Making the switch from rocking out on stage to creating films is something Patrick Dean “McQueen” Bostrom had always kept on the back burner, but now the heat is on! The man playing lead guitar for local garage punk faves Throw Rag is also a producer for the Credit Card Productions short film “The Tab,” and that is just the start of what promises to be many more years of entertaining the masses. The common ground not only lies in his artistic creativity, but also the ability to tell a good story. Bostrom performs with Throw Rag Saturday at Alex's Bar's 10 Year Anniversary Show.
OC Weekly (Ali Lerman): So, how did you and the band actually meet?
Patrick Dean Bostrom: I joined Throw Rag in late 1994. We met in an Internet bathhouse. Oh wait, that was before the Internet. I just realized that we are in our fifteenth year. I'll have to go out buy a Quinciñera dress.
When is the next time we can see Throw Rag, with you hopefully wearing that dress?
We are playing Alex's Bar's 10 year anniversary show “extravaganza” in Long Beach this Saturday. It's with our buddies from Texas, the Riverboat Gamblers and that stoogy stooge Mike Watt. If I could rate this show on a scale from 1 and 10, I'd give it a 19.
When did you realize you wanted to make the switch from music to film?
Well, I can't really say I realized anything. I just love telling stories so it's always been a part of me in some form or another. I love hearing stories and the creative process of crafting stories. It takes many forms and I've been drawn to it since I was a kid. Escaping into a different world like music or film is something that is essential for me. There was no switch though. Sometimes you have to put some aspects of your life on hold and accept the ones that are waiting.
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What's the music making process like for you?
I'd rather talk about the love making process…
[Laughing] OK, well ,how does the love making process differ from making films?
Well, for that I use a Cuisinart salad shooter/food processor. You can really toss a good salad with that one.
Thank you for the tip! Who has been your biggest influence as a filmmaker?
I love Mike Nichol's early films, specifically, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. I like all things Hitchcock, Coen Brothers, Wes Anderson, Tarantino and Woody Allen. Oh, and Cassavettes. I will always have a crush on Gena Rowlands.
What do you think every film must have in order to make it good?
Every film must have a cuddly puppy in it. If not that, it must have a ball, hog or tugboat in it.
Ha, I can tell you are a big Mike Watt fan! What new projects are you working on right now?
I'm working on a short film with the same team who did The Tab (Mike Corey and Scott Antonucci). It is called George and it's about a precocious little girl who tries to set her mother up with this artist who is pining the death of his wife. Not to ruin it, but it has a very chilling end. I'm also finishing up another short called, Three Sides of a Coin that is directed by my close friend Mark Hoover.
So what is Three Sides of a Coin about?
It's about change, fate, and the side between heads and tails called the edge. We will be pursuing festivals with these as there really isn't a market for short films.
Sounds like you and the whole band are doing your own things and doing it pretty big!
Yeah, all the members of Throw Rag have side projects right now. Sean Wheeler is playing with Zander Schloss from the Circle Jerks and Alex Cox Films. Franco Fontana is playing acid porno jazz in a great band called the New Rome Quartet, and Chango Von Streicher (The Urban Commando) was until recently bashing it out with the John's. My old band, the Male Order Brides–I know, who?–reunited after 20 years to do the song “I'm Set Free” for a Velvet Underground compilation. There are a lot of great local name acts on it and Jack Grisham sings a respectfully bawdy version of “Coney Island Steeplechase.” Look out for it this year.
I'm sure you have a lot of musician friends, so how do you choose the music for your films? Don't all your buddies want a piece of the action?
It's all about trying to use the medium to get everyone involved … At this point it's all DIY and credit cards anyway. We had this high-powered entertainment lawyer tell us, “No one's gonna hand you a million dollars to make your shitty little movie.” So we've adopted the attitude of we'll do it ourselves. We don't need millions of dollars to make compelling and valid stories. When that first festival came in, we were validated for sure. For now it's just about building a track record. Although when that million comes, I'm sellin' out! Did I just say that or think it?
Do you have a “gag reel” for the Tab? Pun intended.
That's hilarious! (Laughs) Mike Corey and I knew we had something good when the Newport Beach Film Festival accepted the Tab last April. Actually, it's been officially accepted to seven film festivals and officially rejected to 29 more. I mean, it's no Brown Bunny but you'll never think of the phrase, “put it on my tab” the same way again.
Alex's Bar 10 Year Anniversary Show featuring the Riverboat Gamblers, Throw Rag, Mike Watt and the Secondmen and Werewolf, Alex's Bar, Long Beach, Sat., 8 p.m. $15.
