I Should Have Been Dead Years Ago

EARLY REVIEWS:

“Filling in a crucial hole in the evolution of noise rock, this documentary honors one of the most colorful outsiders of his time.”
– Emil Amos, Om, Grails, Holy Sons

“An amazing personal journey — 20 years the making — with one of noise rock/grunge’s most unjustly unsung visionaries.”
– Mark Prindle

“A great film. And what an interesting life! I really enjoyed my Saturday night at home, living vicariously through Stu.”
– King Coffey, Butthole Surfers

Director’s Statement:
While DJing at a college radio station in the early 1990’s I discovered the strange and wonderful albums of the band Lubricated Goat. I found them perplexing but in those pre-internet times, I could find no information about Stu Spasm or Lubricated Goat, and so my imagination ran wild. Cut to the late 1990’s and I found myself living on the Lower East Side of NYC. On a visit to the notorious Mars Bar and it’s weathered wooden bar I saw the deeply carved words LUBRICATED GOAT, in the distinctive gothic font of the band’s infamous first album “Plays The Devil’s Music”. I realized that Stu Spasm must be in NYC. Days later I found a cheaply copied show poster advertising a Stu Spasm cabaret show just a few doors from my apartment. It was there that I became immersed in the wild world of Stuart Gray and his raucous personality with many sides, altogether thoughtful, poignant, hilarious and off kilter.
-Jason Axel Summers

BIOGRAPHIES:

Jason Axel Summers
Jason Axel Summers is a seasoned storyteller and visual visionary with a career spanning over 25 years in motion pictures. Summers established himself in the punk rock music scene of the 1980’s and 90’s as a performer, photographer and music video director for bands including The Squirrel Nut Zippers and the Archers of Loaf. During his years immersed in documentary and feature filmmaking in New York, Summers was a cameraperson for renowned directors Errol Morris and Barbara Koppel. Summers, with his wife and filmmaking partner Kate Fix, served as camerapeople on the 2002 Academy Award winning short film THOTH, as well as producing, directing, and shooting their own punk rock love story, the feature length documentary, UNKNOWN PASSAGE: THE DEAD MOON STORY. A lifelong fascination with outsider stories and unconventional lives continues to inform and inspire Summers in his documentary and creative work.

Stuart Gray
Stuart Gray, born in 1961 in London, England, is an Australian musician and composer best known as the frontman for the experimental noise rock band Lubricated Goat. He moved to Adelaide, Australia as a child, where he found an affinity for music through his contentious but influential jazz bass musician father. Gray’s musical and artistic rebellion flourished in Adelaide’s burgeoning punk scene, where he crafted an experimental sound laced with surrealism and sick humor.
In 1983, Gray moved to Sydney, playing in prominent bands of the time, including The Beasts of Bourbon and Salamander Jim. In 1986, Gray (or as he was known then, Stu Spasm), formed Lubricated Goat, which quickly gained a reputation for their abrasive sound, provocative lyrics, and outrageous live shows. Their legendary 1988 performance on the nationwide Australian TV show “Blah Blah Blah”, in which they performed naked, caused a national scandal. The incident solidified the band’s reputation as outsiders and provocateurs.
After touring the US on the success of Lubricated Goat’s first two albums, Gray brought the band to Europe, where he was nearly killed in a stabbing attack in Berlin. After this setback, Gray moved to the United States, where he joined the emergent grunge scenes in New York City and Seattle. He married Kat Bjelland, the lead singer of the band Babes in Toyland, and they formed the band Crunt, which quickly imploded, along with their marriage.
Gray regrouped and made New York City his home for the next 30 years, becoming a mainstay of the city’s vibrant and gritty art and music scene. In 2022, Gray married musician Dennie Hausen. He continues to inspire and challenge with his sculptural vision and his current band, The Art Gray Noizz Quintet.