Alan Vega/Suicide – An Artist’s Story

ALAN VEGA: An Artist's Story – ART/new york No. 71A from Paul Tschinkel on Vimeo.

Conceived in the early 70s by Alan Vega and Martin Rev, the band Suicide was initially associated with the Avant/Punk movement of the New York music scene that spawned such groups as Blondie, The Velvet Underground, the Ramones, the New York Dolls, the Heartbreakers, and many others. They quickly became a phenomenon—unclassifiable and against the grain of the increasingly “pop” sensibility of punk. Suicide’s hypnotic, pulsing synth and cheap drum machine sound, combined with Vega’s eerie, echoing vocals in primal rockabilly style, captured the feeling of a crumbling city…the ominous looks…the sound of the microphone slamming against the face….

In 2004, Alan spoke to Director Paul Tschinkel frankly and movingly about his roots and life as an artist and performer. The film reveals Alan’s story as he tells it—his early interest in art and studies with such luminaries as Burgoyne Diller and Ad Reinhardt at Brooklyn College, and his eventual contact with Martin Rev and their journey to gut-wrenching musical performances as the electropunk duo.

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