The multimedia Songs About Time is an ongoing project from the Rentals, the revolving-door band founded 15 years ago by then Weezer bassist Matt Sharp. Songs About Time finds Sharp and Co. collaborating with a cast of about 50 filmmakers, designers, producers, editors and artists. They began this year-long experiment January 1 and have since made a new black-and-white film every week, not to mention documenting the process with a daily photo diary and recording three mini-albums. (All of this content can be found on the band’s website.) As if Sharp wasn’t busy enough, he is also guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read his introduction.
Sharp: At the beginning of 2009, I made a pledge to our audience that I would shoot a single roll of 35mm film every day and, at the end of each day, mark the date on the film canister and store away the film safely. When the year is over, Artist In Residence is going to make 365 Songs About Time limited-edition boxed sets. Each box will include one undeveloped roll of film from one day in 2009 along with all the rest of the photographs, films and music we made during the year. There are, on average, about 38 images per roll, so by the end of the year, there will have been somewhere around 13,870 images taken. The reason I chose to work with Fuji Neopan 1600 is because I often work in very low-light situations, like recording studios. Fuji Neopan is the best the film I’ve used going from those darker situations to a brighter, more natural light. No matter how convenient or how advanced digital cameras become, there is nothing like analog film. I’ve been shooting with both mediums every day this year and looking at the images side by side. No matter how you try and twist it, there is still nothing more romantic or more beautiful then black-and-white 35mm film.
