HIRED GUN DOCUMENTARY TO BE SHOWN IN THEATERS NATIONWIDE
The new rock documentary “Hired Gun: Out Of The Shadows, Into The Spotlight” will receive a one-night showing on Thursday night (June 29) at several hundred North American locations through Fathom Events.
The film chronicles the story of world-renowned musicians who are not
household names, but are instead the session and backup musicians who
have performed at concerts and on countless recordings with huge stars
yet remain largely unknown to the public.
FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH guitarist Jason Hook, who came up as a session musician himself through stints with Mandy Moore, Hilary Duff, Vince Neil and Alice Cooper, teamed with filmmaker Fran Strine to make the film happen.
The documentary goes behind the scenes and explores the personalities
and creativity of the best session players and backup musicians in the
world. Among the artists interviewed are JOHN MELLENCAMP drummer Kenny Aronoff, former OZZY OSBOURNE bassist Rudy Sarzo, ex-METALLICA bassist Jason Newsted, KISS drummer Eric Singer, guitarist John 5 from Rob Zombie‘s band, TOTO axeman Steve Lukather, ALICE COOPER guitarist Nita Strauss and many more.
When asked how she got involved with the project, Strauss told Albany’s Q103
radio station: “Well, I was actually in the movie… It was total
coincidence, it was total chance that this happened. They were
interviewing Alice. I had just gotten in [his] band; I had been in the band for, like, two months. And they were interviewing Alice and they were asking about all these sidemen he’s worked with. And he said, ‘Have you guys talked to Nita
yet?’ Because I’m 30, I’ve been touring since 15, and I would say
eighty-five percent of that has been as a sideman, as a hired gun. I
would just play guitar for anybody that would have me. I didn’t care if
it was rock or metal or punk or pop or funk or… whatever it was; I was
just happy to be playing guitar and getting paid enough to eat and go to
the next city. So [Alice said to them], ‘Have you guys talked to Nita
yet?’ And they said, ‘No.’ And I was in the gym at the hotel, and they
go, ‘Hey, can you do an interview for this documentary?’ I said, ‘Yeah,
sure. When?’ They said, ‘Well, right now.’ [Laughs] I [went],
‘All right. No problem. Yeah, give me twenty minutes.’ So I just ran up
and changed clothes and came down and I got to be part of the movie. And
it was so, so cool actually getting to see it — getting to see
everybody’s stories and to see the parallels of everyone’s journey and
how so many similarities there are in different people’s lives and
different people’s perpectives on this crazy business.”