Personal Records: Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie is a new mockumentary about aspiring musicians and time traveling.
We’re debuting a new feature on World Cafe called Personal Records. We’re inviting non-musicians (or musicians working outside of the industry) to share the songs that define them.
The concept is simple: if someone were to assemble a mixtape that holds the key to who you are and what you do, what songs would be on it?
When Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie screened at the Philadelphia Film Festival, it ended with a standing ovation and an Audience Choice Award. It was a thrilling reception for a project that began two decades ago in Toronto as a no-budget web series that spread by word of mouth.
Created by Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol, who also play the two main characters, Nirvanna the Band the Show has always centered on two somewhat clueless bandmates on a mission to play The Rivoli, a Toronto venue.
The project grew from that web series into a Spike Jonze-produced TV show and a new feature film released last Friday. In Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, Matt and Jay hatch yet another elaborate scheme to play the Rivoli — one that involves skydiving off Toronto’s CN Tower and traveling through time in a nod to Back to the Future.
Today, Johnson and McCarrol join World Cafe for our very first Personal Records.
This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Kimberly Junod. Our digital producer is Miguel Perez. World Cafe‘s engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.