JAK KERLEY & WHITNEY FLYNN of SHIBBY PICTURES: If You Want Something Done…
An interview by Sarah Kidd.
Created by Jak Kerley, Shibby Pictures embraces all that is the DIY ethic; from printing their own t-shirts to producing short films and docos on little to no budget – in Kerleys eyes it may not be the type of filmmaking that film festivals want but it is certainly the style that his followers not only want but revere.
Having fully immersed himself in the DIY music scene, shooting music videos for such bands as Mischief Crew and Leftover Crack it was just a matter of time before he would end up working with the Houston based band Days N’ Daze.
Friendship firmly established between both Jak Kerley and lead vocalist Whitney Flynn, New Zealand now has the absolute pleasure of being visited by these outstandingly talented individuals. After a few technological hiccups I managed to contact both Whitney and Jak to discuss their work, the state of the DIY scene and what Kiwis could expect from their NZ tour…
So Jak, what prompted you to create Shibby Pictures in the first place?
J: “It’s just kinda something that I like have always been doing I guess? When I was in middle school I was just kinda always doing it and then for some reason I just felt like I always needed a brand on it or a name or something; something to identify it.
I came up with Shibby Pictures from the movie ‘Dude, Where’s My Car’ because I wanted something from a really stupid movie that people wouldn’t take seriously or something that sounded kinda cute, like really not pretentious at all”
Obviously the DIY culture is one of great importance to you and you produce all of your pictures with that DIY sort of status in mind – is part of that because it also helps you keep creative control over everything?
J: “Yeah I kinda just do it really out of necessity, it feels really weird to like impose my ideas on others, so to me it’s like super weird because it’s really a collaborative thing. It seems like it revolves around one person’s idea, you know like with the writer and director or anything and I just kinda feel weird imposing my visions on other people – like I feel like why is my shit so important? Why doesn’t someone else get to make theirs?
So I would just do everything myself that I feel capable of doing. I do as much as I can and then if I need some help, like alright let me ask my buddy Tony if he will help with the sound and stuff like that – you know my friend Ted will help me with an animation or something – I just enjoy all aspects of it, so I kind of just do everything that I like basically until I feel like I am holding myself back by not expanding through collaboration”
Is it quite a lot of pressure though sometimes, working often just by yourself?
J: “No, because the good thing about doing it the way I do it is that it’s all on me anyways so the only person I am letting down is myself and you know I don’t have to worry about a crew of 10-15-20 people relying on me – if I fuck up it’s on me and that’s just something that I have to deal with I don’t feel like I’m ruining anyone else’s vision but my own”
Whitney how did you and Jak first come across each other?
W: “So Jak contacted us about doing a music video at a show in Savanah, Georgia and we kind of just met over the internet. We travelled to Savannah and shot our very first music video with him and after that we became good friends and continued to do music videos together and coverage of shows and different things”
Jak your widely viewed documentary ‘Trying It At Home’ obviously focuses on the areas of DIY and so forth – how did the idea of the doco come about?
J: “Again that wasn’t something that was really so deliberate me doing that documentary I just started filming it one day like with no specific intention in mind. I was you know ‘Why don’t I interview some people or whatever’ and then I was like ‘Alright I got all these interviews I may as well edit it into something!’ I would say once I had about half the footage I was like ‘Oh I could probably just make a documentary out of this’. It was this continually rolling fucking process, it was kind of an accident really I never really set out to make a documentary I just had all this stuff. The fact that people watched it blew my mind, like it was not supposed to be something that people watched!”
Yeah well that’s the thing, that’s exactly it; it’s very widely viewed now and is quite well known! So Whitney how do you view the documentary as a musician of that culture?
W: “I think he represents us in a way that … there is a certain way that people can take our culture and kind of manipulate it into what it isn’t and I think he represents the entirety as what it is and he is not damaging to what we do he’s encouraging it. It’s not from an outsider’s view, it’s from someone who participates and is involved in what it is”
Whitney as the co-founder of Days N’ Daze how do you see the DIY movement; do you think it has grown and will continue to grow – out of necessity – as the segregation of society continues?
W: “I agree with that completely; we started this band almost ten years ago and it went from us not having Facebook or this online community – we were just basically knocking on people’s doors being like ‘Hey can we play this show’ to now there is a network online connecting the entire world to our community and to the DIY scene making it a lot more accessible to people who aren’t necessarily in the ‘in’ crowd”
Yes the internet and social media does have a lot of downfalls but it is also a brilliant way of connecting people across the world – especially for people down here in New Zealand who are quite removed. So you do believe that the movement will continue to grow?
W: “I don’t think it’s slowing down anytime soon, no”
Now infused amongst all of this of course with both of your music work Whitney and your film work Jak are the important messages of anti-capitalism, anti-racism, gender equality – is the tide turning or are we just continuously going through the same cycle of shit?
J: “That’s a tough question in the context of the United States for the past almost exactly three hundred and sixty three days – the election was basically a year ago. You know I probably would have said yes a year ago and now in the context of this country it’s a little bit harder to believe that things are going the right way.”
W: “Right …”
J: “It seems like the rest of the world are kind of like moving on without us so maybe on a wider scale hopefully everyone is moving on without us and we can catch up”
In saying that though I think there is a push back from a lot of movements who will not accept some of the messages that are coming from both Trump and his administration…
J: “Yeah I’m thinking – and it’s just hopeful thinking – but you know the midterm elections which are in a year coming up basically will hopefully be a big swing in the other direction. That people, that everyone else are just as pissed off as us. You know on a large scale, national election grassroots organizing is just as important on a community level to create that scene and kind of push it. I just kind of hope that there’s lots of pissed off people everywhere that are pushing in the correct direction.”
On a side note to that – as obviously it is having a huge ripple effect in the states – what are your views on the #MeToo campaign and the shitstorm it has created?
W: “I think it’s bringing light to the mass epidemic of what people are doing to one another behind closed doors or like in front; just having a community of people like ‘We’ve been abused and we’re tired of being quiet about it’. I don’t know, bringing accountability to people especially in the scene and especially like how we move forward with our lives. Bringing accountability to those people and saying ‘This isn’t ok’ and changing that and changing the way that we treat each other and the way that we move forward
I think it’s definitely hit the DIY scene pretty, pretty intensely this year with some of the bigger name people – survivors coming forward and expressing their experiences with these people and the scene basically cutting them out of what we do.”
Moving on to the tour that you guys are bringing down to New Zealand – Jak what films are you planning on showing or is it going to be a surprise?
J: “Ah no, it’s not too much of a surprise – it’s usually a surprise for particular audiences who have never … well for anyone who is not familiar with the work I guess. But I usually do about thirty to forty minutes worth of film screening of like short films, music videos, clips from documentaries. So I just finished this new documentary called ‘Baseball Punks’ and it’s about basically the relationship between punk rock and baseball, I don’t know how much I will show of it for a Non-American setting, I feel like not showing it in America to be very out of context. I don’t know, that’s something I will have to judge when I get there, see what the crowds are like and stuff. If anything I will be showing a clip of that, like a four or five minute clip. And of course the music videos, a couple by Days N’ Daze – just usually whatever I have been working on for the past couple of months.”
The latest one that you have done for Days N’ Daze is ‘Damaged Goods’ right?
J: “Yeah that is one of my favourite videos, and we did just do a new one a couple of days ago but not sure if it will be ready in time. I will be working on it this weekend and will see if I can get it … maybe something of a rough cut together”
Oh that would be even better – sort of like a “World Wide Exclusive’ in NZ!
J: “Yeah, pretty much!”
And Whitney you are going to be performing a solo acoustic set. Will you be concentrating on Days N’ Daze stuff and if so will it be off the latest album Crust Fall or will you be performing a selection from your back catalogue?
W: “I’m doing a variety of Days N’ Daze songs, my old band My Pizza My World and just some songs that I’ve written. But we’re doing two of the songs from our latest album Crust Fall that we just released and some from our back catalogue”
And for anybody out there who is not really familiar with your guys work – your latest album Crust Fall can you please tell us about the influences behind it etc?
W: “Yeah our music is a collection of different experiences that we have. Whether they be focused on mental health or the state of our nation right now. We have some like happy, goofy songs that we just did a music video for that’s kind of just this song that is basically like ‘You took advantage of us so screw you but we’re going to keep being awesome and you’re just kind of going to go away’ and so it’s just a collection of different experiences that we have.
We focus a lot on mental health and the struggles with depression and anxiety and just kind of the day to day mental struggles that you can go through … and also travelling”
Have you two been to New Zealand before?
W: “No, Days N’ Daze did do a split and duet with a band from New Zealand called Night Gaunts who we are really close friends with and we love them! Paul from Night Gaunts just released his new solo project called Paul The Kid which I’m pretty stoked about … it’s pretty cool”
So you already have a little bit of a Kiwi connection then?
W: “Yeah – I’m excited!”
Shibby Pictures & Whitney Flynn are in the middle of their Australasian Tour, and you can catch them tonight (22nd November) at Auckland’s Wine Cellar, with more dates around New Zealand and Australia in the coming days. Check out the dates below and head along to a show or two – we totally recommend it!
