Metal has been confronted by several social forces aiming to bring the genre down since Black Sabbath first plugged in their amps. Conservative groups, suits trying to push "The Seattle Sound," and even tyranny in Iraq have all tried, but failed, to kill metal. "Heavy Metal in Baghdad" is the story of Acrassicauda, Iraq's most heavily metal band trying to play their music and stay alive at the same time. I spoke with Suroosh Alvi, one of the directors, about working on an ambitious project in a volatile climate.
The Daily Texan: What inspired you to take on this project?
Suroosh Alvi: The unbelievable nature of it is what got us going. Originally, we wrote about this band in the magazine [Vice, which Alvi co-founded] back in 2003. We heard that there was a heavy-metal band playing in Baghdad and still trying to keep it together after the troops had gone in. From the editorial perspective of Vice magazine, it was truly fascinating and compelling, so we decided to investigate it - that was the starting point. Later, we were working on the Vice Guide to Travel, and we thought it would be really cool to do a "Heavy Metal in Baghdad" seven-minute segment for the DVD. We felt we needed to set up a concert for them. We set up that concert for them in Baghdad, but we couldn't fly in - we were stuck in Beirut. We got someone else to film it for us; the content of the tapes was OK, so finally, we went ourselves in July 2006. It takes over your life, you obsess over it, you just keep going until you think you got the story.
DT: How was it working with the band?
SA: They were amazing - we didn't know what to expect. We had in been in contract with these guys for a couple years. It was very difficult to find them in Baghdad. When we finally met them, only two were left - the other two had bailed and gone to Damascus and Syria. We were spending as much time as we could to get their history. With each conversation, I'm realizing how little I know about Iraqis. They're not so different from a 23-year-old kid in Texas who likes metal [author's note: I'm 20, mind you]. That genre of music is what they identified with after living through three wars - it's a heavy-metal world!
DT: What was it like working in Iraq?
SA: At that time, the majority of journalists from the West had already left because the situation had gotten so bad there. Luckily, we found this security company that was really awesome, and they guided us. Every night at 9, we were on lockdown in our hotel, and we'd sit on our balcony and look out over on the city. You hear the bombs and see the bombs going off. You would hear gunfire constantly. Our security guards had a total of three cars: the cars in front of us and the car behind us. As we're driving down the street, they would hold their AK-47s out the window and shoot them into the sky in order to make room for us. It's all about fear and intimidation, and that's how you get around.
"Heavy Metal In Baghdad" is playing tonight at the Alamo Ritz at 10 p.m.
