News September 26, 2018

Aussie manager Greg Carey to premiere his debut documentary in Memphis

Marcus Coblyn

Australian Artist Manager, Greg Carey has been spending the last couple of years hard at work on his debut documentary, Waiting: The Van Duren Story. Now, the film is set to get its global premiere in Memphis this November.

To those in the Aussie music industry, the name Greg Carey is associated with huge names like The Rubens, Urthboy, and Saskwatch. However, for those in the film business, it’s about to be forever associated with the ‘lost’ musician Van Duren.

Back in the ’70s, one of the most promising names in the world of Memphis music was that of Van Duren. A champion of the power pop genre, he was managed Andrew Loog Oldham (The Rolling Stones manager/producer), auditioned to be in Big Star, and was even touted as the next Paul McCartney.

Sadly, due to a vast array of factors including greed, bad luck, and Scientology, Van Duren fell out of the public consciousness and seemed destined to become a footnote in the annals of music history.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YppZZKavqqk

However, after a series of events back in early 2016, Greg Carey teamed up with good friend and music composer, Wade Jackson, to interview those in the know to try and find out what happened all those years ago.

“The beginning of 2016 was a very strange time,” Carey explained. “The Rubens had just won the Hottest 100 and the following week, my long term business partner left the industry to pursue another career. It was completely out of the blue.”

“Three days after he left I broke my leg playing indoor soccer and had to get surgery. I remember coming too after local anaesthetic thinking , ‘Man, what the hell just happen!!!’. During my recovery period, I caught up with Wade and he’d recently discovered Van’s music by a guy he followed on Twitter who had 39 followers and shared his Spotify listening habits on socials.”

“On first listen it blew my mind. It was an instant classic,” he continued. “That night we pledged to discover why Van wasn’t a house hold name and then we became obsessive investigative journalist, as there wasn’t much info online about him. We then had to learn how to make a film, that was challenge in itself, I’ve been managing bands for 12 years but never directed a film!”

Featuring interviews with the likes of Jody Stephens (Big Star), Andrew Loog Oldham (The Rolling Stones, Donovan), Mickey Curry (Hall & Oates, Bryan Adams, The Cult), John Tiven (Wilson Pickett), and Hilly Michels (Sparks), Waiting: The Van Duren Story is set to be one of the most intriguing music documentaries you’ve seen for quite some time.

Premiering at the Indie Memphis Film Festival on November 3rd, the film is set to get its first public viewing right in the heart of the city where Van Duren first made a name for himself all those years ago. Australian screening dates are still incoming, but it won’t be too long before Aussie audiences get a chance to hear the tale of this enigmatic musician.