Think you’re getting a traditional music documentary with Alexandria Bombach’s It’s Only Life After All? Think again.
I was reading about how the original plan was to film the documentary while on tour, but then that had to change. What's the biggest difference between how you originally pictured the film turning out with that plan versus where you landed with it? RAY: I think I was pretty amazed at the nuances that she pulled out of all that footage, and realized that she had actually probably looked at every single minute of all the footage because the things that she pulled out were very under the radar, not the same old tropes and the same old things. And then they're strung together in a way that’s, to me, very artful. I don't know. I didn't think you could make a documentary about us that had that kind of flow and arc and nuance.
Going back to what you were saying about people sitting in that chair and sharing how much your work has meant to them. You’re both so incredibly humble and we see that a lot in the movie where I feel like you downplay the massive influence you've had on so many people out there.
RAY: The 400 Blows, François Truffaut was really important to me when I was younger. And Peter Greenaway was really important. Daughters of the Dust is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I still check back in with that a lot. It really impacted me and changed my perspective and really made me dig deeper into anti-racism work and history and stuff like that.