Put Blood in the Music

1989, 75 min, color, sound

Put Blood in the Music is a unique documentary on the downtown New York music scene. In a collage of music, performance and commentary, Atlas captures the energy and pluralism that characterize this urban milieu. Reflecting the eclecticism of his subject, Atlas re-structures the conventional "talking head" format to allow a fragmented, fast-paced compendium of voices and sounds, ranging from music critic John Rockwell of The New York Times to street musicians. Focusing on such influential downtown figures as John Zorn, and featuring performances by Zorn, Sonic Youth, Hugo Largo and others, this is less a documentary than a cultural document, a vivid time capsule of the contemporary New York music scene.

Director/Editor: Charles Atlas. Producer: James Morris. Sound: Judy Carp. Director of Photography: Paul Gibson. Performers: John Zorn, Sonic Youth, Spy vs. Spy, The Ambitious Lovers, Hugo Largo. Special Thanks: Blast First, Ann Lehman, Pat Naylor, Effanel Sound, Enchantments, The Knitting Factory, Michael Dorf, Lunch For Your Ears, Emmanuel Mauib, N.Y.C. Mayor's Office of Film and Television, NYC Public Development Fund, Brooklyn Army Terminal Building, Pier Platters/Tom Prendergast, The Pyramid Club, Skyline Studios, Steven's Institute of Technology, Summer Stage at Central Park, Woo Lae Oak of Seoul (NYC), Josh Brickman, Melanie Ciccone, Barry Devlin, Bob Donnelly, Lin Geller, Geoff Gottesfeld, Caroline Kennedy, Bronwen La Grue, John Lowe, Eamon McElwee, Lucy Sexton, Pete Shore, Mary Ellen Strom, Pierce Turner, The Kitchen, Declan Quinn.