If you spent time on the web in the late 1990s and early 2000s and were into underground music, chances are you are familiar with the LA-based website and record label Buddyhead.
Created by Travis Keller and The Icarus Line’s Aaron North in 1998, the site was known for its brash writing style, hilarious reviews and biting commentary. It also had a busy music forum that predated social media and was ground zero for anyone interested in talking about music and pop culture. I spent way more time on it than I like to admit. “Keller and Joe Cardamone, the former frontman of The Icarus Line, are now putting together a documentary with some help from artist Shepard Fairey and Mayans M.C. co-creator Elgin James,” writes Deadline.
On The Lash: The Buddyhead Movie will be co-directed by Keller and Cardamone and produced by Fairey and James. Looking to capture Buddyhead’s DIY spirit, you can contribute to the film through the crowdsourcing site IndieGoGo.
The film will feature unseen footage and stories from the At The Drive-In, The Strokes, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Fugazi, Elliott Smith, Nine Inch Nails, Primal Scream, Iggy Pop, Queens of The Stone Age, Courtney Love, Axl Rose, Marilyn Manson, My Chemical Romance, and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s guitar.
This is the film about me and my friends. It was 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. This 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. And let’s not forget turning down $9 million dollars multiple times during the dot com bubble. - Travis Keller
“In a time where art continues to be watered down for mass appeal our doc is a reminder of what a poke in the eye punk rock hearts can be to the sanitized establishment,” Keller said.