MFF 2011 Review: ‘Everyday Sunshine–The Story of Fishbone’

Directed/Written by: Lev Anderson and Chris Metzler
Featuring: Kendall Jones, Norwood Fisher, Chris Dowd, Phillip Fisher, “Dirty” Walt Kibby II, Angelo Moore, Ice-T, Flea, Tim Robbins, Branford Marsalis, Perry Farrell and Gwen Stefani; narrated by: Laurence Fishburne

‘Everyday Sunshine: The Story of Fishbone’ is an invigorating musical documentary; it precisely mimics the raw, distinctive and restless energy of its subject and effortlessly coaxes the audience into feeling their triumph and ultimate frustration. Using animated vignettes, a purposefully austere Laurence Fishburne narration, and intimate talking heads from the members themselves, Anderson and Metzler cast the band’s tumultuous history against the backdrop of the industry they inspired but failed to fully break into.

Breaking out of the gate right after high school and getting signed to a record label immediately, Fishbone was a band that blasted onto the music scene and confounded expectations. Their eclectic and honest approach to music made them initially appealing but their artistic democracy eventually caused them to push in too many directions and audiences’ and record companies’ failure to categorize them signaled their fall. Ice-T sums up it all up eloquently with “It wasn’t rock, it wasn’t metal, it wasn’t hiphop, it wasn’t funk. It was just some different sh!t. There was no pre-Fishbone. It was just them. They get to wear that crown to the grave.”

 Metzler fills the film with talking heads from famous faces, all of them in thrall to Fishbone’s ability and perplexed by their failure to really ‘hit’. It doesn’t take long to realize the sad nature of these sound bytes; from Red Hot Chili Peppers to the Dead Kennedy’s, we instantly recognize the people raving but try conjuring up the faces of  Norwood Fisher and Angelo Moore and you probably come up blank. And yet in the late 80s and 90s Fishbone was like an electric shock to the system of the rock and hip-hop worlds, developing a kind of musical schizophrenia melding several styles, influences, and structures, often all in the same song. Theatricality was never a problem either. Concert footage shows some of the boys playing more or less nude, their naughties covered only by their instruments.

Whether or not the world still remembers them, Fisher and Moore—the two members still committed to the band’s vision and mission—struggle on in anonymity, left to ponder whether they can ever bring it all together again and make magic happen. Fisher, particularly, proves to be an interesting and thoughtful figure who’s candid view of his life adds much interest to the film. Without complaining, he establishes where he stands; “Fishbone could be a band that doesn’t use profanity, goes and does the festival circuit, plays the oldies and rakes in a ton of dough.  But we chose to try to forge new ground, go into uncharted territory on some levels. We are where we are because the path that we walk.” Angelo Moore, whose excessive personality may have in fact chased away two other members, is more whimsical and less grounded. The present day portions of the film focus on Angelo and Norwood finding a way to work together and push through the band’s turbulent history.

That history is presented to the viewer in a form worthy of Fishbone itself. Using an animated comic strip to cover the band’s meeting and early days, Everyday Sunshine evokes the memories of Fat Albert and the Junkyard Gang, and it’s an interesting correlation; Fishbone rummaged through the cultural landfill and kept bringing shiny, compelling trinkets to the light. In retrospect, they keep getting labeled ‘too black for white people, and too white for black people’. These animations however, are as endearing as the probing interviews that form a multi-faceted portrayal of the band as a living animal built of many conflicting pieces.

 Everyday Sunshine could most likely coast on the quirkiness of the band itself and their odd presence in the pop culture landscape and still make for a massively entertaining film. Metzler doesn’t bank on this though, and he’s not just interested in gesturing vaguely at the band, but giving them their moment, exploring and defining them in a way that no one really did when they were first lighting up the scene. From the recollections of Norwood regarding band member Kendall James’ experiences with a religious cult to Angelo’s exasperation with his own erratic nature, Metzler pushes well beyond territory usually covered in most musical docs.

Whether you are still one of Fishbone’s faithful, faintly remember them from MTV clips back in the 90s, or don’t recognize the band at all, Every Day Sunshine is a wonderful access point, as original and exciting as the band its documenting.