This documentary was a long time coming. After 16 years, the documentary
film project is finally done and is going to be shown this weekend at
the Dick’s hometown. The documentary is called “The Dicks From Texas”
directed by Cindy Marabito. The reason this film is getting so much
regard is due to what the Dicks really meant to the Austin punk scene in
the 1980s. The Dicks were a larger than life punk-hardcore band that
pushed the envelope of sexuality, politics, and music. They are best
known for their songs such as “Hate the Police” and “Kills from the
Heart”.
The reason this documentary is important to watch is that it is a
piece of Austin’s music history and a pivotal moment in the punk scene.
They rocked against Reagan. They played alongside MDC and the Big Boys.
Henry Rollins, Ian MacKaye, and Mike Watt all want to talk about how
great this band was. I don’t think I really have to sell much more here.
They are also releasing a tribute album with such bands as The
Bulimics, Black Irish Texas, The Fuckemos, and much more. It is
currently streaming here: The Dicks From Texas and Friends
Back in early spring I heard rumblings via a Music Flim Webblog post there was an attempt to put together a documentary film about the raw and incendiary '80s Texas punk band, the Dicks!! At the time it seemed like most of the raw film was sorted, but the filmmaker, Cindy Marabito,
was hoping to crowd source the cash to finish the project. Well, it's
looking like she got the funding and she's nearly finished!!! I'm stoked; I still listen to their Dicks' first single, "Hate The Police," at least once a week!!
Soooooo, this trailer doesn't make The Dicks From Texas
look like much beyond a "the way it happened" kinda narrative, BUT I'LL
TAKE IT!! Too, it'll be nice to see the Dicks brought back into
contemporary context; do contemporary "hardcore" bands now-a-days write
songs like "Dead In A Motel Room?"
Interview with The Dicks From Texas director Cindy Marabito | By Hutch
Most compilations of ‘80s hardcore boast the amazing “Dicks Hate the
Police,” the debut single that perfectly captures the sweaty rage and
virile vehemence excreted by four punks from Austin in 1980: Dicks.
Dicks bled Texas from their audacity to the bluesy stomp embedded in
their version of punk. Their legacy evolved and mutated on labels like
Radical, Alternative Tentacles, and SST. The band embodied punk rock:
DIY, loud, abrasive, confrontational and, ultimately, fun. Cindy
Marabito was friends with these men and had the insight to press record
early.
Despite the stereotypes of Texans, Marabito equates Dicks with Texas
as she explains her new DVD documentary, “The Dicks From Texas”: “Here
is this commie, self-described ‘faggot’ hardcore punk band playing
outrageously brilliant songs like ‘Dead in a Motel Room’ and ‘Dicks Hate
the Police’ with [vocalist] Gary [Floyd] in tight mini-skirts and a
brassiere.” Floyd was one of the few openly gay musicians in ‘80s punk.
Other tracks by Dicks drip with fury and sweat, spewed by flamboyant,
sardonic provocateur, Floyd. His hatred was placed perfectly over Glen
Taylor’s surfy, harsh, swirling, dark, and churning guitar lines.
Rounded out by a sinister rhythm section, these caustic tracks remain
glorious and potent 35 years later. The film starts chronologically.
Marabito explains, “It began when I met Gary Floyd, Buxf Parrott, Glen
Taylor, and Pat Deason way back in 1979. I was going to school at
University of Texas at Austin and would lug around big ass old WWII
equipment and try to shoot the Dicks. Later on, I was living in San
Francisco and working at Monaco Film Lab. I began the project then
shooting on 16mm.”
Marabito, shooting in San Francisco, Austin, and L.A., tracked down
fans and friends of the band to comment on the Dicks’ legacy. Including
the live footage, Marabito reports having “about 300 hours. The editing
took about three months. Once [editor] Cullen [Metcalf-Kelly] and I got
started, it was a breeze. The story is so compelling, it edited itself.”
Engrossed in the visuals, the viewer feels the impact of a legendary
live band. In between, we get many comments and stories, adorned with
humor and endearing sentiment. Not one person speaks without a filter of
affection. “The people whom I’ve interviewed for the film all love the
Dicks and were very available,” reports Marabito. Some of these people
include punk icons like Henry Rollins, Mike Watt, David Yow, Texas
Terri, and Ian MacKaye.
Marabito’s journey was not easy, despite the interviewees’
willingness. “I ran out of money; paid for everything out of pocket from
wages,” she says. “I also run a pit bull rescue, Reunion Rescue, and
had to save a lot of dogs in the meantime. It took 16 years to shoot
everyone. It was worth the wait.” Audiences at fests like NOLA, CIMMfest
in Chicago, Albuquerque, UnderCannes in France, and the premiere in
Austin agreed. Marabito adds, “So far, nobody’s hated it. It’s
mind-blowing to me how many people—both hardcore Dicks fans and kids
who’d never even heard of the Dicks—love this movie. I call Gary and
read him the reviews, and he’s blown away too!”
The great American hardcore explosion came at just
the right moment for a generation of misfits, freaks, and weirdos;
people who for whatever reason just couldn’t fit into normal life or
even into the existing youth cultures.
Austin, Texas hardcore band the Dicks was a prime
example of this. Fronted by Gary Floyd, an oversized openly gay man in
the middle of Texas who was likely to dress in drag, a nurse uniform or a
Klan outfit, the Dicks would have had their place in punk history
cemented by the release of The Dicks Hate the Police, a bluesy howl of a song using black humor to make a point against police harassment, and a true American punk classic.
The Dicks from Texas, is the latest
documentary delving into a slice of punk history unknown by many casual
fans, and strives to show the influence and importance of both the Dicks
and the early ’80s Austin punk scene.
Floyd saw both the Ramones and Sex Pistols in Texas
and was so inspired he started telling friends he was in a band called
the Dicks. The band existed in Floyd’s mind and a series of posters
until springing into existence with founding members Buxf Parrott, Pat
Deason and Glen Taylor. Self-described “stars with sweaty armpits,” the
Dicks formed friendships with fellow Texas punks the Big Boys and MDC,
toured the country, released two albums as well as the groundbreaking
debut 7″ and built up a fan base in Austin that felt more like a family a
like-minded weirdos than a usual band-fan dynamic.
Amateurish in the best way, the film captures
subjects speaking directly to the people behind the camera with asides
like “… y’all were at that party,” which adds to the documentary’s
homemade charm. Along with surviving band members including a bearded,
genial Floyd, the documentary features punk documentary mainstays Ian
MacKaye and Henry Rollins, as well as a large number of female
interviewees, which is a surprisingly nice change from the usual
male-centric documentary subjects. Utilizing old photographs and
previously unseen performance footage The Dicks from Texas is as
much a love letter to friends and family of the Austin punk scene as it
is to the band and is recommended to fans of punk history and groups of
freaks and misfits sticking together to form a community in the midst of
indifference or outright hatred.
