flipside memphis

Beginning in the 1990s as the bassist for surf-rockers Impala, Scott Bomar has been at the forefront of Memphis music for more than a decade. The versatile musician, engineer, and producer has done extensive movie soundtrack work, bringing slinky soul-inspired sounds to such films as Craig Brewer’s 2005 breakout hit Hustle and Flow, the blues infused followup Black Snake Moan, Giancarlo Espositio’s directorial debut Gospel Hill, and the upcoming John Michael McCarthy exploitation epic Cigarette Girl. Bomar’s band the Bo-Keys doesn’t just ape the classic Memphis sounds of the 60s and 70s, members such as “Theme from Shaft” guitarist Charles “Skip” Pitts and Bar-Kays founder Ben Cauley are carrying on in the vein they started.

Bomar says he drew inspiration and advice from legendary producer Willie Mitchell when opening his own Eletraphonic Recording studio in Memphis’ burgeoning South Main Arts district. During the studio’s short existence, Bomar has recorded artists ranging from rap legend Al Kapone to punk sensation Jay Reatard, using a mix of digital and analog equipment to bring the Memphis sound into the twenty-first century.

Scott Bomar
http://www.electraphonicrecording.com

Hustle and Flow
http://www.hustleandflow.com/

Black Snake Moan
http://www.moanmovie.com/

Gospel Hill
http://www.gospelhillfilm.com/

Cigarette Girl
http://www.guerrillamonster.com/movies/Cigarette_Girl/index.html

Bar-Kays
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMw6GaA1-Ug

Al Kapone
http://www.myspace.com/alkaponememphis

Jay Reatard
http://www.myspace.com/jayreatard

CREDITS
special thanks to
Ryan Peel
music
“The Safe Cracker”
performed by the City Champs

Flipside Memphis premiers to a sold-out audience on Monday, April 27th.
Check out what Memphis peeps had to say about the 19 videos that screened.

Music
“Falling Back to Earth”
performed by Organ Thief
http://www.myspace.com/organthief

Flipside Memphis is a project produced by Live From Memphis in conjunction with the Memphis Tourism Foundation. The 35 mini-docs all about Memphis were made for MTV New Media as companion pieces for Craig Brewer’s series “$5 Cover.”

Flipside Memphis
Produced by Live From Memphis and the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau

Produced and directed by Sarah Fleming and Christopher Reyes

Additional videography and editing by Brad Phelan and Eric Swartz

Additional location audio by Chad White
Production assistance by Shelly Gillette
Animation titles and graphic design by Alex Harrison

“There has never been a stronger movement in our generation to support Memphis creatives,” says Live from Memphis co-creator Christopher Reyes.

He and Live from Memphis co-creators Sarah Fleming and Brad Phelan dug deep into their knowledge of Memphis for Flipside, a series of documentary shorts produced in association with MTV and the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau that highlights the city’s vibrant creative communities. But although $5 Cover provided the impetus for Flipside, “It’s bigger than a film,” says Reyes.

In Flipside, you’ll learn the definition of “jookin” and meet a man who lives in a cluster of vintage Airstream trailers. “Combining these amazing people, places, and stories into a single experience like Flipside generates massive appreciation for how unique Memphis really is,” says Phelan. “It’s very inspirational for me to see all these great things going on in my own city. Flipside has brought my love for Memphis to a whole new level.”

Here, creatives know the meaning of community, organizing to help themselves solve problems and fill voids like the members of the Rozelle Artists Guild, who rebelled against the image of the lone, struggling artist to explore the joys of collaboration, or the women of the Memphis Roller Derby, who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps to compete in one of America’s fastest-growing new sports. Flipside will introduce you to musicians such as Scott Bomar, who update classic soul sounds for the new millennium, and the Warble, who throw out the rule book and try something new. You’ll hear from people such as Eric Friedl and Zac Ives, whose Goner Records label and store spread the Memphis sound to the four corners of the Earth. You’ll see where the creatives congregate and feel the love of community at the Cooper-Young Festival.

We here at Live from Memphis are proud to shine a light on the best parts of the city we love, and hope these short films bring you a fraction of the joy they brought to us as we created them. “For me, Flipside has been an inspiration,” says Fleming. “Being able to work in tandem with so many diverse creatives, and to provide a platform for showcasing their talent to the world is, well, just awesome!”