We're Never Going Home
Encyclopedia
"We're Never Going Home" is the first DVD
release of the Gainesville
folk punk
band Against Me!
, produced by Jake Burghart of Transition Video Magazine and presented by Fat Wreck Chords
. The feature presentation of the DVD follows the band on their United States tour that spanned from April 1st to May 2nd of 2004 and, alongside Against Me!, featured the Illinois
hardcore punk
band Planes Mistaken for Stars
and the United Kingdom
native punk
band No Choice.
Jake Burghart focuses on the relentless pressure on the band coming from major record companies looking to produce the band's upcoming album as the band struggles to decide what steps to take. With the release of the widely successful As the Eternal Cowboy
(2003) on Fat Wreck Chords
the prior year, various record companies (named in the film, among them Warner Bros. Records
) took notice of the commercial potential of the band and, as illustrated in the DVD, took to wining and dining with Against Me!. Oppositely, the film features brief interviews from those who oppose the band's signing to larger labels on DIY and anarchist principles, including a pair of interviews from DIY folk punk
band Ghost Mice
. The interviews from both sides offer insight into what pressures face the band and shed light on the moral dilemma that confuses and frustrates the band.
During an interview with Fat Mike from Fat Wreck Chords in this documentary, he explains that his label offered the band a certain amount of money with their deal, which they accepted. The band was obligated with that deal to release their next album with Fat Wreck. They signed to Sire Records three months after the release of Searching For A Former Clarity.
The film illustrates the classic life of a rock band on tour, with the band and friends pulling ridiculous pranks and spending the month drunk. However, as Tom Gabel indicates in a statement on the back of the DVD case, "this isn't meant to be a representation of who we are as people. Just who we were right then."
Musically, the DVD contains live performances from the tour, with songs spanning their musical career. The extra features include many performances that were not a part of the feature presentation, including some much older footage from before the band was as it is today.
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release of the Gainesville
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
folk punk
Folk punk
Folk punk , is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was pioneered in the late 1970s and early 1980s by The Pogues in Britain and Violent Femmes in America. Folk punk achieved some mainstream success in that decade...
band Against Me!
Against Me!
Against Me! is an American punk rock band formed in 1997 in Naples, Florida and relocated to Gainesville, Florida in 1999. Their first full-length album, released on No Idea Records in 2002, was Against Me! Is Reinventing Axl Rose. They have released music on Misanthrope Records, Crasshole Records,...
, produced by Jake Burghart of Transition Video Magazine and presented by Fat Wreck Chords
Fat Wreck Chords
Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike and his ex-wife, Erin, in 1990....
. The feature presentation of the DVD follows the band on their United States tour that spanned from April 1st to May 2nd of 2004 and, alongside Against Me!, featured the Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
hardcore punk
Hardcore punk
Hardcore punk is an underground music genre that originated in the late 1970s, following the mainstream success of punk rock. Hardcore is generally faster, thicker, and heavier than earlier punk rock. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A...
band Planes Mistaken for Stars
Planes Mistaken for Stars
Planes Mistaken for Stars was a emocore band formed in Peoria, Illinois in 1997. They released music on Deep Elm Records, Dim Mak Records, No Idea Records and Abacus Recordings.-History:...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
native punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
band No Choice.
Jake Burghart focuses on the relentless pressure on the band coming from major record companies looking to produce the band's upcoming album as the band struggles to decide what steps to take. With the release of the widely successful As the Eternal Cowboy
As the Eternal Cowboy
Against Me! as the Eternal Cowboy is the second album by the Gainesville, Florida punk rock band Against Me!, released on November 3, 2003 by Fat Wreck Chords. It was the group's first release for the label and their first album with bassist Andrew Seward, who had replaced original bassist Dustin...
(2003) on Fat Wreck Chords
Fat Wreck Chords
Fat Wreck Chords is a San Francisco, California based independent record label, focused on punk rock. It was started by Fat Mike and his ex-wife, Erin, in 1990....
the prior year, various record companies (named in the film, among them Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...
) took notice of the commercial potential of the band and, as illustrated in the DVD, took to wining and dining with Against Me!. Oppositely, the film features brief interviews from those who oppose the band's signing to larger labels on DIY and anarchist principles, including a pair of interviews from DIY folk punk
Folk punk
Folk punk , is a fusion of folk music and punk rock. It was pioneered in the late 1970s and early 1980s by The Pogues in Britain and Violent Femmes in America. Folk punk achieved some mainstream success in that decade...
band Ghost Mice
Ghost Mice
Ghost Mice is a two-piece folk-punk band from Bloomington, Indiana. Both members, Chris Johnston and Hannah Jones, have been in a handful of pop-punk bands together: namely Disarm, The Devil is Electric and Operation: Cliff Clavin...
. The interviews from both sides offer insight into what pressures face the band and shed light on the moral dilemma that confuses and frustrates the band.
During an interview with Fat Mike from Fat Wreck Chords in this documentary, he explains that his label offered the band a certain amount of money with their deal, which they accepted. The band was obligated with that deal to release their next album with Fat Wreck. They signed to Sire Records three months after the release of Searching For A Former Clarity.
The film illustrates the classic life of a rock band on tour, with the band and friends pulling ridiculous pranks and spending the month drunk. However, as Tom Gabel indicates in a statement on the back of the DVD case, "this isn't meant to be a representation of who we are as people. Just who we were right then."
Musically, the DVD contains live performances from the tour, with songs spanning their musical career. The extra features include many performances that were not a part of the feature presentation, including some much older footage from before the band was as it is today.