DOORS 7:30, £5
A video retrospective curated by Kier-La Janisse
Often referred to as The Godfather of Home Recording, New Jersey-based outsider artist R. Stevie Moore has released over 400 cassettes and CD-Rs through his mail-order club since the late 70s, and has created DIY music videos to match, totalling upwards of 30 DVDs available on his website (each packed with 120 minutes of footage). Despite his prolific output, fame has eluded R. Stevie, and he has a low profile even among outsider artists. Still, a short excursion into his bizarre musical universe speaks to his songwriting genius. Influenced by Brian Wilson, The Beatles, Syd Barrett and Frank Zappa (as well as fellow outsiders like The Shaggs), R. Stevie nevertheless remains a singular artist, a self-taught musician who writes, performs and records almost everything himself.
This 55 minute program focuses on R. Stevie’s mid-career output (1974-1988), and contains intertitles for additional historical context and commentary, as well as an animated opening credit sequence by Canadian independent animator Leslie Supnet.