A documentary about Ladyhawk

News

  • Aug 23.08 by Mona

    The house where Ladyhawk recorded Shots met an untimely demise this past Thursday. See article HERE. I'm sad but in a nostalgic way. I'm remembering how Ladyhawk really knew how to use the unique sounds of the house which varied from room to room and corner to corner. I loved the vintage linoleum patterns and the sense of calm that the house seemed to offer us.

  • Jun 20.08 by Rob

    Another nice review of Ladyhawk's Shots album and some not-so-insignifcant coverage of Let Me Be Fictional from Mike McGovern at ALARM Magazine can be found HERE. Mike writes: "Largely avoiding the kind of non-musical struggles and interpersonal turmoil common to documentaries (see: Metallica's Some Kind Of Monster) Let Me Be Fictional is a consummate fly-on-the wall recording film, strictly about the band and their music (and their affection for cheap homemade sangria." Thanks for the great mention ALARM.

  • Jun 18.08 by Rob

    Pretty excited about reading our first thoughtful criticism of our documentary today in the Brock Press, from the Brock University in St. Catherines. The author, Chris Illich writes "Despite the fact that the documentary definitely validates some of the stereotypes that Eastern Canada has developed for the West Coast, Let Me Be Fictional is a basic portrayal of four normal guys from British Columbia recording an album in their hometown." The other thing of note is that Mona isn't mentioned at all in this article. I'm sure I won't hear the end of that one.

  • Jun 15.08 by Mona

    I was lucky enough to be in Toronto this weekend for NXNE and caught Ladyhawk at the Horseshoe Tavern. Their set began at 2AM! I stood right infront of the stage with my HDV camera and withstood the onslaught of the mosh pit as well as the 40 degree temperature. it was super hot. Ladyhawk was super hot. CBC Radio 3 blogged about the night here. Duffy was even quoted in the NXNE 2008: Quips and Quotes in saying "It was like Altamont out there."

  • Apr 26.08 by Rob

    holy crap, how did we let this one get by our radar? It seems the good people at Fader (who are huge Ladyhawk supporters) found an unreleased song from the Shots sessions. We were there the whole time so I don't know when they managed to fire this one out. Anyway, enjoy the sounds of (You Are My) Hellfire. . This song finds them in new territory, gone is the sweet bombast of shots and an drone-y intensity now surfaces. They may have been doing more than Sangria when they conjured this one.

  • Apr 22.08 by Mona

    Ladyhawk begin their epic US tour TODAY. Both Paste and Pitchfork are giving their tour the attention it deserves. Or you can go to their record label, Jagjaguwar, where the Hawksters are featured on the landing page, for the list of US cities they will decimate with their rockin'.

  • Apr 05.08 by Mona

    Vice magazine, who in the past has given good press to Ladyhawk, has (I think) given Ladyhawk another positive review of Shots HERE by Cyril Bonavia.

  • Apr 04.08 by Mona

    Vancouver's entertainment paper, The Georgia Straight, also had a nice big story on Ladyhawk yesterday HERE by Steve Newton. The story covers the van rolling over right after the recording session and that "The recording of Shots was documented in Let Me Be Fictional, an 82-minute film directed by Rob Leickner and Mona Mok. It shows the quartet laying down tracks in a gutted Kelowna farmhouse with no heat or running water, and includes numerous shots of the members of Ladyhawk emptying hefty pee buckets into the yard." Duffy responds that the 2 weeks of recording was "pretty primitive." No kidding, Rob and I had to coordinate our own bathroom breaks and walk to the mall across the street since there always had to be 1 camera running. The article also mentions that Kevin Kane (of Grapes of Wrath) was a guest performer on Shots and Newton makes this amazing comment about Shots: "one could argue that Ladyhawk’s new music is just as compelling as the ’70s-prog-rock-inspired creations on Black Mountain’s latest, the much-ballyhooed In the Future."

  • Apr 03.08 by Mona

    The Vancouver Sun has a whole page in their paper today on Ladyhawk HERE. The story entitled "Homemade sangria fuelled Ladyhawk record" mention their sold-out show with Black Mountain at the Commodore this saturday and that "the album has a messy, dark sound to it that is at least partly influenced by booze-soaked, late-night jam sessions. The songs are, for the most part, straight-up, straight-to-the-point rock 'n' roll that demands to the be listened to loud and begs for the opportunity to see them played live." The story also talks about the recording in Kelowna and that "the farmhouse recording process was filmed by Vancouver-based filmmakers Mona Mok and Rob Leickner and edited into the documentary, Let Me Be Fictional." This is rather exciting stuff and weird seeing your name in your local newspaper.

  • Mar 31.08 by Mona

    Pitchfork is coming out with Pitchfork TV on April 7th. Pitchfork TV will showcase music videos, music performances, music interviews, music documentaries. Hold up, did someone say DOCUMENTARIES? We've already sent them our film and hope the stars align so that Let Me Be Fictional is somehow a part of Pitchfork TV. Today, they posted their lineup for the first week HERE.

  • Mar 30.08 by Mona

    Winnipeg's Uptown Magazine Online posted a long interview with Duffy HERE about their experience going back to Kelowna to record Shots in a "house - which had no plumbing, no heat and had to have electricity brought in via extension cord from a neighbouring building - became something of a fifth member, contributing to Shots' atmospheric, live-off-the-floor feel." After admitting that he was initially against the filming of the recording process, Duffy says this: "It was weird to have cameras in your face all the time - you tend to edit how you talk. And it's hard because you have no control over how you're portrayed, and normally, I like having lots of control when it comes to our art," Driediger continues. "But Rob and Mona are really cool, and I think their presence really added to it."

  • Mar 29.08 by Mona

    I heard from a Hiver that CBC Radio was going to interview Ladyhawk but I could only find the Q&A interview. Today, I finally located the 8 minute conversation with CBC's Lisa Christiansen and as I listened to the interview and heard Duffy and Darcy laughing and talking, it took me back to those 2 weeks of filming them in Kelowna and some really great memories.

  • Mar 28.08 by Rob

    I grew up in Edmonton so this it's neat to see my name mentioned in the Calgary Herald. It's also neat to read Duffy say about the filming process: "We haven't seen the final version of the movie," he admits. "It was weird doing it. They're cool people, and it was cool of them to do it, but it's not something I'd rush to do again. When a camera's in your face, it's hard to act the same--you feel false. I guess what's strange is to be thought of as interesting enough to document."

  • Mar 26.08 by Mona

    Thanks to my co-worker Bryan for bringing to my attention that Ladyhawk's I Don't Always Know What You're Saying is the iTunes Single of the Week.

  • Mar 16.08 by Rob

    Another complimentary review, this time from the Toronto Star.

  • Mar 14.08 by Rob

    On NPR's blog, Carrie Brownstein (of Sleater-Kinney) provides an insightful and long interview with Duffy where she asks about touring in Canada vs the US, sequencing of the songs on the album, growing up in Kelowna, and the typical Ladyhawk fan amongst other things.

  • Mar 5.08 by Mona

    YES! Pitchfork covered Shots and mentioned the film. I'm so happy it hurts.

  • Mar 4.08 by Rob

    Ladyhawk is getting pretty good coverage on the release of Shots today. See HERE, HERE, HERE and especially HERE where I'm mistakenly referred to as a former record exec.

  • Mar 3.08 by Rob

    Vancouver newspaper, The Province, had Shots as their entertainment section cover story spanning two pages. The review about Shots includes a comment from Duffy about the filming process saying: "It was weird, mildly annoying and totally out of our control." The interviewer, Stuart Derdeyn, says about our film: "The movie is quite funny and shows the four musicians in all of their sloppy glory."

  • Mar 2.08 by Rob

    Pssst. Some footage from the cuttingroom floor has made its way onto the interwebs HERE and HERE just in time for the March 4th release of Shots.

  • Feb 29.08 by Mona

    The University of Calgary's newspaper, The Gauntlet, has an article about Shots with an interview with Duffy and mentions how the filming might have positively affected the recording process: "Being on edge actually made us more focused on getting what we wanted done. It made us step up our game because we didn't want to look like complete idiots on film."

  • Feb 14.08 by Mona

    Valentines love to people visiting us from Paste Magazine, Chart Attack, Exclaim, and THE PLUGG.

  • Jan 29.08 by Rob

    Jag just posted a news article about the doc. Sweet.

  • Jan 23.08 by Mona

    The question I have is: how did these people find out about us? We found two more mentions today at ELBO.WS and MOG.

  • Jan 22.08 by Mona

    Holy crap! Fader posted our trailer on their website today. Unreal.

  • Jan 10.08 by Mona

    Jag finally posted info about Shots today. Go immediately here to see the new album cover and the one sheet. It's rather rad.

  • Jan 08.08 by Mona

    Fader magazine posted an mp3 from Ladyhawk's second album, Shots, today. Go here to listen to "I don't always know what you're saying."

  • Jan 03.08 by Mona

    We've been busy making multiple visits to the post office in the past month mailing off our film to a variety of film fests. Also, we've been working on getting this website up. Thanks to Steve Calvert for stepping in at the last minute on it. You totally saved us, man.

  • Dec 02.07 by Mona

    We spent the weekend figuring out how to output the film to DVD so we can send it off to film festivals. And now it's completo!! I can't believe it's really finished. However, I did call this film version "Film Fest 001" cuz I anticipate revisions will occur. But it's calming and awesome to know it's all done and i don't have to look at the footage for a good long time.

  • Nov 28.07 by Mona

    Since Nov 15.07, I've been in The Hive's Studio Bee doing the final sound mix for the film. It's been a great excuse to reconnect with The Hivers and be in a real recording space again. I've already bumped into Nick from P:ano/gigi/no kids, Veda Hille and the guys from Fake Shark, Real Zombie. Although it's important to hear the sound mix on a good (and loud) system, the good system also reveals noise I thought I had already removed. So I've had to beg to double my time in Studio Bee to 7 days. But now it's finished. Yahooeee!

  • Nov 14.07 by Rob

    Mona's VFS classmate, Zdenek Shycrava has spent the past month removing all sorts of hums and clicks using analog outboard gear he's been accumulating. The house in Kelowna was tricky for sound recording with a super noisy heater on one end and a table full of mixing and recording gear. Zdenek saved us.