Hype! (1996)

Director:

Doug Pray

Release Date:

8 November 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Music

Tagline:

surviving the northwest rock explosion

Plot:

Documentary covering the growth and subsequent overexposure of the Seattle "grunge" music scene in the early 90s

Plot Keywords:

Interview | Concert Footage | Band | Commercialism | Music Industry

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

7 Year Bitch	...	Themselves
Valerie M. Agnew	...	Herself - 7 Year Bitch (as Valerie Agnew)
Carrie Akre	...	Herself - Hammerbox
Jeff Ament	...	Himself - Pearl Jam
Dawn Anderson	...	Herself - Local Music Critic
Michael Anderson	...	Himself - Blood Circus
Paul Arkin	...	Band Practice Space Tour
Mark Arm	...	Himself - Mudhoney
James Atkins	...	Himself - Hammerbox
John Atkins	...	Himself - Seaweed
Jon Auer	...	Himself - The Posies
Love Battery	...	Themselves
Leighton Beezer	...	Himself - Stomach Pump / The Thrown Ups
Martin Bernier	...	Himself - Some Velvet Sidewalk
Nils Bernstein	...	Himself - Sub Pop Records
Don Blackstone	...	Himself - Gas Huffer
Don Blair	...	Himself - Some Velvet Sidewalk
Kurt Bloch	...	Himself - The Fastbacks / The Young Fresh Fellows
Blood Circus	...	Themselves
Dan Bolton	...	Himself - The Supersuckers
James Bosch	...	Himself - Hammerbox
Coffin Break	...	Themselves
David Brooks	...	Himself - Coffin Break
Brien Bublitz	...	Kid with Noseplugs
Bob Bulgrien	...	Himself - Seaweed
Matt Cameron	...	Himself - Soundgarden
Bill Campbell	...	Himself - Flop
Ryan Campbell	...	Himself - Hovercraft (as Campbell 2000)
Art Chantry	...	Himself - Graphic Designer
Robbe Clarke	...	Himself - Zipgun
Kurt Cobain	...	Himself - Nirvana (archive footage)
Fred Cole	...	Himself - Dead Moon
Toody Cole	...	Herself - Dead Moon
Van Conner	...	Himself - Screaming Trees
Chris Cornell	...	Himself - Soundgarden
Crackerbash	...	Themselves
Dave Crider	...	Himself - The Monomen / Estrus Records
Sean Croghan	...	Himself - Crackerbash
Dale Crover	...	Himself - The Melvins
Dan Cunneen	...	Himself - Zipgun
Kurt Danielson	...	Himself - Tad
Elizabeth F. Davis	...	Herself - 7 Year Bitch (as Elizabeth Davis)
Doug Day	...	Himself - Blood Circus
Dead Moon	...	Themselves
Thomas A. Doyle	...	Himself - Tad (as Tad Doyle)
Matt Dresdner	...	Himself - The Gits
Roisin Dunne	...	Herself - 7 Year Bitch
Chris Eckman	...	Himself - The Walkabouts
Jack Endino	...	Himself - Record Producer
Heidi Englebert	...	Bon Marché Decorator
Bruce Fairweather	...	Himself - Love Battery
The Fastbacks	...	Themselves
Jason Finn	...	Himself - Love Battery
Steve Fisk	...	Himself - Record Producer
Flop	...	Themselves
Dave Fox	...	Himself - The Posies
Scott Fox	...	Himself - Crackerbash
Lulu Gargiulo	...	Herself - The Fastbacks
Gas Huffer	...	Themselves
Jeff Gilbert	...	Band Practice Space Tour
Girl Trouble	...	Themselves (archive footage)
The Gits	...	Themselves
Stone Gossard	...	Himself - Pearl Jam
David Grohl	...	Himself - Nirvana (archive footage)
Hammerbox	...	Themselves
Frank Harlan	...	Himself - Producer
Ron Heathman	...	Himself - The Supersuckers
Daniel House	...	Himself - President, C / Z Records
Tad Hutchison	...	Himself - The Young Fresh Fellows
Jack Irons	...	Himself - Pearl Jam
Megan Jasper	...	Herself - Sub Pop Records
Calvin Johnson	...	Himself - Co-Founder, K Records
Nate Johnson	...	Himself - Flop
Alan Larsen	...	Himself - Some Velvet Sidewalk
Beth Liebling	...	Herself - Hovercraft (as Sadie 7)
Peter Litwin	...	Himself - Coffin Break
Andrew Loomis	...	Himself - Dead Moon
Jeff Lorien	...	Himself - Coffin Break
Matt Lukin	...	Himself - Mudhoney
Barrett Martin	...	Himself - Screaming Trees
Scott McCaughey	...	Himself - The Young Fresh Fellows (as Scott MacCaughey)
Mike McCready	...	Himself - Pearl Jam
The Melvins	...	Themselves
Theodore Miller	...	Himself - Crackerbash
The Mono Men	...	Themselves (as The Monomen)
Steve Moriarty	...	Himself - The Gits
Ledge Morisette	...	Himself - The Mono Men
John Mortensen	...	Himself - The Mono Men
Mudhoney	...	Themselves
Mike Musburger	...	Himself - The Fastbacks / The Posies
Wade Neal	...	Himself - Seaweed
Joe Newton	...	Himself - Gas Huffer
Ron Nine	...	Himself - Love Battery
Nirvana	...	Themselves
Shigeki Nishimura	...	Japanese Fan (as Nissie)
Krist Novoselic	...	Himself - Nirvana (also archive footage)
Buzz Osborne	...	Himself - The Melvins
Bruce Pavitt	...	Himself - Sub Pop Records
Pearl Jam	...	Themselves
Dan Peters	...	Himself - Mudhoney
Charles Peterson	...	Himself - Photographer
Jonathan Poneman	...	Himself - Sub Pop Records
The Posies	...	Themselves
Tom Price	...	Himself - Gas Huffer
Geoff Robinson	...	Himself - Blood Circus
Aaron Roeder	...	Himself - The Mono Men
Neil Rogers	...	Himself - Zipgun
Rottweiller	...	Band Practice Space Tour
Martin Rushent	...	Himself - Visiting Record Producer
Jim Sangster	...	Himself - The Young Fresh Fellows
Paul Schurr	...	Himself - Flop
Seaweed	...	Themselves
Ben Shepherd	...	Himself - Soundgarden
Dan Siegal	...	Himself - The Supersuckers
Susan Silver	...	Herself - Manager
Tracey Simmons	...	Himself - Blood Circus
Rob Skinner	...	Himself - Coffin Break
Some Velvet Sidewalk	...	Themselves
Soundgarden	...	Themselves
Eddie Spaghetti	...	Himself - The Supersuckers
Joe Spleen	...	Himself - The Gits
Aaron Stauffer	...	Himself - Seaweed
Ken Stringfellow	...	Himself - The Posies
Supersuckers	...	Themselves (as The Supersuckers)
Susie Tennant	...	Herself - DGC Records
Kim Thayil	...	Himself - Soundgarden
Harris Thurmond	...	Himself - Hammerbox
Carla Torgerson	...	Herself - The Walkabouts
Dave Trissid	...	Himself - The Melvins
Steven Neil Turner	...	Himself - Mudhoney (as Steve Turner)
The U-Men	...	Themselves (archive footage)
Conrad Uno	...	Himself - PopLlama Records
Eddie Vedder	...	Himself - Pearl Jam
Selene H. Vigil	...	Herself - 7 Year Bitch (as Selene Vigil)
Mike Vraney	...	Himself - Promoter
Kim Warnick	...	Herself - The Fastbacks
Clint Werner	...	Himself - Seaweed
Kevin Whitworth	...	Himself - Love Battery
Rusty Willoughby	...	Himself - Flop
Mark Wooten	...	Himself - Zipgun
Blake Wright	...	Himself - Owner, eMpTy Records
Matt Wright	...	Himself - Gas Huffer
The Young Fresh Fellows	...	Themselves
Mia Zapata	...	Herself - The Gits
Zipgun	...	Themselves

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR | DTS

Certification:

Australia:MA (original rating) | Australia:M (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/6

Filming Locations:

Bellingham, Washington, USA

Company:

Helvey-Pray Productions

Quotes:

Martin Rushent: It's taking rock right back to its basics, which is, go up there, make a hell of a noise and make sure you play music your parents don't like.

Movie Connections:

Features Rock and Roll Mobster Girls (1988)

Soundtrack:

The River Rise

great movie for anyone interested in music.

For anyone who was a fan of the early '90s "grunge" music, Hype! is almost required viewing. Loaded with interviews, live footage, and early demos/recordings, it is an accurate chronology of the early scene.

However, what makes Hype! so good is that it is basically two stories in one. A simple narrative about the Seattle scene is used to illustrate how the American pop-culture machine will jump on the bandwagon. An independent musical scene with a range of different influences gains a little exposure and reputation. Soon the corporate media steps in, and it all becomes wrapped up in the nice little package of "grunge" and is marketed nationwide as a music/clothing/life-style choice. The people in the original scene either play the game and take advantage of it, or they are caught up and exploited, or they are simply left behind. In the end, what was once underground becomes assimilated into the mainstream and homogenized. The cycle is left to repeat itself somewhere else as soon as the next "musical revolution" is discovered.

Hype! could have just as easily been about a different city or musical genre, and the story would have been the same. These same themes have been brought up in numerous other films, but they work a little better in Hype! because it's not simply a satire, but shows it first-hand through real people.

Once again, I think Hype! is a well-made documentary. Even if you're not a fan of "grunge", I still recommend it for its treatment of pop-culture as a whole.