The personal stories of three top rock legends – U2’s The Edge; Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page; and The White Stripes’ Jack White – unfold in It Might Get Loud – a documentary which explores each artist’s knack for developing his own unique sound and style of playing the electric guitar.
“I really enjoyed making this movie,” said Page, who, together with White and director Davis Guggenheim, recently spoke at a Los Angeles press conference to promote the film. “I had met Jack before, so I was very familiar with his work. We’re all self-taught guitarists and we’ve lived in our music. So {in terms of this film} there’s much to receive from our characters.”
It was producer Thomas Tull, who first had the idea for the project.
“We were friends,” explained Guggenheim, “ and he told me that he wanted to make a movie about the electric guitar.”
A Fresh Approach
After speaking with producer Lesley Chilcott, Guggenheim wanted It Might Get Loud to offer content not seen in previous music documentaries.
“Other docs are about everything except the artist experience. They’re usually about drug overdoses and car wrecks, or they’re platitudes about how the artist changed music forever. We wanted to make this film more thoughtful and get underneath the personalities of three really interesting people.”
Reflecting over his early days in the industry, meanwhile, Page recalled being influenced by such ‘50s rock and rollers as Elvis Presley and Little Richard.
Inspiration
“I recall the sheer excitement of the music. They were really onto something and they knew it. The music coming out of Memphis spread like wildfire and simply took me along with it. It captured an entire generation.”
White, who formed the aforementioned The White Stripes with his sister Meg in 1997, said:
“You absorb so much, as an artist, and learn to take what you can create. I got so much from the Mariachi bands that were constantly playing in my neighborhood. I absorbed all those melodies and loved them.”
In developing this documentary, the filmmakers wanted artists who they felt had been truly inspirational.
The Best Musicians
“We wanted to focus on the three best players in the world and show a range of styles and eras,” recalled Guggenheim. “After they said ‘yes’ to the movie, we started off with sit down interviews with Jack, Jimmy and The Edge.”
Armed with a seemingly endless array of archival footage, Guggenheim built individual narratives focusing on the respective artist.
“I was in the editing room for over a year,” he recalls. “That’s where documentaries are made, and that’s where the magic happens.”
It Might Get Loud Info:
- Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
- Stars: Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White
- Director: Davis Guggenheim
- Producers: Thomas Tull, Davis Guggenheim, Lesley Chilcott and Peter Afterman
- US Release Date: 8/14/09
- Rating: PG
