My third film in the Aquarius Trilogy is now on the Post-Production Bullet Train, with a completion date by Summer 2020! Read on for more, and click on the below link to see the first 7 minutes of the film, along with outtakes and extended, unedited clips…
It Came from Aquarius Records YouTube channel
IT CAME FROM AQUARIUS RECORDS is a feature-length documentary about the SF-based independent record store, Aquarius Records. Having closed in 2016 after 47 years, this small apartment-sized store championed local, underground, independent, and challenging music to the masses - most memorably with their infamous bi-weekly, college essay-length, new-release lists.
This doc has interviews with the aQ owners dating back to 1970, other record store owners from around the world, musicians, label heads, music journalists, and INTENSE music collectors. Interviewees include Matt Groening (The Simpsons), Wayne Coyne (Flaming Lips), Bruce Ackley, John Darnielle (The Mountain Goats), Ty Segall, and Liz Harris (Grouper).
Aquarius Records influenced and enriched countless peoples’ musical tastes with their curated selections - but this film also shows the realities of an indie record store trying to survive in an increasingly difficult market of brick-and-mortar music shops, especially in the ever-changing and price-gouging Mission District of SF.
Six years in the making, the film has a very personal angle, with lots of behind-the-scenes footage (and drama) that shows both the joy and excruciating stress that comes with running — and closing — a store like this.
Produced, Directed and Edited by Kenneth Thomas.
Currently in Post-Production.
Projected finish date: Winter 2022.
On a personal note: the original goal was to have this completed in 2017. Various life events — moving to LA, bouts of depression, re-finding and enjoyably embracing a career road into teaching, and all that “life stuff” — prevented this from being completed in a timely manner. Having been re-invigorated by the positive life turn, as well as looking at all of this footage again, this project is back on track!
So, stay tuned for more news and please peruse the YouTube channel to view outtakes and extended cuts!