It is a little over a week before SXSW 2024, and directors David Hartstein and Sam Wainwright Douglas are still in the editing room. Their new film, Faders Up: The John Aielli Experience, is set to premiere at the Paramount Theatre to 1,300 people, but it has not even been fully colored or mixed yet.
“The first cut that we [finished] was already, like, a month after the SXSW deadline,” Hartstein tells GVN. He and Douglas, his frequent collaborator, are taking the Zoom call literally from the coloring suite’s couch. “We weren’t even sure we would feel comfortable [submitting] it. We just said, ‘Well, let’s go for it.’ And [SXSW] went for it. Then, it became a deadline to have to finish the movie,” he laughs.
Originally, the film was set to be one episode in a series documenting the stories of radio hosts at KUTX, one of Austin’s long-time local radio stations. Their key subject was John Aielli, a local legend whose show, “Eklektikos,” became a cultural staple. As Hartstein and Douglas began editing, Aielli would eventually pass away, which grew the project into a short film. Then, it became a half-hour special. Now, it’s a 90-minute feature film. “If you knew John or if you knew Eklektikos, you knew it could go anywhere,” Hartstein continued. “We were following that spirit.”
That spirit led the directorial duo to craft a film that not only memorialized Aielli’s career but also his status as a voice for the city. “How do we visually represent that?” Douglas recalls asking. “Well, we rewind and fast forward and go all over the place through the previous five decades to give you the sense that this man took you on these journeys throughout the city as it changed, as it progressed, as it had problems, [and] as it figured itself out,” he explains. “It’s not the place where you can be a bohemian and make it…but there’s still weirdness here.”
In between editing sessions, Hartstein and Douglas spoke to GVN about the origins of Faders Up, editing through hours of archival, and how they cultivated their relationship with Aielli himself. Here is our conversation, edited for length and clarity.
I think I’m a perfect test subject for this film because I knew nothing about John Aielli. I’ve been to Austin only twice since last year, so I’m only just starting to learn about the culture that pervades this city and this was a really great introduction and also a potential postmortem, I say mostly in jest. [all laugh]
David Hartstein: I know, I know. We feel the same way.
I say that because I have to imagine that where this project started and where we are with it now are two very different places. Tell me a little bit about where it started and how it has evolved.
Hartstein: First of all, I’m glad to hear it plays for you as a non-Austin-ite. We really made the movie for Austin in a lot of ways, and I’m glad it has resonance outside of that. The film started out as a short film about John. We both have been obsessed with John Aielli and Eklektikos for a long time. We wanted to do a short film and tried to get the radio station, KUTX, to partner with us on a possible video series about a bunch of their radio hosts. John being the most storied and longest-tenured, he was the natural first. He had been in failing health for some time, so getting him on camera was essential. Then, after he passed, the next thing we shot was the estate sale scene. From there, we cut together a little proof of concept for the radio station and then kept going and going and going, thinking it would be a short or possibly a PBS half-hour [special]. As we went on, the feeling just kept getting better and better and better. Our editor, Field Humphrey, was a little hesitant. “Is this too long?” We just said, “Keep going, keep going, keep going.” Eventually, it got to the point where it was an 85-minute cut and we were like, “This is a feature.”
Sam Wainwright Douglas: We said, “Let’s not shy away from it. We have no idea what to do with it, but this is just too much fun.”
Hartstein: If you knew John or if you knew Eklektikos, you knew it could go anywhere. We were following that spirit. The film could have become anything, and it became a feature.
From the sounds of it, SXSW wasn’t necessarily on the table when you began. I’m sure it always was a dream festival, but to have it play at the Paramount must feel surreal.
Hartstein: Yes. We always wanted to make this for Austin, so the fact that the premiere is here is just perfect. The Paramount is a perfect venue for this, too. But the first cut that we [finished] was already, like, a month after the SXSW deadline. We knew we could get an extension as alumni, and we did a little bit of polish trying to get it submission-ready, but we weren’t even sure we would feel comfortable doing it. We just said, ‘Well, let’s go for it.’ And they [SXSW] went for it. Then it became a deadline to have to finish the movie. [laughs]
There’s an occasional rapport during the interview segments, so it seems like you guys cultivated a relationship with John as you were working on this project. Can you both speak to how you approached him for the project?
Hartstein: I had really admired John for a long time. There’s that bit [in the film] about him singing in the stairwell. I was a student in that building 24 years ago and that’s how I became aware of his presence.
Douglas: My wife worked at the station many years ago and I’d met John a few times that way. Then, he interviewed me for another film. He had definitely not watched the movie [all laugh] which makes sense, but we had a good time. That said, John interviewed and met thousands and thousands of people, so you weren’t guaranteed he was going to remember you. Matt Riley—who’s the program director of the station, he’s in the film—he was our liaison. He reminded John of who I was and told him about me and David. He said, “You should meet these guys. They’re friends, they’re cool, you’ll like them.”
Hartstein: He was really generous letting us into his home to do that interview. It really felt like going to sit with my grandparents or something. There was this bond and familiarity. I think he appreciated our attention but also just being able to talk. I think he missed being on the air and saw what we were doing as an opportunity to keep it alive. I always wanted for the film to feel like another episode of his show, like it would be one more episode of Eklektikos.
Douglas: Interviewing him was like going on his show. It’s like…you can’t be interviewed by him. He turns it back to you and he turns it into a conversation. Our editor [Field Humphrey] was working on the interviews, and he took it upon himself to take on the convention of using the conversational element of the directors talking.
Hartstein: Real off-the-cuff moments.
Douglas: It’s something David and I naturally don’t go towards in our other movies. Then, we saw how well it worked! We loved it and we said, “This is great. We love this idea. You pushed us in a new direction.” It definitely echoes his interviews.
You have several snippets of the show in the film. There must be hundreds of thousands of hours of radio that you needed to sift through in order to pick out the best bits. Obviously, your experience with the show informed it, but was there a particular approach to picking which highlights of the show you wanted to feature?
Hartstein: We were given a whole lot of digital archives. I think there were reel-to-reel tapes that needed to be digitized, so we didn’t have the full 50-year archive to go into, but if you listen to his show, you sort of remember and think about, “Oh, he told the story,” or, “Oh, he always talks about The Garden.” It was easy enough to go in there and find those things that were very typical of those stories and then find those interviews, like with Bea Arthur. We revisited a lot of interviews he did with folks we were interested in. It was so entertaining to get lost in revisiting those shows.
Douglas: I mean, when you get permission to listen to all this stuff and you’re making a movie about him, you’ve got to sit here and listen to the show. Oh, woe is me! What a rough day! [all laugh]
While I was watching the documentary, there was a moment where it hit me that I was watching a movie about radio, a medium that is dying, in another medium, film, that people are wondering whether or not it itself is also dying. There is this sense of permanence in that and also in Austin’s “weird” culture, as mentioned in the doc. John represented an element of Austin culture that is not as present in the city anymore. Was there an attempt to preserve both of these things in making this film?
Hartstein: I don’t know if “preserve” would be the word I would use, but certainly “in conversation with.” I always thought of it like wanting to build a bridge from the Austin of old to the new Austin, which has changed so much, and making sure wherever we’re going that John Aielli was still remembered as part of it. I grew up listening to a lot of radio and thinking that radio hosting, what John does, is an art form unto itself. Whether intentional or not, he really created something beautiful throughout his 50-something years.
Douglas: If you take the idea that he was the voice of Austin for 50 years and we’re making a film about him, how do we visually represent that? Well, we rewind and fast forward and go all over the place through the previous five decades to give you the sense that this man took you on these journeys throughout the city as it changed, as it progressed, as it had problems, as it figured itself out, etc.
Harstein: Through the course of making this film, I fell back in love with Austin. I moved here when I was in my early 20s in grad school, in art school, and found a great cohort of friends and collaborators to make stuff with. I’ve gotten really bummed out over the years thinking, if I were 20-something now, would Austin be the place I could afford to do that and fall on my face and just experiment? I don’t think the answer is yes. But, on the other hand, it is a beautiful place that still exists and people are still making great stuff here. There’s a warmth. For better or for worse, this is the place I want to celebrate. I want to remember John Aielli and put him on the Mount Rushmore of Austin so people can keep that as part of the future of Austin.
Douglas: A lot of folks mourn the loss of specific Austin venues or businesses or restaurants or places. Time goes on, businesses close, things change. It’s not the place where you can be a bohemian and make it and live in the core city and hang out with tons of weirdos. It’s not that anymore, but there’s still weirdness here, and there’s still that open vibe that still permeates most things.
My last question for you guys is, if John were still with us, what do you think he would have been rocking on the red carpet?
Douglas: Man, that’s a good question. A sari?
[laughing]
Douglas: A suit of armor? A purple tuxedo?
Hartstein: What I love to picture, were John alive today, is him with a partner holding hands on the red carpet. Somebody to share the experience with. I think that would be the coolest thing.
Douglas: Yeah, forget what I said about the sari. [all laugh]
Faders Up: The John Aielli Experience held its World Premiere as part of the 24 Beats Per Second section at the 2024 SXSW Film & TV Festival. The film is currently seeking distribution.
Larry Fried is a filmmaker, writer, and podcaster based in New Jersey. He is the host and creator of the podcast “My Favorite Movie is…,” a podcast dedicated to helping filmmakers make somebody’s next favorite movie. He is also the Visual Content Manager for Special Olympics New Jersey, an organization dedicated to competition and training opportunities for athletes with intellectual disabilities across the Garden State.