Two East Dallas filmmakers chased the band around Europe
Gringo Star is underrated.
Justin Malone and Lior Spirer figured that out the night they went to Palladium Ballroom to film the headliner.
While 20 or so people waited around for the main act, another band, Gringo Star, played.
And they rocked.
“They were just phenomenal,” Malone says. “And right away, we were really into their music.”
The filmmakers, who live in East Dallas and have a studio in Deep Ellum, tracked the band down at SXSW, and wound up shooting a video for Gringo Star’s song “Come On Now”.
After SXSW, they returned to Dallas and grew busy with other projects at their company, Malone Pictures.
But it kept coming up. Gringo Star, which is based in Georgia, had a European tour on the horizon, and Malone and Spirer thought it would be cool to go along.
So they raised the money, and five weeks later, they were on a plane to England with Gringo Star. They spent 42 days traveling 7,000 miles across Europe, filming the band on tour. The result is their documentary, “Hurry Up and Wait”, which screens April 30 in the USA Film Festival at the Angelika.
“Hurry Up and Wait” is something of an anti-concert film. It’s not Altamont or Woodstock.
It’s the story of a bunch of dirty guys sleeping in their cars and grinding out rock and roll every night.
The filmmakers decided to sleep in their rental car, too. It was not a big car, but after a few days, they had a routine down. Besides, that was the easiest way to secure the $40,000-$50,000 of equipment they trotted through Europe.
“It got to where people would ask us if we needed a place to stay, and we’d be like, ‘Nah, we’re good,’ ” Spirer says.
They ran their battery system through the car’s cigarette lighter.
“We didn’t lose one roll of tape, not one hard drive,” Spirer says. “It was pretty amazing.”
The bandmates’ efficiency amazed the filmmakers. Gringo Star has been around for about seven years, playing dive bars and opening for bigger acts, such as the Black Lips. They’re unsigned, but they’re always, always working. They’ve got touring down to a science.
The guys of Gringo Star wore the same clothes every day on tour, and each brought one change of clothes to wear while they did their laundry.
“It smelled pretty bad, but that’s rock and roll,” Malone says. “That’s what you don’t see.”
Once Malone and Spirer returned from Europe, they spent about eight months editing more than 200 hours of footage, often putting in 19-hour days. They slept in their studio Monday through Friday and went home to their families on weekends.
Even though the film is about 20-something rock-and-rollers, the filmmakers think it will appeal to a broad audience.
“There is a thread that would connect to the average person because they’re so dedicated to their art,” Malone says. “It’s very inspiring.”
Some nights, the band opened for acts that were “undeniably terrible,” he says. That was hard to watch, but they have a large following in England, which adds emotion to the film.
So, what do the guys of Gringo Star think of “Hurry Up and Wait”?
They caught a screening of a rough cut at SXSW last year.
“It was awkward. You could tell they were very nervous,” Malone says. “They really didn’t know us. They didn’t know if they could trust us.”
But afterward, he says, they seemed relieved to have watched a film about their band. It doesn’t contain band-mate bickering, girl trouble or any reality-TV-type drama.
“It’s a film about their work ethic and their passion,” Malone says. “I’m happy with the story because it’s true.”
