How Bay Area post-punks Creative Adult overcame competing artistic visions
- Text by Atina Dimitrova
It’s a mystery how Bay Area post-punk outfit Creative Adult have managed to hold things together for so long. The band is an artistic revolt, driven by five ferociously independent musicians with contrasting preferences for their own music.
Directed by Timmy Lodhi, this short documentary reveals the creative conflicts that broke out between the band’s members before they finally completed their latest album, Fear of Life.
We see how the clashing demands of each member nearly pulled the band apart, but what unified them was was their respect for emotions reflected through music and an openness to new ideas.
Vocalist Scott Phillips, guitarists Michael Bingham and Anthony Anzaldo, bassist Mike Fenton and drummer James Rogers share that they have different expectations and requirements about each step of the creative process.
For this reason, they sometimes prefer working on their parts separately and think of how to combine them later. Yet, when all elements come together, the music rebellion within the band seems to work wonders.
Creative Adult’s Fear of Life is out now on Run For Cover Records. Catch the band on tour throughout the UK and Europe, October 3-20.
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