ALL ABOUT THE CHILDREN

    “No such thing as bad press.” I’m not so sure about this aphorism. Bad press goes hand in hand with “fake news,” and the results can be unpredictable. I give pastoral magazines like DVEIGHT and UPSTATE DIARY  a hard time for their elitist, rose colored, “pretty-centric,” celeb heavy content, yet benefit from their coverage of my thing. Both magazines have run articles on my work. They make me look way more interesting than I really am. I can be as fake as the next guy thank you very much. Back in the day we would deliberately release and push fake, unflattering stories surrounding the CLGM and my band Purple Geezus. The back cover of one Purple Geezus EP claimed that I had stalked country music star Barbara Mandrell and that Robert Chambers (a convicted murdering scumbag) had played bass with us. All false.This was the 80’s and a punk rock aesthetic of purposeful lying self-deprecation was still all the rage. We wanted people saying nice things about us, but wouldn’t be caught dead blowing our own horn. It was a strange “shoot yourself in the foot,” rationale.

    Because of the magazine and internet press I received in the early part of this decade more people knew of my work in the country and one day a guy showed up wanting to do a documentary. This was quite a surprise for an obscure rural artist, not considered an “outsider.”  I ain’t no Rev. Finster. I’d always resisted discussing the church in detail in print, but I felt it was time. I was proud of church and was willing to share. I agreed to let Roderick Angle film three churches and sat for multiple interviews. The final product is a short (14 mins.) film on the church and my approach to social sculpture. I’m a big fan of the documentary format. At first I thought so short a film would not do me nor the church justice. I was wrong. I no longer feel that way. Few people or projects are worthy of more than 14 mins. of video. The short film format is perfect. 14 mins. is plenty.

    Did Roderick capture the lightning in the bottle that is a Church of the Little Green Man service? Not exactly. That is not to say he didn’t try. Once again, I think this is a blessing in disguise. My singing to the children about sex and drugs, multiple congregant interviews ragging on me, pot smoking, shaky camera work and technical difficulties led to much excellent footage hitting the cutting room floor. As much of a control freak as I am, I had to force myself to be comfortable with the director’s choices. The thing that most concerned me was that he would make coming to church look so attractive that his short film would go viral and we would be inundated with curious weekend warriors looking for another fringe to infect. We are already at SRO for every service. Stay away. Too many cars on the road or congregants using the outhouse and we could lose control of our great little scene.

    Burning dollars and singing to underage kids about sex and drugs can be seen by many in the straight community as problematic. One of the most gratifying aspects of church for me is the fact that kids love it. We never tailored it to children. It’s always been (and remains) an adult scene. But as people started having children they brought them along. The one thing all kids love is watching adults make fools of themselves. Add a piñata filled with candy and you have a built in enthusiastic audience. Some, even in the inner circle, feel we should curb our overt sexual transgressive language and themes for the benefit of the impressionable youth. I’m not so sure. I resist change, hoping that a little bad press scaring parents with kids away would be a good thing— a natural editing process. I wish Roderick had kept more of my goofy interaction with the children in the film. I know this would make some parents uncomfortable and infuriate many. I think he knew that as well. Unlike me, he welcomes the viral. Why not? It’s his film. I know that the kids get it and they realize I would never purposefully do anything to make them uncomfortable. They are having innocent fun, as am I. Always align with the youth. We are in it together. As Michael Jackson was fond of saying,”It’s all about the children.”