Much to the excitement of myself and ‘Gizzheads’ around the world, King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard’s first ever feature-length music documentary is finally here. Bought to you by PHC Films and Flightless Records, “Chunky Shrapnal” is a ‘musical road movie dipped in turpentine’ filmed during the band’s 2019 tour across Europe and the UK.
Concerned about the self-congratulatory behaviour around creating a ‘behind the scenes’ film centred on themselves, the band were initially hesitant. Luckily for their humble souls, having their dear friend John Angus Stewart direct Chunky Shrapnal assured the film was authentic Gizz from start to finish. Having worked closely with the band on music videos for ‘Planet B’, ‘Self Immmolate’ and ‘Organ Farmer’, John says the film was a natural evolution of their work together, and I was lucky enough to ask ask him some questions about shooting the film entirely on 16mm, picking perfect moments, and more.
The Movie Chunky Shrapnel, It’s from a lyric from the Gizzard song, ‘Murder of the Universe’. It means vomit.reminded me why I love the band so much; The atmosphere at their concerts. the awesome community and of course the excellent music! . There is nothing quite like 16mm. First of all, I knew I wanted certain types of colours and highlights that are impossible to achieve digitally. Another reason was the practical restrictions. There’s a far better atmosphere backstage when you can’t shoot forever, you gotta pick the right moments. It’s like playing Russian roulette but you want the bullet. And having a single camera was also an import call for us. The normal four-camera set up thing for live music just doesn’t work for Gizz. You have to be on stage with them, it’s the only way. And plus, normal on stage coverage is like watching paint dry.
This album is the phenomenal soundtrack to it. No Paper Maché, sadly, they did record a few songs at the show in Cologne but they’re absent from the album.
released April 24th, 2020
The Fat Angel Sings 