Ready to give a behind-the-scenes look at the hit late ‘80s early ‘90s band, L7, Los Angeles’ Blue Hats Creative launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to raise nearly $100,000 for a new documentary called L7: Pretend We’re Dead.
The American band was formed by bandmates, Donita Sparks and Suzi Gardner, in 1985, and due to their sound and image, they are often associated with the grunge movement of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. The band stayed together until 2001 when they parted ways. In late 2014, the ladies announced that they were reuniting and would feature Sparks and Gartner along with Jennifer Finch and Demetra Plakas
The new film is a story about the fierce, funny and feminist rockers of the American grunge punk band. Sarah Price, the filmmaker behind the films American Movie, The Yes Men, and Summercamp, will direct the new documentary, which takes viewers on an all-access journey into the 1990’s grunge movement and the band that helped define it as the “genre of a generation.”
The description of the documentary reads, “Culled from over 100 hours of vintage home movies taken by the band, never-before-seen performance footage and candid interviews, L7: Pretend We’re Dead is an engrossing time capsule told from the perspective of L7, these true insides who brought their signature blend of the grunge punk to the masses.
“Chronicling the early days of the band’s formation in 1985 to their height as the ‘queens of grunge,’ the film takes a roller coaster ride through L7’s triumphs and failures, providing never-before-dicussed insight into the band’s eventual dissolution in 2001.
“L7: Pretend We’re Dead has unwittingly become the catalyst for a recently announced reunion of the band, becoming perhaps the silver lining in this rags-to-never-quite riches story.”
Noting that having an all-girl band was never intentional (and those who thought it was clearly missed the point), Sparks previously stated, “Our fans couldn’t give a sh*t if we’re women. We didn’t set out to be an all-girl band. It just happened that way.”
Unfortunately, the filmmakers wrote, “The ‘gender issue’ would return time and again for the band becomes a recurring theme in L7: Pretend We’re Dead from shock jocks refusing to play “chick rock” to academics accusing the band of “incorrectly” embracing their feminism to members of the press implying the band was merely riding a wave of “grrl power” trendiness.”
Standing up to those who criticized the band, Dean of American Rock Critics, Robert Christgau previously stated, “How anyone can accuse them of riding a bandwagon is beyond me. Songs like Wargasm, Diet Pill, and Sh*tlist fulfill the ancient prophecy of a time when gurls would reinvent punk out of sheer delight.”
The filmmakers then added, “L7: Pretend We’re Dead shows the thread of influence the band had not only on rock and roll but on future generations of women everywhere and is, at the end, a testament to the pioneering spirit of a band that refuses to take anything lying down.”
The funds from the Kickstarter campaign will help the documentary’s team complete the final production process, which will include some interviews, the licensing of broadcast footage, final editorial, sound mix, sound design, and artwork.
Since its debut, the L7’s crowdfunding campaign has raised nearly $25,000. It is set to close on February 26th.
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