iconnotations

A couple of years back I was given a copy of a rough cut of a yet to be released documentary entitled “Metal: A Headbangers Journey”. I watched it and then passed it on to a couple of friends of mine who I had just started a podcast with and we all agreed that it was an absolutely amazing piece of work and we tried to get an interview with the lead of that documentary Sam Dunn. Well we got a date which fell through and then a couple of more that went the same way and we managed to get all bummed out about it and just gave up. The documentary went on to become what we knew it would, a big success and considered to be the best documentary on the subject, and to us, Sam became that girl in high school that you had the hots for, asked for a date and she laughed at you. OK well maybe not quite that, but you get the picture.

Fast forward a couple of years, and we’re interviewing Rat Skates and Rick Ernst about their thrash metal documentary and the topic of a Headbangers Journey gets brought up, being reminded of Scott’s film I decide to check in on them and low and behold they have a new documentary coming out entitled Global Metal. Well the metal gods must have been smiling down on us that day because after some discussions with their publicist, arrangements are made so that Dan and I can see the new documentary and get a chance to do a sit down interview with not only Sam, but his partner Scot McFadyen as well. And this time, everything works out as planned.

Dan and I attend a press screening of the movie, and as a fan of the first one I have to say that Global Metal is a completely different type of documentary than the first one but every bit as good. I will not go into detail about the movie here because I think it’s one of those films you should see and should be affected by and draw your own conclusions on. This time instead of focusing in on the artists that make the music, the film is about the fans, specifically the fans in countries outside of North America that do not have the same freedoms and access to the music that we do here. That’s not to say there aren’t musicians in the movie, we do get to hear from Lars Ulrich, Marty Friedman, Bruce Dickenson,Tom Araya and a host of others, but they aren’t the focus this time, just part of the larger story and that’s a good thing. The movie has a limited release in Canada in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal this June, and a dvd release in October, when you get the chance to see it, do, you won’t be disappointed.

After seeing it we sat down with Scot and Sam to discuss the movies and their future plans and a bunch of other things. I’m not going to lie to you, we were beyond nervous. We’re used to the whole telephone interview thing where we can make goofy faces at each other while hiding behind the safety and relative anonymity of our microphones, and it really comes across in this interview. But that’s what iConnotations is all about, talking to people we respect, learning about them and what they’ve done to get where they are, and then trying to apply that, even if it’s just a little bit to our lives so that we can become wiser and better people.

So, Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen on, getting a documentary made, how they got to the stars, making A Headbangers Journey and Global Metal, touring with Iron Maiden and what that new documentary is about, their upcoming documentary on legendary Canadian rockers RUSH, a couple of really interesting tidbits on what they’re doing after that, the obligatory Fubar mention and a whole bunch more, so just listen would ya?

More Information

Global Metal (Site)
Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey (Site) (Wiki)
Sam Dunn (IMDB) (Wiki)
Scot McFadyen (IMDB)

 

 iConnotations Episode 4 - Sam Dunn/Scot Mcfadyen: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download