“…At the turn of this century, Detroit brought us The White Stripes, The Von Bondies, The Dirtbombs and a series of bands that redefined music once again. While their impact on U.S. music was significant, England became obsessed with the Detroit music scene and recognized its genius. Filmmaker James R. Petix recognized the importance of what was happening in Detroit and documented it for the brilliant film, “It Came From Detroit”. The film does an amazing job of portraying the sights, sounds and…smells of what the music scene in Detroit was like during this period. Having grown up smack dab in the middle of the Detroit music scene, this writer can tell you that the music from this period exuded a characteristic that’s rarely scene in music now: Sincerity. The grit, sweat and passion portrayed in, “It Came From Detroit” is a powerful message to the record industry of how “real” music will survive in the harshest of conditions. James took some time to talk about the film, the Detroit music scene and his efforts to bring his message to the masses.”

TDOA: I’m not sure people realize how many great bands came out of Detroit during that period and how much press they were getting from Spin and the British press. Can you enlighten people who haven’t seen the film?

JRP: For a period of time (probably 2001-2004) Detroit was certainly in the spotlight with the foreign music press. Bands like the White Stripes, The Electric Six, The Von Bondies, The Dirtbombs, The Go and The Detroit Cobras all toured around the world and were able to put out some really great records on various labels big and small. But the scene had been going on for (at least) a decade before the press got here and continued after the spotlight died down. People should know that too.

For the entire interview check out: The Dumbing of America!

It Came From Detroit is the ultimate look into the Detroit garage rock scene. From the early days of Motown to the hugely influential band The Gories, from The Dirtbombs and The Hentchmen to the mainstream wunderkinds The White Stripes, this documentary provides an in-depth examination of the music of Detroit Rock City.

James R Petix’s first feature-length film is clearly a work of passion. The film is well-researched and thorough, with interviews that are candid and insightful. The city is depicted as ugly and desolate, a place that boomed 50 years ago and has been in slow decline ever since. As Jason Stollsteimer from the Von Bondies says: “It’s the shell of a great city”. However, from this rubble there is a music community so full of love and support that you find yourself wishing you, too, came from Detroit. The gutted sky scrapers from the city’s long-gone glory days set an appropriately grim backdrop for the hard-hitting garage rock that flourishes in its shadows. Images of anti-gun posters, homeless people, and abandoned buildings are spliced with live footage of some of the best rock bands the town has produced. The juxtaposition is fantastic, giving you a sense of the gritty ugliness of Detroit that inspires this strain of music. Deanne Lovan from the Come-Ons says, “It’s so desolate that there is nothing else to do, other than to create.” Adds Troy Gregory, of The Dirtbombs, “No one is ever gonna give a rat’s ass about Detroit anyways”. Before The White Stripes broke internationally, there was never a sense that something good could come from the Motor City, the bands didn’t expect success, and as such, had nothing to lose. The resulting music was all-or-nothing. The community creates because it has to; the music they make is soul-food and a necessary act of survival.

Read the full story on their website here: http://www.livemusiccapitol.com/2010/02/it-came-from-detroit/

Saturday January 23rd

St Paul Eagles Club 287 Maria Ave St Paul MN

noon - Wayne County Rambling

2pm -  Moments and Truths

3pm -  The Hand Of Fatima

4:30pm - It Came From Detroit

After the screening we were treated to a great DJ set of garage tunes from Cyril Lords/Outrageous Cherry vet Sean Ellwood who is now also an LA resident.  There were some rock legends in the house like Creation Records founder Joe Foster, Gun Club’s Terry Graham, and the legendary Kim Fowley who said the film had “the best soundtrack since Woodstock!”

 See more photos from the event here!

-James

James R. Petix’s It Came From Detroit documentary film is making its L.A. debut this Thursday, July 23rd, as part of the city’s annual Don’t Knock The Rock festival. The yearly event was launched several years ago by acclaimed film director (and major rock ‘n’ roll fan) Allison Anders (Gas, Food, Lodging; Grace of my Heart; Sugar Town). The great (but since shuttered) MC5 documentary, A True Testimonial, also made its West Coast debut at the same event a few years back. I’ll never forget the audience actually giving the band a standing ovation in the theater, right in the middle of the film, following one magnificent live performance that was fortunately captured on celluloid. (more…)

Kinetic Stereokids “Twisted Thoughts” from Overdraft Recordings on Vimeo.

“Last night I saw “It Came from Detroit” at Brew & View in Ferndale.  For the ignorant Detroit music fan (in this case, me…) this Rock Doc reignited a lot of pride that i had let stew underneath for the Detroit music scene.  Honestly, i had little clue about the bands who were interviewed, besides seeing their names in Ads for weekend shows at the Magic Stick, or in Hamtramck.  i really had only listened to the White Stripes and the Von Bondies.  After realizing what creativity and passion the bands unbeknownst to me have put into their music, my respect if minuscule before, is now immense.

This “garage band scene” roughly from the period of the mid 1980s to the early 2000s, bred some feisty creativity and characters.  The Documentary tells it like it is, letting the gritty Underbelly of the Detroit Rock scene bask in the sunlight, getting a more attractive bronze.  By the end you are glorifying the grit in your mind, wanting more passion and inspiration to be seen at any venue, so you can at least TRY to capture a snipet of energy the movie reveals to you. This energy was not born out of greed.  It is clear in the documentary that the incentive “to rock” is to find the nirvana one attains in the creative process, with other like minded, supportive folks.

It is nice to see the positive people and ideas that have come, and continue, to come from Detroit, since we are in a time when the great majority of media focuses constantly on the negative.

you can still see this badass doc at Brew & View TONIGHT, THURSDAY doors open at 8 and the film starts at 9.30.

CHECK IT.”

source:
http://detroit.metblogs.com/2009/05/21/it-came-from-detroit/

“Earlier this decade talented local filmmaker James R. Petix and producer Sarah Babila had a brilliant idea - document the incredible Detroit garage rock music scene that was making headlines all around the world (this was also basically the same reason that MotorCityRocks.com was created in 2003).  Their brilliant idea became the highly sought after documentary It Came From Detroit.  Now after years of post production starts and stops (which included a screening in 2006 at the DAFT), James and Sarah are bringing their “ready for prime time” film to the masses this Wednesday and Thursday at the Magic Bag’s Brew n’ View in Ferndale.

James, you started this movie several years ago– why did it take so long to complete?
When I first had the idea for the film, I thought it would take six months to complete. I was going to interview 10 bands and through them I would find a good cross-section of what was going on at the time. As it turned out, when I started interviewing the bands and getting deeper into the subject I found that I couldn’t interview The Go without talking to Rocket 455, and I couldn’t talk about Rocket 455 unless I interviewed the Gories! So I kept adding and adding until I really found the bands that were the most influential on the scene and also had the best stories to tell. It took six years to complete it because I was working on my nights and weekends only, with no outside financial support. In the end this is a passion project that I had a blast making and hopefully other people can now enjoy.”

To read the intire inteview please click here for Motorcityrocks.com!

It Came From Detroit and Stayed There

By Nicole Rupersburg

It Came From Detroit is perhaps one of the most culturally relevant documentaries of a particular time and place in music ever made. A documentary film five years in production (and almost mythic in stature—spoken of widely as the pinnacle tome on the Detroit “garage” scene, a claim made fervently by even those who have never seen it), It Came From Detroit chronicles some 20 years of Detroit’s thriving independent rock-and-roll subculture—Detroit “garage,” as it came to be known all over the world.

 For a link to the whole review as well as an interview with director James R. Petix click here.