Brian Doherty

We travelled to East Berlin to shoot this video in a television museum. In it, you’ll notice that I never open my eyes. For some reason, the director insisted that I play with my eyes closed, as a way of conveying intensity and drama. Ha? What? Anyway…did you notice the dude in the electric chair? The original script read that this guy’s character would get his head shaved on an operating table before going to the electric chair. When it came to shooting the scene, the actor cried like a baby as the electric shavers turned on. The director took pity and omitted the part where the guy gets his head shaved.

Of noteworthy:

• This location was a Soviet style television studio turned museum after the fall of the Berlin wall. It had an eerie feeling.
• I got the sense that Flansburgh had a hard time with this director at the wheel.  You may know that Flans himself is a creative and highly qualified director.  It took everything for him to keep his mouth shut during this shoot.
• The day before this shoot, I was at home in Stone Ridge, NY when I realized that I didn’t have a plane ticket yet.  Tony, the bass player, also didn’t have one.  We immediately called the TMBG office and got an intern to book our flights.  Why the screw-up?  What would the Johns have done had we not made the video shoot?  They would have enjoyed the travel savings and hired two Germans to mimick the bass and drum parts. 

The Jon Stewart Show–back in the day. This was on the John Henry tour. We were in Europe for many weeks before doing this show. I remember feeling relieved, being back home in New York. This song was a Linnell composition and there was a lot of hope in the Giants’ camp that it would match the success of Birdhouse In Your Soul. I always felt it was an interesting tune but that it lacked something (like a bridge?). Far be it from me to critique a Linnell song, the guy is pure genius. Watching this really makes me miss this drum kit. I foolishly sold it to a recording studio when I became a GMS endorser–big mistake. These Yamaha toms were unbelievable! Watching this also makes me miss working with Tony Maimone. He’s a great guy and always a ton of fun.