In the spring of 2005,
a young graduate
film student from UCLA
set forth to make
a documentary
reflecting an element
of contemporary music culture
that had yet to be
fully examined.
The notion was to capture
something raw and original,
something unpretentious
and genuine.
He yearned to make a film
that would stand out
from other rock 'n' roll
documentaries
and potentially
redefine the genre.
Who he found
was Electric Apricot.
What he achieved
was Enlightenment.
Well, I've been
doing yoga all day,
but I do that every day,
so I guess that's not special,
but, yes, I've prepared
a couple pieces
and I also wrapped
a couple things of sage
that I grew in my garden-
some pineapple sage,
some lavender sage together
I think are going
to really help
cleanse the room
before we start
It's got a peazio
pickup in here. Peazio.
I don't know what that means, but
it sounds cool, huh? Yeah, man.
Whose car did you borrow?
That's my sister's.
To fully understand the band,
we must first examine
the music scene
that spawned this colorful
group of troubadours
we call Electric Apricot.
Known as Jam Band music,
this scene has been expanding
and evolving rapidly
over the past several years.
I think the jam scene
is really, um, free-loving
with a bit of,
like, ass-shaking
and, like, kind of just,
you know, crazy, like, wow.
It's about dancing,
it's about shaking loose
your normal everyday stresses
and getting into a fun space.
The band plays
a two-minute song,
goes into ten minutes
of silliness,
and creates new music
that's never been
played before.
Ultimately, jamming
is all about language.
It's all about language.
Wittgenstein says,
is that language-
all philosophy
is meaningless
because language
is meaningless.
It's great
to see new blood
in the improvisational
rock 'n' roll music scene.
I get a little squirmy
when people try
and categorize us one way
or another, you know?
We could be...
We could be, like,
a Jam Band thing
one minute,
and then we can get
into some funkiness.
For somebody to go out there
with a bunch of sequencers
and put on a show
that's pretty much
note-for-note every time
flies in the face of what
American musical culture
is about, in my opinion.
Playing music, you should
just fucking jam it.
You should jam it,
and jam it hard, jam it true.
People can see, they can interact
with me, I can interact with them.
I can give them
some of my looks.
Jimmy air freshener, man.
You see that?
It's always gonna
smell like Jimmy.
Jimmy!
When I'm playing and
I'm doing one of my fills
I try and make eye contact
with somebody
just to kind of give them
a little something
to take home with them.
There's a place.
A wondrous place.
A place out on the playa,
where like-minded individuals
can get together
and share ideas.
It's a place that
knows no boundaries,
except for those that
are set by your own mind.
Creativity blooms.
That place...
is a place called...
Burning Man
Burning Man
Burning Man
Burning Man
Hey, are you going
to Burning Man?
To bury your toes
in the desert sand
Ain't no man born
to tell you how to be
I'll take you
to Burning Man
I've got a recipe
for cosmic flan
Strip off your clothes
and set your aura free
There's a place I've been
called Black Rock City
Where we're taught
to get down
Onto Juilliard
at evening
Waltz in with my saxophone
Searching for answers
and feasting on the world
Ah
I first saw them
on Earth day in Modesto.
Killer show.
And then I saw them at the
Santa Rosa Agricultural Festival
at Windsor Waterworks,
which was-
it totally went off, and I was in
the front and I'm doing the cube.
You know, it's this
dance I made up.
What I do is I make
a cube with my hands.
Um... I just kinda started
going like that
and I just sort of made
a square shape,
more like
a three-dimensional square.
A tight-knit group
of individuals,
the Jam scene flourishes
through communal interaction,
be it via the internet,
tape-trading,
or multi-genred festivals,
one of the premier events
being the Northwest's
own musical extravaganza,
Festeroo.
Festeroo.
Festeroo.
Festeroo.
Festeroo, man.
Do I know about Festeroo?
With it's tree-lined
rural setting
just northwest
of Portland, Oregon,
Festeroo has been host
to some of the top-named acts
in the Jam scene
since autumn of 2001.
The Jam festivals
are basically mud-fests
like any festivals.
Festeroo- there's fire,
there's circus,
there's Jam, there's beat.
People walking around with
no tops on, that's awesome.
Bathing in the river,
that's awesome.
Yeah, it was the greatest
thing l... pinnacle experience.
l... l... I shat myself.
It was awesome.
Dude, total meltdown.
I don't know what happened.
I just lost my keys
right before the gig.
We got all this
important stuff in there.
I gotta get this stuff out.
No keys.
But... who knows?
Weak.
Super weak.
The light on
my laminate saved me,
usually because I got
a light on my key.
Uh-oh.
My goal, as manager,
is to continually
try to raise the profile
of this band.
We've got some upcoming
local gigs, which is great.
Then next week,
we go into the studio
to record
the band's first album
on my friend's record label.
The real deal is I've been
working some angles
to try to get the band
into Festeroo.
Have you done
Ford Windstars before?
Oh man, we played so many...
We played, like-
we played basically
coffeehouses.
You know, we play all kinds of
different coffeehouses around town.
I mean, basically we'd set up
in front of the coffeehouse,
but we'd just
put our hats down.
And I think it was Don,
Don Kleinfeld, our manager,
who first introduced us,
me and Steve, to Lapdog.
He was like, Hey, man, why don't
you guys get some percussion?
I know this guy, Lapdog.
You know, I had been
in this band Illucifer,
which was
the illusive Lucifer,
which was this metal band.
And then I got
into the funky stuff.
So I was kind of trying
to combine the two things,
so it was kind of like this double
bass metal funky stuff, you know?
I think he had
some funk band,
Funky White Monkey
or something like that.
In doing the Funky
White Monkey thing
I learned that
there was more to music
with the whole
soulful groove element.
So we started
playing live,
we started doing our usual
circuit of the coffeehouses.
And then this guy shows up
with this big double-kit,
I don't know,
Tama Superstar Kit-
cymbals everywhere,
and he sets up in front
of Pete's Coffee.
I mean, I could
see their point.
I mean, we did block-
entirely block the sidewalk.
Just playing
on the sidewalk,
it's just not that
conducive to what I do.
You couldn't really
hear us sing or play
because he would...
Lap would just...
he would just solo
most of the time.
Just take five deep breaths
and open up that third eye.
And I'll tell you,
my brother,
we're going to go
on a magic carpet ride.
Because if you never
take the chance to look,
then you'll never know.
We'll go walkin'
through the backroads
Of my mind
Rolling down
that kaleidoscope
Of inner space
and time, yeah
Walkin' down
the backroads of my mind
Take it away, Gordo.
I couldn't dance
because it was so intense.
And I go in there and people are
like, Dude, what are you doing?
I'm like, Dude, what are
you talking about?
I've been to every show,
and I come here to dance.
I just want to feel the music.
I always have two headbands.
One, to get my sh-
because I like the shape
that it makes my hair...
and one to cover my watch
because when I'm
in the Apricot zone...
I'm living in a world
without time.
Yeah, we're going to be-
we're going to be
at the Sweetwater show,
you know?
I mean, whew,
what can you say
about Mill Valley, man,
that hasn't been said already?
I mean, it's where
mountain-biking started,
it's where cappuccino started.
The Sweetwater's been here
for 30-something years now
and it gets good people
through there all the time.
It's sweet to be
at the Sweetwater indeed,
but unfortunately
I'm a little bit
off center right now
just because-
well, my cell phone
got turned off today.
Hey, what's up?
My name is Jonah
and I'm a taper.
Hi, I'm Tom Lystrus
and I'm a taper.
I think it should be a good-
a good crowd tonight.
You might want
to set that a bit higher.
My favorite thing
about Electric Apricot
clearly is just the
support of the community.
I mean, we come
to tape the shows,
they give us plenty of time
to set up ahead of time.
We've been here,
like, since 3:00.
We're done, we're ready,
we're set, you know?
We're ready to... We're ready
to capture the magic, really.
Now we've just got
five hours to fine-tune it
before they get here.
Gordo, he really wanted to go...
go in a more electric...
He wanted to go
- He's a big Jerry fan, you know, Jerry Garcia.
Which is completely opposite
of what I wanted to do
because I wanted to go into
more of a British Morrissey trip.
And if a ten-ton truck
kills the both of us
All of a sudden,
Steve Trouzdale,
as we once knew him,
he sees this Phish show-
You have to ask him,
because it's a classic story.
So we went to the casinos
and we were partying hard
and we hooked up with these two
girls who turned out to be guys.
It was just, you know-
It was in-
One of them dosed me.
Dosed him with some LSD
or something
and he ends up
at this Phish show
and he just becomes
mesmerized
with the bass player
Mike Gordon.
And all of a sudden,
there's this eruption of color.
And I found out what it was.
Because at first
I thought it was like,
you know,
what's going on here?
Is this some alien battle
or something?
They have, like,
glowstick wars,
where people are throwing all
these glowsticks back and forth,
And then one just tags me
in the side of the head
and I instantly thought
of Aiwass, which...
Aiwass is the entity,
is the spirit that channeled
the right of Thelema
to Aleister Crowley.
The next day at rehearsal
I said to the guys,
you know, I'm Aiwass.
Call me Aiwass.
I am a bass player.
I was like, man,
that's a gift from heaven.
Here we are, he wants
to play bass now,
so now we've got a bass
and this big drum set,
and then I'm going
to plug this thing in
and there we go, trio,
Jimmy Hendrix land.
They tried to give us
a little grief because it's a-
because of the lightning bolt,
but it's actually
an 11-point lightning bolt
and it's a little narrower
and it's at a different angle
and the Grateful Dead has
a 13-point lightning bolt.
Ours is quite a bit
different, but...
This is...
This is the premier
mic right now
for this kind of taping.
It's the most expansive
dynamic range.
Very fancy.
It expanded on what
the 4 was,
the Schoeps 4,
which is...
It's what I use.
What Jonah has.
This is really
what we're doing now.
This is the new
technology.
You get more of
a lateral sound with that.
It's got a projection,
the intake is not
as pinpoint directional,
but what I find is this mic
yields an ambient sound
which captures
all the things that I like
and find most
important about it.
You know,
it's the younger kids,
they're really...
it's exciting
watching you grow.
But this mic is better.
It's better.
Do you like milk chocolate
or do you like dark chocolate?
You like chocolate,
you understand what I'm saying?
So it's the type of sound
that it yields.
It's great.
It's great having friends. Yeah.
Well, it's the 4V.
All right now, 6/8.
Ready?
Damn.
Oh, wait.
One, two, three, four, five,
six. I was getting my groove on.
One, two, three, four,
five, six. Five, six.
One, two, three,
four, five, six.
Hang on. Wait.
Are you-
I'm trying to get
my groove on.
Shh, shh.
On the corner,
Miles Davis, 1972.
You know, I don't
really speak literally,
because if you speak
in a literal way,
it's like,
next thing you know,
everyone understands you and that's
just like, who wants that, man?
It's like a fucking church,
the fucking church,
the fucking steeple,
and there's the people.
That's Apricot.
I don't know about
the steeple thing.
That's the first I've heard
of this steeple thing.
She train blues
Jerry Garcia.
The man, the myth, the legend.
Well, I wanted
to make a guitar
that looks a lot like Jerry's
because he's my favorite.
What we got here is this
guitar is a total Jerry,
the recipe is Jerry
and stuff like that
with just a pinch
of Warren Haynes.
Big jumbo frets.
We were in Berkeley,
and we went to one of them
Greek Theatre shows,
and then, in the morning
I was still
kinda coming down,
we went to Smokey Joe's Caf,
and I was getting
the Holy Moley
Frijole breakfast.
I was digging into my beans
and digging into my eggs,
so I went to go grab
a tortilla...
Ah ah ah
Okay, be careful.
And then there it was, dude.
Look at that.
Can you see it?
Hold on, check it out.
See?
Can you see it?
It's like a sign,
the most prized possession.
How... How does he know
it wasn't Jesus?
Jesus shows up
on a tortilla,
it's on eBay for several
thousand dollars.
Unfortunately, it wasn't
Jesus, because we could've...
Jesus, we could have used
the money for that one.
Garcia. Tortilla.
Yeah, at this point
they started kicking around
some ideas for band names.
Gordo wanted to call it
Electric Mountain.
You know, my idea
was Vaseline Groove.
I wanted Knectar
with a K, a silent K,
like the Phish thing,
with the P-H with it.
He wanted to name the band
Knectar with a silent K,
like knight, like Knights
of the Roundtable.
It's clever, you know?
He's an intellectual guy,
and he can come up
with stuff like that.
If you think about it
for a second, Vaseline Groove.
It's like Pearl Jam.
Well, what is Pearl Jam?
Pearl Jam,
that's semen, right?
Pearl,
like pearlescent jam.
It's semen.
Well, Vaseline Groove,
think about it.
It's like... It's like
a lubricated vagina.
You got the Electric
from Electric Mountain,
nectar, and then rine
from the Vaseline, pssh.
We said, let's just
combine them all,
so it was Electric Knectarine
with a silent K.
Unfortunately, people started
pronouncing the band name
Electric Connect-arine.
You know, they obviously
didn't get it,
like the Connect-arine.
And so that
was tripping us out.
So then, Gordo one day,
he's looking at our logo
and he's like... he's like,
Well that's not
a nectarine anyway.
My uncle... I grew up
around a fruit stand.
That looks like
an apricot to me.
Yeah, Electric Apricot.
Electric Apricot!
Electric Apricot.
So there it was:
Electric Apricot.
Queen has insects for eyes
She lives
In a kingdom of lies
She shouts
Your sorrows arise
And laughs
At the hideous cries
The queen has been
eaten alive
Where did you go?
Where did you go?
Where'd you go, Rainbro?
Where did you go?
Oh, Rainbro,
where did you go?
Sailing across the skies
with your mystic disguise
Oh, Rainbro
I live in this tree
for... full time.
This really is what
I consider my home.
Yeah, the tree fort is in my
parents' backyard technically.
I mean, my-
Technically...
Where you going, Rainbro?
Everybody wants to know
Did you catch
some cosmic wind
Ridin' high
Hi... High
High
Wait, wait.
My gardener, Don Carlos
made this for me.
Something he crafted
from the wood
from his country.
I think it's Venezuela.
Uh, might be France.
It's just nature
out here, you know?
How many other people can say,
oh, I woke up this morning
and I saw a raccoon mating.
That doesn't happen very often.
Well, this is the- what I call
the excra-meditation chamber
or, you know, my bathroom.
Maybe it's a little primitive
for some people's standards,
but it's got
everything I need.
It's got running water,
and it's got a toilet.
Well, it's got a bucket
and a place for toilet paper.
And I got art
This is like- I like...
Cars should be political.
I think you have an opportunity
of saying political things,
and so more than voting,
more than doing anything,
if you really want to stick it
to your government,
more than anything, anything,
you don't even have to vote.
Just put on a few
bumper stickers, man.
Just put on a few
bumper stickers, man.
Shall we go
to Pete's party
Millie's Hacky Sacking
with Cousin Arty
Annie's got a henna tattoo
Grandad's blowing
on a didgeridoo
Blowing glass,
everybody has their thing.
A friend of mine's dad,
he really wanted
an elaborate set
of cocktail swizzlers,
so what I'm doing...
And usually,
people like that,
they have some good money,
they want quality,
quality merchandise.
And I realize this looks easy,
this looks like something
that anybody can do,
but it's really not.
I was working
on a bowl one time
and I had this big gob going
and I was leaning forward,
and the whole thing
just fell off
and landed right in my lap.
I burned my scrotum
and it was fairly severe.
You know, a fiery hot ball
of molten glass
on the scrotum is not good.
The unfortunate thing
is I got a lot of my friends
come around here.
And I blow stuff
and I want to sell them,
but usually these guys
come along and they smoke
out of everything
I leave laying around,
so you can't sell
something to a store
that somebody's
been smoking out of.
But this one's real nice.
I probably could have gotten
some good money for this one.
Look at the detail here.
I've blown
a couple of dildos,
because you're always looking for other
markets for things, like the swizzle sticks.
I think that's
going to be great;
that could be
a big marketable item,
because everybody
makes pipes.
This one's actually modeled
after a friend of mine's penis.
He took a picture of it
and sent it to me
because I didn't really want him
to be in here with an erection.
I'm pretty comfortable
with my sexuality and whatnot,
but when you're in a hot room
and fire's blowing
and this guy's got
an erection in front of you,
it's just not-
that's just not my game.
This one's a little smaller.
This would be more for, like,
sort of the rear entry,
or at least, you know,
sort of a-
uh, you know, something to-
to, um, you know...
I don't know.
We probably shouldn't
go there too far.
Well, the first person
I met in the band was Lapdog,
and we met at an Afro-Cuban
drumming class, and...
You want to talk
about polyrhythmic.
Herschel used to play
in this cover band,
this Huey Lewis cover band
called New Drug.
They would play
and they had the skinny ties
and the whole vibe.
Herschel would be all...
Hip to be square
He'd be doing that whole thing.
You know, I like Huey Lewis.
I remember...
His band was New Drug.
I want a new drug
One that don't make me sick
One that makes me
crash my car
Just like it's a brick
or something like that.
For us, it was
the ultimate tribute
to one of our influences,
Huey Lewis.
It had that beat that...
Om bum bum bum
bum bum bum bum bum
I liked it, you know?
It kind of reminded me
of that Ghostbusters song.
Next thing we knew, Herschel
was playing keyboards with us.
Multi-instrumentalist,
amazing player,
and he hasn't requested
we do any Huey Lewis.
It opened up to a whole
'nother dimension.
Like, we went
from 3-D into 4-D.
My father was a missionary,
and he was
a traveling missionary.
He was actually an Iraqi
American Indian Hawaiian Jew.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
I basically work here
four days a week.
I make a little
extra money on the side
so I can pursue
what I really love to do
which is play music, obviously,
with Electric Apricot.
Nam Myoho Renge Kyo,
it's a mantra,
a Tibetan mantra.
And what I like to do is that
every beverage that I make,
I like to recite this mantra
ten times over the beverage
before I serve it.
Do you want
a hot chocolate as well?
Two hot chocolates.
Something for you, ma'am?
Can I get a decaf latte?
A decaf latte
coming right up.
And for kids...
I like to put a little
extra chocolate on top here.
I don't like to make it
too hot for them,
I don't like to burn
their mouths.
We're not here
to cause discomfort,
we're here to bring
happiness to people.
Thank you.
Okay.
Thank you very much.
You have a good day.
I made those extra special
for you guys with lots of love.
Did you feel it?
It was kinda trippy
because right around then
Aiwass was going off
on this whole Phish thing
and wanting to get into more
intricate arrangements.
I took it upon myself
to be that guy in the band
who would make us progress
and push us forward
in our musicianship.
We would rehearse
and then it was like, Okay!
And we'd go in and out
of these time changes
and then he'd turn off
all the lights
and we would go through
all of this stuff.
Okay, 9, 11, 7.
Everyone would be jamming
and they wouldn't know,
but I'd be like-
I'd still kinda be jamming,
but I'd have my flashlight
and I'd spot it
on the guy's face.
One of those big mag lights,
like the cops use.
Bam, right in your face,
stop the song and say, Okay!
Stop! And I'd say,
Okay, sing... sing the parts
that everyone else
was just playing.
Dush! Okay!
Sing what the next guy was
doing over there, just randomly.
And you had to go...
Bada doo da doo doo da
or whatever the keyboards
were doing,
or somebody had to do
my drum parts.
My drum parts
are very intricate,
they're very difficult.
To have a bright light
flashed in your face
in the middle of a dark room
while you are meditating
on our mistress music
is a scary
and psychologically
scarring experience.
I just started wearing
sunglasses in rehearsal
and it didn't
make it as bad,
but there you go.
Seriously, I don't understand
why anybody would come see
that piece of shit band.
I mean, I respect music.
I love music, actually.
I like to get down,
but, dude, that shit
doesn't make any sense to me.
I just-
I don't (bleep) get it.
Probably one of the worst
bands I've ever seen.
I've seen them come,
I've seen them go,
and, honestly,
they take the cake.
They're seriously so
(bleep) bad I got pissed off.
I can't handle bad music.
It's like you guys
should change
the name of your band
to Day Job.
I hate the Grateful Dead.
I (bleep) hate that band.
Honestly, my parents
listen to that (bleep) music
over and over and over again,
and my mom did that dance thing
where they do the dance.
At about age eight,
I started realizing
that that guy, Jerry Garcia,
(bleep) sucks, dude.
And my parents
are (bleep) stoned.
Jerry Garcia
is a (bleep) plague, dude.
All those (bleep)
burrito-making,
hip-turning hippies
that listen to him,
and (bleep) tool around
and don't get jobs
and don't do anything,
they can (bleep) go to hell.
The band (bleep) sucks
and they died when he died,
and I'm glad it's over, dude.
I'm glad it's (bleep) over.
You know that
bartender downstairs?
Yeah, I didn't
like his vibe.
Dude, that guy was talking
hella shit about us.
Started talking about us,
then he started talking about,
um, Jerry, and h's like,
I'm glad that guy died.
What?
I was like, What?
He's all, I'm glad he died.
Fuck him.
I'm like, Whoa.
Hold on.
He said,
I'm glad that guy died?
He said,
I'm glad Jerry died.
All right.
I'm gonna beat him.
What the fuck, dude?
Yeah, this is
a good thing, man.
Don brought this cat around,
Drew Shackleford.
Who am I?
Who's Drew Shackelford?
A lover of beauty,
a singer of songs.
That's what I'm about.
I'm about spreading love,
you know?
I've got it,
I've got the knowledge.
I'm like a Renaissance Man.
He loves the band,
he's into it.
He's got a big fat pad
up in the-
up in the hills,
and, uh...
So far he seems like a
really cool guy, you know?
He's got some money.
I don't know where
he gets his money,
I'm not asking any questions.
He's kinda going
to finance our record.
We're going to do a record,
going to put out this record.
I'm stoked, man.
He's like our Owsley,
you know?
I was just there to say,
you know what, brothers?
You're going down
the right road, you know?
Let me help you.
You've got the wheel,
you're driving the vehicle,
just let me be the gas.
I want to help you succeed,
I want to give back
because I see you in me
and you see me in you.
He's not a stuck-up guy,
you know?
He doesn't hang out
in the Polo Lounge,
or drink cocktails
with umbrellas
sticking out of them
or any of that stuff.
The kind of stuff
that I do
I think really
connects with people.
It's the simple stuff,
but man, the vibe
that people get off it
is pretty heavy.
That's what people
have told me, anyway.
I'm confident that
we are going to bring
a beautiful child into
the world: this new album.
When undertaking a recording
in a professional environment,
a good deal of skillful and
tenacious preparation is involved.
The key to it all...
People are always trying
to get really good snare sounds,
and I think the most important
element to me is the kick drum.
The kick drum...
it's really the meat.
I think the snare
is more the potatoes.
You got your meat and your
potatoes with your snare.
And maybe the high hat
is more like the asparagus.
Today I expect it's going
to take a little bit longer
because I really want
to get it right
because you only make
your first record once,
you know what I'm saying?
You only make
your first record once.
Let me know if that bubble goes
too far out to the left there.
It's usually
worth waiting for.
I've never had anyone's set
take this long to set up.
I mean, he only
has four drums.
As far as studio stuff,
I'm probably quite a bit
more experienced
than the other guys.
You know
the Geinserle Diamonds.
I don't know if you
remember that jingle.
They called me in
and I played on that.
I played...
It was like
a glockenspiel,
but it wasn't really
a glockenspiel,
but it was this
little bell tree thing
and I played on that.
How're we doing?
Uh, Lapdog's
still setting up.
He's still setting up, huh?
I view golf
as a spiritual journey
and I am a warrior
armed with a weapon.
This club and these shoes
were given to me
by the High Priest
of the Borborandon temple
on the Maldive Islands.
I envision
that all the evil
and all the suffering
in the world
is encapsulated
in that ball,
and it is my responsibility
as a spiritual warrior
to drive it as far away
from this planet as possible.
Dammit!
That was wet.
Ploink.
I feel all sorts of anger
bubbling up inside of me,
but I'm not going
to let it out here.
That's not bad.
Look at that!
hoo hoo!
Look at that!
I'm on the dance floor!
Noonan! Noonan!
That's from like that movie.
Whoa!
Look at that!
I need to burn
some sage out here.
Maybe I should go back
to our car and get some.
Yeah, I don't know
about that.
Heh hah hah.
I know that Lapdog
had a good day out there
and I'm genuinely
happy for him.
I'm happy he had
a good time.
And deep down, somewhere,
I had a good time, too.
l...
I know I got a bit upset.
Well, yeah, Lapdog talking
a lot while I was putting
and saying things
in the middle of my backswing,
that didn't help.
Noonan, Noonan, Noonan.
Ah.
Ugh.
Sorry.
That's from that
Caddyshack movie again.
Once this record
goes platinum or gold
or whatever
it's going to do,
then I might just
redevelop my whole set
because I'm sure there'll
be some drum companies
that will want to give me
some equipment.
Then I can just do
what I want,
and l... believe me,
I have some ideas.
The reason I use pictures
is that there's been studies
that have shown
that what you see
affects how you hear.
This picture here
is a picture
of a classic
Jungian archetype.
An archetype is a particular
pattern of energy that you find
throughout the cosmos.
This character here
is a shamanic character
named Mescalito,
and what it symbolizes is him
reaching out into the unknown
and grabbing some fruit,
fruit of knowledge, say,
to nourish his lady love
who is the archetype
called the Great Mother.
Lapdog's just setting up?
Yeah. You guys
remember Mei Pang.
Mei Pang,
what's happening?
Cool.
He's setting up, huh?
Yep.
Yep.
Good thing
I brought a book.
Today, very important.
I'm going to probably
have to do this
seven or eight times
before we even start tracking.
Because, you know, you only
make your first album once.
You know?
She represents all women
or the nurturing aspect
of creation,
and so he is going out
and foraging for fruit
to feed creation,
basically,
and that's what
musicians are doing.
They're sort of taking their
craft, their instrument,
and trying to go out
into the visionary space
and bring back
something nourishing
to feed their audience.
Where are we at?
What's going on?
Lapdog is still
setting up the drums.
Still?
All right.
Where's the beer?
They have this really
good stuff right here.
Uh, huh.
But if your cuttings are a couple of
weeks old, this is what you should use.
That's really going
to give them powerful plants.
Oh, yeah,
that's what I need.
Yeah, we make a few ducats
in the band and all,
but sometimes it's hard
to make ends meet.
Been working with these
hydroponics for some time now
and I got myself
a sweet cash crop in here
going to help me
pay these bills.
All right,
well, here we are.
We've got some nice
Roma tomatoes here.
Don't know if you can
see them or not,
but these are
really good for sauce.
Ah, some nice sweet basil.
That's going to be good
in your pesto.
I grow hydroponic herbs
and vegetables
for high-end restaurants
like Chez Panisse, Danko's,
and Boulevard
and all that stuff.
What we got here is the
Peruvian purple pepper.
See that thing?
Comes from Peru.
I don't Bolivia.
Peru'v it.
Hey, Skip, can you set
that 421 mic
on the second rack
for me, please?
421?
Well, basically my job
is to work with Oz,
who's, like, a master.
Now, the bass drum mic
is a little bit far away.
This D112 down here can be
right up against the head.
Do you even think
you want to use a 112?
Because I wouldn't
use a 112.
What would you suggest?
Something bigger.
Let's just try it.
And if it doesn't work,
we'll change it.
I'm Second Engineer
and fresh out of music school.
This is just a cool
experience for me.
I mean, I know all my stuff,
I've taken good notes in class.
I got, like...
like a B-average and stuff.
I am not going to mess
with your good thing, man,
so you just tell me what to do
and I'll do it.
Okay, that goes
on the hi-hat.
That's the hi-hat
right over there.
Yeah, I know what
the hi-hat is, man.
Let's go with
the snare, please.
Though often
a repetitive process,
recording requires
a Zen-like focus
and open state of being,
where ideas and inspiration
can flow unimpeded,
raising the art to a higher
level of musical transcendence.
Yeah, Oz, yeah.
I'm not really getting
that in the cans.
Hello.
Hey!
How you doin', man?
Good to see you.
Oz, hey.
Oh, hey.
How's it going?
It's good.
Good.
You guys stoked
to be here?
Oh, it's incredible.
Oh, yeah.
It's incredible.
We're stoked to have you.
There's a vibe
that I want to send out,
and I wanted
to bring people in.
Like, this is a beehive
and we're making honey.
We're making musical honey.
I've got one thing
to say:
do you guys like
the color platinum?
What do you mean?
Platinum... album.
You know, that's where
the sound's going.
Oh!
Oh, I forgot. This is
Abigail. She's a photographer.
I just want you guys
to know,
I am just going to be
a fly on the wall here.
I don't want you
to think that...
I'm not going to get
in your way.
Hey, Oz,
what have we got?
I'm just finishing
with the floor toms sound now,
and then I'll check
the cymbals.
So we basically just have
some tones on the bass drum.
Is this on the track,
the recorded track?
No, we haven't actually
recorded anything yet, Drew.
We've just been working
on sounds.
Just drum sounds?
Just drum sounds, yeah.
So- So here it is guys,
the first note
of the first song
of the first
Electric Apricot record.
What do you think
about that?
All right.
Cut! Sorry, sorry,
sorry, sorry.
Sorry, l-
I hit the wrong tom.
All right, ready?
Are we rolling.
Okay, here we go.
Share fishin'...
Sorry, sorry, sorry.
Share what?
I meant to say vision,
and I said, fishin'.
Is everything cool?
Yeah, I'm good, man. We're just-
All right.
It just seemed like
we got off on a rough...
rough rocky start there.
Hey, Oz, what number
is the bass in?
Your amp is just incredibly
loud. It's killing me.
You guys okay?
We need to turn the
bass amp down a bit.
Down?
It's probably bleeding through
all the drums, right, Oz?
Pardon me?
It's probably bleeding
through all the drums, right?
I mean, it just seems really loud.
Yeah.
My favorite book store,
Copperfields.
A lot of people don't know
about poetry is,
the thing about poetry
that is so beautiful
is really not the words on the
page, but it's how you read it.
It's how... You...
You use your poetry voice.
But through presumption,
even the pleasure pleased.
Unworthy, disliking here
and there.
Liking by the rules of mimic
are transformed.
You know,
that's the poetry voice,
and it takes you
to the poetry space.
Everything is poetry.
Vegetarian Suppers.
Take any part of any book.
We like pancakes
not only for breakfast,
but for supper to occasion.
Pillowy and light,
these golden cakes
are delicious.
With dabs of sour cream
and a favorite
of our cuisine.
Day three in the studio.
We have yet to actually
record an actual track.
But I came back in here today,
I burned some sage.
I do want to try
and move my set-up
so that I feel more
in tune with the band.
I want to rotate this just
a little bit clockwise, okay?
Just this way?
Yeah, just a little bit.
Okay, on the count of three?
You got a good...
Yeah, can you get a hand?
Yeah, I got it.
One, two, three.
Oh! Ow!
Jesus Christ!
Oh, oh.
Oh, my God!
Holy shit, dude!
Oh...
Dude.
Hershel, he cut his hand
on a loose screw on his organ.
Just a freak accident.
But, uh, the good news is
he got his tetanus shot
and he's
in good spirits again.
And, uh... onward and upward.
It hurts.
It definitely hurts.
Hey, I'm goin'
to Burning Man
Hey, I'm goin'
to Burning Man
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Well, we made it.
Sweet.
I don't know-
Do you want a water
or towel or something?
Seemed like the bass
was a little behind
some of the stuff
I was doing there.
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'
to...
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'?
Yeah.
Well, we made it.
Did you- Did you see
what I mean by, like,
the bass was, like, a
little bit behind the drums?
Did you see...
Did you notice that?
I think there's some problems
with the drums, to be honest.
The bass was
a little behind it.
It seems like the drums
were dropping
a little bit, you know?
Some parts of those fills
kinda sounded like
you fell down the stairs
a little bit.
Well, that was sort of,
you know, syncopation.
You ever hear of syncopation?
Right, right.
You know, the main thing-
tell me if I'm wrong Oz...
but as long as the drums are
correct, this is a good take?
You don't think that you guys could
just dub your parts over the top?
I don't think
it's us guys.
This is our first record. This is
the first song on the first record.
We gotta make a statement.
You know what, Gordo?
We open up that door,
we gotta make that statement.
You know what?
You only make
your first record once.
Yeah!
Are you goin' to Burning man?
You guys ready
for playback?
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning man?
It's like a salad, man.
If we have all the pieces
of the salad,
and they go together, and
it gives you one flavor?
Yeah.
If you take, like...
If you take a cucumber out
and just eat it alone,
it doesn't taste
like a salad.
So when we're not
playing together,
and it's all perfect together,
then, you know...
But the drums are like
the lettuce of the salad.
Yeah, was the lettuce good?
And if the lettuce isn't good-
No.
Hey, it's, uh, day four.
And we've been recording
Burning Man
for about three days now,
which- I know that seems
like a long time,
but if you think about it,
the actual event Burning Man,
it's... it's a week.
It's seven days.
So from that perspective,
we are actually
ahead of the game.
It feels good!
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning man?
That was rad.
I think we got it.
What was that?
Did you hear that?
No. What was that?
That!
What?
What, that!
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning man?
What the hell's that? What
the hell's all that shit?
Are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Aw, that was the take!
Dude, that was
the fucking Jam, dude!
And that wasn't the bass.
What are you talking about?
The bass is fucking
all fucked up, dude!
Yeah, the bass
has noise on it.
I'm sorry, it's going
to have to be redone.
What the fuck, dude?
There's nothing we can do?
Wait a minute,
we can't just dub it?
Because I know the bass
was a little behind.
Yeah, it was behind.
What?
No, you'd have to do the whole
thing again, unfortunately.
What? The bass wasn't
fucking behind, man.
What are you fucking guys
talking about?
Just cause some fucking
mic cable goes out,
you fucking
blame it on me?
I got this chick over here taking
pictures of me all the time.
I don't even know
who this person is
invading our space
of our studio.
Wait, dude, wait!
She's here as part
of the team.
She's documenting
what we're doing here, man.
She's here.
I don't know what
she's doing here.
What are you doing here?
Dude, you're pushing
a little too hard.
Well, who is this person? Dude,
you're pushing a little too hard.
She's in the room with us
while we're trying to play.
You're yelling at her,
you're yelling at me.
You fucked up
the fucking take.
You're fucking yelling at me
right now because she's me.
What the fuck, dude? She's
me. What are you saying to me?
What are you talking about?
Did she fuck up that bass line, too?
Yeah, she might've.
Yeah. What the fuck, dude?
How do you know? Why can't
you bring a good bass, man?
That's a fucking
great bass!
That's a horrible bass!
It ruined the track!
Dude, you're fucking
sitting there
like a fucking fat-ass walrus
saying I have a bad bass.
Fuck that, dude; I don't know
why it's gotta be like that.
It's a fucking
Vox bass, dude.
We're working here
together, you guys.
You know what, fuck you guys.
I'm going to get fucked up.
We're working here together.
Fuck that shit.
Dude, I'm trying, man.
Come on, now.
I'm trying.
Gordo, don't walk out.
The drums were awesome,
the drums were ripping.
The drums were killer
in that one.
I thought they sounded...
I'm outta here.
I'm taking a break.
Yeah, take a break.
Fuck.
When you look
at the math here,
it's four days and we still
haven't completed one track.
it's four days and we still
haven't completed one track.
You gotta go
and talk to your guys
and my deal is,
tomorrow, we don't work.
It's over.
Day off?
Day off.
We stop, collect it,
get it together.
No more bullshit.
And come day after tomorrow,
I'm going to bring in a guy,
and these guys are going
to talk to this man.
What do you mean?
A therapist.
You're going to
bring in a therapist?
Yeah.
A guy who will let these guys
learn how to communicate.
It's been suggested
a time or two
that we bring in a therapist
to... or a mediator
to various groups
that I was working with
to see if they can straighten
out some of the horse shit.
I do a lot of group therapy.
I've work with many
different groups
on social harmonology,
which is my field of expertise.
Great art comes about
because of tension.
I mean, you look at bands
like The Police,
those guys were,
from what I hear,
those guys were
fighting all the time,
and they made
great music.
The Everly Brothers.
I heard they didn't even
hardly talk to each other
and, you know, I couldn't
name any of their songs,
but that was great stuff.
That's the difference,
they fought each other,
but they didn't
attack each other.
And have there been
some attacks going on here?
Well, yeah.
I mean, yeah,
there has been.
Mei, yesterday,
was absolutely...
I felt like Hitler
at Waterloo yesterday.
Wow.
I was... I was-
It was actually
the day before yesterday.
I'd love to just go on
that journey with them,
from where they are
right now out here
to the studio, right up
to who knows where.
The Grammys
or the MTV Music Awards,
or whatever the kids
are, uh... you know.
I want to make a record.
You want to use my pad here?
- We agree on that.
Yes, I want to make a record.
- All right.
I think that's a big
breakthrough right there.
Don't you think?
No.
If I had a girlfriend, I wouldn't
be bringing her in, you know?
You don't see me
bringing in people.
You don't see me
bringing in my... bitches.
What do you mean bitches?
Well, whatever.
I'm just telling you.
Mei is not
a girlfriend, dude.
Well, l...
Mei is like...
you're saying to me,
hey, you shouldn't
bring your spleen
into the recording studio,
that's what your saying to me.
Oh, leave your lower intestine
at home; you don't need it.
That's what you're saying to
me. I think we are saying that.
You guys are just
talking silly stuff.
I'm a tolerant man,
but I've had enough of this.
Well, we'll take a...
You know what, maybe, um...
Because I'm really... I'm
sitting here, I'm ready to talk.
He bent it.
Okay. Steven?
We're here to talk.
This is going
to sound crazy,
but I've always
wanted blonde hair.
Why don't we take
a few minutes' break, actually.
I think that would be best.
- Okay.
I think it has some good
long-term potential
for me and for my practice.
Well, I've been looking
at a boat, to buy a boat.
I'm not saying this is
going to give me the-
It's a good-looking boat.
It's a house boat,
but it's...
I don't want
to go into detail.
I just think this is going
to really help the room.
It's going to help
clear the space for us
to express ourselves,
to open up with each other.
Herschel, I agree.
I think it's a step
in the right direction.
I also think
this position change
with the two of you
swapping spaces
will help eliminate
some of the tension.
I mean, I really
was feeling two camps
sort of battling
with each other here,
and I think this is a better,
more open, more honest way.
Honest way to...
Dude,
that was my coffee.
It felt really good
for me to open up
and to tell the band
some of my secrets,
and to, uh,
become vulnerable.
I'm trying to set
the tone for everyone.
I just want to say
right off the bat,
at group level, that I have
an incredibly small penis.
Okay.
Can we make a record now?
I think we're closer
to being able to.
We've got the sage
in the cup,
we've got Herschel's
small penis.
Well, I mean,
Dr. Bucky, um...
It's just Bucky.
If you're going to call the Bucky
part, you wouldn't say Doctor.
It's just... it's either
Doctor or Bucky.
Okay, um, Bucky,
it just seems, you know-
Can I be perfectly honest?
I just-
You know what,
I take that back, actually.
Dr. Bucky is okay.
Okay.
This whole therapy thing
is sort of a new thing for me.
I'm not used
to exposing myself.
I don't have a small
penis, but if I did,
it'd be difficult for me
to talk to you about it.
And it would really
be difficult for me
to reveal that sort
of information
to somebody named Bucky.
Maybe this is part of
my revelation, is I just-
When I think of Bucky, I think
of a marionette or something.
You know, howdy...
it's Bucky Time.
It's Bucky Doody Time
I didn't choose
the nickname,
it was kind of given to me
on the playground.
And, um...
You got called Bucky?
Yeah, and it's
something that l-
Did you have buck teeth?
Yeah, my teeth
were maybe sticking out
a little more
than other people.
What'd they say?
Yeah, they were like that.
I'd actually appreciate it-
- Did you talk funny too?
Maybe you shouldn't do that,
actually, because that's-
See, now you're
kind of striking.
There was a kid
we used to call Bucky,
had big buck teeth
sticking out.
He talked funny
and he whistled, too.
Hey, you guys,
give me back my ball!
Did that make you angry?
Screw you, Bucky,
you little bitch!
It's Bucky Doody time
It's Bucky Doody time
Okay, that's enough.
I don't think it's very...
That's not-
Whoa, what did you
get upset for?
Sorry, I blew up.
Dude, I don't want to
bum him out, but is he-
So wait a minute, guys,
we don't nec-
I mean, are we going
to do this thing or what?
Come on, seriously,
Aiwass,
I love Mei-
Mei Pang.
She's a sweetheart,
you know?
And she's, you know...
She's pretty cute, too.
I say we do it!
Huh!
Let's just the four of us
make the record.
Listen, listen.
Team Apricot!
All I say-
This is what I think. Team Apricot!
This is what I think.
Let's just do it.
We just don't talk anymore,
we just make music.
Yes!
All right.
Can I get- I gotta get
another cup of coffee.
Dude, swear to God, though,
did you see his sweater?
Yeah, it was, like...
That was, like, Cosby Show.
I just got the news.
I just told the guys.
We have been confirmed
for Festeroo-
second day, third stage,
opening slot.
Thank you very much.
We'll take it.
We're on our way.
You know, I think Apricot
getting a slot in Festeroo
is obviously a great
bonus for Apricot,
but conversely, I think
you have to look at Festeroo
and the diamond-studded rainbow
that they're getting
having Apricot at Festeroo.
If you ever take a journey,
travel far and wide
Just sit down
next to yourself
And start looking
on the inside
And everything
that you never knew
Well, you can now know
So grab your hat
and your walkin' shoes
Pick yourself up and go
Walking down
the backroads of my mind
Strolling through
the kaleidoscope...
I've been scribbling some...
just lyric ideas
and a few thoughts I had.
And I don't want to impose
any of my ideas,
but have you considered kind of
looking to group therapy
and therapists as a way in
for some lyric ideas?
Nah.
See it's like
a polyrhythmic thing.
Right.
I use these three fingers.
It's like if you
felt my fingers,
they're like...
it's like leather.
It's like a baseball mitt
right there.
It's really tough.
Well-
Give us your moves, man.
I don't really
have any moves.
I just...
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Check it out, out, out, out
- Out, out, out
Check it out, out, out
Check it out Check it out
Out, out, out
Hey, man, what's up?
What's up, dude?
How's it going?
Just a little fuel,
you know, a little fuel.
Ham Sandwich, got my
Rockstar energy drink.
Look at that. Those are good,
man. You should be drinking that.
You guys are going
to be rock stars, huh?
You got the whole
Festeroo thing going.
You know,
it's feeling good.
Yeah, Festeroo. Doesn't
rock any harder than that.
We always talk about
that Festeroo thing.
I think it's going
to be great.
You guys see me doing my
savvy... savvy magic in here
and it's like, you know, it
doesn't have to just be in here,
it can be on the road,
too, so...
Just, um-
Cool, man.
You want
another Rockstar?
I'm good.
I'm good.
Too much Rockstar
for you?
Yeah.
Okay. Talk to you
later, man.
Lots of good times
at Uncle Pete's party
Millie's Hacky Sacking
with Cousin Arty
Annie's got a henna tattoo
Grandad's blowing
that didgeridoo
Hey. Finger sandwiches, guys?
Yeah!
I made them.
Hey, what's up, man?
Whoa!
Hey, what's happening?
Pretty nice.
You doing all right?
Uh, yeah, I'm okay.
Yeah.
Doing all right. Heard you
guys are doing Festeroo.
Yeah, it's pretty heavy.
Yeah, that is heavy,
that's-
You want a towel?
Uh, yeah, thanks.
That's awesome, man.
You guys are going on the road.
I want to go on the road.
I'd love to be
a part of it,
help you guys out whatever
you want, you know?
I'm your roadie, dude.
I'm the dude you go to
when you're on the road.
Take me.
Well, we'll keep that in mind.
Talk to Don and...
I just want to put that
out there, you know?
I'm not trying to be...
say, hey, you know...
bear hug, take me!
Right, right, right,
right, right.
I'm just trying to say
I went to music school
so I can help you out,
you know?
Cool. All right.
Okay. Thanks, man.
All right.
You guys want to take
a little meeting?
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't want to make
a big deal out of this.
Right.
But that Skippy dude?
Sure.
He's kinda tripping
me out a little bit.
What do you mean?
He wants to go on tour
and everything,
but don't make me feel...
Oh, he wants to go
to Festeroo?
Yeah.
He's a little too eager beaver.
Yeah,
that's understandable.
He came walking in on me when
I'm taking a piss in the bathroom
and he's all like, Hey, man,
I want to be your roadie.
And it's like, hey...
He came in on purpose?
Yeah... yeah, I mean...
On your bathroom break.
You know,
I'm using the can
and he's like,
you know...
I know exactly
what to say, it's cool.
Skippy's cool.
Yeah, he's a cool dude.
Yeah, don't worry about it.
We'll rope him in...
Um, I just had a couple
of the guys came up to me
and there's just been
a small complaint about Skip.
We just need to
rope him in a little bit.
He's kind of hustling
a little too hard
and just getting
into people's space.
He followed Gordo into
the bathroom, you know?
He's taking a leak and...
You know, just kind of invading space and -
- That's weird.
It's weird and he's been
kinda schmoozing the guys
about wanting to go
on tour to Festeroo, and-
Wait, wait, wait.
He wants to go on tour,
for Festeroo?
He wants to be
our roadie on...
I got you.
Nah, I g- okay.
You know what, I'll work-
- It's no big deal.
No, no, no, no, no.
No, I got it, I got it.
Skip's my guy.
I know how to handle him.
Right.
He wants to go on tour.
We're not trying to make a big
deal. It's okay. I know exactly-
He's my guy.
I know how to handle it.
He's your guy, but-
- Yeah. No, no. I know.
We didn't want to...
Skip!
Oh.
Dammit. Skip!
You, me, talk now.
I'll talk.
You want to talk
right here?
No, the question is do you
want to talk right here?
You want to talk right here, because
we'll talk right here, if you want.
Yeah, I mean,
I don't see why not.
All right, here's what
we're going to talk about.
I was just talking to Don.
Don says that you were
talking to the guys
about being their
guitar tech or drum tech
or some such shit
on the road,
that you want to be
a roadie with Apricot.
Well...
True or not?
True or not?
Yeah.
Yeah, dude.
I do a lot of things!
That's all I need to know!
That's all I need to know.
Okay, because you're
an employee of mine, Skip,
you're supposed
to be working for me
and you're bothering
the guys in the band.
I'm not bothering them.
That's the fucking last straw.
I'm getting a vibe!
Look, I saw you every day.
It's like, Can I get you this?
Can I get you that?
Are you kidding me?
I'm grooving with these guys.
You're not grooving!
Don just talked to me.
That's what I'm trying
to fucking put in your head.
Don said
I'm not grooving!
Dude, I'm grooving.
The fuck?
Are you kidding?
I'm working magic
with these guys, buddy.
What are you talking about?
The only person that works magic...
Why are you mad?
with the fucking band is me
because I'm the fucking
magic man.
End of fucking story.
You're trying to brown-nose
your fucking way in.
I'm the go-to guy...
That's not brown-nosing,
dude! Guess what, motherfucker.
Go to your fucking home
because you're fucking fired!
Step! It's over!
Go, go-to guy. Go!
Let's go!
Are you serious?
Go! Done!
Fucking done!
Done! Go!
That was heavy, man.
What the hell
was that all about?
I don't know, dude.
Jesus!
Skip just got canned.
You want some footage?
You want some
fucking footage, buddy?
I'll give you some footage.
You ever heard
of Drew Shackleford?
I have.
And he hasn't heard
the last of me.
I worked my ass off
for that guy.
My ass!
Fuck you, Drew!
You hear that?
That's a big
fuck you, buddy!
Ready? Here we go.
What's going on
with the party?
What's going on
with the party?
There we go.
Dude.
That's it.
That's it.
Did you hear my drums?
They were ripping.
Dude, you were nailing it.
You hear that?
I think we found a rainbow.
I think I listened today
to one of the most
beautiful-
beautiful rainbows that
I've heard in a long time.
And I think part of that...
part of the thanks should go
to Dr. Lefkowitz, man,
for just bringing us together
and making us all feel right.
Thanks for making
us all right, dude.
It was my pleasure.
It's good to be part
of the team, the team.
Yeah.
Appreciate it, man.
Sorry about all
that sweater stuff.
We've come out
on the other side, right?
He was able to really get
into the groove here,
became part of our family.
Drew, I wasn't sure
about this whole thing.
I just- you know, hey,
you were right, so...
Using physics...
Well, reality is you make
your first record once.
Right?
Seriously.
It's like, you have
your first baby once.
I hear you what
you're saying, dude.
You eat your first
ham sandwich once.
I believe in you guys
so much, and, uh...
you guys gave back
what I gave.
Thank you for having us and
for putting this all together
because we really
couldn't do it without you.
We wouldn't be here
without you, you know?
We'd be somewhere else.
In the end, we have
really produced a beautiful,
beautiful bouncing baby album.
I'm happy, dude.
It was a...
It was a good finish.
It was a wild ride.
Next step: Festeroo.
The camaraderie amongst
musicians remains unchanged,
as with minstrels
of ages past
following well-worn roads
to musical fulfillment.
People talk about Route 66.
Well, I'll tell you
something right now.
I'm alive.
Ain't no jive.
We're cruisin'
on up Highway 5.
Highway 5,
take a look at that.
Hey, man.
Hang on to your hats!
I'm so excited
about Festeroo
I actually need to do
more meditating every day
than I usually do.
This is my space.
I need my world
where I can meditate...
Make love to myself
in ways that aren't sexual,
but is love.
We got, what, six,
seven guys on this thing?
And slowly, the motorhome
is becoming the odorhome,
if you know
what I'm saying.
Look at all that
tie-dye and hair, baby.
Nothing but tie-dye and hair.
Awesome bunch of chicks!
You see that?
Holy shit!
That was a bunch of chicks!
Whoa, dude!
Slow down! Hey!
I got a new song.
Ready?
Psychic officer
Come on down
You're the psychic officer
You bust like an oven
You're like...
That sounds familiar.
You're like a-
Well, all songs kind of
sound familiar.
Officer
Do it. Ready?
Psychic officer
O-Officer
Yes.
Psychic officer
I've heard this song, man.
The queen
has insects for eyes
She lives
in a kingdom of lies
I swear to God, if I had
a nickel for every idiot
that I see on the road,
I'd be a rich man.
Hey! That's what
I'm talking about.
Learn how to drive, asshole!
Jesus Christ!
You know, we weren't
supposed to be on this RV.
We were supposed to get, uh-
We were supposed to get the bus
from String Cheese Incident,
their first that they took
to the Festeroo
for their first appearance.
It's called Bussy.
And I had it totally lined up,
but it broke down in Ojai.
So I had to just go
to EL Monte RV
and rent an RV
for the band
so we could take
this RV to Festeroo.
Big fucking assholes!
Where do we go?
It's up here.
Yeah, we gotta just kind of
cruise through town a little bit.
But what's the road?
What's the turn?
What's the-
Is there a name?
Special event.
That's us, special event.
Is that it right there?
Yeah, this one up here,
this is the one.
All right, so here
we are at Festeroo.
We're getting
our credentials.
Really exciting.
We're checking in,
we're gonna start camping,
and we're going to
get ready for the gig.
This is a very
symbolic thing
because the gates
of Festeroo here...
We're here, guys.
I know, dude. Fucking...
We're here, man.
Dude, how many times
have we been fucking jamming
and fucking doing
a freedom jam and going,
We're getting to
Festeroo one day, dude.
Oh, Lapdog.
Yeah?
We should get, uh...
tattoos!
Matching tattoos.
Electric Apricot.
You know, I've always
wanted to get a tattoo
of a battleship
on my chest.
Aw, Christ.
Gordo.
Gordo. Hakia.
Remember they talked about
free love in the '60s?
Uh-huh.
This festival's totally
the same thing, like free love,
except for now
it's not free.
Like a guy like me, I have
no problem getting chicks,
but it's cool guys like you
can come to this festival
and just score
chicks, man.
I just think that's
just fucking-
That's why I love
these places, man.
They're awesome.
We ain't got
no free love yet.
You have gotten any yet?
That's why you gotta
hang with us, dude.
I've never heard
of Electric Ay-pricot.
Actually, let me try again.
I've never heard
of Electric App-ricot.
I say App-ri.
Um...
Well, let's see,
first of all,
they should lose
the food name.
That never works.
The Electric part is okay.
Well, this one, um-
Okay, so let's see.
The purple, the combo Thursday,
which is the purple one,
was the late night
shows on Thursday.
The reason that I'm-
The one redeeming value
is the corn,
because it's better than
any other festival's corn,
and I love that.
Brought me here.
And the yellow one
is the combo Friday
for late night shows
on Friday.
That's quite
an appealing,
evocative gaze,
if you ask me.
Good to know.
Not beer.
There are all types
at Festeroo.
All types: tall, big, small.
So, on that one side of your mouth?
Yeah.
Okay.
Yeah, there you go.
Like this?
Yeah, that's...
that was closer.
The combo, like,
I guess some kind
of weird pink color
was for Saturday.
And then I have my combo
Sunday, which is orange.
So- I don't think
that's going to help, dude.
I can't eat stuff... If it's
stuffed, I can't eat stuffed.
Sweet Potato?
I can't eat sweet.
Grilled?
Can't eat grilled.
Why can't you
eat grilled?
Caeser? Can't eat Caeser.
Why?
Right now all I can eat
at this festival
is like, wheatgrass.
So far I found one place
that sells wheatgrass
and there's one place
that sells these rocks
that you put in cinnamon
and you can lick them.
So I'm kinda hungry, dude.
The timber's off...
Wolf is running round
Winter was so hot and cold,
put him beneath the ground
No, don't kill me
No, don't kill me
We are at Festeroo
and I had to step up.
I had to bust out the special
leopard skin glasses,
They aren't even
leopard skin anymore
because I've been
to Burning Man
so many times with these
that it's faded out.
See that guy
right over there?
The guy with the-
That's Matt Abts, man.
That's incredible.
I can't believe
he's even here.
That's incredible.
It's an honor
to meet you, man.
Oh, thank you, man.
Incredible.
I love the way you play
that Slingerland kit.
I like how you got
the tunings really open.
You're getting all that
ring, that resonance.
Oh, yeah. As much as I
can. I mean, that's just-
Warren fucking-
Warren fucking Haynes.
Warren fucking Haynes, dude.
You kind of got
the bottom thing going,
but I also see
- were you ever into Cozy Powell?
I kind of get...
Love Cozy Powell.
I get, like,
a Cozy Powell...
The Jeff Beck stuff
he did especially.
I remember hearing him
with Rainbow
when Dio was singing
with Rainbow.
Yeah. You know, Long
Live Rock 'n' Roll.
That was back when
I was kinda crazy,
playing a lot of kind of
more heavier music, you know?
Excuse me, Warren?
Yes, sir.
Hey, how you doing?
Hey, man, how you doing?
Steve Gordo Gordon
from Electric Apricot.
Nice to meet you Steve.
How do you do?
I'm doing pretty good.
I'm a big, big fan.
Well, thank you.
Hey, you gotta second?
Could ask you a couple
questions or something?
Sure, I got a second.
Phil Collins, I don't know
what happened to that guy.
I mean, he's such
a great drummer.
I don't know why
he started doing
all this cabaret,
Las Vegas-y thing.
Yeah, that's true.
Brand X, man.
Yeah.
That was a good band.
Yeah, I don't know
what happened.
He's got
cool hair, though.
Most people run their
pre-amp really hot,
and I don't run mine very hot.
Uh-huh.
So it gives it more
bottom-end at low pre-amp.
I-I see that, because you got
all the tone right there.
Thanks for taking some
time to talk to me.
Anytime.
I know you got a lot
of things to do, so...
It's quite all right.
Gordo? You said it's Gordo?
Gordo.
It's nice to meet you, Gordo.
Hey- Pleasure, pleasure.
My pleasure. Hey, do you
like to go to the zoo?
Do you go to the zoo?
I don't go often, but-
Do you like to feed
the ducks in the park?
Uh, you know, I'm not
a big duck-feeder.
I like ducks.
Yeah? I can see that.
Yeah, yeah.
You can screw my
girlfriend if you want to.
She's totally down, dude.
Yeah?
I probably would
feel too guilty.
I'm married and she's
your girlfriend, you know?
Oh, oh, okay.
All right.
But I appreciate the offer.
I mean, it's probably-
it's coming from your heart
He was okay.
He was kinda weird, you know?
He offered me to sleep
with his girlfriend.
Something about ducks
and feeding ducks and-
I don't know.
Maybe he was a little high
or something.
Okay, I just was
a fucking total dipshit.
I think you'reoverreacting.
Nah, dude.
I think you're
totally overreacting.
I'm not.
I was sitting there
telling him, dude,
he can sleep
with my girlfriend?
Well-
What the fuck is that, dude?
You don't even have
a girlfriend.
What the hell?
I'm trying to tell you, dude.
Where the fuck
is that coming from?
Oh, man. I don't think
it's as bad as you think.
No, it's the fucking
nightmare.
It's the worst thing in my
whole entire fucking life.
I got to meet Matt Abts. It's
supposed to be the best day ever.
Feed the ducks.
What are you
talking about, ducks?
I asked him if he wanted
to go feed the fucking ducks!
What does that mean?
I don't know.
He was walking away,
I wanted to talk to him.
I didn't know
what to fucking...
So you talked
to him about ducks?
I just- I don't get it.
I mean...
I don't know
what to say, dude.
I didn't know
what to say, I just...
Fucking, I turned
into a blithering idiot
ass-fucking-hole.
It just kind of tripped
him out a little bit
that he told me
he felt like he made
an ass of himself
in front of Warren.
I'm just a fucking asshole.
Fucking fuck.
Oh, fuck it.
It was going so smooth today
and then he's gotta trip out.
Well, I mean,
you know, who knows?
Who knows what'll happen.
Wow, wow, wow.
It's the old Cincinnati
dancing pig.
He's the barnyard Mr. Pig.
Is anybody up yet?
I mean, you know,
he always disappears, man.
He's just... I'm not
really tripping on it.
He did get pretty hammered,
I'll tell you that right now.
He was definitely-
Yeah, I haven't-
I don't know.
I haven't seen him
that lit in a while.
Well, he was all tripped out
because he went up to-
he went up to Warren Haynes
and just said
all this crazy shit.
But the camera guys said
that they stumbled across him
and he was passed out
and he was nude.
Hah, that's such...
That's Gordo.
It's cool, dude.
We got a lot of time.
He'll show up.
He always shows up.
I, uh... I think that
Festeroo is a festering...
not a disease-ridden
kangaroo,
but an ocean of creativity
and some of the Lord's
own jelly.
Check it, stop, rock
Everybody gonna move
Everybody, let's move
Everybody gonna move
Everybody, let's move
Ah, yes.
Ain't gonna stop
Ain't gonna quit
I've kind of evolved,
revolved, and dissolved
with the Grateful Dead.
And so, uh,
jam is my middle jelly.
You know, fun is fun
and we all know how he is,
but this is- this is...
this is kinda crazy, guys.
We might have to do it
without him, I hate to say it.
We're going to have
to do it without him.
What's the word, here?
You guys-
What's the word with you?
Nothing.
I goose-egged.
I haven't found a thing.
We're going to have
to play, man.
We're just going
to have to do it.
What do you think?
Should we, like-
Well, I think, you know...
Extended solos or should
you do your drum solos?
Hey, or I can do
a drum solo.
I can get bass solos, man.
I can do some stuff.
I can't believe this.
I can't believe this.
We're down to the wire.
This is it,
this is the wire.
All right, guys,
we gotta do it.
Coming out for you,
the seminal Jam band,
bursting onto
the Jam band scene,
enlightening the world
through music,
give it up for Electric
Apricot, everyone!
Get on your feet!
Get ready to dance!
A quarter of the Apricot
entity was not there.
Here we were
heading out on stage.
And we started getting into
some of the Burning Man,
the textures,
doing these textures,
you know?
The feeling you get,
you know,
just the energy that comes off
of that mass of humanity,
it's like, you know-
it's why I do what I do.
It's why I chose to be a
percussionist singer/songwriter,
whatever you want
to call it.
Next thing I know,
I look over and there he is,
kinda shambling out.
I was a little late.
I was working
some stuff out.
I knew, personally, that Gordo
was going to show up.
There's a place...
a wondrous,
magical place
where like-minded
individuals
come together on the playa.
This place,
this wondrous place,
is called...
Burning Man
Burning Man
I think the fans and our band
really connected today.
It felt really magical to me.
I don't know, it really
felt like we clicked.
I mean, it was like,
here's me, here's the band.
We kinda just came together.
Hey, are you going
to Burning Man?
Bury your toes
in the desert sand
Ain't no man for
to tell you how to be
Come on down with me
to Burning Man
I got a recipe
for cosmic flan
Strip off your clothes
and set your aura free
Gordo, today, played his
ass off, if I may say so.
He was singing something
electric with his guitar
that I hadn't- actually have
never ever seen before.
Come down with me
to Burning Man
Dangle your toes
in that desert sand
Ain't no man for
to tell you how to be
And by the man,
I mean the law.
Free people taking
Burning Man.
Amazing Larry's
got a masterplan.
It's all about
Just letting
myself be free
We went to a place that was
absolutely unbelievable.
People were staring at us,
they were staring at me.
Hey, touchdown, payday.
I don't want to say payday because that's
a little more of a capitalistic thing.
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin' to-
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
Hey, are you goin'
to Burning Man?
How you doing?
How you feeling?
It was good.
Everyone played
really, really well.
I was really impressed.
Gordo was just amazing,
Lap was amazing,
Herschel, I mean-
I was proud to be
in this band today.
We came, we saw, we conquered.
Why not have a little fun?
I think from here onward
and upward for the Apricot.
I turned and looked
and there was Gordo, man.
You only rock Festeroo once,
you know what I'm saying?
Gordo, we were ready to go on
with a three-piece, man.
I want to propose a toast,
a toast to us at Festeroo.
Sweet!
Yeah, yeah!
Hip, hip, hooray!
What a day, man.
Festeroo.
We came, we saw,
we pulled it off somehow,
and, uh... yeah, wow.
My head's kinda spun
from the whole-
the whole thing, you know?
So what happened
to you, dude?
I was...
I was in the woods
and I was sleeping
and I was naked.
I was woken up
by this voice.
I looked up, you guys,
and Jerry was standing over me.
Jerry.
He came to me.
He's been so fixated
on Jerry Garcia
for so many years, I guess
it was bound to happen.
Whether or not
it's real or not...
I mean, he didn't
see Jerry Garcia.
He was probably
talking to a squirrel.
I think he wanted
to see Jerry Garcia.
And he's talking to me,
but his mouth isn't moving.
Jerry was?
With Jerry?
What the hell are
you talking about?
But, dude...
I'll tell you what.
I'll tell you what.
I've never seen you play
like you played today.
I've never seen that.
That was incredible.
Yeah, dude,
you saved the show.
I really think you did.
We've been around the horn.
He was talking to me
through here and here.
Just the most spiritual thing
that ever happened to me
in my whole entire life, man.
There's a tray of special
brownies, if you know what I mean,
waiting for us in the rig,
if anybody wants them.
Oh, oh, oh!
The Cube... you know,
he's one of our biggest fans-
and he brought us
a tray of brownies.
You know,
those happy brownies.
Hey, our work is done.
Let's have a little fun!
So ready, man.
You guys better get in
while you fit in
because if I get that tray,
it's gonna be gone, man.
We have to get
out of here tonight
because we have
to get this RV back.
Otherwise we'll have to
pay another day rental.
Otherwise we'll have to
pay another day rental.
In the process of
documenting Electric Apricot,
our young filmmaker has caught
a glimpse of Enlightenment.
Oh, I got it.
I got it. We're cool.
Yeah, this is cool
right here.
So, what happened
to those brownies?
Gordo ate them.
Dude, he ate
all those brownies?
The true revelation
of Enlightenment
is the discovery that life
is a never-ending journey
to a destination that
is never actually reached.
Are you sure, man?
He's going to be
totally gone.
Yeah, he is gone.
He's passed out.
Unexpectedly,
while reaching
for Enlightenment,
the duality of existence
is unveiled.
He's going to have a very
special ride when he wakes up.
How you doing tonight, sir?
I'm doing all right, Officer.
Doing all right.
Where are you coming from?
We just came
from the Festeroo,
a festival down the road.
Sir, I am going
to have to ask you
to put that video camera
down, please.
Driver's license
and registration, please.
You know,
they're making a-
they're making a documen-
We just played the Festeroo
down the street.
Sir, please turn
that video camera off.
They're making
a documentary.
They're making
a documentary.
That's what
the cameras are for.
They're doing a
documentary on the band.
Driver's license and
registration, please.
We're a band from California.
What's going on?
We play on...
You mind if I come in there
and check it out?
Um...
Check out inside.
Turn that video camera off now.
What?
Man, I'm getting
out of here!
Get me outta here!
Gordo, stop, dude.
I said... God damn!
Get your hands off me.
Hey! Get over here!
It's cool man!
It's cool, man.
It's cool.
Hands behind your back.
It's cool. It's cool, man.
I can't...
I can't breathe.
Shut up and stay there.
I can't breathe!
l... Jerry! Jerry!
Jerry!
Gordo recently
started a website
dedicated to the notion
that Jerry Garcia
is still alive.
I don't put much stock
in this sort of thing,
but I did find something
pretty interesting.
I thought I just... one of
these pans I had backstage.
I'll scroll back here.
If you do
a frame-by-frame...
Look at that.
I'll do a zoom-in.
I mean, I don't know.
You tell me.
Hey, are you going
to Burning Man?
Bury your toes
in the desert sand
Ain't no man for
to tell you how to be
Come on down with me
to Burning Man
I got a recipe
for cosmic flan
Strip off your clothes
and set your aura free
There's a place I know
called Black Rock City
Where we're
about to get down
To the nitty gritty
We're all children
of the stars above
Searching for answers
and feasting on love
Hey, are you going
to Burning Man?
I got a big old slab
of veggie ham
Come to Camp Tesori
and to bring some soy
Cheese
Free-thinking people
at Burning Man
Amazing Larry's
got the masterplan
It's all about just
letting myself be me
Me
There's a gal I know
called Moonstone Annie
She blows flames
right out of her fanny
Ya ought to see her
walking on the tight wire
Jugglin' bananas
while her hair is on fire
Come on down with me
to Burnin' Man...
It's a fabulous place.
It's a fabulous land.
ooh
yeah.
Art love, lovin' Art's love
for Art, Art for love...