Known for satirical comedies like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, director Edgar Wright is now tackling documentaries. In The Sparks Brothers, Wright highlights an art-rock band named Sparks, while also investigating how they're simultaneously "successful, underrated, hugely influential and criminally overlooked." The 2021 documentary chronicles brothers/bandmates Ron and Russell Mael's five-decade career and features interviews from the bandmates, vintage animated scenes and commentary from a slew of famous fans, including Neil Gaiman, Jane Wiedlin and Beck.
In an interview with CBR, Wright and bandmates Ron and Russell Mael -- who all share a love of comedic satire in their respective careers -- discussed some of Sparks' most misunderstood hit songs and a special reunion between the band and a rock-star interview participant.
CBR: Ron and Russell, the documentary spotlighted "Tits" as one of your most misunderstood songs because of its comedy and satire. Is there another song that stands out as something you find people just really miss the mark with?
Russell Mael: Oh, good question.
Ron Mael: Well, some people assume when Russell is singing that it is coming from his feelings, but sometimes he's just playing a character. We have a song called "White Women" that, at times, was kind of misunderstood as representing the sponsors. It's important that people realize that, with what we do, we aren't necessarily the ones saying what's being said. It's a character within the song.
That happens in quite a few of the songs. Russell has to take on the thing of not being appreciated for being attractive in a lot of the songs. I'm sure he would feel quite the contrary, but he's singing it from the heart.
Edgar Wright: What about "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth?" That's a good one.
Ron Mael: Yeah, "Never Turn Your Back On Mother Earth." I almost hate to admit what it was originally intended to be, but it's been taken on as being an early example of a song that is championing saving the environment. The song was actually written to be, "Watch out for mother nature; it can be very devastating."
I was really heartened one time because Ray Davies from the Kinks -- who I greatly admire -- misunderstood the song and attacked us for being corny environmentalists. That made me feel very proud.
Edgar, we got to see a lot of different interview participants. Was there anyone that you were extra pleased was willing to join the project and share your love for Sparks?
Edgar Wright: A lot of the interviewees I was really happy to get on camera. I guess a really special one was Todd Rundgren because I don't think he's done that many interviews about Sparks. Also -- something that happened after the interview, which will definitely be on the Blu-ray, I reunited Ron and Russel with Todd Rundgren for the first time in... What? 45 years?
Russell Mael: Yeah, something crazy.
Edgard Wright: Yeah, they hadn't seen Todd since the album. I got in early to re-introduce them, but we did it on camera. It was an extremely sweet thing to witness because not that there was any awkwardness, but if there was anything like that, it evaporated in thirty seconds. To just watch the three of them chatting and goofing around was one of my proudest moments of the whole filming.
Ron Mael: We were also really pleased because it led to us being able to collaborate on a song with Todd as well. He's doing an album with some collaborations, and it led to us actually working with Todd. We never had a problem. There wasn't a reason we hadn't seen him for so long. It was just one of those things. We really love Todd and his work. It was really touching to us to be able to see him and surprising at that moment.
Directed by Edgar Wright, The Sparks Brothers will premiere in theaters on June 18.