“The film is as unique and wide-ranging as its subject’s venerated drum skills.”—Mike DeAngelo, The Playlist
This documentary is an up-close cinematic walkabout through the life of Gary Young, the original (and highly unlikely) drummer of indie rock royalty, Pavement. His booze and drugs-fueled antics (on-stage handstands, gifting vegetables to fans) and haphazard production methods (accidentally helping launch the lo-fi aesthetic) were both a driving force of the band’s early rise and the cause of his eventual crash landing. Leaving a wake of joy and/or destruction at every turn, Gary teeters the thin line between free-form self-expression and chaotic self-destruction.
Thirty years on, with scoliosis, blood clots, and a shriveled liver, Gary is still drumming with no regrets. Winner of the Audience Award for the 24 BPM Section of the SXSW Film Festival. 2023, U.S., DCP, 90 minutes. Recommended for 16+.
Cinema + With a post-screening discussion with writer-editor Greg King.