Oct. 26, 2020

By John Hult, for SiouxFalls.Business

Two years ago, Brian Bieber set out to collect and digitize the analog remains of the surprisingly vibrant mid-’90s all-ages punk rock scene he grew up with in Sioux Falls.

It didn’t take long for him to realize there was more to preserve than a handful of cassette tapes and 7-inch records. The nostalgic flourish had exposed an important and unwritten chapter of his city’s cultural history. 

“It started as a way to connect with some old friends and turned into a story about community that was much more universal,” Bieber said. 

Today, the local author, podcaster and staff writer with the Fresh Produce marketing firm released the trailer for his feature film debut, “I Really Get Into It: The Underage Architects of Sioux Falls Punk.” 

Pre-orders for the documentary, which Bieber shot himself and co-produced with his wife, Zeal Center for Entrepreneurship director Brienne Maner, are available in tiers ranging from DVD-only to a retro-heavy deluxe package with a DVD, a “making-of” zine, a cassette tape with unreleased music from local artists and limited-run VHS. The film will be available for streaming sometime in 2021.

Nostalgia inspired the project, but Bieber said viewers needn’t have any of their own to enjoy a story about kids working to carve their names into their city’s DNA.

“I think anyone who was involved in something as a kid that had any kind of do-it-yourself element to it is going to recognize themselves and their friends in this,” he said.

Bieber credits his wife for helping pull big-picture themes like that out of the archival footage, photographs, newspaper clippings and the interviews he’d conducted with nearly 50 people across eight states.

Maner went to a few shows as a kid but wasn’t deeply involved and didn’t meet her future husband until years later. Early on in the filming process, as Bieber described his experience playing in bands and promoting shows, Maner pointed out that “you guys had your own economy.” 

That became a clear theme as the project moved forward.

“On a rudimentary level, it was kids making things and selling things to each other,” Bieber said. “We were doing our own marketing and branding. … We were proto-businesspeople without realizing it.” 

The scene’s young champions had plenty of success. Viewers will see acts as famous as Green Day, Fugazi and the Offspring performing in Sioux Falls at the kinds of small-venue shows often organized, promoted and attended by high school students of a pre-internet era. Local acts recorded music, put on their own shows, put out their own zines and opened for larger acts crisscrossing the country that needed a place to play and fans to play for in the Midwest.

The impact of those experiences is still evident today, Bieber said. Musicians and show-goers from the late ’80s and early ’90s grew up to become some of the city’s most well-known artists, business owners, activists and cultural ambassadors. Cory Gerlach of The Breaks Coffee Roasting Co. and member of Soulcrate Music went to all-ages punk shows before turning his attention to hip hop. Scene veteran Jayson Weihs leads the The Collective Efforts Union. Studio Blu Photography’s Walter Portz — a “scene regulator” who shot some footage for the film — has spearheaded a push for a Sioux Falls concrete skatepark over the past three years. Portz also recently founded a company called Helen’s Plan that aims to streamline and simplify end-of-life planning for family members left behind after an unexpected death.

That’s another major theme that comes through in the film, Bieber said: The scene primed the people in it to face issues head-on and take action. 

“Part of the reason people flocked to it was that they felt like they didn’t fit in and didn’t always feel respected by the community at large,” he said. “When you’re a little bit different, you sort of stop asking for permission to do things and looking to other people to solve your problems.”