The DIRTY WORKS

It's been at least a couple of years since the folks at Atlanta's Worldstorm (Arts Lab) began filming Rebel Scum, a rockumentary that chronicles the life of one Christopher Scum (née Chris Andrews ) and his musical partners in crime, the Dirty Works. But despite rumors to the contrary, production of the film is within weeks of completion and will soon be submitted to several major film festivals.

When I viewed the film at Worldstorm's studio/headquarters, producer Francis Percarpio and director Video Rahim continually pointed out unfinished details. But to my untrained eyes, the film is complete; and it's astoundingly well-executed, thank you.

On par with the work of Ondi Timoner ( Dig! ) and Julien Temple ( The Filth and The Fury , Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten ), Rebel Scum is more than just a rock'n'roll movie. The multi-textured film explores several themes, including mental illness, addiction, relationships, family dysfunction, and the struggle for artistic expression. And, of course, all of this is repeatedly punctuated by scenes of Scum & co. in all their wasted glory, striving to make it in the rock'n'roll underground while facing the obstacles of legality, power struggles, and an oftentimes disinterested public.

Several of Knoxville's underground celebrities make appearances in the film including the legendary demon/poet/provocateur Rus Harper , the always entertaining and enigmatic Carl Snow , and the late Vadim , of dark metal fame. Other southeastern bands make appearances such as Atlanta's Dropsonic , Asheville's Monsters of Japan , and you can even spot members of The Disobedients if you keep your eyes peeled. Knoxville clubs The Pilot Light and The Corner Lounge provide the settings for several scenes.

Simply put, Rebel Scum is a masterpiece, a miracle. No matter what you think of Christopher Scum or his band, you will find this film absolutely compelling. The basic story of the film is one man's continued drive to create art in spite of barriers imposed by society and by his own self-destructive tendencies. Rebel Scum bounces intermittently between the extremes of comedy and tragedy, revealing a seedy underworld of Knoxville that few people know exists or would want to know about. At its core, the film presents an honest depiction that is neither exploitative nor a PR hackjob. And anybody with a beating heart will end up loving Christopher Scum, despite his myriad flaws. Trust me; the disturbing and painfully real Rebel Scum is destined to become a classic of the documentary genre. This is gonna be huge.

Rebel Scum is slated for submission to several major film festivals this fall, including Sundance and the Berlin Film Festival.
— John Sewell

- Metropulse John Sewell

Friday, May 19, 2006

Knoxville band the Dirty Works is eager to begin promoting its new album with a slew of out-of-town gigs.

Playing one or two regional shows per week, the Dirty Works often receive warmer welcomes in other cities than at hometown performances. This idea is touched upon in the song "Knoxville Hates Us."

"It's kind of a theme song," says vocalist Christopher Scum. "It's just kind of complaining about the slow start we've had here and people's lack of interest. We'll go headline in Atlanta to 200 people and come back here and play to 30. We actually have more of a following in other cities than we do in our own."

On May 4, the band officially released its "Biscuits and Liquor" album to mixed online reviews. It should be noted, however, that the majority of the album's criticism is regarding a production style the band intentionally strived for. A mixed bag of Southern punk and rock 'n' roll, the record contains brief and direct tracks with a theme of rebellion.

"The album sounds exactly as we made it to sound," Scum explains. "There are too many people that I guess grew up in the past 10 years or so that are like, 'This doesn't sound like a punk-rock album.' 'Why isn't this produced?' Everybody is used to music that's so layered. We went in with the attitude that we wanted to make a raw, rock 'n' roll record, and that's what we did. We put as much time into making sure it wasn't polished as other bands do in polishing and doing postproduction."

"We did the whole disc's recording in 12 hours," adds drummer B.Riot. "When we walked out of there, we knew we laid down solid tracks. There has been production, and there have been snippets taken out and notes punched back in here and there, but it's not going to sound like a glossy new album that you'd expect a major label to put out. It's not supposed to."

Negative online reviews have become all too familiar to the band.

"We're on this thing on the computer called Garageband.com where you can put your songs up for review," continues Scum. "People either love it or they hate it, and the main thing they hate about it is that it's not polished. I'll take the criticism if it's valid. We've gotten a lot of praise as well, but a bad review can be just as good if they'll take the time to explain what's wrong."

This is but one aspect of the Dirty Works' online woes. The band's Myspace-hosted Web site was taken down following the addition of a promo photo featuring the band over a Confederate flag backdrop. The flag had served as a symbol for the group of nonconformists for years.

"It was just weird that it happened," says Scum. "It had been up there forever. At the top, it says 'The Dirty Works,' and the bottom of it says 'Hated and proud.' We had close to 2,000 friends on there, and a lot of them were connections and publications. A lot of the other Southern bands I knew that used it were gone, too. That flag is perfect for a band like us. The struggles that we face and the rebellion I feel is symbolized by that flag. It's a symbol of rebellion and of independence. The site said I was trying to upload something with violence or nudity. This country is so weak that we even tolerate intolerance through political correctness."

"It's our history," Riot adds. "I'm from New Orleans, and I have a lot of pride behind it. Behind that flag, my people built this nation, and they did a good job of it. I might not have asked to come here, but I am so glad I'm not in Ethiopia. I think it was the best thing that could have happened to the African race. It takes a person to put that flag in any perspective. The flag by itself is an innocent piece of cloth that represented many of our states for many years."

The band also takes pride in scheduling shows with respectable lineups. On June 14 the group is set to play its next local show at The Electric Ballroom with U.S. Police State and The Disobedients, following a month of regional gigs in Tennessee and the Carolinas. "Biscuits and Liquor" will soon be available at Disc Exchange and CDBaby.com.
- Knoxville News Sentinal- Jer Cole

Anyone showing up at The Pilot Light on Monday night expecting to see and hear a conventional rock show needs to think twice.
After all, Christopher ``Scum'' **** didn't earn his nickname by being conventional. He's been described as a rock 'n' roll deviant, a purveyor of bad taste and bad music, a guy whose latest project, The Dirty Works, refers to a grimy syringe used to inject drugs.
Even Mancow, the Chicago radio deejay who makes a living off of purveying weirdness and crude skits, slammed Scums’ music during a recent broadcast, saying that though the music shows talent, scum spoils it with his vile, downright despicable lyrics and antics.
None of that really matters, though. What does matter is that you listen beyond the roiling, thrashing guitars, that you see past the snarling facade on stage and get to know the guy underneath.
Because he's got a lot to say, and he wants to be heard.
Early years
``I've played music pretty much all my life, as far back as I can remember,'' **** told The Daily Times this week. ``I wrote my first song when I was 7, and my step-father helped me put guitar music to it. Believe it or not, it was called `The Damn Jail Cell.' Little did I know back then that I would eventually end up in a place like that.''
It was a solid effort for a 7-year-old, Scum remembers (he recently pulled the song out and revisited it) and was the start of a twisted musical journey. When he was 13 or 14, he got a bass guitar, and shortly thereafter, he was caught drinking at a high school dance and was placed under house arrest for six months.
``All I had to do was sit around in my bedroom and play that bass, so I played along to my AC/DC and Led Zeppelin records,'' Christopher said. ``By the time I came out of there, I started to get a musical understanding of the bass.''
Shortly thereafter, when Andrews was 16, his family picked up and moved from Adams County, Ohio -- 70 miles east of Cincinnati -- to Knoxville. Once in East Tennessee, he gravitated toward the two things that would define his life for years to come -- music and alcohol.
As a teenager, Andrews had trouble breaking into the local music scene. He credits Rus Harper, who at the time played in the legendary Knoxville band Teenage Love and would go on to front local shock-rock outfit Evil Twin, with helping him land gigs at local clubs for his new band, Stop Daddy.
``Rus was real supportive of me and my music when club owners wouldn't let me play,'' Andrews said. ``They thought I was just another smart-ass punk kid, which I was, but I could play.''
Stop Daddy gained quite a bit of local popularity, but in the winter of 1990, the band broke up. The same week, Andrews broke up with his girlfriend of two years. The combination sent him spiraling into an alcohol-fueled depression that would last for eight years.
Downward spiral
In Scums' case, the alcoholism is genetic -- both his father and grandfather were alcoholics, he pointed out. During the ``eight-year liquor jag,'' as he put it, he played around Knoxville with several different bands -- the Anal Daisies, Homewrecker, the Lilylids -- and began cultivating a reputation as an unpredictable, egomaniacal force of nature.
``I think it developed from my childhood, because I've always been super, super, super depressed,'' Scum said. ``I mean, I tried to hang myself when I was 7. I didn't know what I was doing -- I wasn't trying to purposely die -- but I walked around with a rope burn around my neck for a month. I didn't have a very idealistic childhood at all.''
By the time he reached his 20s, Christopher had immersed himself in the ``scum rock'' scene, most closely associated with G.G. Allin of the notorious band the Murder Junkies. Allin, who died of a heroin overdose, was famous for defecating on stage, abusing fans and generally pushing buttons that took him to the edge of sanity and beyond.
``I wouldn't say I pulled G.G. Allin antics -- I pulled Christopher `Scum' antics, and I still do today,'' Andrews said. ``I don't eat [feces], but I do over-exert myself as much as I can, and I do blood-let because I hit myself. A lot of that has to do with release.
``People don't understand that when I get up there and sing and beat the hell out of myself and end up soaked in blood and sweat, I actually think I slip into a high. From being that over-exerted, that beat down, I feel all that negative energy leave my body, and it's very cleansing. That's when I can hear my own voice, my true voice, talking to me the most.''
Scum is the first to admit that such a claim sounds crazy. But he's always believed in the redemptive power of rock 'n' roll, because he's seen it work in his life and those he's played with over the years.
‘Plus ask anyone one that body builds, runs, or overexerts themselves physically. There is a high I get while I’m up there bloody, beaten, wore out and about to drop, that you can’t obtain from any drug use. Indians knew about this.
``I went into - The Daily Times Steve Wildsmith

ON THE WEB: www.myspace.com/dirtyworks
By Steve Wildsmith
of The Daily Times Staff
Don't think he's getting soft just because Christopher ``Scum'' ***** doesn't pound his face with a pair of brass knuckles until it resembles a pound of ground round.
If anything, he's more determined, focused and furious than ever when he gets on stage, as he'll do Thursday night at The Corner Lounge with his band, The Dirty Works. These days, however, he's more confident in the music he's playing and writing, and therefore, he told The Daily Times this week, less prone to self-inflicted violence.
``It still happens occasionally, but I think a lot of that was insecurities with the music at the time,'' Andrews said. ``It seems I get my rocks off from the music now without having to do that. Of course, it's still the ultimate to get up there and push yourself to the limit, and I still do that to where I feel like I'm going to fall out by the end of the night.''
With ``Biscuits and Liquor,'' the new album by The Dirty Works, Andrews has a lot to feel good about. It's unlike anything else making the rounds in the local scene these days, a throwback to the punk attitudes of the late '70s and the redneck rock and hillbilly attitudes that make such acts as Hank III and Nashville Pussy so enthralling to see live.
It's not an album that will be greeted fondly by everyone who hears it. In fact, ``Biscuits and Liquor'' has already gotten its share of detractors, mostly from those who hear it online and don't understand the ``old-school'' style of production that gives it a rough, choppy sound. The guitars are distorted, the vocals are tinny and the snarling, growling, howling lyrics sound like the punk band playing too loud in the downstairs apartment at 3 a.m. on a Saturday night.
Which is exactly how Scum intended it to sound.
``It's gotten so bad on [the Web site] Garagebands.com that I had to put on there, `Don't comment on the production, please,' because nobody gets it,'' he said. ``Everybody comments that it sounds like it's not produced, but the thing about it that when we went in to record it (at Atrium Studio in Knoxville), I was asked to give the producer a rough idea of what I wanted. I said, take Iggy Pop's `Raw Power' and Black Flag's `Jealous Again,' and as far as the energy I'm looking for, throw in 9 Pound Hammer's `Hayseed Timebomb.'
``We wanted to record something raw and crude and primitive and yet brutally honest to where we're at. Maybe somewhere down the road we'll do something with all of that polish, but right now, that's where we're at, and that's how we wanted to sound.''
There's an overwhelming feeling of dread and darkness throughout the 12 songs that make up ``Biscuits and Liquor,'' and the album is filled with references to violence, drinking, sex and blistering attacks on holier-than-thou types. It's a tale told through the eyes of a central character, a man who may or may not be based on Scum himself. It's been described as a concept record, a crime scene evidence file of blood and debauchery that leaves the role of detective open to the listener to piece together what, exactly, is going on.
``It's a total coincidence that it turned out like that, because I just write from life's experiences,'' Scum said. ``I write what's going on with me at the time, and I can almost not even give myself credit sometimes, because this stuff just comes to me. I'm not capable of saying, `I'm going to sit down and write a song' and come up with anything worth a crap.
``I just let a lot of that stuff come out at practice, and the rest I put the music to and wrote the songs at the exact time as it came to me. There was no plan for it to be a conceptual album, but a couple of other people have mentioned that, and as I listen to it, it does give my life story up to a point.''
The Reader's Digest version of Christopher's life: He moved to East Tennessee when he was 15, broke into the local scene with a little help from local shock-rocker Rus Harper to play in the band Stop Daddy; went on a drunken, heartbroken jag for eight years in 1990, during which time he played with such outfits as the Anal Daisies, Homewrecker and the Lilylids and developed a reputation as an unpredictable, egomaniacal force of nature; got sober; hung around on the fringes of the scene until developing The Dirty Works almost two years ago.
``Biscuits and Liquor'' has been available in one rough form or another for several months, so Thursday night's ``release party'' is really celebrating the completion of the band's long-awaited project. A hold-up completing the cover art, delays in duplicating the albums and Andrews' desire to put a little more spit and polish into this album than the local records he's circulated for years account for ``Biscuits and Liquor's'' long time coming.
And now that it's complete, Andrews finds himself looking ahead to the next project, never able to sit still, never completely satisfied.
``I feel good about - The Daily Times Steve Wildsmith

Free Speech Now
For once, it seems that everybody and his brother has got something to say about politics. With the upcoming presidential election looming on the horizon, quasi-celebrities of every ilk are coming out of the woodwork to express their opinions.
Knoxville’s one and only cultural terrorist, punk bard, voice of the criminal underground and all around renaissance man, Christopher Scum (nee Chris Andrews) has stepped up to the plate—not to tell anyone how to vote but to encourage and enable people to voice their own opinions at the polls. Scum’s hosting a “Freedom of Speech and Voter Registration Rally” at the Electric Ballroom on Friday, Aug. 27, and he’s hoping the evening’s mix of rowdy rock ’n’ roll and spoken word performance will bring the kids out in droves.
“My political motivation is just to get people there and get them to register,” says Scum. “I work at a lot of rock shows and I see all these kids hanging out. They’ve got their anarchy badges and they’re all bitching about everything. So I started asking people if they were going to vote, and only about half of them were even registered. I’m talking about kids around 21 years old that don’t even have an idea how to register. So maybe if the registration is right there in front of their faces, they’ll do it.”
The event will feature music by local acts Speed Shifter, That, U.S. Police State, Euphoria, Asheville’s Monsters of Japan and the debut of Scum’s new band, Dirty Works (That’s dirty works as in dirty syringes) and orations by street poet Rus Harper, Chris Bidwell, Extreme Radio’s Phat Ass and maybe even a rant by Scum himself. “If there’s an open mic, you know I’ll be up there,” says Scum. “I can’t keep my big mouth shut.”
The concert will be Dirty Works’ debut performance. The band features Bill Irwin (a.k.a. Daisy “Chain” McGraw of Evil Twin infamy) on guitar, Brad (also an alum of Evil Twin) on bass, Lorenzo Gray on drums and Scum on vocals.
“This is our debut, but you never know about these things,” enthuses Scum. “It might be our last show. I might just kill myself, or at least end up in critical condition.
“I’m glad to finally be up front in this band. Since I’m not going to play guitar, I can actually move around some.”
Concertgoers can rest assured that though Scum is sure to be a little bit, ahem, rambunctious during the show, the only danger he’ll pose is to himself. “My girlfriend always goes through my pockets before I play, just to be sure I don’t have anything sharp on me.”
- Metropulse K. Crowe

Roll up your streets and lock up your daughters, 'cause Christopher Scum's coming to town! The one man wrecking crew and far-beyond-sane singer will appear with his band, The Dirty Works, at Heather's Hideaway on Thursday, August .

The Dirty works brew a dangerous mix of punk, metal and redneck rock into musical moonshine that will intoxicate you one minute, induce extreme violence the next, and leave you on the floor of the drunk tank wondering how the heck you got there the next morning. Most comparable to Antiseen or The Murder Junkies, the band takes degeneracy to a new low. Needless to say, Scum makes the prefab shock schlock of Marilyn Manson et al look absolutely tame in comparison.

Scum, nee Chris ***, is something of a Knoxville legend. After almost of two decades of substrata personal chaos punctuated by several trips to the slammer, a handful of bands (Among other triumphs, Scum's band Homewrecker opened for none other than GG Allin in 1991.), and a deluge of painful and self destructive, ahem, "performance art" pieces, Mr. Scum has finally acquired some stability and is moving into a renaissance period at present. That said, please be aware that Scum's idea of serenity and stability would be perceived by a normal person as utter bedlam.

In a wild twist of fate, Christopher Scum will be the subject of an upcoming documentary feature. The as yet untitled film is currently being shot by Worldstorm Productions (Arts Lab); an Atlanta based outfit spearheaded by producer Francis Percarpio and director Anthony Rahim Hakmati. The movie is being shot in multiple media including 35mm, 16mm, Super 8 and DV cam. By no means a fly-by-night operation, Worldstorm is known for producing videos by several prominent hip hop artists including P-Diddy, Arrested Development, and even a DVD for Usher.

"What's funny is that, in a roundabout way, corporate America is funding this project without their knowledge, of course," says Percarpio, who first encountered Scum via a shoot for Atlanta rockers Dropsonic. "Anthony came back from doing Dropsonic, and he said, "you've just gotta see this," referring to footage of Scum performing with his band, Dirty Works. "When I saw it, I had a kind of Iggy Pop feeling wash over me.

"What is alluring about Christopher is that there's nobody else like him," enthuses Percarpio. "I find Chris to be a hugely complex gentle giant with an edge. At one point he's very sweet, kissing his pet rats, and at the next he's bashing his head against a wall."

Percarpio is adamant that his intent is to respectfully deliver Scum's to-hell-and-back story without being exploitative. "All artists are quirky beings, symphonies and inconsistencies," he explains. "They tend to be unbalanced and a depressed. The film will be humanizing, but it will definitely be a warts and all depiction. I see a genuine artistry in Chris' music and a real desire to be creative.

"In a way, this film is about Knoxville, which I find to be a really interesting place. The Dirty Works are interesting as well, but they're most interesting in the context of their environment."

Worldstorm plans to premiere the film on the festival circuit. And if you feel like being a part of this chaotic cinema verite, footage for the film will be shot at the Dirty Works' show at Heathers.

And if witnessing Mr. Scum's onstage self immolation isn't enough fun for one evening, you should definitely stick around for headliners, Monsters of Japan. The Asheville based group is most comparable to GWAR. The band is currently on the road in support of their longplayer, The Other Pink Meat. Now, with a title like that, are you expecting hymns of praise? Heavy on the theatrics, the Monsters of Japan surely won't be making friends with Tipper Gore or the parental guidance gang any time soon.
John Sewell Tri Cities Buzz

- Tri City Buzz and The Buzz Online Johnson City John Sewell

The Dirty Works want you to put it in your system
by "mailto:crowe@metropulse.com"
"Knoxville hates us, man,” Dirty Works’ drummer
B. Riot says.
“I’ve done a lot of bad things in this town,” Christopher Scum responds after a brief pause, calmly smoking a cigarette.
Scum has been raising hell in this town for more than a decade. He got his name from a Longbranch bartender after a couple troublemakers caused the toilets to overflow onto the hardwood saloon floors. The barkeep screamed, “You’re no better than that scum Chris *******. Christopher Scum!”

PREACHER MAN: Everything we do is sin.

Those were the days when Scum lived at the infamous Hippie House, at 13th and Laurel, where out of control parties were expected on a daily basis. “I had two choices,” Scum says. “I could either go up to my room and lock the door or join the party.... All I did was stay sober enough to stay in a band.”
It was the hippest house in town, an ideal breeding ground for music and sin. Back then, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary to wake up and see The Replacements sleeping on the floor. Back then, it wasn’t uncommon for residents to have their brains blitzed in alcohol, 24/7. For Scum, this was Fantasyland. He’d finally found people who drank like he did. And his legendary partying is still part of underground Knoxville lore.
When he left, rumors began, including the story of a Catholic priest who performed an exorcism at Hippie House to erase Scum’s presence, and to appease a pantheon of upset deities. One haunting reminder did, in fact, remain after the alleged spiritual cleansing, words scribbled on the wall with Scum’s own blood: Attaboy Enjoy.
But those days are over. After a fall from the Hippie House roof, followed by severe DTs and withdrawal hallucinations, Scum has been able to find peace. With seven years of sobriety under his belt, he’ll tell you that music is the only thing that gets him high, as his raw lyrics take fans on an agnostic tour through Knoxville’s dirty underbelly.
Scum, if nothing else, delivers a mature form of punk rock; the spirit remains, constantly attacking established social norms with fetid onstage antics, but the man’s mind is sober, clean and ready to bleed, ever since the Dirty Works came together during the summer of 2004, with Shaggy on bass and Steven Crime on guitar. But those weren’t always their instruments of choice.
“[Shaggy] sounded a little too much like Stevie Ray Vaughn on the guitar,” B. Riot says. “So, one day we were all drunk, me, Steve and Shaggy, and Steve was like, ‘Why don’t I play guitar and Shag play bass.’ And we’re like, ‘Alright, we’ll try it.’ Steve had never played guitar before. It worked, the first time a drunken idea actually worked out right.”
The sound is pure ’70s punk, a little bit unpolished—a southern kind of punk, with an ever-present resonant twang.
“It’s the self-sufficient attitude of the southerner,” B. Riot explains. “You’re more likely to find a guy in the south to build his own house, clear his own lot, grow his own food.... We just kinda got stuck in the ’70s, I guess. It’s the music that influenced us growing up. It just comes out.”
That DIY attitude is non-negotiable with the Dirty Works. Both Scum and Riot say that they would’ve self-recorded their album, Biscuits and Liquor, if they had better microphones. They walked away from three indie labels who wouldn’t give them complete creative control.
“Why not go play in a cover band?” Scum muses. If the finished product isn’t totally what the band has envisioned, he wonders, “What’s the point?”
They don’t compromise because they believe their music has a message, reminding people that this isn’t a free America anymore. “I saw the last of free America in my lifetime,” Scum says. “People don’t remember what real freedom was like.”
“Ben Franklin,” B. Riot adds, “said that every 100 years, in order for our government to work, there should be a violent revolt. We’ve become so complacent and instant gratification-oriented.”
“Sheep! Sheep!” Scum yells. Then, after lighting another cigarette, he says, “I saw this the other night: Someone went down pretty hard when they were dancing, and two people just scooped him right back up. So I’d like to think [the music is] bringing back more of the old-school punk. You fall down and I’ll help you get up and we’ll walk out of here feeling better. Get a little something off their chests, even if they’re not resolving anything.”
Who: The Dirty Works w/ The Disobedients and The Orange Julians
Where: The Corner Lounge
When: Thursday, May 4, 10 p.m.
How much: $5

- Metropulse K. Crowe

Local Music, Local Cause
In case you were guilty of thinking that freakshow, tattooed rock 'n' roll types can't have soft hearts and social consciences, trash-rocker and Grumpus 'zine publisher Christopher Scum will set you straight with a three-band local showcase that's doubling as a clothing drive for the homeless.
"I'm very passionate about this particular cause," says Scum. "People see me, hear my band and think this loser has no concern for anything, even himself. These people don't even know me. I hear so many people say things like people are homeless because they're so damn lazy and this infuriates me. They have no concept of what the homeless go through. It's definitely not a lazy man's life. Most of these people are out there because they're mentally ill or have severe drug and alcohol issues. Bottom line is, it doesn't matter why they're out there. No one deserves to freeze."
Scum's band The Dirty Works will perform with Speedshifter and Linda Blair's Abortion (formerly known as the Rejects) on Jan. 15 at the Urban Bar. Admission for the all-ages event is $3 plus a blanket, jacket or other cold-weather piece of clothing, which will be donated to Volunteer Ministries. People without clothing donations can get in for $5, but Scum emphasizes his desire to get as many clothing donations as possible.
Scum's charitable efforts were inspired by the sight of about 20 or 25 homeless men, women and children under a bridge on a really cold night. "They were standing in a close-knit circle fighting the cold the best they could," Scum recalls. "That's when it hit me to try and do something, anything. I don't have much myself, but I'm warm and I'm never hungry. I take a shower when I want, go to sleep when I want--things I subconsciously take for granted as I bitch about what's on TV or my computer freezing up again."
The fundraising event will mark the Dirty Works' return to the scene after a short hiatus triggered by their desire to avoid overexposure. "It seemed we were playing every week there for awhile," Scum says. "It got to be like everyone knew all our songs. We feared burnout so we dropped some heavy baggage, added some new material, stuck former bassist Steven Crime on guitar and hooked up with Insomniac Dreams" bass player known only as Shag. Bernard Lorenzo (B. RIOT) is still on skins. I think we're coming out a better band."
With many fundraising efforts recently focused on the victims of the tsunami, it's good to remember the folks at home as well.
- Metropulse (author unknown)

It's been at least a couple of years since the folks at Atlanta's Worldstorm (Arts Lab) began filming Rebel Scum, a rockumentary that chronicles the life of one Christopher Scum (née Chris Andrews ) and his musical partners in crime, the Dirty Works. But despite rumors to the contrary, production of the film is within weeks of completion and will soon be submitted to several major film festivals.

When I viewed the film at Worldstorm's studio/headquarters, producer Francis Percarpio and director Video Rahim continually pointed out unfinished details. But to my untrained eyes, the film is complete; and it's astoundingly well-executed, thank you.

On par with the work of Ondi Timoner ( Dig! ) and Julien Temple ( The Filth and The Fury , Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten ), Rebel Scum is more than just a rock'n'roll movie. The multi-textured film explores several themes, including mental illness, addiction, relationships, family dysfunction, and the struggle for artistic expression. And, of course, all of this is repeatedly punctuated by scenes of Scum & co. in all their wasted glory, striving to make it in the rock'n'roll underground while facing the obstacles of legality, power struggles, and an oftentimes disinterested public.

Several of Knoxville's underground celebrities make appearances in the film including the legendary demon/poet/provocateur Rus Harper , the always entertaining and enigmatic Carl Snow , and the late Vadim , of dark metal fame. Other southeastern bands make appearances such as Atlanta's Dropsonic , Asheville's Monsters of Japan , and you can even spot members of The Disobedients if you keep your eyes peeled. Knoxville clubs The Pilot Light and The Corner Lounge provide the settings for several scenes.

Simply put, Rebel Scum is a masterpiece, a miracle. No matter what you think of Christopher Scum or his band, you will find this film absolutely compelling. The basic story of the film is one man's continued drive to create art in spite of barriers imposed by society and by his own self-destructive tendencies. Rebel Scum bounces intermittently between the extremes of comedy and tragedy, revealing a seedy underworld of Knoxville that few people know exists or would want to know about. At its core, the film presents an honest depiction that is neither exploitative nor a PR hackjob. And anybody with a beating heart will end up loving Christopher Scum, despite his myriad flaws. Trust me; the disturbing and painfully real Rebel Scum is destined to become a classic of the documentary genre. This is gonna be huge.

Rebel Scum is slated for submission to several major film festivals this fall, including Sundance and the Berlin Film Festival.
— John Sewell

- Metropulse John Sewell