know more about how you got here, why you're here, and how you read!

Care to share?

Tweet

Independence, 2

The other thing is that people are always trying to figure out what it is to get into the system, how to get past the gatekeepers. They spend more energy on the struggle than on their art.

Everyone I've met who's been super successful has a huge amount of talent and passion.

If someone is bitching about the industry, you can be pretty sure the problem isn't the industry, it's that the individual just hasn't nailed it yet, they're not ready, they're trying to skip a step.

Nobody is trying to keep anyone out. It's just a lot of people trying to get things made.

Prove your worth on YouTube. Get an audience. If someone on facebook doesn't give a shit, why will the studios? There are blogs that have a million readers, and there are blogs like mine that have a thousand. I could get jealous or grumpy or moan about some injustice but the truth is, I'm blessed to have the readership I have and if my writing ever deserves a bigger audience, you guys will share my work, that's how it always goes.

No-one is trying to keep you out. No-one cares about you.

You need to keep practicing and showing up until you tick a box.

Or get so good that you create a box only you can tick.

Or give up.

Just stop fucking moaning.

Care to share?

Tweet

Independence

It's near impossible, there's always someone who wants you to align with their product. And they'll pay you $200 to put their advert about toothpaste on your site. Or they'll invite you to the premiere and treat you like you're important so that you'll write a positive review.

Everyone is so quick to cash in. And it's not always for money, sometimes it's just for a minor status bump.

But then you have to ask, who the hell can we trust? Who is speaking in our name?

The thing about being independent, about keeping your own path, is that it gives you power. And it might only be a tiny tiny power. Literally, just the power to have your own opinions.

But that's great, and could lead anywhere!

And then some film website with thousands of readers wants you to write for them. So then your readership gets transferred to their domain. They get the advertising revenue, they get the loyalty. You're just one of the cogs. I've seen great writers take the bait, leaving their blogs behind to go write for another site, little do they know they're just churning out content to earn other people money and help them climb the Google rankings. It's all a big scam.

There used to be DJ's on the radio who had their own voices. There used to be bands who had something to say. There were actors who had something to give us.

Now people think in terms of success and earnings, and they immediately become uninteresting.

Don't sell out until it's absolutely essential. There's too much at stake.

And sure people will disagree with this and talk about 'the realities of the industry', and you don't need to tell me, I get it, believe me.

My point is that if you win 'X Factor', you're an overnight success, and then after that you're toast, done, the road is over. You're opening supermarkets and doing nightclub visits.

You may have had talent, but you had no learning curve.

But if you're a singer with a following of 100 people, who is writing songs every night, you're on to something. You've not been defined yet.. you get to keep growing.

The world needs artists. It needs people who are REAL. The ones who change the creative industries and do work of meaning are never the ones you think.

Speak to any successful musician in America and they'll talk about Ryan Adams and Harry Nilsson, yet the public hardly know they exist! It's like the way Woody Allen still gets talked about and referred to by absolutely everyone in the film industry, because his work changed everything.

But people don't want to be Woody Allen or Harry Nilsson. They want to be stars, they want the red carpet.

In film and music, the interesting people are the independents. It's just like when Louis C.K. took the unprecedented move of filming and distributing his new stand up show independently. It changed our views of distribution, made us see how anything is possible.

I'm not saying to turn down the big pay-cheque-soulless jobs, cause we all need the money! You gotta do what you gotta do.

I'm just saying, keep an eye on the real stuff. What's in your heart. Cause it's a rarity these days. And it's that stuff that changes the world.

Care to share?

Tweet

COUNTING CROWS - The Band That Changed My Life

I'd never heard anything like it before. I never knew it was possible. I didn't know you could put that much emotion into what you do. I still don't think anybody else has ever come close.

The fear that you'll never find the love of your life is a terrifying one. But even worse: what if you never find the band of your life? Genuinely, I don't know what I would have done without Counting Crows. They gave me a new angle on life. They painted the way for how I would value myself as an artist, about what it would all mean to me. How many people can you say that about?

The records are incredible, and I insist you listen to all of them. But the Crows are a live band. What I love as a writer, director and even a viewer of films is rawness, realness, spontaneity. And that's also what I always loved about music, but it was so hard to find. And then I found Counting Crows. 

You know what? Sometimes they SUCK! Sometimes Adam Duritz, the lead singer, is miserable, depressed, and just not on it. But it's FASCINATING! It's REAL! He just gets up onto the stage and pours his heart out in front of you. Occasionally you get fooled into thinking it's just a shtick, but then he'll come out bouncing and be wild and hilarious -- other times he won't talk to the audience but they'll do a seventeen minute version of a rare song with a bit of a Springsteen cover thrown into the middle -- and you're just blown away. Counting Crows don't paint over anything, there's no front, it's just them. 

Listen to this. Stop reading, dim the lights. Give 12 minutes of your life to this. You might love it, you might cry, you might think it sucks. But by the end you'll definitely have an opinion, and that's more than you can say for so much that passes for music these days.



That song changed my life. I got obsessed with 'Round Here'. I have, literally, hundreds of versions. I remember seeing them live in Ireland, it must've been eight or ten years ago, and they did 'Round Here', and it was heartbreaking. That was until the middle of the song, when they broke it down, changed it up, and launched into the Van Morrison song 'Sweet Thing', and it was electrifying and joyful! At the end of the song they swerved back into 'Round Here'. Incredible. You think you know a song inside out, but then Counting Crows take it and reinvent it and your whole perception of everything changes. 

Even if they sing 'Rain King' with Springsteen's 'Thunder Road' mixed in for five nights in a row -- even that is spontaneous-- because one night they'll do the whole song, other nights Adam will just hint at the lyrics for five seconds then dive off into another song -- or maybe they'll do the whole thing acoustic and Adam will do some weird talking-screaming-poetic-rambling thing for eleven minutes. Probably sounds horrendous if you're not a fan -- but for those that are, it's EVERYTHING.

I don't know any band that takes you so far into the very MOMENT that you're experiencing. They make you aware you're LIVING. I've wanted to write this post for three years, but how the hell do you explain the things you love?

Here's a stripped down version that they did on the Howard Stern show a few years ago. Just Adam and a few band members.




When do you ever hear something like THAT on the RADIO? It never happens! WHAT? That level of emotion and truth? They're not phoning it in, they're IN IT. It's so refreshing - artists who are FREE to be themselves. With Counting Crows it is ALL about expression. You feel it in every thing that every band member does.

Sure, they do it for a living, and they got very rich. But it would have been so easy for them to go on auto-pilot. But they take risks. They dropped the label and went independent so they could control their art. They play giant venues, they tour tiny venues. They come up with crazy ideas like the Travelling Circus and Medicine Show, and Adam's project with Ryan from Ryan's Smashing Life blog, The Outlaw Roadshow.

They're great with the fans, too. I've been at festivals, turned around and seen Jim Bogios and David Immerglück (band members) standing behind me. And you go to awkwardly say hello, just cause you're a loser fanboy, and then they stick around and talk to you for thirty minutes about all their favourite bands. With Duritz, I've always sensed he's a bit like Woody Allen -- awkward with the crowds and would prefer to not have his picture taken - but he is always polite and always suffers it. He knows it's about the fans, he knows how much they care; so he puts in the time and effort.

But his place is really on the stage. He'll come out at the beginning and do a solo piano song, which is a cover of some track he found on the bootleg of a copy of an album of a band you've never heard of who only ever recorded six demo's, 24 years ago, yet somehow his performance is the greatest thing you've ever heard. It's just incredible.

Here's a song that was only ever played once. This is the only recording. I'm pretty sure Duritz made it up about thirty minutes before the show. The emotion just knocks your socks off. Makes me think of every girl I ever saw leave. Heartbreaking.




How the hell does he do that? Is it talent? Did he get dropped on the head as a child? Incredible.

Counting Crows are rough, raw, temperamental, moody, genius, depressing, uplifting, boring, exhilarating. It's years later and still they're my favourite band by a long long way. You have to see them live, there's nothing like it.




Their new album, 'Underwater Sunshine (Or What We did On Our Summer Vacation)' was released today. Head over to their website to check it out.

Care to share?

Tweet