They might be indie-rock icons; they might be the answer to global pollution; they might be a lot of things, but one thing is for sure, They Might Be Giants embody what a band can accomplish with an idiosyncratic sense of humor and a strong work ethic.
When it comes to indie rock, only a handful of bands come to most people's minds. On the top of most lists are the New York-based duo John Linnell and John Flansburgh of They Might Be Giants.
Starting in the New York City music scene, the band quickly gained a loyal fan base. From there, they created what essentially paved the way for downloadable media - a dial up song service called Dial-A-Song at www.dialasong.com. Now Linnell and Flansburgh are Grammy-winning artists and star in their own documentary, "Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns," directed by AJ Schnack.
The motion picture hits the silver screen this Friday.
"We were just the subject of the film," Flansburgh said. "It was one of the only thing John (Linnell) and I have been involved in where we actually weren't taking an active creative role. It really is AJ's film and he had total artistic control and editorial control."
Flansburgh said when Schnack approached him about the film, he and Linnell agreed to do the project without really believing it would happen. Schnack's dedication to the project impressed them, he said.
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"It was actually very mysterious because he took a long time to get the film put together," he said. "It was almost a two year deal and he was working pretty actively on it off and on in our lives."
Flansburgh said the end result depicts the nicer sides of They Might Be Giants.
"It was kind of a relief that it sort of portrayed us in a complimentary way," he said. "He (Schnack) certainty had enough ammo to cut out and cut to the bitchy parts. I'm sure we could be presented as the biggest prima donnas in rock. But that's not really what the movie's about."
Flansburgh said the movie instead focuses on his 20-year creative collaboration with Linnell.
"I think it's actually sort of a surprising story in the world of rock bands because it's the anti-"Behind the Music" in a lot of ways," he said. "It's more about not letting things change your point of view, and not letting events take over your creative life and sticking to your guns a little bit. It's very optimistic in a way because John [Linnell] and I have a very unlikely long-term collaboration and that's not how it works usually."
They Might be Giants has long been considered indie-rock icons. Flansburgh said the band's survival secret is maintaining a realistic perspective on the industry.
"In some ways were always keenly aware of how fragile a career in rock is and were pretty much the guys pushing the little project up the hill most of the time," he said. "What excites us about having a film like this out is that it gives a lot of people who'd be curious, but not overly curious, a chance to check out the band without having to go to a show in the middle of the night. It exposes us to a lot of new people."
"Gigantic: A Tale of Two Johns" opens Friday at Madstone Theatres.
