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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 25, 2001)
DJs, step off: New Deal always play it live ■The Canadian trio brings dance music to Taylor’s—but they play instruments By Rebecca Wilson Oregon Daily Emerald Live musicians seldom appear in the spinning, throbbing world that candy ravers call home. At raves, dance mixes pound from speakers and occasionally a DJ spins and samples from a set of turntables. Dance lovers have reconciled them selves to never seeing a drum set or a guitar. Instrument-playing musi cians and dancers travel in separate worlds, and never the twain shall meet. Until now. On Tuesday, Taylor’s Bar and Grill will host the New Deal, a group that plays for the dancer lurking within the live-music lover. The New Deal are a trio of exclu sively live musicians who create energetic music without the aid of turntables or samples. They de scribe their music as “live progres sive breakbeat house,” explained keyboard player Jamie Shields. Bass player Dan Kurtz, drummer v Darren Shearer and keyboard play er Shields formed the New Deal at a 1999 impromptu show in their home city of Toronto, Ontario. “Darren was playing in all these really boring, bad, acid-jazz bands in these really bad clubs in Toron to,” Shields said. “One night, we figured since no one was listening anyway, we might as well make it up.” By chance, someone taped the show. “We basically had a CD before we had a band,” Shields said. The band has been on tour ever since, said Mark Alghini, the band’s manager. Alghini has managed the New Deal since September 2000. “It is all about the boys,” Alghini said. “They are wonderful people ... very fun to work with. ” Currently, the New Deal have three live albums and are at work on a studio-quality LP. “But the new album will still be live,” Shields said. The New Deal are always met with a great deal of audience enthu siasm, Shields said. The music “is not always dance. But for sure it’s improvised, and for sure it’s live.” The band has something to offer everyone, Alghini said from his of fice at Nettwerk Management in New York City. “Some people come and just dance, some people listen to melodies, and some people are just interested in what we do,” Shields said. Shields attributes the band’s eclectic, hybrid sound to the fact that the band members don’t like the same types of music. In fact, they rarely listen to dance music. “Darren listens to contemporary music, R & B; he’s interested in the chart world,” said Shields. “I listen to jazz funk ... Frank Zappa. I really like Ween. The three of us like mu sic that is so different that you would never think that we could be in a band and make music togeth er.” The Canadian group was fea tured in Village Voice and Spin Magazine — recognition that rarely comes to live jam bands. In the August 2000 issue of Spin, DJ Logic called the New Deal “the Kraftwerk of the new millennium.” On the New Deal’s EP “Guelph on Can,” complex bass riffs weave beneath twangy, fluid keyboard melodies and catchy beats. The New Deal will be playing in Eugene on Tuesday at Taylor’s Bar and Grill on East 13th Avenue, across the street from the Universi ty of Oregon Bookstore. I_« - a_aJL~ Courtesy The New Deal (Dan Kurtz, Darren Shearer and Jamie Shields) hail from Toronto, Canada. The trio uses a bass, keys and drums to create new beats the old-fashioned way. Jagger journeys into film producing with ‘Enigma’ By David Germain The Associated Press PARK CITY, Utah — Mick Jagger, independent filmmaker, sounds like any other producer at the Sundance Film Festival when he talks about the obstacles to capturing his story on celluloid. There are the problems of raising the cash, securing the film rights, lining up suitable talent to direct and act. “I wanted to spend five years of my life producing one independent movie,” Jagger jokes when asked why he tried his hand at making films with the spy thriller “Enigma,” which premiered Monday night at Sundance. “We had to spend lots of time get ting the script right and raising the money, everything else that goes with making a film,” the Rolling Stones singer said in an interview before the premiere. - “Enigma” stars Dougray Scott, Kate Winslet, Jeremy North am and Saffron Burrows in a tale of roman tic intrigue set among British code breakers trying to unravel German U-boat ciphers during World War II. Directed by Michael Apted (“The World Is Not Enough”), the movie is a thinking man’s cousin to last year’s “U-571.” It’s based on the novel by Robert Harris, with a screenplay by Tom Stoppard (“Shakespeare in Love”). This is the first finished movie by Jagged Films, the company Jagger and his producing partner, Victoria Pearman, formed in the mid-1990s. “Saturday Night Live” producer Lome Michaels joined them on “Enigma” and worked with Jagger to secure the rights to the book. While the project began as a stu dio film, the producers said they re alized they needed to produce it in dependently to keep it true to its roots. Unlike “U-571,” which made American sailors the heroes of Al lied efforts to crack the U-boat codes, “Enigma” sticks to historical facts, with the British leading the deci phering effort. “This was not an easy sell,” said Jagger, who has acted in such movies as “Freejack.” “It’s an Eng lish movie without American actors and actresses. It’s a difficult subject, and it’s a relatively difficult ride.” Despite his and Michaels’ fame, Jagger said “Enigma” came into Sundance much like any other in dependently financed film, with the producers hoping they could land a distribution deal. “I figure that in a way, Sundance is sort of changing,” lagger said. Bead It! q © Beginning & Advanced % Beading Classes Stop by & check out our class list or visit our website: hariequinbeads.com arlequin Beads & Jewelry 1016 Willamette ♦ 683-5903 U-[ # "v^ Robinson Theatre Jan. 26 & 27 Feb. 1, 2, 3, 9,10- 8 pm Sunday, Feb. 4-2 pm Benefit Performance: _ W omenspace: 485-8232 UO Tix: EMU- 346-4363 U ^ UT Box Office: T&fZL f 346-4191 KCT1 Day of Performance Only “It’s not only unknown filmmakers anymore who bring films up here. Ours has got big-name people in it, but it’s still an independent movie.” Jagger’s company plans to pro duce a romantic drama about au thor-poet Dylan Thomas and his wife, as well as a film Jagger co wrote with Martin Scorsese about two music-business partners whose careers span the 1960s to the pres ent. The singer also said he plans to act in his film company’s movies. He co-stars with Andy Garcia in “Elysian Fields,” due out this year. “Enigma” entered Sundance as one of the hottest films available for acquisition. Jagger and Michaels said they were confident they would leave the festival with a distribution deal. “We think obviously we’re go ing to have a buyer, but it’s inter esting to see who in the movie in dustry thinks this is an interesting film and who says, ‘Oh, we can’t deal with it,”’ Jagger said. “This is an intellectual film." So FREE it comes with a gift WELLS FARGO j. < It's true. With a Wells Fargo® Student Combo™ Package, you get free banking services and a free Wells Fargo T-Shirt.' The Student Combo Package • Free Checking • Free Student Visa® Card** • ATM & Check Cardf • Free Online Account Access and much more Sign up today at a Wells Fargo location nearest your school. ‘Offer expires March 31,2001. Limited quantities available. **hJo annual fee when linked as overdraft protection to your Wells Fargo checking account. Credit card issued by Wells Fargo Bank Nevada. N.A. and is subject to qualification ^Issuance of the ATM, & Check Card is subject to qualification. C 2001 Wells Fargo Banks Members FDIC All Rights Reserved.
