Is your small town an untapped well of punk and hardcore music? You probably think it is, but you're probably wrong, and most of the music is shit. Well Bellmore on Long Island, New York has had a burgeoning scene since the early 80s and finally someone has decided to commit to it in a documentary called Bellmore The Unscene. Bellmore natives Frank Fusco and Jim Muscarella have spent 2 years collecting and editing the footage. The film has yet to find a distributor but it is playing in many festivals.
While many past bands weave their way in and out of the movies a great amount of focus is on the Eggplant Queens. EQ is the culmination of 20 years of music and is a four-piece band with three singers!
Check out the official website
Daniel Robert Epstein: How long have you been doing this documentary?
Frank Fusco: Anyone who had any relevant footage we would take it and work it into the movie so it goes back to 1986. Weve been putting it together for about 2 years. It took us a while to interview people and then we wanted to go around with the Eggplant Queens and record a bunch of their shows. We had 200 plus hours of footage to go through.
DRE: Why did you start it?
FF: I grew up in Bellmore but I moved out after high school. Then I would keep going back to see shows. I would always say that these people are such characters and someone should make a film about them. At first I didnt know what the story would be and I thought I would just be documenting my friends. Then I realized there was something there. [Producer] Jim [Muscarella] and I went to the same school and he was telling me he was into production and I was an art director who made short films. He told that if there was anything I ever wanted to work on to let him know. I told him about making a documentary on the music scene in Bellmore. In the scene there are three groups like Justified Balance, The Intellectuals and Zombula then there was Jims group, which were younger guys.
DRE: Why didnt you include your band?
FF: I wanted to be objective and I didnt want people to get caught up in any drama. I wanted to do it as an outsider looking in. But as I was asking questions people did talk about my past bands.
DRE: Could someone who wasnt from Bellmore have made this movie?
FF: I dont think so because these people dont talk to strangers easily. Being that I was part of the scene made it easier for them. They were able to open up more. Its one big family, which comes out in the movie. There is always bickering in a family and thats the way they were. I tried to give a good cross section of people saying good and bad things about each other.
DRE: Did anyone want to go off on anyone?
FF: There were a lot of the same stories told by different people. Usually it would be certain people who were getting the brunt of it. But I supposed those people deserved it because they push peoples buttons.
DRE: I used to work with Joe Kollar who was a major part of the scene with his band, Rat Bastard. How big is Joe in the scene?
FF: In the scene hes really well known. Back in 1984 in eighth grade I went to see The Intellectuals, which he was in. They were terrible, but everyone loved it. I think I bought a guitar the next week. Since then hes been the head of many bands. Its always the same people who start up new bands in Bellmore.
DRE: That last Rat Bastard show sounded great.
FF: It was nuts with all the fire extinguishers going off.
DRE: What music did the scene start with?
FF: We all started with hardcore music and punk. My early band, The Barking Spiders, was a hardcore band and so was Justified Violence. I wouldnt even know how to describe the Eggplant Queens. They have a chance to really be something with their three singers.
DRE: Have record executives ever come to see many bands out there?
FF: Not that I know of.
DRE: How difficult was it putting it together?
FF: Some footage was tough to get. There were events people talked about like when Ron Bianco shoots fire out of his mouth and lights the ceiling on fire. People were always talking about that so we knew the footage existed but we had to track it down. A lot of it came from this one guy named Scott Jacobs who for the last ten years always had a camera taping everything. But none of his tapes were labeled. So I had to scan through ten years of footage. It wasnt even just music but also was his family because he has no discretion when hes shooting.
I had never taken on a project like this. After my fulltime job at home, I would go home and edit.
DRE: How has the response been outside Bellmore?
FF: Weve had two screenings in Manhattan. We had one screening at CBs Gallery and we had a big turnout even though there was a huge snowstorm. The owner said he was amazed at how many people we got. My worry was that because its a movie about one town, would people find it interesting. It seemed like they did.
DRE: Is the documentary a collection of stories that have always been told in Bellmore?
FF: Yeah theyre like war stories. Everyone has the same story but a different take on it.
DRE: Was it weird for people to see the stories theyve been telling for years in a movie?
FF: Yeah and also to see what other people have to say about the same stories.
DRE: Did the movie heal any old wounds between people?
FF: There have been two people who were casualties, left the scene and we cant find them. But overall I think its brought some life to the scene. Now the Eggplant Queens have something to strive for because there is a movie that talks about them like they are a serious band.
DRE: Why did Bellmore have such a big hardcore scene in the first place?
FF: For me it was because my friends were into it. But it probably all goes back to the band Justified Violence, Ron Bianco the tattoo artist, Bob Saldarelli who is now in The Eggplant Queens and Jim Colletti who is in Agnostic Front now. They got into hardcore music somehow and that spread all throughout the other people in town. Back then hardcore and punk was all about word of mouth.
DRE: Have you submitted the movie to many festivals?
FF: Weve entered many and been rejected from many. Independent filmmaking is an untruth because you are up against people with big budgets and who have famous people in their movies.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
While many past bands weave their way in and out of the movies a great amount of focus is on the Eggplant Queens. EQ is the culmination of 20 years of music and is a four-piece band with three singers!
Check out the official website
Daniel Robert Epstein: How long have you been doing this documentary?
Frank Fusco: Anyone who had any relevant footage we would take it and work it into the movie so it goes back to 1986. Weve been putting it together for about 2 years. It took us a while to interview people and then we wanted to go around with the Eggplant Queens and record a bunch of their shows. We had 200 plus hours of footage to go through.
DRE: Why did you start it?
FF: I grew up in Bellmore but I moved out after high school. Then I would keep going back to see shows. I would always say that these people are such characters and someone should make a film about them. At first I didnt know what the story would be and I thought I would just be documenting my friends. Then I realized there was something there. [Producer] Jim [Muscarella] and I went to the same school and he was telling me he was into production and I was an art director who made short films. He told that if there was anything I ever wanted to work on to let him know. I told him about making a documentary on the music scene in Bellmore. In the scene there are three groups like Justified Balance, The Intellectuals and Zombula then there was Jims group, which were younger guys.
DRE: Why didnt you include your band?
FF: I wanted to be objective and I didnt want people to get caught up in any drama. I wanted to do it as an outsider looking in. But as I was asking questions people did talk about my past bands.
DRE: Could someone who wasnt from Bellmore have made this movie?
FF: I dont think so because these people dont talk to strangers easily. Being that I was part of the scene made it easier for them. They were able to open up more. Its one big family, which comes out in the movie. There is always bickering in a family and thats the way they were. I tried to give a good cross section of people saying good and bad things about each other.
DRE: Did anyone want to go off on anyone?
FF: There were a lot of the same stories told by different people. Usually it would be certain people who were getting the brunt of it. But I supposed those people deserved it because they push peoples buttons.
DRE: I used to work with Joe Kollar who was a major part of the scene with his band, Rat Bastard. How big is Joe in the scene?
FF: In the scene hes really well known. Back in 1984 in eighth grade I went to see The Intellectuals, which he was in. They were terrible, but everyone loved it. I think I bought a guitar the next week. Since then hes been the head of many bands. Its always the same people who start up new bands in Bellmore.
DRE: That last Rat Bastard show sounded great.
FF: It was nuts with all the fire extinguishers going off.
DRE: What music did the scene start with?
FF: We all started with hardcore music and punk. My early band, The Barking Spiders, was a hardcore band and so was Justified Violence. I wouldnt even know how to describe the Eggplant Queens. They have a chance to really be something with their three singers.
DRE: Have record executives ever come to see many bands out there?
FF: Not that I know of.
DRE: How difficult was it putting it together?
FF: Some footage was tough to get. There were events people talked about like when Ron Bianco shoots fire out of his mouth and lights the ceiling on fire. People were always talking about that so we knew the footage existed but we had to track it down. A lot of it came from this one guy named Scott Jacobs who for the last ten years always had a camera taping everything. But none of his tapes were labeled. So I had to scan through ten years of footage. It wasnt even just music but also was his family because he has no discretion when hes shooting.
I had never taken on a project like this. After my fulltime job at home, I would go home and edit.
DRE: How has the response been outside Bellmore?
FF: Weve had two screenings in Manhattan. We had one screening at CBs Gallery and we had a big turnout even though there was a huge snowstorm. The owner said he was amazed at how many people we got. My worry was that because its a movie about one town, would people find it interesting. It seemed like they did.
DRE: Is the documentary a collection of stories that have always been told in Bellmore?
FF: Yeah theyre like war stories. Everyone has the same story but a different take on it.
DRE: Was it weird for people to see the stories theyve been telling for years in a movie?
FF: Yeah and also to see what other people have to say about the same stories.
DRE: Did the movie heal any old wounds between people?
FF: There have been two people who were casualties, left the scene and we cant find them. But overall I think its brought some life to the scene. Now the Eggplant Queens have something to strive for because there is a movie that talks about them like they are a serious band.
DRE: Why did Bellmore have such a big hardcore scene in the first place?
FF: For me it was because my friends were into it. But it probably all goes back to the band Justified Violence, Ron Bianco the tattoo artist, Bob Saldarelli who is now in The Eggplant Queens and Jim Colletti who is in Agnostic Front now. They got into hardcore music somehow and that spread all throughout the other people in town. Back then hardcore and punk was all about word of mouth.
DRE: Have you submitted the movie to many festivals?
FF: Weve entered many and been rejected from many. Independent filmmaking is an untruth because you are up against people with big budgets and who have famous people in their movies.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
dialysis:
Yes, Seattle had and still does have a great punk scene for a long time. And it really sucks when people think of seattle (grunge ). I bought a tape that I cherish back in 85' called Northwest punk it's greatest.
valerio:
i hope he finds a distributor so i may c this film someday....