Film

“I’ll Be Around”—An Indie Film about Bands at a Post-Punk Festival

I’ll Be Around is an indie film directed by Mike Cuenca set during day one of a multi-venue festival in Los Angeles that feels like 200 Cigarettes meets the punk elements of the 1984 classic Repo-Man, with a bit of Greg Araki, and Tarantino-esque elements thrown in the mix.

In fact, there is even a mysterious case, albeit for an unseen guitar, possibly giving a nod to the one Vincent and Jules pursue in Pulp Fiction, or perhaps maybe the Alien in the trunk of the car in Repo-Man.

Here is the film’s official synopsis:

“Against the backdrop of a post-punk music festival, dozens of struggling thirty-somethings deal with a wide variety of social and philosophical issues in their respective lives, from generational angst to premature ejaculation.”

Watch the trailer below:

The film is full loving references bands old and new, such as:

References to X, and The Replacements, and Shane McGowan.
Repeated reverent (or irreverent) comments about Stiv Bators.
A poster of The Cure on a bedroom wall.
one of the main characters wearing a Damned t-shirt.
A band who tries and fails to sound like Suicide called attempted Choke.
A girl wants to meet a man who listens to Slowdive.
A guy’s favorite song is “I Wanna be Adored” by The Stone Roses
A nod to a more recent popular LA-Based post-punk band Sextile, and more!

There are also quite a few cameos, such as punk and deathrock legend Frank Agnew as the proprietor of a diner, who loses his appetite to a pretentious mustachioed post-punk hipster, Casey from DI as a Bartender, Jonah Ray of MST3K and The Nerdist as a hypnotist, and J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. as a wise pawnbroker who has the best monologue of the film.

The film features also features music from Echolust, Band Aparte, The Tissues (they make a brief appearance on stage), The Electric West, and Portrayals. Members from these bands also act in the film,

The Director also plays a starring role in the film. Mike Cuenca was in an LA indie darkwave/post-punk band called Dignitary, which featured members of Brass Box and Black Flamingo. His current band Some Daggers also appear in the film. Check them out here.

I’ll Be Around admittedly does not have much of a plot, but its series of interconnected vignettes will satisfy any post-punk fan who marks the early work of Jim Jarmusch as some of their favorite cinema.

Find more information on the film here, and watch it on-demand here or below.