Thu, 09/09/2010 - 9:38amWatch the movie online, Lives of the Artists 2

Relentless recently released the second installment in their Lives of the Artists documentaries: Follow Me Down. 

We were lucky enough to grab a seat at the World Premier in the Union Chapel, Islington earlier this month. It was an incredible setting for a unique event where, following the film, guests were treated to a heartfelt performance by UNKLE and the Heritage Orchestra. The show was incredibly powerful, approximating a sublime experience with some fancy lightwork in the surreal setting.

As for the film, Follow Me Down follows in the vein of Lives of the Artists and profiles the motivations, and struggles, of some seriously passionate people. The inspiration behind the Lives of the Artists series is to get under the surface of what drives musicians, athletes and artists to keep doing what they do. 

In the first film viewers were treated to a cross-section of Brit surfers taking a punt in Tahiti, punk band The Gallows, and Xavier de Le Rue tearing it up in Greenland. Although the merging of genres creates a concoction of stories that most producers would shy away from, Relentless describe, in their archaic tones, on their website where the motivation lies:

“…when there is a story to tell, a human journey to share and a resolution to learn from, the stylings and language, protocols and conventions all receded, fading into insignificance for all but the most ardent supporter of the ignorant status quo.”

So Follow Me Down continues the method but delves a little deeper. Attention flits evenly from Xavier de Le Rue and Jeremy Jones’ epic journey to Antarctica (and the ensuing adventures they take in navigating the ice and mountains that rise straight out of the Southern Ocean) to the life and times of James Lavelle – brainchild behind the Mo’Wax music label and co-founder of UNKLE.

“Experience is something you get just after you need it.”

As the film progresses we follow Xavier and Jeremy taking a tumultuous boat ride from Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina to Antarctica. The footage comprises a montage of epic frozen wastelands interspersed with sea-sick inducing boat rides and point-of-view head camera footage of Jones' and de Le Rue's first descents.

Through interviews with both Jeremy and Xavier we are introduced to the why and to the how of what they are doing. Both riders discuss the connection that hiking a peak for four hours brings, as opposed to getting dropped off by a helicopter. Jeremy himself has made a conscious effort to hike and ride as much as possible over recent seasons and that is a key feature of his other cinematic project, Deeper. While much of his concern is to do with the environment (Jeremy is a proud proponent of the Protect Our Winters campaign) it also stems from a personal desire to feel closer to the mountains he is riding. Jones decries years of movie parts and five star heli-ski lodges and proclaims that. "it is time to get his hands dirty again".

He describes a scenario where riding with a heli you will be exposed (ie. be in harm's way) for two minutes but when you hike you are exposed for near enough four hours. This exposure, suggests Xavier, offers a better insight to the nature of the slope and the snow conditions. And the high from four hours of endorphin-pumping hiking, finished with an adrenaline-rich ride down, equates to a “cocktail of chemicals that’s like the best drug in the world.”

For any riders not used to backcountry touring, and the concepts therein (riding with ice axes, roping up on ascents and setting off before dawn), it is a fascinating insight. The dangers of the crevasse-laden glacial terrain are plain to see and a hair-raising moment of the movie exists as we watch Jeremy take a leap over a Bergschrund from his head cam, or as he and Xavier are lucky to avoid a 200m fracture that they unwittingly set off.

“Why were my creative dreams being defined, or controlled, by a bunch of f**king arsehole journalists.”

From the other side of the planet James Lavelle give us a run down of his musical history. He discusses the emergence of the Mo’Wax label and how it was not started with any kind of business plan in mind but more as a community and a unique platform to engage with music from a bunch of different countries. In the early days of Mo'Wax Lavelle was able to reap the rewards of a unique deal with Universal, through A&M, that enabled Mo’Wax incredible freedom to work with artists around the world.

Mo’Wax subsequently took off, and the album Psyence Fiction became a bestseller, receiving airtime on Channel 4 news special – a spot previously only claimed by Oasis and The Spice Girls. But with the success and fame came the destructive forces of money; DJ Shadow went back to pursue his own career and as Lavelle pushed ahead with UNKLE, releasing another album, Never, Never, Land, he was dropped by Universal, losing his rights to all the music he had produced to that point.

An embittered Lavelle slunk back to the nocturnal world of nightclubs and DJing before setting up again and producing fresh work.

“There are some among us who do not understand compromise. For this we should be truly grateful. Here’s to them. No half measures."  

The vibe of the film is distinctly downbeat. It uses beautiful cinematography and incorporates a melancholic score from UNKLE that, added to three people talking seriously about serious stuff, creates a heavy atmosphere, but one that is suited to this intimate look at the lives of three incredibly passionate human beings.

Related stories

• Watch the film online: Follow Me Down
• Download free UNKLE tracks
• Checkout backcountry snowboard courses
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• F'It from Forum