'CBGB' Movie Director Talks Missing the Famous Club, His Own Partying Days & Filming with an A-List Cast [EXCLUSIVE]
Filming CBGB was nostalgic for director and producer Randall Miller, he explained to Enstars Tuesday at the film's New York premiere, which also marked opening night for the 2013 CBGB Music and Film Festival.
"Television is like one of my favorite bands," he said when asked what kind of music he enjoys. "They have like four cuts in the movie. I also like Discovery. There are a lot of really cool bands that didn't get their due back then, like the Flamin' Groovies, [and] there's a bunch of cuts of them in the film."
CBGB is a rock 'n roll true story about the famed venue in 1973 and its non-conformist/revolutionary founder Hilly Kristal, portrayed by Alan Rickman (Harry Potter). The legendary New York City club launched dozens of cutting-edge and up and coming bands through its closing in 2006. It is known globally as the home of American Punk Rock music. CBGB the movie features 16 on-camera musical performances and over 60 classic songs by the Talking Heads, Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, The Police and The Dead Boys, among others.
Taking on the reigns behind the camera -- and also writing the film's script alongside Jody Savin -- Miller was able to go back in time to his own youth and reminisce about the bands he loves, resulting in him having a personal connection with the project. Talking about memorable moments on set, he said his was blown away by the film's cast.
"What was really cool was those moments where we had the guy who played Sting, Keene McRae, we did a nationwide search to find this kid and he looks just like Sting and that just sort of gives you chills. I think about it now, it gives you chills," he explained. "Like when he sings, it was like 'oh my god, that's the guy! I'm seeing him for the first time.' That was a great moment. And then obviously The Dead Boys, when Justin Barth, Johnny Galecki and Rupert Grint just jump around on stage. that was pretty electric too."
The film's star-studded cast includes Malin Akerman (Trophy Wife) as Blondie, Ashley Greene (Twilight franchise) as Lisa Kristal, Stana Katic (Castle) as Genya Ravan, Joel David Moore (Avatar) as Joey Ramone, Freddy Rodriguez (Grindhouse), Sting's daughter Mickey Sumner as Patti Smith, Taylor Hawkins as Iggy Pop and Ryan Hurst (Sons of Anarchy).
When the club closed in 2006, it took with it the kind of opportunities it offered to bands hoping to get a chance at something big. Talking Heads, Ramones, Blondie and others came to the famous NYC spot when they had nowhere else to go to get a chance on stage. Kristal is responsible for giving those musicians an opportunity they never had and a place like CBGB does not exist nowadays, Miller said.
"I just think there's not that many places left where music like this can be discovered like it was at CBGB," he said. "The idea of what the club stood for: it gave a home to all kinds of great bands that no one ever heard of, that gave them a place to play. I think that's what this story's about. This was the place where all these people were discovered and Hilly had a thing where he wouldn't let them play covers, they had to play original music. So that allowed them to create new stuff and some of it sucked, and some of it was good."
He further explained why a place is the club "is missing" today.
"The Internet's changed some stuff, like you can be discovered on the Internet, but there's not that many places like it and in California there's only a couple and they kind of only play famous bands. There's not that where bands can be discovered anymore."
Talking about his own youthful days in the club scene, Miller said, "I did some of that but I wasn't a total partier."
"There were certainly many nights of the drunk and stupor going home, for sure some of those," he added, saying that nowadays he is happy to just enjoy a beer when he goes out.
CBGB is out in theaters Oct. 11.
