In the summer of 1982, video/filmmakers Peter Stuart and Adam Small came upon a large-scale project which immediately captured their imagination: The Better Youth Organization of Los Angeles was planning a North American tour. There would be eleven assorted punks traveling across the country in a broken down school bus. It was a chance to explore and document the punk rock community more extensively than ever before.

Stuart and Small were impressed by the BYO's activities (records, concerts, magazines, etc.), and were intrigued by the scope of the summer excursion. On August 17,1982, armed with one production assistant, Stuart and Small set off in their rental truck on this journey through the underground.

For six weeks and ten thousand miles they recorded the adventures of the two touring bands--Youth Brigade and Social Distortion. Concert footage, however, was not as important to the young directors as was the rich collection of characters in and around the tour. "What really struck us was the incredible diversity within the scene," says Stuart. "One night we'd be taping punk street urchins in Montreal, and then a week later we'd be taping some Christian punks singing religious hymns. I think we captured a side of punk that most people have never seen."

The trip was not without its hardships, though. There were the periodic police harassments of both cast and crew, as well as the occasional gang of local punks who refused (often violently) to be filmed. Perhaps more challenging were the living conditions, which for the crew meant sleeping each night in the back of an already crowded equipment truck.

Eventually, as the school bus began to breakdown, the idealistic journey began to disintegrate. By Washington, DC, band members were deserting, and only three of the original 11 finished the tour.

After nearly five months, the editing was completed. "Our first priority was to tell the story of the tour," explains Small. "We didn't want a series of disjointed concerts and interviews. The gradual rise and fall of the tour gave us our overall structure."

The filmmakers took their title, Another State of Mind, from a song that Social Distortion composed during the course of the tour. "Actually, it's a rather bittersweet song," observes Stuart, "but that ended up fitting the overall tone of the project quite well."

"Fortunately, there are still people around who are determined to explicate the ideals, contradictions, and follies of punk for the masses. Two such artists are Peter Stuart and Adam Small. Their ardent documentary ANOTHER STATE OF MIND ... is a keen look at punk that encompasses all of the comedy, strength, contradictions, bizarritude, and failure inherent in the music.

"As useful and provocative as [Penelope] Spheeris's groundbreaking The Decline of Western Civilization was, it is finally less ambitious than Stuart and Small's shorter, similarly structured production. Spheeris was content to explore LA punk in its own environment--the local clubs and dives in which the music flourished. Stuart and Small undertake a more difficult and hazardous angle..."

"...ANOTHER STATE OF MIND is a worthy and engrossing addition to the rock filmography. Its charting of the bands' growing disenchantment and loss of illusions is fine and moving, and wholly unique in the annual of rock film making, which usually opts for facile fun over hard-nosed reality."

Chris Morris
THE READER

"ANOTHER STATE OF MIND follows LA's Social Distortion and Youth Brigade as they attempt to take punk business/community/art to sympathetic audiences around the country. It's the most honest and refreshing view of punk style I've seen."

LOS ANGELES HERALD EXAMINER

"Often funny and always entertaining...ANOTHER STATE OF MIND definitely deserves to be seen."

Iain Blair
MUSIC CONNECTION

"ANOTHER STATE OF MIND ... provides a fascinating panoramic view of the punk subculture of North America...

"Though the documentary observes much of the dreary underside of the punk dream, it's not without its lighter moments. At one juncture an earnest young punk gives a slam-dancing demonstration that doesn't seem too different from an exercise-class lesson. Intent on improving their kamikaze stage leaps, a popular ritual at punk concerts, a trio of scruffy kids get in some practice by diving into their parents' swimming pool."

Patrick Goldstein
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

"With the notable exception of the Beatles' Hard Days Night and Help, Bob Dylan's Don't Look Back, the Band's Last Waltz and a handful of other movies, rock'n'roll has had a hard time transferring to film ... Whether the filmmakers are from Hollywood or from the ranks of low-budget, street-wise independents, rock 'n' roll and film do not mix, rare exceptions aside.

"ANOTHER STATE OF MIND ... is one such exception. [This] movie is one of the best documents yet of the misunderstood punk rock movement, more than holding its own with the acknowledged standard, Penelope Spheeris' Decline of Western Civilization...

"At the same time, its classy production values and sympathetic, yet honest, approach make it one of the finest rock n' roll films overall...

"Obviously made with a non-punk audience in mind, ANOTHER STATE OF MIND satisfies the informational needs of a documentary while fulfilling the narrative and structural requirements of a feature film."

Jonathan Taylor
DAILY NEWS

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