Austinist Interviews SXSW: Silver Jew Director Michael Tully

What was your experience of Dave Berman's music/writing before getting involved with them?

I'm a huge fan. If you had shown me Silver Jew ten years ago and told me that I was the one who shot it, I wouldn't have known how to wrap my head around that one. So, yes, I'm very thankful. I discovered the band sometime between the release of Starlite Walker and The Natural Bridge. I can safely say that I've played The Natural Bridge as much as any record I've ever owned. Then came Actual Air, which is one of my favorite books ever. So, yeah, I'm a fan. The fact that my sister Carol randomly moved to Nashville and befriended David and Cassie and Matthew Robison (SJ producer), which directly led to my participation in the film, is one of those realizations that makes me think the world might not hate me, after all.

Where exactly did the tour go? The lit talks about the tour hitting "Israel and the Middle East," but I'm not so sure a band called the Silver Jews would be exactly welcomed with open arms in, say, Tehran. What were the audiences like?

The first ever Jews tour happened in the States in March of 2006. I was actually in Austin and had to miss their NYC shows, which was a double bummer because my Irish cousin, JT Songs (John Tully), was hand selected by David to open both shows. The world tour happened last June-July. I'm not positive on the specifics, as we only documented the stop-off in Israel. I think they played the Scandanavian festival circuit, then hit France, before flying to Tel Aviv. After that, it was off to the UK before heading home. As for the Tel Aviv shows, there were two. The first was in a 400-seat theatre. It was sold out, and while the crowd was completely into it, the whole thing felt a tiny bit reserved. The second night was at a 100-ish capacity punk rock club, The Patiphone. I'm not overstating things when I say that it was one of the most electrifying shows I've ever been to. It was like a sing-a-long, with kids jumping up and down and dancing the entire time. I personally think it's impossible to capture that energy on film, and when you're two guys with a video camera it certainly wasn't going to happen, but hopefully we included enough footage to give everyone a taste of the magic. And magic it was. It's rare that a rock-and-roll concert gives me goose bumps. That show gave me chills many times.

What was something that you and/or the band were not expecting to see in that part of the world? Any interesting experiences you'd like to recount?

I can't speak for the band--or Matthew, for that matter--but for me the absolute lack of tension in Tel Aviv was a surprise. It felt like a beach town where everybody was stoned. No hint of danger whatsoever. We went out the night of the World Cup Final and I wasn't even worried that some random drunk dude was going to act up. It had a very laid back vibe. Feel free to draw your own conclusions as to why that is, I just know that this surprised and impressed me. The whole trip was an interesting experience, though I will say that the exit 'interview' at the airport was the most harrowing two hours of my adult life. I was ready to commit to rapes and murders in 14th Century France if they'd just let me go. Seriously, that was no joke.

The band has been around for about 12 years now, but only recently have started touring, and then only sporadically. How would you describe the dynamic between the band and their audience, at least in that region?

I think everyone knew how special a moment in time this was. For the band, it was a bit of a holiday within the more intensive world tour, and for the fans, it was a chance to see (and meet) a personal hero. To see David realizing, perhaps for the very first time, just how much people care about his work, was a truly beautiful thing. That's really what the film is about.

How was the food?

The food was great!

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