Sep 17, 2010 4:27 PM

Gallery: Film School Talks Fission, Fave Flicks

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San Francisco mood-rock band Film School's new record, Fission, is equally stacked with sunny atmospherics and dark electronica. Just don't call it "cinematic." Wired.com did in a [2008 chat with Film School](?http://stag-komodo.wired.com/listening_post/2008/06/we-are-not-cine"), and was suitably corrected. In fact, the quintet didn't boast a single member that had actually gone to film school until siren bassist Lorelei Plotczyk joined up in 2007. But that doesn't mean the band's members can't geek out on cinema when asked. [Film School](http://www.filmschoolmusic.com) hits the road Sunday in San Diego to support its latest ethereal effort, which was released in late August by [Hi-Speed Soul](http://www.hispeedsoul.com). We chatted up the band's lead creative, Greg Bertens, about sonic and cinematic Fission, Macs, PCs and materialist anthems. There's even a free MP3 in the gallery above. Roll it!
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filmschool-fission
__Wired.com:__ Fission has darker electronic atmospheres than Film School's previous work, although it's very sunny in places -- like the song "Sunny Day" for example. __Greg Bertens:__ I like its diversity; it's got energy and levity as well as heavier moments. Our last live set was on the dark side, with constant guitar layering, but I didn't specifically focus on less or more guitars. I've been feeling electro-inspired the last couple years, maybe as a result of DJing more. __LISTEN: "Heart Full of Pentagons" by Film School__<object data="http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/wp-content/plugins/dewplayer-flash-mp3-player/dewplayer.swf?mp3=http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/underwire/2010/09/01-Heart-Full-Of-Pentagons-1.mp3&showtime=1&bgcolor=FFFFFF" height="20" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="200"><param name="bgcolor" value="FFFFFF"></param><param name="src" value="http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/wp-content/plugins/dewplayer-flash-mp3-player/dewplayer.swf?mp3=http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/underwire/2010/09/01-Heart-Full-Of-Pentagons-1.mp3&showtime=1&bgcolor=FFFFFF"></param></object>[__FREE DOWNLOAD__](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/underwire/2010/09/01-Heart-Full-Of-Pentagons-1.mp3) __Wired.com:__ We're fans of the album's title. __Bertens:__ We had a hard time coming up with it after going through several mediocre titles -- Aberrations, Direction Perfection, Clarity and some others even worse! It wasn't until I took a picture of some swirled rain boots and tweaked it in Photoshop, which eventually became the album cover, that the name came about. I don't know exactly how. Maybe the strips of color splitting the black? Or maybe it was some of the lyrical content. In the end, the idea of something splitting, whether an atom or a relationship, and resulting in energy worked. Fission is addictive. __Wired.com:__ I read that you worked with comedian Demetri Martin to soundtrack a Windows Vista campaign. Are you Macs or PCs, or both? __Bertens:__ Macs. My MacBook Pro and my bed (standard king, latex foam) are my two prized possessions. Have you ever had a big soft-but-firm bed? It's amazing. __Wired.com:__ I find it unsettling but apropos that you're praising Macs and beds in the same swoop. __Wired.com:__ I'm a big fan of Apple and Steve Jobs, but I'm bumming on the iPhone. They need to work it out. It's a great device, but not much of a phone. And don't try to tell me it's all AT&T's fault. I have friends who have other internet phones and they don't drop calls half as much as I do! __LISTEN: "Sick of the Shame" by Film School__<object data="http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/wp-content/plugins/dewplayer-flash-mp3-player/dewplayer.swf?mp3=http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/underwire/2010/09/09-Sick-Of-The-Shame.mp3&showtime=1&bgcolor=FFFFFF" height="20" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="200"><param name="bgcolor" value="FFFFFF"></param><param name="src" value="http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/wp-content/plugins/dewplayer-flash-mp3-player/dewplayer.swf?mp3=http://stag-komodo.wired.com/images_blogs/underwire/2010/09/09-Sick-Of-The-Shame.mp3&showtime=1&bgcolor=FFFFFF"></param></object>__Wired.com:__ This is true. Speaking of technocultural fetishes, Film School's swirling serenade "Sick of the Shame" seems like the perfect materialist ode for those lamenting what they want and can't have, whether that's iPhones or whatever. __Bertens:__ I wrote that after listening to [Syd Barrett](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syd_Barrett)'s The Madcap Laughs for the first time. I remember thinking he made it all feel so simple, which all the great songwriters do, and I wanted to write a song like that. __Wired.com:__ It definitely feels like a lost Pink Floyd classic. __Bertens:__ Lyrically, it's about dreaming of how a relationship or a life could be different with money or possessions. But it's also about falling into the trap of thinking that money will fix unhappiness. That fantasy -- that if there was an abundance of money you could live a stress-free life that would lead back to love, reconnect with childhood wonder, repair feelings of shame, and so on -- is so powerful and alluring that we continue to fall for it. Sometimes it's the closest we get to filling those voids.

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bullitt
__Wired.com:__ Let's lighten up. What are Film School's five favorite films, and why? __Bertens:__ Here's our favorite California movies, starting with mine. Bullitt (1968) -------------- Cop Steve McQueen tearing through the streets of San Francisco in a 1968 green Mustang Fastback. To this day, Bullitt features one of the best car chases on film. Milk (2008) ----------- Also shot in San Francisco. I grew up in the Bay Area and heard about Harvey Milk's murder and the [Twinkie defense](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twinkie_defense). But I was too young at the time to really understand what happened. In the late '90s, I lived in the Castro for a couple years, but didn't realize at the time I was walking by Milk's old office and apartment almost once a week.
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bartonfink
Barton Fink (1991) ------------------ __Keyboardist Jason Ruck:__ I saw [Barton Fink](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barton_Fink) before moving to California from the East Coast. By the way, I want to start a side band called Least Coast. I was intrigued by its old Hollywood feel, albeit through the twisted lens of the Coen Brothers. I suppose I got a similar feeling after seeing L.A. Confidential, but by then I was in San Francisco and was not allowed to like anything about Los Angeles. Whenever I get writer's block, I think of this movie. But then I think of John Goodman running down a flaming hallway yelling, "I'll show you the life of the mind!" and I get scared.

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clueless.jpg
Clueless (1995) --------------- __Bassist and vocalist Lorelei Plotczyk:__ As the one member of the band who actually did go to film school, I would be tempted to name Sunset Boulevard, Rebel Without a Cause or The Graduate. But I came of age in the '90s, so instead I have to go with ... [Clueless](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clueless_%28film%29)! When this came out, I was a 15-year-old tomboy skater chick who dressed in insanely baggy and oversize clothes. Inspired by the fashion in the movie, the next day at school I wore a girly outfit that included a plaid “skort.” It was so out of character for me that I was continually mistaken for a new student throughout the day. Whatever, as if.
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bale-laurelcanyon-0
Laurel Canyon (2002) -------------------- __New drummer Ken Bernard:__ I watched [Laurel Canyon](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurel_Canyon_%28film%29) because the band in the movie had Lou Barlow of [Sebadoh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebadoh) and members of [Red Red Meat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_red_meat). All the great imagery made me excited about being in Los Angeles. The idea of recording in a house in the Hollywood hills seemed like something small and insignificant to most, but it was a dream for me. In that sense, the movie spoke to me. And the soundtrack was really well done. There's nothing wrong with having a little [Mercury Rev](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Rev) for your musical montage!

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