If you like listening to people talk about music, then I Like Talking About Music: A Conversation with The Hussy & The Midwest Beat is built for you. Basically the film is exactly what it says it is, conversations with Wisconsin bands The Hussy and The Midwest Beat. Over the course of the 50+ minutes, you’ll hang out in a livingroom and eventually go fishing with the latter, and go on a drive, shop for albums and check out the practice space of the former. Eschewing the normal rock-doc routine of mixing band performances with interview segments, this film is almost all-talk.
Which both does and doesn’t work. If you like hanging out with musicians, then this is comfortably appropriate, though the reality becomes less real the minute the camera begins rolling (nature of filming those who perform for a living). I was at a fundamental loss, however, because I didn’t know anything about either band, let alone the type of music they played, except when they referenced themselves or their musical directions. Not that I needed it to appreciate the conversation (though it could elevate the experience to have a better grasp of the music), but if someone asked me, “why should I watch a documentary about these musicians” I’d be hard-pressed to come up with an answer other than, “Because there is one?”
As a short documentary experience, it’s unique enough to inspire my curiosity, but I do think that the audience that will get the most out of this film is the audience already familiar with these bands. If I were a fan of either, I’d truly embrace and enjoy the intimate, relaxed nature of the film that much more. That said, the film did make me want to do more research into the bands in question, and their music, so as some obscure, experimental promotional piece, the film also succeeds.
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