The official poster for “Boom: A film about The Sonics,” a film that has been steeped in awards and commercial praise since it’s Sept. 30, 2018 release. POSTER COURTESY OF JORDAN ALBERTSEN
The story
of unsuspecting rock stars and a down-on-his luck director
By Michael SomerbyEBS ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
BOZEMAN – When Jordan Albertsen moved to Montana from Los Angeles in
2017, he was at the lowest point in his life.
Near-broke, depressed and demoralized after failing to launch a
successful career as a filmmaker, he took a job as a server at Dave’s Sushi in
Bozeman. But his story, much like the subjects of his critically acclaimed,
award-winning documentary “BOOM: A film about The Sonics,”is truly stranger than fiction, defined by a healthy dose of
serendipity.
Jordan
Albertsen
As a kid growing up in the Seattle area in the 1980s and 90s,
Albertsen was baptized by the local music scene, a fertile ground for the brash
and countercultural subgenre of rock and roll music affectionately dubbed
“grunge” by the media.
Needless to say, when Albertsen’s father played some of his favorite
tracks by bands such as The Eagles, there was a disconnect—that music felt soft
and edgeless, in stark contrast to the punk and grunge stylings Albertsen was
drawn to—and their differences in music taste were emblematic of a deeper rift
between father and son.
But the first piece of destiny in Albertsen’s story came in the form
of a record, when his father left a vinyl, “Boom” by The Sonics, outside his
bedroom door.
A skeptical Albertsen was immediately impressed by the rawness and
punk sounds of the band, especially considering that the Tacoma, Washington,
group released the album in 1966. The Sonics were light-years ahead of their
time.
“I was just blown away. They were so bad ass and I couldn’t believe my
dad listened to them,” said Albertsen. “I was instantly a fan.”
A newfound connection over music bridged the ailing relationship,
inspiring the father and son to attend concerts around the nation, a practice
they carry out to this day.
The Sonics
The Sonics formed in 1963, releasing three albums over the ensuing decade
before ultimately parting ways. At the time of their first album release, the
members, consisting of Larry Parypa on lead guitar and vocals, Andy Parypa on
the bass, Rob Lind on the saxophone, Gerry Roslie on the organ and Bob Bennet
on drums, were mere teenagers but they managed to bottle all the accompanying
energy and angst into their music, blowing the doors off conventional
approaches to rock.
With distorted guitar riffs, break-your-drumsticks percussion and howling vocals, and under the guidance and management of Buck Ormsby, a regional musical legend in his own right, the band captured the hearts of young people across the Northwest, opening shows for the likes of The Beach Boys, the Mamas & The Papas, Jay & the Americans and The Shangri-Las.
Albertsen (right) with Pearl Jam guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Mike McCready—a critical piece in the “Boom” saga. PHOTO COURTESY OF JORDAN ALBERTSEN
But their interest in music declined as they failed to break through
onto the national stage. The boys parted ways and soon they were leading
ordinary lives—wife, kids and day jobs.
Unbeknownst to them, their records were making a splash across the
globe, deeply influencing the punk, garage and metal genres. In Europe
especially, they were veritable rock stars.
As the punk and grunge music scenes started to gain some traction in
the 80s and 90s, the members of the band began hearing whispers of their
growing popularity around the world.
“It was a slow process,” Albertsen said. “And then the reunion offers
start to come in.”
The Sonics, now middle-aged men, resurfaced in the music scene after a
nearly four decade hiatus, playing sold out shows around the globe. Albertsen
and his father attended one such reunion show in 2008.
“When the Sonics did their first hometown reunion show at the Paramount
Theater, my dad and I went. It was just this amazing show and that night I decided
that I was going to make a movie about The Sonics.”
‘Boom: A
film about The Sonics’
Albertsen immediately dug into the project, firing off an email that
night to an address he found online.
“I wrote this crazy email to a management address I found online. The
guy that wrote back was Buck Ormsby, and I instantly recognized the name because
Buck produced the first two Sonics albums, and he was the bass player for The
Wailers, a band from the 60s I was a huge fan of,” Albertsen said. “We had
lunch and made a decision to make this movie together.”
Yet plans to shoot for the moon failed to cement, at least in the way
Albertsen had imagined they would.
“At the time, I was living in LA, and I expected to go back and tell
my agency about the film and get millions of dollars to make it. And that just
never happened. So for 5 to 6 years, I was constantly trying to find financing.
It looked like the movie was dead,” Albertsen said.
The film took another massive hit when Ormsby passed away in October
2016.
“When the funding bombed, I didn’t know what to do. And Buck was my
connection to rock stars, so when he passed away, that connection was
completely gone. … It was really heartbreaking. The film was dead. It was such
a broken thing, and I moved to Montana out of necessity and depression.”
On a shift serving at Dave’s Sushi, a miracle presented itself to Albertsen.
Mike McCready, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and lead guitarist from
legendary Seattle rock band Pearl Jam, strolled in with his family for a bite.
“I swear, I recognized him from behind. Pearl Jam was my band forever.
I mean, I had a poster of him [McCready] on my wall when I was a kid,”
Albertsen said. “He turned around and I was totally star-struck.”
Albertsen had been trying to get in touch with McCready while making
the film, perhaps opening avenues that Ormsby’s death closed.
McCready offered his help, and suddenly the film was back on track.
“That little chance encounter completely changed the course of the
making of that movie,” Albertsen said. “His gesture added this life force, it
just really started the fire.”
On Sept. 30, 2018, Albertsen released the film to the world, and it
has since bagged several awards, including Best Documentary Feature at the
2018 Lone Star
Film Festival and 2019 Silk Road Film Festival in Dublin,
Ireland.
Despite these triumphs, Albertsen remains incredibly humble, still
serving at Dave’s Sushi in between trips to film festivals in places like Italy
and England.
With the decade-long odyssey just barely in the rearview mirror, the one-man
band director, writer, editor and producer believes the journey has altered his
life forever.
“I spent 10 years of my life making this,” said Albertsen. “I don’t
even know what my life would be like if I hadn’t.”
BOOM is currently touring on the film festival circuit, and a worldwide release is slotted for early 2020. Visit facebook.com/sonicsfilm for a full list of festival appearances.