DIVERSIONS
WEEKLY ENTERTAINMENT SECTION • THE DAILY TAR HEEL • THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15,1996 •
Once
Morfif
With
Feeing
It’s 9:30 a.m, and June are breaking for
lunch. But give them some slack
they’ve already had a long day shooting
their video for “Stripteaser” on location at
Graham Cinema; waking up at 1:30 a.m., sit
ting through makeup and wardrobe starting at
3 a.m., then shooting night scenes very early in
the morning.
Following the world’s earliest lunch, the band still
had more than five hours of filming to go. And it was
showing. As the crew adjusted lighting and cameras
between takes, bassist Andy Magowan slumped on his
amp and occasionally passed around a jug ofwater to his
bandmates, who looked rather odd chugging away
while dressed in their vintage black formal attire. Gui
tarist John Price couldn’t seem to get his bowtie straight,
and a stylist ran to assist him while a makeup artist
dabbed another layer of
red lipstick on vocalist Kat
Cook. Drummer John
Howie yawned unapolo
getically, beyond the point
of covering his mouth.
Guitarist/vocalist Tricia
Tuttle laid down on the
carpeted stage, not worry
ing about mussing her
feather-trimmed gown.
Within a few minutes,
they’d be on their feet
again, playing (unplugged
along with a playback
tape) with absolutely no
sign of wear, for an audi
ence of about 35 extras.
Listeners infected by
the single when it was re
leased as a Friction Me
dia 7-inch in April 1994
won’t be surprised that it
led to bigger things. June
signed to Beggars Banquet
last spring and will release
their first CD, lAm Beautijul, on March 26. The band
(except for Howie, who replaced original drummer
Matt Gross) formed in late 1992, and created a local stir
with their first single, “I am Beautiful,” before “Strip
teaser” created a national mid international buzz an
article in Billboard magazine dubbed them “the next
Superchunk, ” and legendary British D J John Peel played
the single on his show.
The buzz hopefully will grow, as Beggars Banquet
plans to send die video out to 150 cable (local and
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Director Margee Sperry and Cameraman Mark Petersson discuss
stage changes for the band's performance scenes.
STORY AND
PHOTOS
BY WENDY
MITCHELL
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Guitarist/vocalist Tricia Tuttle takes a breather during a series of lighting adjustments.
national) stations, including MTV. Cook wasn’t sure of
the band’s chances of making it to “120 Minutes,” but
the artistic process was more important to her anyway.
“I wouldn’t want to do a video for doing a video’s sake.
I’d want to do it for an artistic sake. It’s just a lot more
fun that way,” she said. “If there’s nothing creative
going on, you’re going to be in a pile of videos with
everyone else.”
The band decided on an original concept: set in a
movie theater, the band performs on stage/on film,
while the audience (including band members) looks on.
Cook said, “We wanted to have this sort of imaginary
placewhere you weren’t sure if the band was self-aware
or not. The band was also put into the audience, and the
band functioned as a viewer of themselves. So, you ask
yourself, is this reality or is this a dream? So we wanted
some sort of strange time and place play in the video that
was more interesting ... not just a narrative.”
The directorial team, from New York’s Nocturnal
Shooting on location at Graham Cinema provided more than a vintage ambiance
there were also perks such as free popcorn and drinks.
Films, took this concept and developed it for a budget of
$20,000, using both black and white and color. Co
directors Margee Sperry and Erica S. Federman previ
ously had done videos for Giant Sand, Friends of Dean
Martinez and Acetone, as well as fashion projects for
Calvin Klein and Donna Karan.
While they had experience with videos, that didn’t
mean they should override the band’s ideas, Federman
said. “It’s really important to Margee and I to let the
band’s personality come through. A band writes a song
Movies Page 6
"Restoration"
Sam Neill is among
several Hollywood stars
with cameos in Michael
Hoffman's new film.
PAGE 5
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Even though her microphone is unplugged, June vocalist Kat Cook
sings, rather than lip-syncs, to the playback tape.
for a reason... and they’re a band for a reason. To make
a video, you need to understand who they are as people.
I don’t like a lot of music videos because they just seem
like pretty images. They don’t connect with who the
band is.”
Cook appreciated Federman and Sperry’s openness
to the band’s ideas: “They knew it was our fust video
and they wanted us to be completely at ease, so they
were really sensitive to making sure that they weren’t
asking us to do things that we were uncomfortable
with.”
The New York team recruited Triangle residents as
crew, and local filmmaker Norwood Cheek served as
assistant cameraman. Cheek has worked on around 40
music videos for Tsaunami, Velocity Girl, The Figgs
and also “Young Rock,” Mammoth’s compilation of
local rock videos. He said he enjoyed the chance to
concentrate on camerawork, watching how camera
man Mark Petersson’s techniques differed from his
own. “There’s always something to learn no matter how
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Extras learned to cope with boredom and breaks
during more than 10 hours of shooting.
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Theater Page 8
"The Seagull"
Annalee Jefferies plays
another neurotic woman in
the latest Play Makers
production.
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Cameraman Mark Petersson coaches bassist Andy Magowan
and guitarist/vocalist Tricia Tuttle.
Sv II
Local Band
June Learns
About the
Unglamorous
Side of Music
Videos
r
HU I
"Stripteaser" - the Video
Directors: Margee Sperry and
Eric Federman (Nocturnal Films)
Video Budget $20,000
Location: Graham Cinema
Main Street Graham, N.C.
Time of Shoot 3 am.to 4 p.m., Jan. 30
Cast Five band members. 35+ extras
Number of Times ‘Stripteaser*
Was Played: 30 (according to
guitarist John Price)
June's Next Album: I Am Beautiful
Release Date: March 26
Release Party: Cat's Cradle. March 30.
The "Stripteaser* video may be
shown after the performance.
much experience you have,” Cheek said.
The band, too, learned a bit more about the music
video process, especially the waiting. The worst part,
Price said, was sitting around in his tux under hot fights
through what seemed like 20 takes: “It got kind of old
after a while, ‘Once more with feeling...’”
But that feeling comes across in the video; in the
dramatic black and white stage scenes, a spotlight wan
ders as the song builds. As Cook’s vocals grow manic
and the band starts crashing around her, wandering
close-ups are intercut with color scenes of the band
scattered among the audience members. The entire
retro-meets-modemity feel of the video mirrors the
effect of the song.
Cheek said, “Certainly, in some cases, the video can
break the band, but that is pretty rare. But I think it’s
definitely a positive thing to have a good video, it can
only help.” If you grow impatient waiting to see “Strip
teaser” on MTV, the band may show the video after
their CD-release party at Cat’s Cradle on March 30.