[It’s our requsite and daily “I’m Not There,” post. Hi Harvey!]
Many moons ago, we noted the involvement of the little-known Montreal group, The Royal Mountain Band (pictured here), as The Band, in the Todd Haynes Dylan biopic, “I’m Not There.”
The Band being the Robbie Robertson-lead, mostly Canadian good ol’ time rock band that Dylan recruited for his 1965–1966 world tour when he went electric (they were known as the Hawks around this period). They got so much flak and blame for Zimmy’s electrical heresy that drummer/singer Levon Helm actually left the group for two years he was so dispirited. The Band backed Dylan for the informal sessions belatedly called The Basement Tapes that were released in 1975, but actually recorded around 1967 after Dylan’s well-documented and near-fatal motorcycle accident .
We asked The Royal Mountain Band a bunch of questions about their involvement in “I’m Not There,” and vocalist/guitarist Tavis Triance was kind enough to answer.
The Playlist: How did you get involved in this project?
In the most narrow sense, we got involved in this project through [Pop Montreal promoter] Dan Seligman, who thought we’d fit for the part, got us an audition and subsequently found us an agent who worked in the local film industry. In a broader sense, we got the part because our band has been really into The Band and people have come to associate us with that sort of sound, feel and to some extent look—which is actually more what the film people were looking for I suppose.
We hear members of Wolf Parade and other Montreal Musicians also auditioned, how did you get the part?
I think that Wolf Parade thing comes from an interview we did with Montreal’s local entertainment weekly The Mirror where I remembered there being some members of Wolf Parade auditioning before us as well as a really wicked guy by the name of Uncle Milchey who plays in a band called Starvin Hungry. I think he was auditioning for the part of Robbie. I think I responded to one of the interview questions saying that it would have been nice if the casting people had chosen us for our love and knowledge of The Band, but that it more likely that we just looked more like them than Wolf Parade did.
Which Bob Dylan actor did you work with?
We worked with Cate Blanchett who was not only an incredible actor—I didn’t entirely believe in acting or actors before seeing her performances—but completely unpretentious and very friendly.
How was the on-set experience?
Really good; Todd Haynes was a particularly wicked human being and really seemed to have this passionate, somewhat twisted interpretation of the whole Dylan myths. It was all very interesting and will, I think, come out in the film of course.
There most have been some strange and surreal moments.
I’m not sure how much to say as I certainly don’t want to be responsible for ruining anyone’s enjoyment of the film, but there was a point in which we found ourselves standing all in a row firing off Uzis. I don’t think it’s necessary to explain just how surreal it is to stand next to a very beautiful movie star, convincingly costumed as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, all the while showering her/him with hot uzi casings.
Have you seen the film or your part in it?
I have yet to see much of the film other than the screen shots I was able to get a look at while I was on set. Those were black and white shots of us dressed as The Band on stage with Dylan, and looked fucking amazing to me.
Were you guys told you were playing the Band/The Hawks? Was it supposed to be an exact period?
We were a blend of several different shows during what they were thinking of as Dylan’s ‘Electric Phase.’
Was it nice to be a Canadian band, portraying a mostly-Canadian band?
Incredible for us. We actually have friends in a band by the name of Bullmoose who know [Band keyboardist] Richard [Manuel]’s brother.
What can you tell us about the soundtrack that we don’t already know?
They are using the song “I’m Not There” which was recorded in the Basement Tapes sessions but isn’t in wide release. I love that tune. We also recorded a version of “You Aint Goin Nowhere” and submitted it for the soundtrack, but I guess they decided to go with Roger Mcguinn instead. Fair enough I suppose. You can check out our version on our Myspace page.
Anything else, notable you want to tell us about?
Our keyboard player Jeff isn’t actually in the film as he was off playing gigs in Western Canada. Instead they moved our guitarist to keys, our bassist to guitar, me to bass and hired an actor to play the part of Robbie. I’m thankful that they thought I looked sufficiently like [Band bassist] Rick Danko with my moustache that they didn’t make me shave it—he technically wasn’t wearing one at the time.
The Royal Mountain Band have just finished recording a new album at Breakglass studios with Jace Lasek of the pitchfork-approved Besnard Lakes. Their still tbd-titled album is due in the fall.
Download: Royal Mountain Band – “You Ain’t Going Nowhere” (Dylan cover)
