SLIFF 2014 Interview: Josh Rolens – Director of BOB REUTER’S LAST TAPE

BOB REUTER’S LAST TAPE tells the story of one of St. Louis’ finest storytellers — not only through his songs, but photographs and interviews as well as testimonials from those who knew him. The result is a vivid and intimate portrait of the late Bob Reuter, an iconic St. Louis underground artist. Through a series of confessions recorded before his untimely death, Reuter examines his personal successes and failures alongside his artistic achievements. In this collage-like film from director Josh Rolens, Bob explores the complexity of his life, moving between memory and narrative, and journeying into the darker and more difficult times. Reuter shares the losses he experienced as a child and adult, the immense health issues that burdened him, and his decision to let go of his worries and focus on expressing himself as an artist. Spanning more than 40 years of artistic creation — including songwriting, photography, and stream-of-consciousness monologues from “Bob’s Scratchy Records” on KDHX — BOB REUTER’S LAST TAPE is an homage to a gifted and much-missed St. Louisan.

BOB REUTER’S LAST TAPE screens as part of The St. Louis International Film Festival Sun, Nov 16 at 7:30pm on the stage at KDHX (3524 Washington Ave
St. Louis, MO 63103). The screening will be followed by a concert by Bob Reuter’s Alley Ghost.  Tickets can be purchased HERE

http://bobreuterslasttape.bpt.me/

For a look at all of the films playing at this year’s St. Louis International Film Festival, visit Cinema St. Louis’ site HERE

http://www.cinemastlouis.org/films

BOB REUTER’S LAST TAPE is an expansion of Josh Rolens’ 2010 short film about Reuter by titled Broken and Wonderful. Josh, a St. Louis native currently working as an editor in New York, took the time to talk about his film and about his friendship with Bob Reuter with We Are Movie Geeks.

Interview conducted by Tom Stockman

We Are Movie Geeks: Tell me about your film, BOB REUTER’S LAST TAPE

Josh Rolens: The documentary is a portrait of Bob Reuter. I wanted to show what moved Bob as an artist.  He was a magnificent story-teller, with a unique gift of weaving together wonderful narratives. It was magical to watch his process unfold, whether he told a story through music, a photograph, or ranting on the radio; he just had a way of channeling that energy to his audience. The documentary has a series of intimate moments, what I began to refer to as, confessions. They are the main threads to his story, giving insight into what inspired and influenced much of his art and storytelling. I wanted to show stark contrast between his public persona and his private thoughts, but in a very compact way. Bob described himself at the beginning during a confession as being both broken and wonderful. The statement is a rare and intimate reflection which sums up what the story of Bob is about; how a man who feels so broken manages to find the wonderfulness in life.

WAMG: I watched the trailer – who are these people being interviewed?

JR: In order; Chris Baricevic is a founding member of Bob Reuter’s Alley Ghost and owner of Big Muddy Records, the label Alley Ghost is under. Eve Dyson was Bob’s former partner from the 1980’s to early 90’s. Lew Prince is co-founder and owner of Vintage Vinyl on the Delmar Loop, St. Louis – Bob worked at the store for a time too. Tom Huck is a print artist and friend in St. Louis. He founded and owns Evil Prints.

WAMG: Were you good friends with Bob Reuter? How did you meet him?

JR: I wouldn’t say we were close friends, rather we appreciated or bonded on an artistic level. He became a kind of mentor to me, much like many of the younger generation he was surrounded by. What made our relationship unique was the documentary. Fortunately, I got to know Bob in a way most people didn’t. Something I am most grateful for. Bob and I met around 2000 at Forest Park Community College in St. Louis. I started taking photography classes and Bob was a darkroom lab monitor. He was also enrolled as a perpetual student, mainly so he could work in the lab, to gain access to the darkroom for printing. Many of us ended up doing just that! I was drawn to Bob, especially as a newbie to the darkroom, because of his amazingly raw, grainy black and white prints. Many other students were amazed by his prints, and we would attempt to emulate his style. He was a huge influence on so many young photographers. Bob became notorious for scaring people in the darkroom. He would slowly sneak up behind someone, in the dimly lit darkroom space, and wait till that person was in deep concentration and let out a monstrous yell. Mind you, he would only be inches from the back of your head. He got me on a couple of occasions!

WAMG: In the trailer you referred to him as Grumpy Bob. What made him so special and what was he like?

JR: Yes, Lew Prince referred to him as Grumpy Bob; I thought it was quite endearing actually. Bob was a complex, bittersweet character. He enjoyed making people laugh and uncomfortable at the same time. His stories were generally long, winding tales that would trail off into strange and fascinating places. What made him so special was the delivery of his stories. Sure, anyone can pick up a camera and photograph people, or write some chords on a guitar, or talk on a radio show. It’s not in the tools he used necessarily, but the way he synthesized his life experiences and projected them through a given medium. The lyrics to his songs were probably a more blatant portrayal of how he interpreted the world. His photos, seemed to me, to be character studies of the “other” or “outsider.”  Snapshots documenting the underbelly of St. Louis, particularly the South Side. If you were to hang his entire life’s work of photography on a wall, which would have to be a really big wall, you would no doubt see a giant portrait of how Bob viewed the world. This brings up another interesting point about how he lived, which was mainly in his head, creating the world that he wanted or wished was real. That unique authenticity that Bob possessed was unlike any that I have ever personally known.

WAMG: What were Bob’s health issues?

JR: Bob had a few health issues. The first was deep vein thrombosis, a condition where he had several blood clots that formed up and down his legs. This occurred sometime in the late 90’s. It was serious enough for him to be hospitalized for a short time. This was a moment for him which he described as “a new beginning”, a wake up call. Bob became very focused at that time with his creativity. Fast forwarding a few years, Bob had to undergo quadruple bypass heart surgery. This had a massive impact on him emotionally and psychologically. It knocked the wind out of his sails for a time. This was also another turning point for him. It’s at that point Alley Ghost was formed, or shortly thereafter.

WAMG: How did you hear about his death and how did that affect you?

JR: Bob’s passing was relayed to me through a close friend. I was with my wife on vacation. We had just arrived and checked into our accommodations. My phone rang and the caller I.D. read out “Bob”, which was actually another friend with the same name. I thought it was Reuter though, which makes it all the more strange looking back. He told me the news and I didn’t really believe it. I actually had to look it up to confirm it. At that point there was posts all over Facebook with the news. I probably couldn’t have been in a better spot for such sad and heart-breaking news. The trip was in Utah and we were heading off the next day to go camping and hiking in the mountains. I’d say that being surrounded by nature and serene beauty got me through the initial shock. It was an ideal way to reflect on what and how I was feeling.

WAMG: Were there people you wanted to interview but were unable to track down?

JR: Actually, I was able to track down all the people I wanted to interview. My main focus was to tell this story mostly from Bob’s perspective. I wanted to feature people other than Bob for descriptions and context to his life’s work and personality. Bob put me in contact with most of the people I interviewed. These people were able to give me the information that I wanted. They were all still in St. Louis at that time, which was a big help.

WAMG: Tell me about Bob Reuter’s Alley Ghost?

JR: Bob Reuter’s Alley Ghost was formed in 2008 after Bob’s heart surgery. Co-founding members Mat Wilson and Chris Baricevic approached Bob with the idea of bringing his music, or songs he had previously released, to a younger audience. They described it as the song book of Bob Reuter. They selected songs throughout his musical career and re-recorded them, with a different approach than the originals. Alley Ghost was hugely important to Bob. It helped give him the well deserved recognition as a musician in St. Louis.

WAMG: What does ‘Alley Ghost’ refer to?

JR: I believe it refers to graffiti he saw on a dumpster in a south-side alley.

WAMG: Do you plan on speaking about Bob before the film?

JR: Yes, as of now the plan is for me to introduce the film and give a Q&A session afterwards.

WAMG: Tell me about your filmmaking background

JR: I began my journey into filmmaking through still photography. With photography I was interested in capturing random moments as they happened. Eventually that lead into wanting to tell a story so I started with experimental silent shorts shot on 8mm film. When i began my undergraduate degree in film at Webster University I experimented with the narrative form. This developed into my first narrative called Black Thorn; a five minute dark comedy. Bob was actually in that for the final scene. In the spring of 2009 I was taking a documentary course and needed a project. Bob was it. My final project wound up being a 5-minute short called It Don’t Matter. This story focused on Bob’s art. It evolved into my graduating project; a 15-minute short on Bob, Broken and Wonderful. It showed in the 2010 St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase and the St. Louis Film Festival that year. In the spring of 2013 I decided to make a feature length edition. By August Bob unfortunately passed away.

WAMG: What do you think Bob would have thought about your film?

JR: After Bob first viewed the fifteen minute short, he was floored. He absolutely loved it, but mind you I was a nervous wreck while he sat quiet for the film, not making a single sound. I was like, “oh god he hates it.” I think he wanted me to sweat a bit. When the credits finished he lunged at me, bear hugged me off of my feet, yelling over and over, “I knew you could do it!” With the feature length,  I wish he was here to see it.

WAMG:  As a filmmaker, what other subjects would you like to tackle and what are your future plans?

JR: I grew up in St. Louis, so i am really interested in tackling stories from my hometown. St. Louis has an extremely rich and vibrant past, and I have always been fascinated with the social structures and culture of the community. I grew up in Ferguson, a town that has recently become the centerpiece of nation wide debate. I plan to explore these issues, both from a personal and historical perspective, over the coming years. I continue to be fascinated with random happenings, and live in New York City, a perfect place of everyday bizarre and wonderful events.