Critics of a controversial film about a former porn star are threatening legal action to stop it from being shown in a former convent in Victoria, Canada. The Independent Film and Video Festival had scheduled the first of two screenings for Feb. 5 at St. Ann's Academy. Critics say Wadd: The Life & Times of John C. Holmes is pornographic and the former convent is not an appropriate venue. [The name St. Ann's might have also been a tip-off.]
Lawyer Ronald McIsaac says if all else fails, he'll try to have a judge rule the film obscene. This week, festival organizers vowed to keep the selected venue. Director Cass Paley says all the fuss is "silly and absurd". He estimates his film has been screened about a hundred times around North America, usually to rave reviews.
Paley says St. Ann's Academy is now a public building and the film has a legal right to be shown there.
The CD, Thousand Year Itch, featuring Dyanna Lauren singing with The Stingers comes out February 8 in music stores, nationally. Mark Miller, besides heading up Moonlight Entertainment, does guitar and vocals for The Stingers and produced the CD.
Mark Miller: "We've been working with Dyanna for a few years on different things, and, in between her schedule which has been insane, and ours, it's been hard to do a band proper. A couple of years ago we managed to get a bunch of gigs in but it's still tough to do. So we finally said let's do the disc once and for all. This first one is a lot of the stuff that we've been playing live including some new tunes - some we've done at the AVN Awards Show before; some of it are songs that I had just written that she's singing now; some were written specifically for her. It came out great. I'm happy with the way it came out."
Miller says The Stingers will be holding a record release party at Palladino's in Reseda on February 5. "VH 1 is supposed to be coming down to shoot it," Miller says. "We'll be doing the record at this gig, and there's some hit-style material on there, I think. We'll see what happens. But just in terms of the band's involvement, I truly believe that Dyanna Lauren is a top notch caliber singer. I would put her up on stage with anybody. And I mean that. This is not a project of the porno chick cashing in on her name without the real talent to back it up. But, I don't have anything against that, either. If you're going to come out with an act that's going to push the porno-end, that's fine with me, too. But in Dyanna's case, with her vocal ability, I believe that she works a super high level and it shows on this disc."
Miller: "We're not 19 year-old kids with stars in our eyes. I'm not going to tell you we're going to be the next big stars."
G. Ross: "They couldn't even put you on VH 1 "Looking Back". You're too old to be looking back."
Miller: "We've already looked back. There's only one place to look - forward. So, I really believe that in the way the whole package comes off, it's top notch all the way. There's some good songs on there. I think there's stuff on there that a lot of people are going to like. Whether it wind up selling a million, or nothing, I know that I like it and it's great.
"We got a distribution deal through Time Warner. I believe the release date is February 8. We talked about how we were going to market this. Was it just going to be Dyanna Lauren and really push the porn angle? While I haven't heard it, my impression of Matt Zane's whole thing is that this is Matt Zane, the porno guy, and his whole trip is tied into that. That's fine with me. Our thing is that we don't want to deny that Dyanna Lauren is who she is and I am who I am. All of us in the band have been in the business in one form or another for a long time now. We're coming from the business but we're not pushing it like it's a porno-thing. It's people from the business who are doing music."
G. Ross: "How do you categorize The Stingers now? Are you guys a blues band?"
Miller: "It's pretty tough to categorize the music. I would have to call it more like modern rock with a lot of horns on the record, horns over heavy band. At time it almost reminds me of Earth, Wind and Fire in a way"
G. Ross: "I can see you guys showing up with Afros at your next retro concert."
Miller: "Yeah..not that way. But it's still like blues-based music in the end, but it comes off like a harder rock-thing with different influences over it. I would like to call it a new form of modern rock."
G. Ross: "It must be pretty exciting seeing a CD of yours in a record store."
Miller: "Yeah, because of the way everything came out."
G. Ross: "Will you get laid a lot because of this CD?"
Miller: "Who me? Once I get out in the world, again, hopefully. But I don't really talk to that many chicks, now. I'm so busy with this stuff. Our approach is that a lot of people in the business know us from having done the AVN Award Show. They know that we're serious musicians whether you like the style of music.
"These guys like Marilyn Manson and 9-Inch Nails write way dirtier songs. My natural inclination is not to write real dirty songs, although I am the director of Anal Glamor Girls. My approach to rock n' roll is not that it's wholesome, but my first inclination isn't to write filthy songs. But on the CD, there are some songs that are specifically written by Dyanna or about the business. They are not dirty songs although there's dirty words."
G. Ross: "Then you have standards like Son of a Preacher Man."
Miller: "We did Son of a Preacher Man because Janine had suggested that she liked the song and the arrangement. But Son of a Preacher Man is going to be unrecognizable to those people that know the original version. The tune is there but a lot has been added. It's like doing an original song. Helter Skelter was more of one that's true to the original version. The reason we did that is because Dyanna delivers a scathing, screaming, shredding vocal that you don't hear chicks do. She really belts the shit out of Helter Skelter and it's a fun tune to do. At this point I'm on to the next one. In the end, I think that her vocals will connect with a lot of people who never heard of Dyanna Lauren and have no idea that she's a porno chick.
"Hopefully, something will happen. And I'll say this, once you get product out there, my attitude is I don't care if people think you're the crummiest, shittyest, worst band in the world, stranger things have happened. When you have actual product out there, you never know if it's going to catch on with anybody. In that case, we have as good a chance as anyone or better for certain reasons. I think that the production and the musicanship are all on a high level. We'll see what happens."
G. Ross: "Just curious. What's your particular favorite of the songs you've written for the AVN Awards Show?"
Miller: "There's been a bunch, but in certain ways I'd have to go with What Do You Call a Movie?"
G. Ross: "The one Randy West did.."
Miller: "Yeah. That was back in the days when the band was smaller. I almost wish we had a version with the new, bigger band doing that. That was a pretty entertaining piece that had a lot of stuff jam-packed into it that a lot of people liked. That one really worked well. It was funny. We used a lot of the current titles at the time. That one was specifically for the awards show and probably won't be done anywhere else. But that would be the one."
G. Ross: "By the way, that was the correct answer."
Miller [laughing]: "Yeah...I think that the stuff I've written for the show all was on a good, high level. I'm pretty much proud of all of it. I don't think any of them were a throwaway piece of shit."
