Welcome Synopsis Screening info Featured artists: Veruca Salt Wesley Willis Fiasco The Jesus Lizard Eleventh Dream Day Seam Triple Fast Action Die Warzau Sister Machine Gun Red Red Meat The Pulsars Yum-Yum Interview subjects Reviews Production notes Credits Loop merchandise By the numbers 5 Questions Director biography Links

What people are saying about "Out of the Loop" "This no-holds-barred look at the Chicago rock scene is...both and excellent film and a resource. Chicago's current class of scenesters...are well-represented through disarmingly candid interviews and some cool exclusive concert footage. The film has a decidedly indie feel to it by design, but never leans too far to one side that it topples over." Billboard "...a madly tantalizing glimpse of the behind-the-scenes fresh sounds belting out of Chicago's underground scene...a must-see. Petersen's interviews are extremely provocative [and] truly insightful." The Montana Kaimin "Smart, funny, decidedly quirky" Chicago Tribune "Amusing...a sharp eye for editing" Chicago Sun-Times "Fascinating, thought-provoking and honest" Chicago Underground Film Festival "A fantastic in-depth look at the Chicago underground music scene." Johns Hopkins Film Festival "Like its subject, "Out of the Loop" favors substance over flash. Though technically accomplished, this is more of a "home-made" film. The rough, low-budget texture doesn't detract from - but rather adds to - the film's authenticity. It looks and feels like the bands it features: a bit rough around the edges but with a clear sense of purpose. Insightful, informative, and at times revealing subtle doses of ironic humor, the film succeeds where many a first time outing could fail - by staying focused on the bands. Petersen only occasionally inserts himself into the mix, relying on the bands' music and personalities to tell his story (which are really their stories)." Illinois Entertainer "Filling the screen with compelling footage of influential Chicago rock giants, this rock documentary is a blast of rawness that lifts with a number of high energy performances. Filmmaker Scott Petersen dug into the careers and the performers and manag ed to provide a valuable story of a scene filled with bands on the way up and down. Don't miss it!" Albuquerque Weekly Alibi "Scott Petersen's in-depth snapshot of the musical output of one city is a kinetic portrait of Chicago's indie record labels, sound engineers, critics and lore, all working together to produce and mythologize 'the Chicago sound.' This film shows the fr agile balance of the youth culture absorbed in a music and lifestyle of resistance, yet pressured to consume much in the way the bands are tempted to 'go commercial.'" Denver International Film Festival "An entertaining and thought-provoking treat" University of Missouri-Columbia Maneater "The movie's strength rests in its insightful, provocative, sometimes hilarious and always interesting confessional interviews with local players and scenesters. Petersen's personal, probing questions are always compellingly and (seemingly) honestly answered. "Out of the Loop" succeeds on several levels. It supports the Chicago scene's vitality, while simultaneously illustrating its inherent interior paradoxes. Significantly, its story is told my those who lived it and made it happen. The movie neither bows to obsequious fan-boy pandering nor jumps on the indie bandwagon by arbitrarily labeling every act a sell-out." The Daily Northwestern "Exerting unusual documentary self-control, director Scott Petersen allows bands, rock critics, and record label owners to unravel the Chicago indie rock scene themselves. Cutting from indie label advocates to major label affiliates, the film offers the whole spectrum of pros and cons, culminating in Steve Albini's 'indie or die' stance juxtaposed to influential rock critic Bill Wyman's industry hamperings. With revealing portraits of mega-producer Steve Albini (Big Black, Rapeman, and Shellac), Die Warzau, the Jesus Lizard, Seam, Sister Machine Gun, Veruca Salt, and others, we are introduced to a prolific insider's portfolio of one of the richest and most intense rock music communities in America. San Francisco IndieFest "Petersen has created much more than just a video about Chicago bands. It is an intelligent and richly human look at some people and their lives. Excellent." Reviews and Reflections Full Reviews and Reflections article "Top pick" Daily Herald "Scott Petersen's fluent understated documentary has several distinct pleasures. The shooting of a Veruca Salt interview is particularly apt, the setting and framing suggesting a certain privilege and girliness even as Louise Post and Nina Gordon come off as strong-willed popsters...recommended" NewCity "Entertaining" The DePaulia Austin AIVF review indieWIRE interview with director Scott Petersen indieWIRE article Triple Fast Action: Life After Out of the Loop

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