"The resulting documentary, This Is GWAR is a fantastic ride through the group's journey from the Richmond, Virginia punk scene, to 1990s talk show notoriety, to the present day. It benefits from a wealth of archival footage, as well as Barber's keen storytelling skills, which helps contextualize GWAR's work for those who might not have experienced late-twentieth-century pop and alternative culture."
""We didn't want somebody who was going to do a hagiography or whatever, and at the same time we wanted it to be a real documentary," adds Michael Bishop, who as Blöthar the Berserker is GWAR's current lead singer. "But it was hard to find somebody who we thought would have a balanced approach. We were very lucky to get Scott.""
"From the get-go, GWAR was more of a multidisciplinary art collective than a traditional rock band. It's origins are in mid-'80s Richmond, where, in a dairy plant-turned-art space, artist Hunter Jackson was working on a film called Scumdogs of the Universe and Brockie was playing with a band called Death Piggy. They, along with their friends and collaborators, eventually joined forces to produce a sci-fi punk rock odyssey fueled by an eclectic mix of influences. Monty Python, comics, animation, fantasy art"
The film traces GWAR's rise from a mid-1980s Richmond art scene into a theatrical, multidisciplinary punk collective that blends music, visual art and performance. Archival footage and focused storytelling map the band's movement from local DIY shows to 1990s talk-show notoriety and continued creative output. Founding members merged film, comics, fantasy art and tabletop gaming influences to craft a sci-fi punk mythology. Musicians and visual artists collaborate conceptually so stagecraft and music reinforce each other. The group emphasizes a blue-collar, do-it-yourself ethic and an unconventional band-as-art-collective model centered on spectacle and subcultural references.
Read at Hi-Fructose Magazine - The New Contemporary Art Magazine
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