I filmed the majority of it during their 20th anniversary tour and we finished up in Ireland playing shows at the end of 2010 so there is a lot of synergy and fond memories swirling around at this time of the year. It isn’t a concert film though there is about 45 minutes of music and it isn’t a difinitive Frames blow by blow documentary.. we decided to make an art film about an art band! But don’t let that put you off, it fairly rocks in a few places! I’ve got enough material for a definitive performance film too.. those guys were really on fire in the wake of 3 years touring with Marketa Irglova in the wake of the Oscar win as The Swell Season - they clearly relished being back together as The Frames. I remember my first night at The Shepherds Bush Empire, two weeks into the tour and they tore it up. It’s normally a so-so show in London at that venue (terrible acoustics carries forward to the stage and the quiet songs suffer) but the joy in their faces and the passion on that stage was powerful. I’ll be doing something with all of the material because it shouldn’t be hidden for too long. The For The Birds Show was phenomenal and that’s edited. Vicar street 2010 1st night, amazing. A few performances from the film came from that night incuding an uncut Santa Maria which is a masterpiece. That show is almost fully edited too. We did some interviews about playing in the band and various things, Glen Hansards piece about music shot from the hip in a car was poignant and I used it as the heart of the film, the fulcrum that everything is balanced around. (The fiddle player playing over the grave? That was Colm Mac Con Iomaire Glen was annoyed with himself that he didn’t say that but for the story that was in it, his description in that moment, it was perfect, it didn’t need extra detail.) Music and the poetry of the moment, it’s place in a story, that was the crux of that band and it still is. You can’t descibe a great band with words, I felt you really just needed to spend time with them and watch them, listen and watch their chemistry and how they interact with each other and then you can understand. It’s a complex beast. In the meantime, you can still watch the trailer and buy the film from iTunes or via The Frames site on DVD