SXSW. Podcast. Nerdcore Rising.

The final leg of the droning journey from Berlin to Austin about a week and a half ago was a flight from Newark to the heart of Texas and, as everyone piled into their seats, it didn't take us long to figure out that about half the plane was headed to SXSW. When chirpy Negin Farsad told us she was taking a film, Nerdcore Rising, reaction up and down the aisle was nearly unanimous: "Oh, yeah! Can't wait to see that!"

Hopefully, everyone on board got a chance to. In today's podcast, Aaron Hillis talks with Farsad and her star, MC Frontalot, and to download or to listen to him find a rhyme, on the spot, for Andrew Bujalski, click here.

Farsad has a couple of things going for her that make Nerdcore Rising more fun than the usual doc following a novelty band around on its first tour. First, her own background in comedy puts the band at ease, and each of them - Frontalot, Gaby Alter, Brandon Patton and Sturgis Cunningham - has his own unique talent for bringing on the funny. What's more, they all do a mean Chewbacca impression.

The band hits mostly small - okay, teensy - clubs in the east, nailing their show, before they head to Seattle and play for an audience of thousands at last summer's Penny Arcade Expo. Along the way, we meet the fans and deal with that prerequisite of any doc - issues: Who are nerds, and why are they the ones who, ultimately, "run shit"? (Short answer: You already know who they are and why they pull the planet's strings, but it's fun to hear it from them all over again anyway.) Is everyone - including, say, legendary hip hop producer, DJ and rapper Prince Paul - okay with a predominately whiter-than-white subculture co-opting an undeniably black musical genre? (Short answer: Sure, why not.)

Good times. More on Nerdcore Rising from Christopher Campbell (SpoutBlog), Jette Kernion (Cinematical) and Eric Kohn (Stream).

Posted by dwhudson at March 17, 2008 2:20 PM