A Band Called Death: An Interview with Directors Mark Covino & Jeff Howlett
Independent Film Quarterly caught up with Directors Mark Covino and Jeff Howlett after the World Premiere of A Band Called Death at the LA Film Festival. One of the best independent documentaries of 2012, A Band Called Death details the emotional story of punk rock, family and faith of Detroit’s own Hackney Brothers’ who created the first black punk band ‘Death.’ 35 years later, their story is now told.
IFQ: How did you get started making the documentary A Band Called Death?
JEFF HOWLETT: I met Bobby Sr. and Dannis (Hackney) 20 years ago at a local music festival that my band and their band Lambsbread were playing. Then one day four years ago, Bobby Jr., who was a successful musician in his own right, formed a band called Rough Francis with his brothers to honor his father’s band Death. Bobby Jr. told me to come check out his band that was playing a gig in town. He told me about how his father was in this amazing punk rock band back in the 1970s, and I said, “What, your father never told me about this?” When I went to the show, I was absolutely mesmerized by the music especially knowing the family for 20 years, I did not know about this hidden historical gem. One of our friends said it best, “we need to rewrite the history of punk rock.” A few months later, I called Bobby Jr. and Sr. and we started production on what would become A Band Called Death.
MARK COVINO: Jeff and I met on a music video he was directing back in 2008, and we immediately hit it off. Then one day shortly after, he mentioned how he wanted to make this documentary on his friends’ band called Death. I was trying to wrap up my own feature length documentary at the time, so needless to say I was a little hesitant at first. That was until Jeff sent me an email with the NY Times piece and a link to the two tracks from the 7″ vinyl that the band put out in the 1970s. Once I heard “Politicians in my Eyes,” I immediately called him back to start production.
IFQ: When you first started the documentary, were you planning to only focus on the band Death and their music—thus making a rockumentary?
JEFF: Making a rockumentary would have been good, and that was our original intention, but the deeper we got into the family history, the more we discovered that this was something more than a rockumentary.
IFQ: At what point, did you realize there was a deeper story about family and faith?
MARK: The interviews played a huge part for me, but there was also a lot of personal time spent with the family during production where it became apparent that this was a deeper story than what we had anticipated. One thing unique about documentaries is that you do your writing after you shoot your film. We thought we were doing a movie on the journey of the band Death, but after we shot it we realized that the true story was David.
JEFF: The moment I realized it was a deeper story about family and faith was viewing the first rough cut of the film. It seemed like every interview from family to friends that missing element was their brother David. The more we dug into David’s story the more rich the tie to faith and family was brought to the forefront.
IFQ: How did the internet play a key role in the sudden popularity of Death’s music after 35 years?
MARK: I think the internet played a key role shortly after Ben Blackwell posted the two tracks off of Death’s 7″, simply because now the whole world could listen to these two tracks that only a select few, if any, had the pleasure of hearing before. And when people started selling that 7″ on eBay for $800 a pop, well, I think that just drove up the demand for the band even more.
IFQ: Mark, how did you hook up with Hollywood producers through a tweet on Twitter?
MARK: About a year into the project, Jeff and I were at the end of our budget with working on the film to which we had a conversation on whether [we] needed to stop production or make it a ten year project. That very day, it was brought to our attention that Scott Mosier was Tweeting about a trailer we had made and posted online, and saying how he would love to know more about the film. That night we were on the phone with him. This conversation led to Scott turning on Matt Perniciaro, Kevin Mann and Jerry Ferrara who then helped develop it into the feature film it is now.
IFQ: What message or themes do you hope audiences will discover and discuss after watching A Band Called Death?
MARK: It’s important to never give up, stay true to yourself and in the words of David Hackney, “Back up your brother.”