All of my motivation to make films, including Art of the Record comes from a deep curiosity about what makes us human. Why does music move us? Why do records and artwork carry such meaning and symbolism? Could art be our way of making sense of existence, this life?

The rituals we follow, passed down through music and memory, hold clues about who we really are. What are we all looking for? I think this film can help us understand ourselves better by exploring records, music, and why we still need them. The oldest know instruments were flutes made from bird bones and Mammoth ivory in Swabian Jura region of Germany. They were 40,000 years old, proof that music respresents something deep in all of us. .

My Background with Records: I grew up in a time when my first experience with music was through records and cassettes. I remember sitting in the front room dinning room as a kid maybe 8 or 9 years old and listening to my Parents records with my sister and maybe a friend or two. Life felt simpler then. On long summer days in San Diego, I would sit and listen with no distractions. The Beatles, The Eagles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Sister Sledge, and Bill Cosby comedy albums. It was all we had.

The record player was inside an oak cabinet that was more furniture than music player. It was light brown with a sliding door that opened to shelf with albums. The player felt sacred, a little machine that made music with just a needle. Don’t break the needle! Looking back, I see how special that was but at the time it was simply the way you got music. It was special in a way digital is not because the music is right there in front of you coming from the needle. Records were a symbol of what was to come but I didn’t know it yet. If I heard those records today I be transported back to relive moments that brought so much joy. Long story short, my music life started in my parents’ living room with that record player. I am not sure if my parents kare aware of that.

In my teens and early twenties, I was a dedicated drummer, and dreamed of being a rock star. It was the late 80’s. People would hassle you at school, on the street, the mall, the grocery store… if you had orange, blue colored hair and it was OK to do that to people back then. People were OK with watching people pick on kids. Whenever someone called me names for having a Mohawk or a leather jacket I was would raise my middle finger and try and decide if I would run or fight after I did it. I was kicked out of two schools before I finally just quit determined to make something of myself and “peace out” the burbs for the big city. Before that my stepfather, a studio musician from the big band era, taught me drums in our garage in suburban Los Angeles. By that time, cassettes and CDs had taken over, and records started to fade from memory. The Punk rock jacket art I would paint on my clothing along with the booklets that came with records started to fade. Sometimes you buy an album just because the art was so good. Once in a while a CD would come with a booklet that brought back that same quiet excitement, the feeling of discovery that I didn’t know I would miss one day.

Director’s Biography: 
Scott Council is a filmmaker and photographer. He has worked with celebrated musicians, athletes, and actors, capturing moments though his years of commercial photography. A few chosen clients include: Warner Brothers Discovery, Sony Music, Sony Pictures, Warner music, A & E Networks, Amazon studios, Vibe Magazine, Esquire, Emmy Magazine, Reebok, Nike, and Gatorade.

Scott approaches every project with care and respect, always aiming to bring out an authentic story of meaning and purpose.

His work can be seen at www.scottcouncil.com & www.mankindtv.com