Eric Fennell - Supertouch Documentary

Eric Fennell is the guy who did the "Supertouch And Other People" documentary that has been in very limited circulation since it was completed in 1991. At one point it surfaced on YouTube, but it no longer can be found there. Luckily, Eric plans to give this a formal release in the near future, which is pretty cool since it features some great footage of the band both live and off stage.

I caught up with Eric to get the backstory behind this footage, and he also hooked us up with some great photos of the band as well. Check out his site:

http://altpick.com/ericfennell

-Gordo DCXX

What gave you the idea to do the Supertouch documentary? What was the reason for doing it?

I wanted to do the documentary because the scene and the music was interesting. I would travel with the band to photograph them and to drive the van that they bought. I had noticed that most of clubs in the different cities where Supertouch played had kids from all types of backgrounds enjoying the music together. You did not see this in the earlier Punk Rock era. I also liked the rawness of the music. Rock ‘N Roll in general had gotten so over produced, so for me it was nice to see that hardcore had kind of a back to basics type of feel and energy to it. I thought doing a documentary on Supertouch and the scene that they were in would be good for people to see whether or not they were into hardcore.

What was your relationship with the guys in Supertouch? How did this change or not change over the years?

Anyway, I knew Andy the drummer years before Supertouch. At that time I had a very large 1965 Chrysler 300. When I was not hauling my film making and photography equipment, I was helping Andy haul his drum kits and other instruments from his bandmates to different gigs. When Supertouch came around the Chrysler was still hauling but after a while Supertouch bought a Chevy Van. You can see the front of my Chrysler on the back cover of the 7" with the Supertouch members standing in the background. I seem to remember that the band broke up just about the same time I had finished editing the documentary. I have not had any contact with any of the members of Supertouch for many years.



What was the time period over which this was shot? Did you travel with the band?

Supertouch and Other People was shot during the first half of 1990. I remember starting to shoot some footage in January and was finished with the shooting of both interviews and performance footage by late May or early June of 1990. For the rest of 1990 and well into 1991 the long post production process kept me busy. I had hours of footage to edit plus all of the other things and projects that I was involved with. All of the still photographs were done by me and some were taken in 1988 and 1989 before I even knew I would do the documentary. As I had mentioned, I heard the band broke up at some point in 1991 just after I had finished the editing.

What were the best live performances you saw from the band and why do these stick out?

I think the some of the best Supertouch performances were at CBGB’s. I could be wrong, but I think they enjoyed that club the most. For me, CBGB’s was always the best club to shoot still pictures and video. This was not because of all of the history there, but because of the way the stage was set up. It was set up in such a way that photographers could get great shots of any band they were photographing. Other photographers have said the same thing to me. I have shot many bands at CBGB’s and I never had a bad roll of film from there. I can't say that about other clubs. I think there are a lot of Rock ‘N Roll photographers out there that are sorry the place is gone.

What can you tell us about the unused footage?

For now, I am still planning to put together unseen footage from the documentary with a re-released DVD version. I cannot say when it might be ready but I am hoping it will be with in the next few months.