Film School, 25 September 2024

FILM SCHOOL began life as a group of like-minded San Francisco musicians writing and producing music by themselves for themselves. The result was something very special indeed. Undoubtedly they rock - hungry unrestrained guitars and loud driven drumbeats - but it is a sound as brooding, atmospheric and self-contained as it is explosive and infectious.

The band was among the first acts of a renewed wave of shoegazing music, harkening back to the late-1980s and early 1990s heyday of that genre. Although My Bloody Valentine is the most well-known of the shoegazers, Film School tends to hew more closely to the less stridently noisy bands from the original scene–bands such as Slowdive and Blind Mr. Jones. When Film School ups the tempo, their cascading guitars and background harmonies of "ooh" and "aah"–washed-out spins on classic mid-60s pop–they can also sound like Ride, another prominent band in the original shoegazing scene.

Film School today are now based in Los Angeles. Current members are: Greg Bertens, Dave Dupuis, Lorelei Plotczyk, Jason Ruck, James Smith . Previous members have included Nyles Lannon, Justin LaBo, Donny Newenhouse.