So, what do you expect from life?
“An Eye Opener”
NPR Music
"Truly something special. A 90's garage punk story about a band I missed out on."
Film Rant
"I COULDN’T TAKE MY EYES OFF IT. A BRILLIANT TRIBUTE."
Paste Magazine
“VIBRANT. FULL OF SURPRISES”
FILM THREAT
So, what do you expect from life?
“An Eye Opener”
NPR Music
"Truly something special. A 90's garage punk story about a band I missed out on."
Film Rant
"I COULDN’T TAKE MY EYES OFF IT. A BRILLIANT TRIBUTE."
Paste Magazine
“VIBRANT. FULL OF SURPRISES”
FILM THREAT
THE STORY
‘Parallel Love: The Story of a Band Called Luxury’ follows the path of Luxury, a band from small-town Georgia, who, on the cusp of success, suffer a devastating touring wreck with long-term consequences. In the intervening years, they continue to make records and three members of the band become Eastern Orthodox priests. Through interviews and archival footage, ‘Parallel Love’ tells the gripping and poignant story of Luxury and documents the making of a new record, now as priests.
PAST SCREENINGS
May 15 - 19
Roxy Cinema Tribeca
New York, NY
May 21
Alamo LaCenterra
Katy, TX
June 04
Texas Theatre
Dallas, TX
June 04
Aperture Cinema
Winston-Salem, NC
June 12
Trylon Cinema
Minneapolis, MN
June 17
Harkins Theatre Shea 14
Scottsdale, AZ
June 19
Plaza Theatre
Atlanta, GA
June 27
The Regent Theatre
Arlington, MA
July 11
Grail Movie House
Asheville, NC
July 14
Laemmle Glendale
Glendale, CA
July 15
Laemmle NoHo 7
North Hollywood, CA
July 16
Landmark Hillcrest
San Diego, CA
July 17
The Art Theatre
Long Beach, CA
July 19
The Spinning Jenny
Greer, SC
July 22
Jacob Burns Film Center
Pleasantville, NY
July 22
Hollywood Theatre
Portland, OR
July 23
Rio Theatre
Vancouver, BC
July 24 & 25
Northwest Film Forum
Seattle, WA
August 12
Smith Rafael Film Center
San Rafael, CA
August 13
Realto Cinemas Sebastopol
Sebastopol, CA
August 14
Realto Cinemas Elmwood
Berkeley, CA
August 26
The Belcourt
Nashville, TN
August 27
Malco Paradiso Cinema Grill & IMAX
Memphis, TN
August 30
The Historic Ritz Theatre
Toccoa, GA
September 19, 20, & 28
The Cary Theater
Cary, NC
September 27
The Palace Theater
Chattanooga, TN
November 13
Farmington Civic Theater
Farmington, MI
November 16
Jacksonville Film Festival
Jacksonville, FL
November 17
Megaplex at the Gateway
Salt Lake City, UT
THE BAND - LUXURY
Luxury is a band that began in the 1990’s in the small town of Toccoa GA, but from the start, it was clear that their aspirations and influences were elsewhere.
Sounding like Fugazi or Shudder to Think fronted by a younger, more vicious Morrissey, they were an anomaly, in Toccoa, or almost anywhere. They brought together such disparate influences that one could barely imagine them co-existing in a band, much less pulling it off as a thoroughly distinctive sound.
The English melodicism laid on top of such pummeling instrumentation was a study in contrasts, but it was of a piece, as there was enough of the melodic in the instruments and enough brutality in the lyrics and vocal delivery that it hung together, just so. As singer, Lee Bozeman describes it,
“I write these beautiful, nice songs, and then the band destroys them.”
Upon the release of their first record, Amazing and Thank You (1995), Luxury seemed poised to move to another level, but a wreck in the summer of 1995 (with tour-mates and fellow Georgians, Piltdown Man) had the opposite impact. All told, there were 3 broken necks between both bands, with Bozeman sustaining the most devastating internal injuries.
The wreck changed their fortunes as well (evidently) as their ambitions. With each successive record, there was a greater sense of self-reflection in Bozeman’s lyrics, and the music followed that deepening maturity, all the while maintaining the fundamental dichotomy of soaring melodies on top of angular post-punk instrumentation.
The first record was essentially a document of their live shows, which were remarkable events in their intensity and the band’s posture of defiance directed even at their own audience. On successive records, though, Luxury learned to use the studio as an instrument. While, on the first record Bozeman asks “So, what do you expect from life?” he seems to have spent each of the following records seeking to answer that very question.
THE FILMMAKER - MATT HINTON
Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Matt Hinton grew up loving movies but believed that rock n roll was the more realistic career path. While playing in various bands, he studied Religion and Philosophy at Georgia State University, followed by graduate school at Emory University where he studied Theology.
While teaching Religion at Morehouse and Spelman Colleges in Atlanta, he produced, directed (with his wife, Erica Hinton), and edited “Awake, My Soul: The Story of the Sacred Harp (2008),” his first feature documentary, about Sacred Harp singing, a tradition of early American shapenote hymn singing, which has been kept alive in rural Georgia and Alabama for over 150 years. “Awake, My Soul” has screened in at least 4 continents, aired nationwide on PBS, and has been featured in TIME, NPR, Spin, Rolling Stone, NY Times, Chicago Tribune, Pitchfork, & Les Inrockuptibles (France). Hinton was interviewed on “Bob Edward’s Weekend” (NPR) and “On Point with Tom Ashbrook” (NPR) in connection with “Awake, My Soul.”
His next film, “Parallel Love: The Story of a Band Called Luxury,” follows the path of Luxury, a band from small town Georgia, who, on the cusp of success suffered a devastating wreck. In the intervening years, three members of the band become Eastern Orthodox priests, yet they have persisted in making music. The film is the result of 20 years of informal documentation, as Hinton joined the band in 1999.
Thus, his story begins and ends with rock n’ roll. Especially if he dies soon. In addition to filmmaking, teaching and rock n roll, he has worked as a carpenter, a photographer and a seller of architectural antiques. He currently owns and operates Bell Street Burritos (named one of the top 10 burritos in America by USA Today) which he began in his kitchen in the home he shares with his wife and 3 kids.
