Steve: Finding Rhythm

Five friends from rural Ohio struggle to start a band amidst the maelstrom transition from teenagers to twenty-somethings in the early 2000s. This film follows STEVE’s formation through the writing and recording of the group's album, In The Event of Rhythm, the private gigs, and coffee-house concerts, the small town festival performance, right through the final song of their final show. Persisting through the creative, scheduling, and personality conflicts undoubtedly familiar to all those who have ever been in a band, the guys in STEVE manage to collectively strengthen their relationships through the collaborative process of expressing themselves through music.

  • David Ullman
    Director
    Inertia: Re-making THE CROW
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 31 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    December 12, 2004
  • Production Budget:
    0 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Shooting Format:
    VHS
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director - David Ullman
Director Statement

Though this documentary was the third feature-length project I'd produced about the creative activities of myself and my group of friends, it was the first I personally approached from the outset with the intention of capturing the elements necessary to tell a story. Now 21 years after the "Summer of Steve" chronicled here, I still feel a mixture of pride and embarrassment about this project. It's odd and perhaps more than a little self-indulgent to make autobiographical documentaries. But I've come to embrace it. I feel fortunate to be able to tell these stories. With each new album, movie, or [more recently] podcast, the larger story deepens and expands, and I continue to learn about myself and my friends through these projects.

Perhaps these ventures are sometimes vain, self-aggrandizing, and esoteric. They can also be critical, self-deprecating, revealing, and universal. I’m starting to see these stories as more than just those of myself and my friends. There are tons of creative people like us all over the world toiling in obscurity, who work long hours at their jobs and also make time for their art. These are folks who stay up late and get up early to tell their stories—and those of their friends and family. Folks who write and “sing their songs”—both literally and figuratively.

It's just like [STEVE percussionist] Logan says in the following interview clip quote, I do it not just to engage my creativity, but also to facilitate these friendships I value so much. Whether we're "making a show" or not, I echo young Logan's parting sentiments:

"I'm sure we got together as a band—not just to make music but to be closer and keep a tight grip on our friendship. Even though all these things are going to go away. We made all these things. We're putting this album together, we have this documentary... But being one as a group of friends is the most important thing that's come out of all of the stuff that we do. Yeah... The most important thing is my friends."