Similarities and differences between April 22 Trackers gig and August 11 Ueta gig:-)

Similarities:
1)At both gigs, the first songs played were by my favourite bands!Trackers gig, Murphy's Flaw played Otherside by RHCP. Ueta gig, Ueta played 'Meant to live' by Switchfoot! Woooooo! In between us helping Ueta sing the song, Mercy said to me that she was seeing the music video in her mind's eye. You know, the walls falling down etc. People. Bands. That's the power of a good music video. Not only are videos good for promoting your songs, they also ensure that you stay in Mercy's - I mean people's - mind long afterthe establishment has stopped playing your songs on the radio:-) (Or way before the establishment realises that they need to be playing your songs on the radio!)

2)LAST YEAR'S TRAGEDY!!!:- ))))))))

3) Girl power! Tracker's gig. Murphy's Flaw. Girl power! Ueta gig. UPSTREAM! Wooooooo! They did that beautiful song from "A walk toremember" Love that movie! Love that song! Love Upstream!:-) As Kagure (yet another ROFFEKE founding member) and I were helping Upstream sing the song, Kagure told me she hasn't watched the movie. Kagz, again, GO WATCH THE MOVIE! I highly recommend it:-)

Differences
1)Metanoia did a hip hop thingy.Wasn't bad actually. They reminded meof Outkast. And I think Outkast have the rock 'n' roll spirit, even if they don't do rock music. 'Hey ya' is pretty close to rock, I think. Very Beatle-esque, don't you think Daudi?;-) But I digress.Loved Metanoia's breakdancing lol!

2)There was CRUNK???! Yes you heard right. Crunk. At first I thought I had misheard the MC (who did a very good job MC-ing by the way) but Mercy assured me that yes, coming up next was Crunk. My spirits sunk.But then this dude does his crunk thing and it is sooo full of energy that it's almost...rock! Almost. But not quite:-) I was glad when wewent back to rock but I must admit that Jesse ALMOST made me like Crunk. Almost. But not quite:-)

3)Then it was time for Moses and Ueta. Or was it Moses and Metanoia? It doesn't really matter cause all I could see was Moses. He has GREAT stage presence and has a lot of fun on stage. Well done Moses.There was a lot of other great stuff. The girl with the AMAZING voice who sang that Evanescence song. The group that rapped, can't remembertheir name. etc etc. We left early, at around 6.30pm so maybe someonewho stayed longer can tell us what happened next?

Tahi (THANK YOU!!!) filmed the gig so those who weren't there, you can watch it on DVD. We will try and screen it at the festival, if things go my way, which for the past few days have not been going my way.Anyway. Thanks Ueta. Thanks Nairobi Baptist. I had a lovely time! I almost didn't come cause, well, I was in a mood.:-)But I'm glad I did!

Veni, Vidi, VENUE!!!

Finally! ROFFEKE has a venue! Joy! Jubilation!

Venue: Pavement (was also the venue for the launch of Kenyan chapter of Future Shorts)
Day: 16th August 2007 (the 30th death - oh excuse me - "disappearance" anniversary of the King of rock 'n' roll, Elvis Presley.)
Time: From 7pm
Entry fee: Ksh 300

Hope to see you there!

Special thanks to Elijah Kahara and the Kenya Film Commission.

Excerpt from Interview with David Hughens, director of Elvis' Grave

Mildred Achoch talks with David Hughens about film, music and schizophrenia!

What exactly is your musical background?
I pursued a musical career for about 13 years as a singer/songwriter and guitar player. You can check out the last band I was putting together at what's left of the website: http://www.pureethyl.com/

I checked out your online portfolio. Love the "Kiss meets Cash" poster for Pure Ethyl!

Thanks for the compliment. I was living in Nashville when Johnny died a few years ago and I
had always wanted to try and meet him. I think he would've gotten a big kick out of that picture.

So what's the status of Pure Ethyl? Does the band still exist?

Pure Ethyl died when I left Nashville 3 years ago. After 13 years of pursuing music, I finally got tired of ramming my head against the bloody brick wall.

Have you directed any music videos?

When you watch Elvis' Grave, you will see that there are several "music videos" within the film, so I guess I have directed music videos.

Do you think it's easier/better to start out as a feature/shorts film director then go on to directing music videos or vice versa?

I think shooting shorts or music videos is the way to start. They cost less money and take less time and they tend to be more experimental (forgiving in their adherence to a strict set of rules), unlike a feature length narrative. Plus, it is easier to find a band that wants a video and is willing to pay for some of the cost while giving you a chance to play around with your style. My big thing is I believe you should always tell a story, so the idea or script is king. It must be absolutely rock solid. The script is the most important part. It is like the foundation of a house or the drummer in a rock band -- without which, you don't have diddle. There are so many films that are style over substance and I don't really care for them. Give me a good story every time. So, make sure you tell your audience a story every time you shoot, whether it is a music video or a feature.

Part of your bio reads: “David was only the second person to make a homegrown feature film in Alabama, and at the age of 22, the youngest to do so.” Has this situation changed in your hometown?

The number of filmmakers in Birmingham has grown in leaps and bounds since I shot my film in 1989. And I believe it is directly related to the Sidewalk Film Festival --
http://www.sidewalkfest.com/. I wish it had been around back when I was starting out. The guy running the festival called Elvis' Grave the Grandfather of independent films in Birmingham. High praise for little ol' me.

How would you describe yourself?

I often tell people I'm schizophrenic -- I'm not really, but I do have many sides to my personality. That way, "we" are never alone -- always someone to talk to! I feel like it is really good for "creative" types to be this way, because it gives you a lot to draw from. If you have many different interests, you are more likely to experience many different things.

Afro Punk Various Artists / CD / 2006

Not only did Mathew Morgan - Afro-Punk Director James Spooner's business partner - give us permission to screen Afro-Punk, for a very minimal (almost free!) fee, he also gave us a copy of the Afro-Punk compilation CD.

(Review from logoonline.com)

"Afro Punk may be misnamed as a compilation, but it contains utterly great music. In fact, the tunes here range from the new punk-metal (the opener "Protoculture (Sankofa)" by Cipher), to hardcore ("Kémite (Kahi)" by D-Fe), to melodic punk ("Are You Still Working at That Café?" by Yaphet Kotto, not the actor) to new wave futurism ("Space Dancehall" by Eternals) to emo ("Dance in Blood and Pretend It's Snow" by Fitts and "Boot" by Tamar-Kali) to post-punk and garage rock (" Not Ready" by Slack Republic). And there's much more here in this dizzying, dazzling sampler. This is a compelling and utterly engaging listening experience form front to back, especially for those punters who have the "shuffle" option on the sound box. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide

Not forgetting folk punk ("Loose lips" by Kimya Dawson) I didn't even know folk punk existed!

1. “Protoculture (Sankofa)” by Cipher

What sardony.

This alien bitterness I'm fed. Deuteronomy Chapter 5, Verse

10, "I bestow mercy down to the thousandth generation, on

the children of those who love me and keep my

commandments.” They round them all up. They ordered us

dead 100 thousand, thousand men, women, and children.

Shackled like chattel. Beat 'til we bled. And they all said

so if you wanna burn yourself remember that I LOVE YOU

and if you wanna cut yourself remember that I LOVE YOU

and if you wanna kill yourself remember that I LOVE YOU

call me up before you’re dead, we can make some plans instead

send me an IM, i'll be your friend

16. “Loose Lips” by Kimya Dawson

3. “Are You Still Working At That Café?” by Yaphet Kotto

(they'll never take us all alive;

i work too hard to deal with this shit)

subversive living leaving scars

citizens are tearing a part of you;

this wasn't in the job description

Girls Rock!

This was posted by Shiku on the Women and rock forum. Shiku is studying Sociology and Psychology at Kenyatta University. We're working on a "Sociology of Rock" project. :-)She is a ROFFEKE founding member and a member of both Kenya Rocks and Kenya Punk. But most importantly, we are both members of the goth club of Kenya - the home of Kenyan 'weirdoes'.:-)

It was very weird the way this happened. I knew about the rock 'n' roll camp for girls and I had made a note to contact them regarding movies about girls/women and rock. But with my hectic schedule, this kept being moved further and further down my to-do list until it was forgotten. So I was very pleasantly surprised when I read Shiku's post on the Women and rock forum! Thanks Shiku!

'Hey, here's film about a rock and roll camp for girls. i quote form the website."The finished movie focuses on Laura, an articulate Korean adoptee obsessed with death metal; Misty, who is emerging from a life of meth-addiction, homelessness and gang activity; Palace, a sweet-seeming 8-year-old with a heavy metal sneer, and Amelia, who's writing a 14-song cycle about her dog Pippi. Forming bands, writing songs and playing a gig in one week, these girls and the rest of the camp engage in an experiment in empowerment that will leave no-one unchanged."

I haven't watched it yet tho i'd love to!here's the link.

http://www.girlsrockmovie.com/Flashsite/launch.html'

My top ten moments at the Sunday 22nd April Trackers gig

1.Murphy's Flaw: They opened with a not-so-flawless but still recognizable version of "Otherside" by RHCP. I love RHCP so personally, I thought it was a good way to start the show.
2.Murphy's Flaw: Did a Swahili rock song! It can be done!:-)
3.Murphy's Flaw: I noticed that with the exception of the lead singer, all the other band members were chicks. Girl power!
4.UTANOIA!: That's what someone labeled the band merger between Metanoia and Ueta. Brilliant stuff. I was very impressed.
5.LAST YEAR'S TRAGEDY!
6.LAST YEAR'S TRAGEDY!
7.LAST YEAR'S TRAGEDY!
8.LAST YEAR'S TRAGEDY!
9.Who's the lead singer of Navarone? He has very pretty hair:-)
10.LAST YEAR�S TRAGEDY!

At the show, I finally met Paul Maina – popularly known as mambono – another founding member of ROFFEKE, and a member of Kenya Rocks. Paul has been with Kenya Rocks since the very beginning when there were only about 10 members. Now we are over 70 members.

During those early days, I remember asking him whether he was a Bono fanatic like me since the latter half of his username is “bono”. No he’s not a bono fanatic. He is more of an Oasis fan. Though he was so moved by the video for “The saints are coming” (U2+Greenday) that he wrote a wonderful review of it.

April Fool?

Four months to go...

Sunday was the first of April. And on Sunday I received my very first positive reply from a filmmaker. So I can be forgiven for thinking that Mr. David Hughens , the writer and director of Elvis' Grave , was making an April fool out of me.

It was too good to be true. And so I sent a reply, half-expecting that I would never hear from Mr. Hughens ever again. But surprise, surprise! I am not an April fool!

Indie rocks!

It's time to change strategies. Clearly, I'm getting nowhere fast, chasing after "the establishment". It's time to approach independent filmmakers.

Afro-Punk?!

A documentary about African-American punks?! I never would have guessed! Thanks to Jack Abok - the guy who introduced me to Nirvana, the guy who came up with the name Kenya Rocks - I am now aware of the Afro-punk movie/movement.

Bomb Blast Park meeting

I HATE meetings! But this particular meeting wasn't so bad because of:

1) The Place. The meeting took place at the August 7th Memorial Park: "The gentle undulating hillocks and well-tended lawns lend their charm to the Memorial Park as do the two little sitting areas, made up entirely of thick vines. A fountain bubbles in the centre of the park." Looking around, you wouldn't guess that back in 1998, it was the location of the U.S Embassy and the site of the horrible terrorist attack which killed more than 200 people. "A sculpture made up of debris from the blast dominates one side of the park - striking and poignant at the same time."

2)The People. It was great meeting the founding members of ROFFEKE: Josephine - architect, bass player for Murphy's Flaw and designer of ROFFEKE'S logo; Shiku. And Michael Kaburu, who I must admit was the mastermind behind the meeting (too many M's in that sentence?:-) Mike is an accountant. Gulp. I respect anyone who chooses to study accounts WILLINGLY.:-) When he's not playing with numbers, Mike plays guitar for "Edge of Reason". Like me, Mike is a big fan of Christian rock.

Thanks Mike!

FRUSTRATION!

Excerpt from the message I posted on Kenya Punk

"....Right now I'm busy chasing after American companies, asking for their permission to screen their films. A very frustrating exercise...."

Jozie's logo

"Friendship, fun, freedom" is ROFFEKE's motto. I think my idea for the film festival logo is a bit militant. Oh ok, a lot militant:-) I think Jozie's logo idea is much better than mine, more in line with ROFFEKE's motto.

Thanks a million Got Jenn!

Got Jenn really helped me out by sending me a link that contained almost everything I needed to know about organizing a film festival (http://www.bfi.org.uk/filmtvinfo/publications/practical/howto/started.html)
She’s saved me a lot of research time so I can now move on to the next stage of the planning process.

Thanks a million Got Jenn!

Ronnie Mutuma's logo!

Thanks Ronnie for your logo!

Maasai shield and two crisscrossing electric guitars?

Message posted on Kenya Rocks

So here's a new idea for the logo: On the Kenyan flag there is a Maasai shield and two crisscrossing spears which represents the defense of freedom. How about instead of the spears, there are two crisscrossing electric guitars?:-) It will be like saying 'The Kenyan rock fans defend their freedom to listen to rock by using rock as a weapon':-)

Again, I'm no artist so I don't even know if it is possible to produce this idea on paper but I leave it to the artists of Kenya Rocks to prove me wrong...or right:-)

Logo for rock film festival

Message I posted on Kenya Rocks:

Calling all those who, unlike me, are NOT artistically challenged:-) A logo is needed for the rock film festival. Think "Kenya" , "Film" and "Rock 'n' roll" Post your ideas on the group and the members will vote on the best logo.