Rollo Jackson on ‘John FM (Detroit, Now)’: A New Film on Motor City and Its Underground Scenes
We’re premiering Rollo Jackson’s new short film, in which he takes a ride around Motor City with music producer John FM.
Detroit is famous for its many exports. Known as the Motor City (or motown), it was at the centre of the auto industry in the 20th century; but aside from its ties to automobiles it’s steeped in a rich history, its innovations birthing new genres and subcultures around the world. To name just a few, it’s the birthplace of techno – of the Belleville Three – Motown Records, Detroit hip-hop and the ghettotech scene.
This is the focus of Rollo Jackson’s new film, entitled John FM (Detroit, Now). Across his expansive career, Jackson has created music videos for the likes of Pa Salieu, Stormzy and Overmono. His style veers from the surrealistic (think Pa Salieu against an indigo-hued sky, dancing on a pair of lips) to warm film that’s soaked in nostalgia, and cinematic narratives. Across his work, you’ll see his penchant for underground culture, and his dexterous way of visually telling the stories of rave, fashion and music scenes.
John FM (Detroit, Now) sees Jackson return to a nostalgic sense of style. Shot on film – specifically a "cheap camera" – the documentarian follows John FM around the Michigan city, mapping out what makes Detroit such a compelling location. Watch the film below, and scroll down for a conversation with Jackson.
Hey Rollo, love the new film. Let’s start from the beginning. Why did you choose to document Detroit and John FM in particular?
I had been trying to make a film about John for a few years. I first heard his music through Will Bankhead’s Trilogy Tapes label, then heard more of his singing voice on other Detroit producers’ tracks. I was intrigued; he’s not exactly a rapper or a singer, or just a producer – yet he’s all of those things. He’s genre-less, hyper-talented, thoughtful and turns out very funny. So much of who he is reflects Detroit, so I felt like that was the only place it made sense to make the documentary.
At the beginning of the year, Palace Skateboards asked me to do another music film and we wanted to flip from the three London-based ones to something completely different and Detroit, and John, made perfect sense. I’m super grateful to them that I was able to shoot this alongside that project.
What was it like working with John for this documentary and did you two know each other beforehand?
John was great. Open, insightful, happy to repeat things for camera [laughs]. He has a pretty mercurial and playful character which I hope comes across. A lot of very talented people aren’t always the most charismatic. John is. We didn’t know each other but we had friends in common, socially and in the music world, more than I realised, so the whole thing felt pretty organic. There wasn’t too much ice to be broken.
Did you have much of a connection with Detroit prior to the making of this documentary?
Not personally, but it’s always been a place that I wanted to shoot. Its musical history is obviously pretty staggering, across genres and through multiple eras. Plus it has been a place of huge political, social and racial upheaval at times, which makes it even more compelling and important to understand. I knew a bit about the city but it’s not until meeting local people or seeing the architecture, feeling the city, that you can really absorb what it’s about.
How did you approach the process of documenting Detroit and finding locations to shoot in?
I chatted to John a lot. I wanted a combination of places that are a part of his life and then some that either reflected the city and show its scale, or had more of a cinematic and visual impact like the rooftops and open spaces. To be honest, just filming out of the car window gives a pretty true reflection of the city. There’s been a ton of stuff shot around the abandoned industrial buildings – and whilst those are important and impactful they didn’t really feel relevant to what John is about. This was more about people using spaces progressively, like Shigeto’s studio or Trumbullplex.
How much of the documentary involved planning and how much of it was born from spontaneity?
Because I was shooting a commercial and photos for Palace alongside the doc, it was a bit like doing two jobs at once but with the same crew and cast – which meant we had a ton of locations to get to in not very many days. We had to be organised to make everything happen on time, but because we were a small crew we had the flexibility to be spontaneous or just stop the car and get out and shoot something on the spot, like John’s performance outside Hot Wheels. We also just had a camera on us the whole time, so we’d grab moments just going from one place to another or hanging out.
What were some of the visual references behind this film?
The approach was really bound by wanting to be free with the camera. Shooting commercials with a hundred people on set is great, but I really wanted to go back to having a looser, more fluid and compact vibe. So we had an amazing DP – Danyal Niazi – and gave him a really cheap camera to shoot with [laughs]. No assistants, just a bag of tapes, my producer driving our Jeep and me recording sound. Limitations can breed creativity.
Are there any scenes that didn’t make the cut but were hard to let go of?
Not so much scenes, but there was a ton of performance from John that didn’t make it in because we had lots of great options. And moments of just him being really funny but kinda don’t make much sense. [laughs]
