Synopsis
A feature film charting the rise of the independent music scene through the life of Australia’s most underrated guitarist, Melbourne’s Steve Connolly. Hum the lead break to Paul Kelly’s; ’Before Too Long’ or ‘Leaps and Bounds’…go on….hear it? Those twangy, lowdown notes are Steve Connolly’s. His guitar was an extension of him, his touch on the strings – effortless. His death in 1995 was a great loss to music. He worked with Paul Kelly and The Coloured Girls/Messengers from 1984 – 1992 and went on to produce albums for artists like Archie Roach and Kev Carmody. Like a Lowdown Guitar gets to the heart of the man who spun webs of melody and texture behind Paul Kelly’s lyrics. We looks beneath the excess to find a warm, witty, revealing tale of ambition crashing into reality, of idealism replaced by disillusion. Using unseen archive footage, early penned songs and personal photographs the film traces Connolly’s life via the independent music scene of the 1980s. Independent musicians still plying their craft today candidly assess Connolly’s role and recall those seat of your pants days through heartfelt stories. Ultimately the film is a love letter to Connolly’s guitar playing style and that period before social media, mobile phones and the internet. This is a rock ‘n roll biography with heart…and great songs.
Photographic images courtesy of Stuart Spence. Graphics Cate Broadbent and Matt O’Brien
Story
Tim Milliken has kept the original 3 analogue tapes of the recordings Steve did for his final album. They are sitting in his shed in the Tasmania. He aims to remix the album with updated tecnology.
Chloe Haritopoulos is a forward for the Fitzroy womens’ senior team as well as a bass player in a Melbourne band. She won the Steve Connolly medal for Best on Field at the Community Cup and is keen to uncover more,about the man whose name is on her medal.
Steve’s family and friends traverse his early teenage bands and the social conditions of the times that led to artists flocking to the inner city. From Cuban Heels with mate Spencer P Jones to The Zimmermen with John Dowler, via some cleverly named interim bands, Steve carved a path through Melbourne. Then finally that chance meeting with Paul Kelly and the move to Sydney where The Coloured Girls/ Messengers began. This was the band that Steve threw all his energy into. Crafting timeless, hummable music alongside drummer Michael Barclay, bassist Jon Schofield and keyboardist Peter Bull (augmented later with percussionist Ray Pereira and occasionally starring the talents of Chris Wilson on harmonica). The band lasted 7 years and 6 albums (Post, Gossip, Under the Sun, So Much Water So Close to Home, Comedy and Hidden Things) before finishing in 1992.
A round circle of guitarists have a yarn and unpick Steve’s guitar playing style.
Steve’s career after the Messengers was varied. He expanded his skills with the Celtic folk rock of The Troubles as well as recording a demo with Steve Lucas (of X). Never one to stand still he took the producing reins and played guitar on Kaarin Fairfax’s alter ego, Mary Jo Starr’s album, ‘Too Many Movies’ as well as his work producing Kev Carmody’s ‘Eulogy for a Black Person’. He had already co-produced Archie Roach’s ‘Charcoal Lane’ in 1990 and found great creativity in that role. He would also play on and produce an EP for Sherry Rich and The Grievous Angels. But by 1994 Steve’s long neglected health began failing. His new band, The Usual Suspects, began working with ex-Divinyls bassist/producer and engineer Tim Millikan. All the instruments and his voice had been recorded and they were waiting for a space to appear in the Atlantis studio schedule to mix the album when Steve fell seriously ill. He passed away from a bacterial infection of the heart soon after. His last album was posthumously released.
The lyric from ‘Too Her Door’ is apt – ‘and his heart was singing like a low down guitar’. That line inspires the film’s title as well as recalling his low slung black Fender Stratocaster. We celebrate his legacy and the independent music scene, through those that were there.
Thank you to those who have agreed to be interviewed – it’s a long list of independent music greats. “This film acknowledges the Turrbal/Yuggera people of Meanjin and their continuing connection to land and sea country. The filmmakers would also like to pay their respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lands who are represented in this documentary.”
Production Stage
- Development
- Production
- Post-production
- Completed
- Outreach
DURATION: 95 MINUTES
Issue area
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