Sacrificial Youth: Selling out comes with a price

Have you ever wanted to DO stuff? I mean start a record label. Start a band? Fu*k’n do something? Well, this guy does it.

His name is Joe Losurdo. He owned a record store. He has been in a touring punk band during the mid-eighties (Life Sentence) and one in the 2000’s (Regress). Joe and his wife Chris made the awesome Chicago punk scene documentary You Weren’t There: A History of Chicago Punk 1977-84. You gotta see it especially if all you know is LA / NYC / DC punk from that era. You Weren’t There is like a jolt of new life to your punk fandom.

Now his latest project is called Sacrificial Youth and it is a rock and roll musical. What I like about Joe’s approach is that he knows music, and can speak the language and nail the tone in cinematic form. I was fortunate to connect with Joe as his schedule was quite nutzo as he prepares for the premiere on the 19th.

Please nutshell Sacrificial Youth.

Sacrificial Youth is a musical in the key of Hardcore. It is the story of a young punk named TJ. He lives for The Scene. He is a true believer in the hardcore/DIY way of life, but evil forces conspire to destroy not only the scene, but TJ as well. TJ has no choice but to fight back.

Some times you have to fight back, in defense of your future. How did the Kickstarter funding work for you?

As far as Kickstarter is concerned, I wanted money from strangers but instead it came from all my friends and it just made me feel bad, so I was glad we didn’t reach our goal.

Why did you make the movie?

After we did You Weren’t There I wanted to do a full-length narrative film. I actually thought it would be easier than doing the documentary, which was incredibly naive of me. Then again, if I thought logically, I would never make an independent film ever. It’s a royal pain in the ass but it beats sitting around doing nothing.

It ended up being a hardcore musical by a train of thought that went a little too far. But once I got started, I had to finish the thought. I always felt many classic hardcore punk songs of the early 80’s “Golden Era” could be Broadway show tunes if given the Big Band/Orchestra treatment. Songs like “Sailin’ On” by the Bad Brains, “Straight Edge” by Minor Threat, most Dead Kennedys songs, etc. And then I started thinking about the “preachy” hardcore frontmen like Jello Biafra, Ian MacKaye, Dave MDC, Kevin Seconds, etc. and everything sort of fell into place after that. But I’m not busting on them, those guys ruled!

You directed it, wrote the story and the music… did I miss anything? Or better question, what didn’t you do?

Editing, catering, set building, chauffeuring, psychoanalyst, life coach, you name it, but I did have help from many talented, generous people. I would say the most important thing I didn’t do was operate the camera. That was mostly up to Wes Tabayoyong and Chris Rejano.

The thing that struck me the most was the fact that this film was made completely in the spirit of the old DIY hardcore scene. It was a bunch of people who went out of their way to help just because they thought it was a cool/fun thing to do. And the kids in the film who were actual teenagers “got it” as much as the old farts did. That makes me very happy.

Are there any musicals or movies that you drew inspiration from to make Sacrificial Youth?

I guess the most obvious influence would be Jesus Christ Superstar. But Sacrificial Youth is more “Jesus Christ Complex Indiestar.” Grease was the other big influence, and probably West Side Story.

How was it working with other performers on the songs in the film?

It was mostly a core of me on bass and guitar, Anthony Illarde or Heath Chappell on drums and many, many excellent guest musicians and singers like Nora O’Connor, Chris Bjorklund, Nate Lepine, Larry Schroeder, Lil’ Richie Speck, Jimmy Socket, Taylor Armstrong, and many more. I had played with most of them in some group or another, so I was very comfortable collaborating with them.

Do you have any more film projects planned for the future?

Yes, I have a couple of ideas for a new narrative film in the future. I promise they won’t involve punk rock but I’m sure music will still play a big part in them. Also, we are currently working on a documentary about Wax Trax! Records, the store and label.

Switching gears, what was the first record you bought?

I remember asking for records for my birthday and Christmas presents from a very early age, like I think I got Sgt. Pepper for my sixth birthday, and probably the Beach Boys’ Endless Summer. I remember acquiring records from weird sources, relatives, siblings, garage sales, etc. I can’t remember the first record I actually purchased with my own money cause I never had any money!

What was your introduction to punk rock?

My oldest sister was into it pretty much from the beginning, probably around 1977, so through her I got into the Sex Pistols, Ramones, Clash, Iggy, Bowie, but then she went more New Wave/Underground, cool shit like Grauzone, Bauhaus, Rema Rema, which I dug, but when hardcore started creeping in that was MY music. It’s the perfect music for an angry twelve-year-old.

SACRIFICIAL YOUTH | The WORLD PREMIERE is Friday April 19th at the Logan Theater, 2646 N. Milwaukee Ave. Chicago, IL as part of CIMM Fest 2013 (Chicago International Movies & Music Festival)

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