Truer words were never spoken.
On the website for the film The Music Never Stopped there’s a quote by its director Jim Kohlberg. “Music is such an integral character…I wasn’t going to do the film unless we could get the music.”
Based on an essay by Dr. Oliver Sacks, M.D. ( Awakenings ) called “The Last Hippie,” where a brain-damaged patient is helped through musical therapy pioneered by Dr. Concetta Tomaino (www.imnf.org), the film chronicles the relationship between generations that are torn apart during the tumultuous changes of the late 1960s and is bridged when the father wants to reconnect with his son after a long-neglected brain tumor changes the young man’s life.
Without the ability to create new memories the character of Gabriel in the film “awakens” to the sounds of the music he grew up with and mean the most to him – the Beatles, Bob Dylan and especially the Grateful Dead. The use of the music by those artists, and others, in The Music Never Stopped not only gives the film a degree of authenticity but reminds moviegoers of one of its messages, that music has the ability to heal as much as it does to incite rebellion.
Starring J.K. Simmons ( Burn After Reading ) as the father, Lou Taylor Pucci as the son, Cara Seymour ( The Savages ) as the mother and Julia Ormond ( Legends of the Fall ) as Dr. Diane Daly, it screened to a much positive response at the Sundance Film Festival last January. Showing additional support for the film, Bob Weir performed a solo acoustic concert as part of The Music Never Stopped events where he was joined by Mickey Hart. Hart, who has been involved with musical therapy in the past, has taken part with his longtime friend Sacks and Kohlberg in Q&A sessions following additional screenings.
After opening in select theaters earlier in the month, “The Music Never Stopped” expands to 18 markets on April 1. For locations and more on the film, visit www.themusicneverstopped-movie.com.
My discussion with Kohlberg includes bringing a tragic story of brain damage into an uplifting tale for moviegoers, the relationship of music to the drama and how artists such as the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan and the Tulips fit into this.
The conversation begins with a brief discussion of my sports viewing habits and my comment that cheering for sports teams and dealing with the heartbreak of losses can prepare someone for the rejection of the Hollywood film industry. Kohlberg laughs and says, “Truer words were never spoken.”
JPG: Now, do you live and base your operations in the Hollywood area?
JK: No, I live in Northern Cal. So, I’m right outside of Palo Alto.
JPG: Why live there rather than closer to the base of the film industry?
JK: I think I’d probably go crazy. (slight laugh) It’s not far if I need to get down there. It’s just a shuttle down. I like the climate up here. The variety up here…L.A. is such a company town, you can’t get away from it. So, this has an artistic community, a business community and a great city. I love San Francisco…and great food. So, there’s just a lot of different influences rather than full-time Hollywood, which is incredibly preoccupied with the moment’s appearances rather than the reality of getting any work done.
JPG: In regards to your location, did that encourage you towards picking this story?
JK: No, not really in the sense that what I really reacted to was the family story, the really well-written script. The music was a huge part of it, but it wasn’t just the great Dead songs plus Dylan. Really, it’s mostly for me about the music and how it’s so necessary for a kid and how the music splits them apart in the sixties but brings them back together in the eighties. I don’t know if you’ve watched the film…
JPG: Yes I did.
JK: What did you think?
JPG: I liked it but I must admit that I read the Oliver Sacks essay right before I watched your film, and I was removed to some degree because I was comparing the two and noticing what portions were used or what was changed. In that sense do you feel that the screenwriters did the right thing in changing the situation because it probably would have been a much sadder story?
JK: I do. I do. They did a couple of really smart things. They, obviously, created characters and a family story that was both sad but also has some redemptive qualities and some humor in it. They did a really smart thing not focusing on the years between him leaving home and having the brain tumor. There was a fair amount of discussion about his years with the Hare Krishnas and him being blind and things like that. And I think that would have been just too much. I think they made the right choices.
It’s too bad in a way that you didn’t see the movie first and then read the story because you could have seen that while in fact the movie goes much deeper and creates its own characters and storyline, it does take a lot of the medical facts.
JPG: I recognized those aspects of it as well as particular lines that were used in the film from the essay such as…Gabriel rhyming about “babies with rabies.” I’m sure I’ll watch it again with other people, and at that point I’ll take it as a film where it won’t be so much like homework.
JK: The other thing is that audiences react unbelievably well to the film.
JPG: Oh, I still cried at the end.
JK: Oh, okay.
JPG: So, even as hard-hearted as I was, I still recognized it for what it was. So, you did you job. Don’t worry.
JK: Oh, good. That’s nice to hear.
JPG: In the past you’ve worked as producer of films, why did you pick this for your directorial debut?
JK: I’ve directed theater before. So, between producing film and directing theater it seemed like a natural extension. When I read this, I just really knew that it was something for me to do. I also had been reading a bunch of – coincidentally, like a lot of things in life – brain science books including Oliver’s books but also Proust was a Neuroscientist, and a bunch of the more esoteric books by some of the Nobel [Prize] winners in neuroscience that are written for the layman but aren’t as well known because I find it a very fascinating area, kind of the way I sometimes get in a history jag. And, this script came along and it had a great character story about it and it had a great connection to music, and then it had this great brain science musical therapy aspect to it.
JPG: When I asked earlier about whether location encouraged you in some way, you are quoted on the website that if you didn’t get the music you didn’t want to do the film.
JK: When I first got it I really didn’t think I’d be able to do it because of all the music. I made up my mind that unless we got Dylan and the Dead I wouldn’t do it because everything else you can kind of move things around but Dylan and the Dead are so intertwined with the character and the dialogue. You just felt like it would be a different movie without them.
JPG: With those bands and also getting the Beatles, did you have to really pitch the project to them? How difficult or easy was it to get their cooperation for this?
JK: It was shockingly easy for two reasons. We went to Dylan and the Dead first because that was the first threshold. They came on board within three to five weeks of us sending the script out to the managers and to the band. First of all, it was right up Mickey Hart’s area because he’s been working on musical therapy and with Oliver Sacks for 20 years, but I know Dylan and his management reacted really well to it because it shows the healing power of music. I think they’ve never seen a film where it’s really been portrayed that way, and I think everybody just got incredibly enthused about it. And once we had Dylan and the Dead then the other bands and the rest of the musical community felt very comfortable coming in because of their credibility.
*JPG: I’m listening to that and laughing to myself, thinking, ‘Yeah, once Dylan and the Dead came on, then some little band from Liverpool called the Beatles got on board.’ *
JK: (laughs) They were pretty tough. Sue Jacobs, our Music Supervisor, who I’ve worked with on other things contacted them. That took a little discussion. That’s one of the reasons why, once anyone connected with music, musicians especially, they really pushed their respective camps to get it done. That’s one of the reasons why we have ‘Thanks’ in the film to Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon and some of the individuals.
JPG: I think that’s interesting that you mentioned the healing power of music, especially in a film, because you usually find music used as a rebellious type of thing. Again, was that something else that attracted to you to The Music Never Stopped ?
JK: Musical therapy has been around for 30 years. Oliver and Connie Tomaino, who is the real life Diane Daly (in the film), have been using it but it’s getting momentum more slowly than you would think given its exceptional affect on brain-damaged and psychologically-damaged patients.
For example, Oliver and Mickey both went down with me to Washington D.C. a couple weeks ago for a screening with people on the Hill and they’re trying to get some scrutiny around using it for returning vets who have PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) and things like that. It’s becoming much more accepted but hopefully this film will help get it out there a little bit more.
JPG: You opened up my question because I meant healing as far as emotionally between the father and the son in the film…
JK: Oh, I’m sorry.
JPG: No no no, that’s fine. It does both.
JK: Obviously, that’s what I loved about the character story, and I think I mentioned it earlier that music broke up the family in the sixties but it brought it back together. Although, something had been lost because of the brain tumor, obviously, and that’s part of the poignancy and sadness of the film but it’s also part of the redemptive sense that not everything’s lost that you leave the theater with.
JPG: With the screenings that you’ve had and the reactions from people, has there been different or similar reactions to those of the same age as the character of Gabriel who came of age in the sixties versus those who grew up in the 1980s or later? There are certain connections that make it through…
JK: There are! I’ve even been surprised how many 20 year olds when they see it really like it. I just happened to be over at a friend’s house last night and their kids had gone out to see it. And one was 16 and the other was 19. And they came back and said that they had cried at the end and really loved…they don’t listen to that music but they know it. It’s out there. For them to hear the Beatles and some of those songs that they heard from their parents was really interesting. And, of course, there’s a big connection to anybody who has kids, maybe people coming of age in the eighties.
JPG: Speaking of that, in the essay much of it took place in the seventies with Oliver taking the patient to the Grateful Dead concert in 1991 but you moved the setting to 1986. Why the change?
JK: Well…we decided that the sixties was his moment, ’68, ’69… We could have made it him be in college but it seemed better in high school. We could have shortened the time period when he gets the tumor. Instead of making it 20 years it could have been 10. It felt like going from the sixties to the eighties you got a chance to show the arc of the mother much better and how her change was a bit emblematic in those 20 years. Those were huge years for the women’s movement, too. I wasn’t out to make a political point but I felt it worked better that way.
JPG: Also, as far as changes, the title of the essay was “The Last Hippie” which was changed to The Music Never Stopped and originally The Sacks Project when it first came to you.
JK: There were a couple titles. Originally, it was titled Mr. Tambourine Man and we were a little afraid that would make people think that it was a Dylan movie completely. Then, we tried a bunch of others and finally settled on The Music Never Stopped because it seemed like it worked thematically plus it was a Dead tune. Those basic reasons. Titles are always tricky.
JPG: I see it working better with the film because the music never stopped with Gabriel whereas “The Last Hippie” sounds like it should be a Seth Rogen comedy.
JK: Yeah, I knew I never wanted to call it “The Last Hippie.” I’m not a fan of calling the ‘last’ anything. It’s kind of an overused title to get your attention.
JPG: With the Grateful Dead you got the okay to use the band’s material but did you ask for anything unreleased or specific tracks or did they send over some possibilities and said, ‘Take it or leave it’?
JK: They gave us a wide choice of tracks. In fact, we picked the concert tracks that were unreleased and are now on the soundtrack album, which is out on Amazon.com and iTunes. They were great about that. At one point I had different songs in where “Ripple” is now. “Sugar Magnolia” was used in an opening scene that was eventually cut from the film and then we put it in a different place — when he’s getting into the van after leaving College Night. They were incredibly great to work with.
JPG: How did it move from there to Bob Weir and Mickey Hart performing in support of the film at the Sundance Film Festival?
JK: They’ve been just incredibly supportive, coming up and doing that. Mickey Hart’s coming and talking at another Q&A I’m doing tomorrow night down here in the Valley. Mickey and Oliver came to a Q&A in Washington and a couple in New York. They really love this film and think that it’s great for musical therapy. They just want all good things for it, which is really nice.
JPG: I’ve interviewed Mickey in the past and…
JK: He’s a kick.
JPG: He’s had his coffee when you talk to him.
JK: (laughs) I know he has but he doesn’t drink that much coffee.
JPG: Figuratively.
JK: I know what you mean. I really admire him. For a guy that age to have that unending curiosity and energy is really remarkable.
JPG: At one point we did discuss music and brain waves. I though it involved more drum circle type of work rather than finding music to connect with people. By the way, how was Sundance for you?
JK: We got an amazing, a shockingly amazing reception there. I didn’t expect it at all. I thought that that audience would be pretty tough on it. At three different screenings we got three standing ovations.
JPG: Great. I heard Sirius XM’s broadcast of the concert Weir performed there. Was that you saying a few words to the crowd prior to it? You sound elated.
JK: Yes. Mickey and I did a quick couple of breaks over the phone with the Sirius guy and they’ve been using those clips.
JPG: Since the character of Gabriel was so touched by the music of the Grateful Dead and other artists, what about you? Is there that feeling for you with the Grateful Dead as well or what artist or artists does the same thing to you?
JK: I was a fan of the Grateful Dead and I think I went to a concert or two. I wasn’t a Deadhead. I really liked their music and had several of their albums — Europe ’72, American Beauty and Workingman’s Dead – but I was also a huge Dylan fan and am a huge Dylan fan. I play the guitar really badly (slight laugh) and sing even worse, but I go out there and howl at the moon every now and then. (slight laugh)
JPG: Although you’re someone who’s dealing with another creative outlet what does music mean to you?
JK: For me it’s a creative outlet where, it’s only for myself. It’s not for anybody else, which is really freeing. I don’t have the critic out there wondering whether anyone else is going to like it. I can just do whatever I want. It’s the one creative outlet I reserve just for myself.
JPG: You mention Dylan, is his music something you turn to occasionally or is it like your daily vitamin, so to speak, or do you find emotional connection as well?
JK: I don’t play every day. It all depends on travelling but if I’m home I probably play most days. If I’m reading a script or I’m writing and I am stuck a lot of times I’ll pick up a guitar in order not to get up in my head and going around and around.
JPG: Is it the same thing as a listener? For myself I think of that grade school game, ‘Would you rather slide down a hill or razor blades or…?’ So, for me if given the choice of being blind or deaf I’d probably choose blindness because listening to music is as necessary as blood running through me.
JK: Yeah. I always have to relearn how powerful it is. I don’t know why I have to keep relearning it but it can pick you out of bad places. It can make sure you’re connected when you get full of yourself. It’s a really, as Mickey says, ‘Every single culture has music and dancing.’ It’s one of the most basic human…maybe it’s one of the things that makes us human. Whenever I get too far away from it I feel impoverished.
JPG: It reminds me of one of the things discussed with Mickey was the idea that at its core music comes from the heartbeat.
JK: Yeah.
JPG: Back to the film’s use of music, tell me about the Tulips (the band’s number, “Summer Song,” was used several times for dramatic effect).
JK: That was the one rock ‘n’ roll song that we actually composed for the film. We couldn’t find quite the right song so Sue Jacobs was just fooling around with a couple of her friends and musicians in the studio one day and they said, ‘Hey, I have this cool sixties thing,’ and they sent me a recording of it. And I loved it because we were looking for a song that filled that radio moment which takes [the father] back to Gabriel playing in the garage. So I wanted a sixties song that would have been logical for a kid to cover and I was looking around for the name of the groups and I kept remembering all these other groups — the Monkees and the Byrds — and there was another group that was named after a flower. I want to say the Violets but that wasn’t it. So, Tulips popped into my mind and it stuck.
JPG: So this whole thing I found prior to this interview is just mythmaking?
JK: Yeah.
JPG: Oh, very nice.
JK: Where did you find it?
JPG: It’s at http://wikibin.org/articles/the-tulips.html .
JK: I haven’t seen it, but yes it’s mythmaking. (slight laugh)
JPG: How did you get Christina Amphlett from the Divinyls to sing it in the credits?
JK: She was working with [Craig Jared Johnson], and she just came in and did the first recording of it just for a lark. When I first heard it, I just completely fell in love with it and said, ‘God, we’ve gotta use that somewhere.’ It went from there.
JPG: Talk about jogging one’s memory. Hearing that voice reminded me of her work with the Divinyls. Your company’s Essential Entertainment/Essential Pictures, but at the very end of the credits I saw copyright Mr. Tambourine Productions.
JK: Right. As I said, it was originally titled “Mr. Tambourine Man” and we just formed a special purpose company for the film. Essential is the ongoing production company.
JPG: For some who has done theater, documentaries, films and directing film now. What do you want to do in the future? Do you have something lined up or how much longer will you be pushing this film?
JK: I think I’ve got another month or so of time working on this and doing publicity. Hopefully, another couple months. And I’ve signed the rights to a book called, Home in the Morning. I’ve got a couple projects that I’m thinking about directing and then I’m working on a series of books, The Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. It’s a well-known adventure romance. The books sold 25 million copies, the whole series, and we’re in the late stages of getting a script from Ann Peacock who wrote The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. So, we’re pushing that along. There’s plenty for me to do. But, are you asking me whether I’m going to direct again?
JPG: I was going to ask that next.
JK: Definitely. Assuming the world lets me. (laughs) It was a great experience and I felt like we came out with a film that audiences really react to and in some ways that’s all that matters.
