Guest VJ Eric Bresler previews Cinedelphia’s Tuesday Tune-Out lineup (begins tonight at PhilaMOCA)
When Eric Bresler took his post as director of programming at Philly performing arts space PhilaMOCA, he tried to think about creative ways the venue – which operates in a very do-it-yourself fashion – could raise money to sustain its unusual and unique programming. It doesn’t require memberships. It doesn’t charge more than $10 for most events. Bresler ultimately came up with the idea of the Tuesday Tune-Out, a film and music showcase and fundraiser – which, if you haven’t gathered from our monthly features on it, we’re massive fans of.
This month, the MOCA hosts its inaugural Cinedelphia film festival – we’ll tell you more about that in an indepth interview with Bresler tomorrow – and it lined up a hefty five weeks of Tune-Out programming. After nearly a year of featuring events at his venue, we’re thrilled to welcome Bresler to this space to talk about the music and movies in store. All events are at PhilaMOCA (531 N. 12th Street), start at 7:30pm and are $5.
From Eric:
I always enjoy finding out about the personal interests of musicians that I like – the movies they watch, the places they hang out – so I thought it would be fun to invite a single musician or band every week who would perform and then screen a film of their choosing that somehow influenced their sound or approach towards making music. Despite the crowds that PhilaMOCA events get, the city at large is still unaware of the space so I came up with the idea of rotating monthly curators as a means of introducing new segments of Philly’s populace to PhilaMOCA. So the audience for, say, 8static is very different than the audience for BITBY or Folkadelphia, thus by the end of the month there are several bands that have played the space for the first time that have brought out their own crowds who may be visiting the space for the first time. We’re really proud of the TTO series and seriously appreciate every guest curator and performer that has come out to support it.
Tuesday 4/2
Sweatheart with an 80s teen classic
I’m a big fan of Sweatheart and Brian Langan of Langor and numerous other Philly bands – he’s been a big help to the space, so I try to get him and his people involved whenever I can. They chose the film and its quite indicative of their sound. They do have this weird 80s-like party frat rock vibe, but they all dress like RPG characters! It’s a strange gimmick that’s all over the place, but its all cohesive. We’re not going to reveal the name of the film, but here’s a hint.
Tuesday 4/9
Divine Hand Ensemble with21st Century Classical Music
Divine Hand Ensemble is one of my favorite local bands. They’re led by Mano Divina, a Moog sponsored theremin player. They’re basically a chamber orchestra band that replaces lead singer with theremin, and I love that concept. And they don’t take themselves too seriously They’ll do the Highlander theme, stuff like that, but also classical pieces and original pieces too. This is the premiere screening of a documentary on them that’s several years in the making.
Tuesday 4/16
Farquar Muckenfuss playing a Monkees cover set with a screening of Head
Farquar Muckenfuss features members of Dead Milkmen and Mercury Radio Theater. The singer-guitarist F Woods and I, we go way back, and The Monkees were a frequent talking between us for many years. When I approached them about doing a Tune-Out, he suggested the Monkees, and I was thrilled. I’m doing the visuals that night, and I’ll be syncing up clips from tv series to their set, and then we’ll be watching the Monkees movie Head.
Tuesday 4/23
A screening of Loud! Fast! Philly! with appearances by many participating bands
I worked on this one with Joseph Gervasi of Exhumed Films, and he put on shows as the Cabbage Collective in the late 90s. It’s basically a visual history of Philly punk, from 1984 up to current house shows. It features at least 20 bands, many of whom will be in attendance, and we’ll show live clips and band members will come up and talk about it. The 7:00 screening is sold out, but we just announced a second screening at 10:30 the same night.
Tuesday 4/30
Pattern is Movement performing their new album synced to There Will be Blood
The band is getting ready to release its new album and There Will Be Blood inspired it, so they’re going to perform to scenes from the movie. This one is a free event, and sponsored by Pizza Brain.