- Vice dropped their full interview with Travis Keller about "On The Lash: The Buddyhead Movie" click [here](https://youtu.be/PeDJHm-OPYY?si=2rCxmthPnC0kSROL) to view it.

- New article by Keaton Kustler "Mt Baldy’s open again: go climb the tallest peak in Southern California" under zine or [here](https://buddyhead.com/zine/mt-baldy-s-open-again-go-climb-the-tallest-peak-in-southern-california).

- Vice realeased the trailer for their Buddyhead interview, click [here](https://www.vice.com/en/article/buddyhead-documentary-trailer-vice/) to watch it. Full interview up later this week for subscribers and in two weeks for the rest of the internet.

- New indiegogo campaign launched to help us finish the Buddyhead movie, click [here](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/on-the-lash-the-buddyhead-movie-campaign/x/38186148#/) to donate. This is how independent voices are heard.

- Travis is currently editing his film "On The Lash: The Buddyhead Movie", to follow along with the progress join the [Buddyhead Patreon](https://www.patreon.com/c/buddyhead?redirect=true). Both a [short trailer](https://youtu.be/ypuryFMLvRQ?si=uSeLiluEY4YE6fU7) and [long trailer](https://youtu.be/7lEoWov1854?si=1PQGVqDy0GaKEGv8) are up on the Buddyhead youtube.

- Midnight Mass Zone 6 featuring Joe Cardamone, jeremy Brian Gill, Jimmy Lavalle and Mitchell Brown filmed live at Lost Angeles is up on youtube.

- New reviews are in the review section.

- More content coming here soon. And yes we're looking for contributors to the site as well. If you think you got what it takes email Travis at tmk@buddyhead.com.



Buddyhead is for the children

After the fires community power and mutual aid are more important than ever. Los Angeles community resource links below. 

We've got 30 copies of the new LP from The Cauterizers, once they're gone they're gone.

"Ender Bender is the debut full length album from LA’s best surf rock band, The Cauterizers. After three EPs and a single this 9-song LP brings this non-stop party to you via Buddyhead Records. It was recorded in downtown Los Angeles by Ethan Novak at Skid Row sound. Layout by Shelby Cinca (Frodus/Cassettes/Catbeats) and artwork by Travis McFarland. Limited to 500.

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The Cauterizers

![Unknown.jpeg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/Unknown_ed8effc959.jpeg)

Via Vice: _"Before indie sleaze, before nu-metal mania, there was Buddyhead. Back in the days of LimeWire and landlines, the website was the best place on the internet.

Launched in 1998, it evolved into a blog full of brutal reviews and the kind of jaw-dropping industry-insider gossip that provoked legal threats from KoЯn, Courtney Love, and Axl Rose. Later, Travis Keller and co-founder Aaron North started a record label that released albums by groundbreaking artists like At The Drive-In, The Dillinger Escape Plan, and North’s own band, The Icarus Line.

The pair were the era’s biggest pisstakers. When they weren’t spray-painting slurs on The Strokes’ tour bus, or making their “Torture Device” crank calls to Tenacious D’s manager, they were usually winding up Fred Durst. Keller stole three of his famous red baseball caps before auctioning them off for charity after a woman was assaulted during Limp Bizkit’s set at Woodstock ’99.

Unsurprisingly, the pair made plenty of enemies in the industry, and a huge amount of fans outside of it.

He is also currently crowdfunding On the Lash, a documentary cut from 250 hours of mini DV tapes he shot between 1998 and 2005."

You can support Keller’s documentary project here: [https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/on-the-lash-the-buddyhead-movie-campaign/x/38186148#/](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/on-the-lash-the-buddyhead-movie-campaign/x/38186148#/) _

Vice interviews Travis Keller about "On The Lash: The Buddyhead Movie"

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Buddyhead Vice Interview dropped

![GxRtZiTaIAEzMTQ.jpeg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/Gx_Rt_Zi_Ta_IA_Ez_MTQ_e273831351.jpeg)

I will be live at on KXLU today from 3pm-6pm on the NO MORE HEROES show with the legendary Tony Knox.

We will be talking about “On The Lash: The Buddyhead Movie” I am currently working on, communism and playing bangers.

Tune in on your radio by setting the dial to 89.9 or [http://Kxlu.com](http://Kxlu.com) if you’re out of range.

Haha oh hell yeah!

Photo of me by Stephanie Nicole Smith



Tune in to 89.9FM in LA or KXLU.com everywhere else.

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BUDDYHEAD LIVE ON KXLU 3PM-6PM TODAY

![buddyhead2-1.jpg.webp](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/buddyhead2_1_jpg_ac90f83e4f.webp)

The trailer for Vice's Buddyhead interview dropped earlier this week. Full interview will be up on their site for subscribers later this week and in two weeks for the rest of the internet. Click [here](https://www.vice.com/en/article/buddyhead-documentary-trailer-vice/) to see the trailer.

We've also launched a new indiegogo to help fund the rest of the movie. We're at the halfway point and need a little help to finish it up. Click [here](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/on-the-lash-the-buddyhead-movie-campaign/x/38186148#/) if you can toss a couple bucks this way, this is how independent voices are heard.

A new trailer just dropped for a forthcoming episode of the Vice series, I Was There. And this time, they’re heading back to the turn of a new millennium, and the dawn of internet shit-talking and interviewing Travis Keller of Buddyhead.

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Trailer for Vice's Buddyhead interview

Jeff Parker

"The New Breed (IA11 Edition)"

International Anthem

Originally I know Jeff Parker as a member of 90's Chicago indie rock instrumental band Tortoise (I think I even have photos I took of them at The Troubadour in the late 90's) but I rediscovered him a few years ago playing on Makaya McCraven's records. I really dig Makaya's albums ["Universal Beings"](https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/universal-beings) out on this same label and ["Deciphering The Message"](https://store.bluenote.com/products/makaya-mccraven-deciphering-the-message?srsltid=AfmBOop0PX_HMWRZhHY-MEOU1vo24VyOqBCLxHeaChrYhjTTq2SY6ujt) which is out on Blue Note. Can't reccomend those enough and they kind of introduced me to this world of cool contemporary jazz that is inspired by hip hop that I really fuck with.

From what I understand this album started out as old home recordings and beat-centric tracks that Parker rediscovered after moving from Chicago to Los Angeles a few years ago. He then got a band together to help him flesh it out and finish it up. It doesn't land too far from Makaya's own records, maybe just a bit more experimental I'd say. It's cool, mellow, chill but still weird enough for me to stay interested. And man I gotta add that the older I get the more I love recoreds with no singer to fuck it up for me. You know the fucking vibes.

This is a cool ass record, I fuck with these dudes. Haha oh Hell yeah.

Order the vinyl [here](https://intlanthem.bandcamp.com/album/the-new-breed-ia11-edition).

- TK

Axl sez:
![IMG_7780.JPG](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/IMG_7780_781d9b915a.JPG)
 

The new one from Jeff Parker who you might know from either Tortoise, Makaya McCraven records or maybe even his own releases.

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Jeff Parker - "The New Breed (IA11 Edition)"

Grupo Jejeje

"Grupo Jejeje"

Discos Rolas

This is not a new record, it came out in 2019 but it's chalk full of bangers and most likely new to most of you so that's why I'm writing about it. Order the vinyl [here](https://grupojejeje.bandcamp.com/album/grupo-jejeje).

Grupo Jejeje is a collab project between Mexican-American producer Turbo Sonidero and Persian-British producer Arrabalero where they focus on the darker sonic undercurrents of cumbia. Most of this stuff is on the slow side and darker side of things, which I fucking love. And it varies between synth-driven as well as loop and sample based stuff for these dudes. And I think this record blends well with a lot of goth or 80's synth driven rock from the 80's sonically when I'm DJing to get you an idea of the world it lives in. You've prolly seen me talking about Turbo Sonidero on here or instagram before because he was one of the gateway artists for me that exposed me to a whole new world of cumbia and latin music in general. If you haven't checked out his record ["Lowrider Kumbias"](https://turbosonidero.bandcamp.com/album/turbo-sonidero-lowrider-kumbias) do yourself a flavor and get into it. On that album he retrofits classics like Brenton Wood’s “Baby You Got It” and Gene Chandler’s “Duke of Earl” with modern parts, it's contemporary tribute to the music he heard while growing up and already a modern day classic. Bangers for days bro.

The artwork is also sick, who ever doesn't love futuristic sci-fi space shit drawn by legendary artist Jaime Ruelas then get the fuck out of town.

PS: Oh and you should also hunt down a copy of the Tubo Q 3000 single out via Symphonical Records [here](https://symphonicalrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ke-suene-machin-chikas-de-kristal).

- TK

Axl sez:
![IMG_7778.JPG](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/IMG_7778_5dc611b96a.JPG)


Travis reviews Grupo Jejeje's full length from 2019 cuz you prolly still haven't heard it. Get into these cumbias with dark sonic undertones.

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Grupo Jejeje  - "Grupo Jejeje"

Pulp  

“Got to Have Love”

Rough Trade

I would consider myself a Pulp fan, at least more so than most people I know. Like my friend Joe doesn't fuck with Pulp - at all. And while I'm not in their fan club either and don't really need any new songs, I do dig "Different Class" which is their classic as well as the cocaine record "This Is Hardcore". I even fuck with the record right before that called "His N' Hers", it has a few bangers on it like "Do You Remember The First Time?". But you can miss me with the early early stuff and the last album, just don't care. I've tried before to get into those records and it's just not happening. So not that big of a fan I guess. But in my opinion when they we're good, Pulp were good. Didn't really dig the solo Jarvis records much for the most part, they have a couple cute songs but that's about it. Although I did like the cunts are still running the world song. That was dope and fit perfect at the end of Children of Men. My conspiracy theory that I only like Jarvis's art when he's on cocaine.

So this is like a come back single, the second of two from a new upcoming record called "More". "Got to Have Love" is a disco-romp about love (I miss the old Jarvis who'd be honry talking over these tracks) and "Spike Island" although unfortunately not a cover of The Icarus Line song of the same name does sound the most like Pulp of the two. Neither really connects with me or is that great in my opinion, which is kind of par for the course from a brit pop band long past their prime here in the hellscape world of 2025. I already don't remember hearing these songs but let's be honest - they could be doing so much worse, most things are worse than this now and there's something nice about having Pulp back even if I don't even up caring about any of these new songs. 

So anyways back to me... lemme round this boring ass review out with a story cuz that's all I've got. So some reason they let me DJ in "The Mojave Tent" at Coachella back in 2007 and I had a trailer in the backstage. It had my name on the door in sparkles and was full of beer and snacks. Was wild. The reason I'm telling you this during a Pulp review is because my trailer was directly across from Jarvis Cocker's trailer. As you can imagine pretty quickly the word spread through my friends that I had a place hang at and party at and everyone decended on my trailer. I just remember it was jammed packed  - people drinking, doing lines of cocaine and smoking weed... as you do backstage at a music festival in 2007 - and Jarvis was just kind of watching all this unfold. And then Danny DeVito just casually walked up and asked "Who's trailer is this?" I stepped forward and said "mine" and let Mr. DeVito know I was a big fan of his work. He said "Great can I take a shit in your trailer?" To which I said sure and then he made me kick everyone out so he could blow up the bathroom. He left it steaming and he had to wait for a while to go back in. But it was worth being able to tell this story and he did give me a high five as he left which made Jarvis Cocker walk over and ask "Who are you exactly?" and we started talking. I told him how I dug the compilation he curated called ["The Trip"](https://www.discogs.com/release/732955-Jarvis-Cocker-Steve-Mackey-The-Trip-Curated-By-Jarvis-Cocker-Steve-Mackey?srsltid=AfmBOopJMTCCxWhJeMIwPF1JB6kJsuDFoJKq1qB5wPJ3zRo5Ia70Ndyh) and how it turned me onto Porter Wagoner, The Animated Egg and OMD's Velvet Underground cover of Waitin' For The Man. Jarvis was cool as fuck, super charming and down to earth. The End.

- TK

Axl sez: 
![IMG_7782.JPG](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/IMG_7782_f789a4f10a.JPG)





The second single from Pulp's return album "More" is a disco-romp about Love.

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Pulp - “Got to Have Love”

![BALDY-1.jpg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/BALDY_1_00a064c2ff.jpg)
Words: [Keaton Kustler](https://www.instagram.com/keatonkustler/?hl=en)
Photos: [Steady Archives](https://www.instagram.com/steadyarchives/)

In September 2024, visitor access to Mt Baldy ,the tallest peak in Los Angeles County was closed due to the Bridge Fire. Reopening dates were TBD, then slated for December 2025, and then…seemingly out of nowhere, the Ski Hut and Devil’s Backbone trails partially reopened at the end of May. The Bear Canyon Trail remains closed…but Devil’s Backbone is the trail I’ve had on my list since I got really into running trail.

![BALDY-8.jpg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/BALDY_8_371f5474e6.jpg)
So, on June 1st, I dragged my ass out of bed at 5am, with enough time to put two Celsuis and a coffee in me, and  headed up  to Claremont with my friends Kam, Sam, Steady, and Yuriko. Kam happened to be visiting from New York, and had never run a “real” trail before…but we’d just ripped a 400 mile ultra-relay race across the state of New York together , so even though this was the first trail run of her life, I knew she could hack it. 

![BALDY-23.jpg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/BALDY_23_d490f44a5b.jpg)
Sam met me at mine, we scooped up Kam along the way, and we met Steady and Yuriko on the mountain, hitting the trail by 7:30 or so. The plan was to summit via the Ski Hut route, which is the shortest but steepest way up, and to descend via Devil’s Backbone - a windy ridge with nothing but air on either side of the single track trail.  We’d make  a pit stop at The Notch for $8 cokes before zipping down the fire road to the cooler of less expensive snacks waiting for me in my car.

![BALDY-41.jpg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/BALDY_41_800dcdfcc8.jpg)
I’m by no means the world’s best trail runner, and I’m garbage at vert, but the Angeles National Forest has been been calling my name all year, and having never been up Baldy, I wanted to get ‘er done before summer gets too hot, and before hordes of other runners and hikers realize Baldy is back open. We started our run at 6,000 feet of elevation, and I quickly accepted I’d be doing more hiking than running for the next 4 miles as we climbed  the additional 4,000 feet  of loose rocks up to the top.  Like real runners, our stop at at the Ski Hut, was an excuse to eat Nerds Gummy Clusters and sour worms  before noon “for fuel”.  We made  it  to the 10,064 foot peak of Mount Baldy just as the clouds started to burn off for the day. I have to pause to get back on my bullshit: Nature is crazy, and my favorite part of living in Los Angeles is how much nature I can experience for literally FREE  within an hour of my apartment. No parking fees, no permits, no tickets, no QR codes, no assholes playing shitty music on a portable bluetooth speaker…just a trail and some wooden signs stuck in the side of a mountain. There’s no railing either. You either pay attention, or you don’t…and you fall off the side of a mountain. I don’t have plans to fall off a mountain anytime soon.


![BALDY-29.jpg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/BALDY_29_94afcc2d81.jpg)
As rewarding as it was to look down on Los Angeles from 10,000 feet up, the way down was where we really got to fly. Steady casually pulled his DSLR out of hydration pack as if it was nothing. He snapped  photos of us while we all quite literally galloped down the Devil’s Backbone. It was sick as hell. Once you get some momentum going,  you’re really just prancing on this skinny little path, your eyes flitting between the ground beneath your feet, and the vast nothingness that is the drop on both sides of you.  It should feel scary, but I think the altitude makes you fearless.

![BALDY-32.jpg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/BALDY_32_e970a9c4ae.jpg)
We refilled our waters at The Notch, an overpriced bar/restaurant with an empty ski lift churning, and  put down a few more  speedy miles before rinsing off in San Antonio Falls as the sun reached its full strength for the day.  Oh- did I not mention the waterfall at the bottom of the trail? Yeah, that was pretttttty cool.  

![BALDY-27.jpg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/BALDY_27_272b2034ef.jpg)
11 miles in about 3 hours isn’t bad when you consider the vert and terrain. If you plan to go, don’t be a dumbass: make sure you carry enough water; 2 liters at least…more if it’s a scorcher. Oh…and take your rings off, your hands swell like crazy when you get up that high. 

![BALDY-48.jpg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/BALDY_48_d682a04d20.jpg)
Nature is free. Running is free. Hiking is free. Wake up early, and go outside. You wont regret it.

--

Not a little bitch? Then come run with Keaton and [Vacant Strava club](https://www.strava.com/clubs/1568273) the first Saturday of every month. 

New contributor Keaton Kustler drops a piece about trail running on Mt Baldy. Nature is free. Running is free. Go outside. You won’t regret it.

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Mt Baldy’s open again: go climb the tallest peak in Los Angeles County.

![DEC12024_LostAngelesStudios-43.JPG](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/DEC_12024_Lost_Angeles_Studios_43_b9db04baac.JPG)

I just wanna brag that I haven’t smoked weed in 44 days. And if you know anything about me, that’s pretty fucking wild. I’ve smoked weed my whole adult life but for sure every single day since I quit heroin on Valentine’s Day 11 years ago. And when I say everyday I mean all day from the time I wake up until I went to sleep. Joint after joint. I mainly took a break because I wanted to see if I could do it and I’ve heard tolerance breaks are good too. And then someone told me I couldn’t do it and that’s really all I needed. That’s all I ever need, someone to doubt that I can do something or tell me I can’t. I’ll be back with the weed one day I think but right now I’m digging seeing how long I can go and honestly enjoying not smoking. I also think once you smoke weed that much and for that long, not smoking is kind of like being high. 

Anyways, just had to check in and flex a little cuz I’m proud of me lately. I love you guys, thanks for fucking with me and stay frosty fam.

- TK

Portrait by the ever talented [Stephanie Nicole Smith](http://Stephanienicolesmithphotography.com)

Checking in and taking a break from one of my favorite things.

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No smoke from your editor

In a time before Instagram, before Facebook, before any social media. It was before blogs, before Vice and before Pitchfork and before everyone had a camera in their pocket.

ON THE LASH is the story of Buddyhead.com, one of the first independent music websites on the internet as well as boutique record label. A DIY webzine that was getting 9.5 million hits a month, putting the music industry on blast via the gossip page, record reviews and interviews. Let’s not forget turning down $9 million dollars multiple times during the dot com bubble. Co-directed by Travis Keller and Joe Cardamone and produced by Shepard Fairey and Elgin James.

It’s also the story of the Los Angeles punk band The Icarus Line, the last true rock n’ roll gang in my opinion. A bunch of dropouts and misfits when they started, without a dime to rub together but they still managed to continuously put out art and travel around the globe multiple times over. A band that was a love letter to the Southern California underground which gave birth to them. This is the story of how they navigated the rough waters of independent and major labels alike, the music scene they infiltrated, the shows they played, the records they made, our travels around the world on tour and everything and everyone around em.

This is a story about rock n roll, the music industry, art, the beginning of the internet, punk, Los Angeles, putting records out, doing it yourself, being on tour, friendship, drugs, not giving a fuck and being true to yourself despite what everyone else says.

We were fiercely independent and stubbornly resilient.  We didn’t wait for permission.  We were making new friends.  And we were making fresh enemies.  It was us VS the world and we went in swinging. Courted and feared by major record labels. Too rock n’ roll for the punk establishment and too punk for the mainstream.  

Filmmakers Travis Keller and Joe Cardamone ask each other three questions about the process of making indie projects and navigating creativity:

[[Watch Trailer #1](https://youtu.be/7lEoWov1854?si=F74CLtc3lTv7deCw)]

[[Watch Trailer #2](https://youtu.be/ypuryFMLvRQ?si=JdxwTwQiyVKtK3ay)]

![nofilmschool1.jpeg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/nofilmschool1_c087d89c1c.jpeg)
_Photography by [Mimi Chakravorty](https://www.chakravortyimages.com/)_

JOE - What films inspired you to start picking up a camera?  Do any of them still influence the work you are doing right now?

TRAVIS - While I loved movies as a kid it really was skateboard videos that made me think I could actually go pick up a camera and start making art myself.

Skateboarding, skateboard videos and skateboard culture in general have been and probably still are the biggest influencers on my work. In skateboarding landing tricks is everything and being able to prove that was a must for teenage me, so I got myself a VHS-C camera, a wide angle lens and started filming my friends. Later I moved on to Mini-DV. Skateboarding is a place where outcasts, weirdos, outsiders or just people that are maybe a little different can thrive and that world is really what got me into everything I’m into which includes music, art, underground culture, photography and filming. It also taught me that failure is an important part of the process and if you keep trying you can achieve pretty much everything, you just have to keep getting back up when you fall.

I was really inspired by “The Questionable Video” and “Virtual Reality” made by Mike Ternasky for Plan B Skateboards, I watched them both so many times I still have them memorized 30 years later. I was also really into all the videos Spike Jonze made for Girl and Chocolate Skateboards, Blind “Video Days”, the 411 video magazine series and “Barbarians At The Gate” by Foundation skateboards was also a very big one for me too. I loved the non-linear mix of tricks, wrecks, skits and interactions with security guards, police and randoms on the street. The shooting style and aesthetic of these movies definitely affected the way I see things but I think more importantly what I took from them was their DIY ethos. All these videos I was obsessed with were just made by a bunch of kids who looked like me with a camera. They didn’t ask anyone for permission, they got out there and got what they needed and they had fun doing it. And most importantly… they made me feel like I could do that too.

I also love and am heavily influenced by John Carpenter, Terrence Malick, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock and The Coen Brothers.

![nofilmschool2.jpeg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/nofilmschool2_838aa7b108.jpeg)

JOE - Did you have any feeling that you might be witnessing a special moment or scene of underground music while you were on tour with The Icarus Line, At the Drive In or any of the other band you traveled with?

TRAVIS - Yeah, from the moment I touched down in Los Angeles in 1997 I found myself smack-dab in the Los Angeles punk scene and it definitely felt like I was in the middle of something really special. I shifted the focus of my camera from skateboarders to everyone around me in the punk scene because my friends were all in bands, talented and just doing cool shit like playing shows, promoting shows, putting records / 7-inches out, making flyers and even going on tour. Our little scene would go nationwide, eventually international and I would get to tour with bands like The Icarus Line, At The Drive-In, Murder City Devils, 400 Blows, Ink & Dagger, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Primal Scream, A Perfect Circle, Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, Autolux, Bauhaus and more.

JOE - As a life long DIY artist and supporter of independent thought, what are the positives to crowd funding efforts like indie a go go ?

TRAVIS - The main positive about crowd funding is that we have complete creative control of the project and can make the exact movie we want to make and that our audience wants to see. This film has been a long time in the making as we’ve been threatening to make this movie since I started shooting it in 1998 so I can’t risk it getting fucked up by anyone meddling in our vision. We need to be able to make our movie and say exactly what we want to say.

Another reason we’re going this route is because it will be a left of the dial documentary, it won’t be like all the other cookie cutter music documentaries so doing it ourselves eliminates having to catch anyone up on our vision. We have our own production company with American Primitive that includes all the gear and personnel needed to make this film, we just need to be able to afford the time to make this thing as good as it’s going to be.

There will be no modern footage from now, only footage of the time so that you are not taken out of it and reminded you are watching a documentary. I promise you that Dave Grohl’s talking head from 2025 will not be in this movie. This film is also our own personal story and you only get one of those so no one’s gonna fuck it up unless it’s us. This is a chance for the audience to get involved and help make a project that they want to see come to life. And let’s be honest this is just how independent voices are heard these days, they don’t make it easy. Who wants to be a producer?

JOE - Whats one main difference between the way music was back when ON THE LASH was filmed and how it is these days?

TRAVIS - Everything honestly. We were the death rattle of rock n’ roll bands, we were the last rock n’ roll gang. The entire world that we grew up in no longer exists and with it the musical landscape has completely changed too. Due to economics most people can’t afford to do bands hence the landslide of DJs and synth projects, but also live music was forever altered by the presence of cell phones in everyone’s hands. People act different now, everyone’s camera ready and aware. And then there’s how people listen and discover music these days, it’s all jacked. It’s not the same world at all.

![nofilmschool4.jpeg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/nofilmschool4_d11f18742c.jpeg)

TRAVIS - Coming from a musical background, what inspired you and gave you confidence to get involved in film?

JOE - Growing up in Los Angeles movies are in the peripheral from day one.  It's the industry that built this town.  On top of that my father had a career as a child actor in the late 60's so that was also a factor in our house. The thing about it being a huge industry is that a lot of the work they produce is super corporate and safe for the masses. Huge budgets and stars and lots of masters to bow to.  Very early on that was un attractive to me.  When I found punk rock music  and diy ideas it quickly led me to music. It was an form of expression that was somewhat  attainable coming from my socioeconomic background and I could work with as few compromises as possible.  A thing of beauty to an anti authoritarian idealist.  As I made music my focus, independent and underground film came hand in hand.  A lot of my favorite artists were discovered through indie films and docs like Decline of the Western Civilization or Repo Man.  I always saw film as something out of reach because when we were kids you needed to shoot on actual film and that took teams oof people and money bags.  So even though I was inspired to tell stories visually it seemed expensive. 

Music took off for me and I ended up spending almost 20 years touring the globe in my band The Icarus Line.  Near the end of the band, right as the last nails were going in,  my friend Micheal Grodner approached me about doing a film based on the band and my life.  At first I really wasn't sure why anyone would want to see that but eventually Grodner warmed me to the idea and we began filming The Icarus Line Must Die.  TILMD ended up being a life changing experience for me.  I had the chance to write and act in a feature film with a bunch of trusted friends. An ideal circumstance for someone who was always weary of the movie industry.  I think the budget was maybe 10k including the food.  The results far exceeded my expectations and we toured the feature to screenings and film festivals.  On production I met Jacob Mendel  who is still my DP almost a decade later.  I realized that with modern tech we could make films in a very similar way to starting a band.  You  just  grab some gear and ideas and run for the hills.    Really it's the same process as music in a lot of ways.

TRAVIS - What are the parallels between being an independent musician and an independent film maker?

JOE - I think that there are a few major parallels. One of them is that being independent can offer less financial incentives but also be rewarding with the freedom you get when there's suits in the room.  I'm not saying everyone in a suit is a demon but sometimes an idea needs freedom  and support to organically grow.  Terrance Malik and Jarmusch know this.  Abel Ferrara knows this.  John Coltrane knew this.  Micheal Gira knows this.  Tarkovsky knew. Coppola knows it.  The heroes know and they spend a lifetime fighting for it.

I think that music and film in the best of circumstances come from a very similar place creatively.  The Ideas come from a small spot inside your being somewhere and start to reveal themselves the more you allow them to.  Really being dedicated to allowing yourself to be sensitive to those moments when an idea peaks at you is so important.  It took me time to be a sort of conduit for creative sparks. Since music is so much about instant intuitive decisions and inspirations; that skill really trained me to be on set seeing the angles. 

One other thing music and film have in common for me is that forming a gang of like minded individuals is paramount.  Working with people who are you friends and peeps and whos opinions you respect is so important to me.  Even though we are a small crew everyone involved has a specific way of seeing things that is all their own but also have the ability to hear each other and adapt.  Wether it's music or film, you want the people around you to be talented,  fearless and a good hang.  This has always been a recipe for good art to me.

![nofilmschool6.jpeg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/nofilmschool6_e3bca98aff.jpeg)

TRAVIS - Could you maybe talk a little bit about what types of movies or even what directors inspire or influence you in your work?

JOE - My first records were Thriller and Appetite for Destruction.  These two were the first works that moved me to the point of hundreds of listens alone at night through headphones.  When I got a little older and had more independence I really discovered punk rock and black music.  Now to me punk rock means and meant anything from Throbbing Gristle to Black Flag to The Birthday Party.  It has always been much more of mindset than a genre and in fact if you claim you are in the punk genre then I would probably not consider it punk at all.  To me,  Playboi Carti is punk in a lot of ways.  Black music was my other huge love.  I think Maggot Brain  and There's a riot goin on might have been the albums that really changed the way I thought about music but also To Pimp a Butterfly might have changed the way I thought about art. 

Around the same time I was immersing myself  in underground music I also found indie theaters and video rental heavens.  In Pasadena there was like 6 indie theaters growing up playing everything from the new Woody Allen or Kubrick to Dogma 98 films and Harmony Korine. The local video stores like Videoteque and Mondo carried banned films and bootlegs that came through underground networks and trading.  There was no youtube so you really had to figure out where to look for subculture.  I rented Peckinpahs Straw Dogs just on the cover art and it blew my mind.  The Exorcist was also such a huge one. I used to put that on when I babysat my siblings.  Eraserhead was another VHS that was rented on a guess and my brain was never the same.  Paris Texas, Climax, Goodfellas, The Thing ....I'm such a huge fan of great films the list could go on forever.

![nofilmschool7.jpeg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/nofilmschool7_cb4b5fc947.jpeg)

TRAVIS - Why do you think On The Lash is a story that needs to be told in 2025?

JOE - I think the thing that makes On The Lash relevant in today’s age is that it can serve so many purposes.  I think it's inspirational in a sense.  A bunch of kids from not much end up making not very commercial music and doing an anti establishment website that end up catching fire enough to travel the world and meet their heroes.  All based on their friendships, art and attitude.  The film is also a document of a time that holds somewhat of a mystery at this point.  This was before the corporate door was slammed on music so we kinda slid in there as one of the last punk gangs to get signed to a big label. There is no way this would happen today and in fact it's happened very little since. The contrast between who Buddyhead and The Icarus Line were vs the relatively mainstream world we were thrust into head first on fire. 

![nofilmschool3.jpeg](https://bhapi.buddyhead.com/uploads/nofilmschool3_c418dead1a.jpeg)

Travis Keller is a Los Angeles based filmmaker, writer and photographer who's articles and photos have been seen in VICE, Rolling Stone, LA Weekly, Kerrang and NME. Besides ON THE LASH he is currently putting together his first photo book covering the late 90's too mid 2000's music scene featuring rare moments with artists like Elliot Smith, Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, At the Drive In and The Icarus Line.

Joe Cardamone is a Los Angeles based musician, producer and visual artist who has been touring and releasing albums consistently since the late 90's. He has produced music with Mark Lanegan, Jesus and Mary Chain and The Stooges. He wrote and stared in the indie cult film THE ICARUS LINE MUST DIE. He is currently in the studio putting final touches on the sequel to his duo with Mark Lanegan: Dark Mark v Skeleton Joe. 

A conversation between Joe Cardamone and Travis Keller about their upcoming film "On The Lash: The Buddyhead Movie" that was originally done for nofilmschool but they flaked. So in true Buddyhead fashion we're posting it here for you anyways. We are the real DIY no film school...  meet no school at all 


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