Square Circle band pin.
In partnership with The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles: The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles leads the community and leverages its resources to assure the continuity of the Jewish people.
On a pleasant day last June, I sat down in a ring with a number of other people in the backyard of Highland Park gallery Chin's Push. I wasn't quite sure what I was getting myself into. Handed a script, I picked a character name out of a hat, and began a table read. A story unfolded before all the actors, none of whom had any prior knowledge of the plot, of an indie rock band called , or Square Circle.
As the afternoon dwindled, the readers followed a mysterious tale set in the mid-2000s. , a quartet, meet at the fictional Eastover College in Upstate New York. People come in and out of their orbit. They proceed to alter the music industry in their successful career as the band without a sound (as in, their music wasn't easily categorized) in Williamsburg and Los Angeles. And as with any story of rock success, trouble follows them. And that's just the prologue, according to Jack Levinson, an artist based in the Virgil Village neighborhood of Los Angeles.
--
--
Levinson's is a perfect example of world-building: the characters and the space that they occupy are far greater than the public output. The characters live and breath in another dimension -- ideas are spinning off the story at all times. frontman Spencer Savard could be making coffee at home right now. I was very much inspired by The Simpsons in terms of world-building, says Levinson when I meet him for coffee near his home. In addition to the TV show, there are all these supplementary stories and books, like Apu's family history or something.
Levinson started the story while still in school at Vassar -- where he developed his style of community-based productions with the interactive plays Gay Sex and MOOCs -- and has since built a complex world around it that has culminated in performances like the one at Chin's Push, the development of a screenplay, and various offshoots like the recently unveiled press archives Levinson has posted on the band's website. A lot of people have told me they have flashbacks of reading blogs like Said the Gramophone and Pitchfork, says Levinson of the fake reviews and interviews he's crafted for the indie band.
Square Circle album review by Matt Weiss.
Indie rock is now a bygone era of music, and Levinson's is both a wistful and critical look at the 2000s, when cultural appropriation was kosher and bands could be made up of four guys. The story ends in 2012, he says, which is when I started writing it. By 2012, indie rock was not cool. It was a white, male, straight homogenous culture. And part of 's story is that some of the members are wealthy. It's impossible not to look at this era without a critical eye. But there's still an element of compassion to each of the characters.
Beyond popular indie bands like the Strokes, the White Stripes, and Grizzly Bear -- all of whom Levinson was a proud fan of -- Levinson looked to the timeless tale of the transcendent band. I'm super influenced by the story of the Beatles, he says. Their backstory was central to how the public consumed them.
But it really returns to the scene, and what it meant to people at the time. I wanted it to be a colorful story, says Levinson, who is a ghostwriter by day. [Like] these Harry Potter or Roald Dahl childlike characters, but who are caught in a specific cultural moment. A lot of people were mad at TV shows like The O.C. for making indie rock mainstream. I feel like indie occupied that space on TV that hip-hop and R&B do today.
Coachella lineup featuring headliner Square Circle.
The story is a brilliantly written take on the world of musical success, and it is especially potent in a live setting, with actors who aren't aware of what they're getting into. He did the trial reading at his parents' house and two at friends' houses before taking it public at Chin's Push. Then he took it to New York, where he did a reading at Molasses Books and the 99 Plus Gallery, both in Bushwick. The final read came at Otherwild, a boutique and design studio in Los Feliz. The more I made it feel like a party, he says, the more people became theatrical.
The best thing about the readings, Levinson says, was it gave him the opportunity to see how people interacted with the story. Peoples responses were totally on display for me and for one another, not only in the way they performed their characters but in the expressions on their faces and the conversations we had right after it was over, he says.
Chin's Push in Highland Park.
I found that everyone really did process the story differently, found different aspects of the piece to highlight, from storylines to specific moments in the script to the formal level of what was going on in the writing or even around the dinner table. I think people felt disarmed but were able to get comfortable, which made all of the interpretations feel really honest. It gave me a really amazing look at how the story moved out of my hands and into the incredible variety of perspectives that a text meets, which can still be wildly different from one another even if everyones sitting at the same table.
After coffee, Levinson shows me his apartment, in which he's plastered the walls with outlines of the story. It's a level of complex world building that Levinson compares to a TV show. I've seen a lot of TV writers outline like this, he says. Someone emailed me a picture of J.K. Rowling's outline for Harry Potter, and it was like this too.
Artist Jack Levinson. | Photo: Ian Markell.
As for the medium with which he presents
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
26/04/2024
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 kicks-off today with screenings in 5 theaters in Mexico City and the opening-night film, FRIDA, directed by Carla Guti rrez...
26/04/2024
[Editor's Note: This interview is part of a larger feature about the women d...
26/04/2024
Once again this year, SGL Carbon opened its doors to interested children and young people. On the occasion of the German Girls and Boys Day, which took place on...
26/04/2024
Orders1 of $5.5 billion; book-to-bill of 1.06x
Revenue of $5.2 billion, up 17%,...
26/04/2024
Five Considerations For Communications Modernization In The 21st Century
In the digital-enabled battlespace, the Joint Force needs to shoot, move and communica...
26/04/2024
CBS Sports has launched Champions League as a new, 24-hour streaming channel that will serve as the year-round destination for nonstop highlights of the UEFA ...
26/04/2024
Despite tough competition in the streaming space, Roku reported solid results in Q1 2024, beating revenue expectations, with total net revenue up 19% YoY to $88...
26/04/2024
LONDON AND TORONTO Pinewood Toronto Studios has appointed Sarah Farrell as general manager of the Studios in downtown Toronto....
26/04/2024
Quantum to Offer Advanced Filesharing Technology and Performance in StorNext and...
26/04/2024
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2024 entries and introduces new Emerging Talen...
26/04/2024
Picture Shop Announces Chris Evans as Head of Unscripted
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
Picture Shop announced Chris Evans will lead Unscripte...
26/04/2024
Participate in a Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this survey,...
26/04/2024
Toy maker Mattel said it is working with Samsung to launch its first free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels later this year....
26/04/2024
Trusted Media Brands (TMB) said it named Marty Moe as president....
26/04/2024
Ron Howard is the director on Jim Henson Idea Man, a documentary that premieres on Disney Plus May 31. Henson of course created Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big...
26/04/2024
The ice continues to melt under the regional sports network business as the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League have made a long-term deal to broadcast...
26/04/2024
Heading into the upfronts, Warner Bros. Discovery said it launched Olli, a first-party data platform advertiser can use for converged, targeted advertising camp...
26/04/2024
CBS has renewed the drama The Equalizer, which will see season five on in 2024-2025. Queen Latifah stars....
26/04/2024
The CW has entered into an exclusive multiyear broadcast partnership for the Miss USA Pageant and the Miss Teen USA Pageant. The 73rd Miss USA Pageant will air ...
26/04/2024
Fuse Media isn't mincing words in a campaign urging its young viewers to register and participate in the 2024 elections....
26/04/2024
Dead Boy Detectives, a series from Neil Gaiman about a detective agency staffed by ghosts, debuts on Netflix April 25. George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri are in t...
26/04/2024
The Story Collective has gradually repurposed the former Mortlake Brewery to include production offices, workshops and sound stages
By Matthew Corrigan
Publi...
26/04/2024
Perkett joins the company following a 25 year career in product management, product marketing, engineering and user experience (UX) across multiple industries
...
26/04/2024
Teradek, the industry leader in wireless video transmitters and receivers, announced today the launch of new Bolt 6 LT 750 and Bolt 6 Monitor Module 750 RX with...
26/04/2024
NEW YORK Amagi has appointed Richard Perkett chief product officer (CPO)....
26/04/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has announced the results of the 2024 NAB Radio and Television Board of Directors elections. The...
26/04/2024
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. & NEW YORK Mattel has announced a deal to launch its first three 24/7 free ad supported streaming (FAST) channels on Samsung TV Plus, Samsung...
26/04/2024
PORTLAND, Maine Viewers here can now receive the NextGen TV signals of five local stations with the launch of ATSC 3.0 service from host station WPFO, which is ...
26/04/2024
TORONTO Rogers Communications has signed a 10-year agreement with Comcast to bring the latest Xfinity products and technology to Canadians....
26/04/2024
Calrec is very pleased to announce the benefits of its highly flexible approach to customer service has been recognized with a third award for the Argo range. T...
26/04/2024
New Adobe Photoshop with Advanced Generative Fill and Generate Image Brings New ...
26/04/2024
Trends And Takeaways From NAB Show 2024
Melanie Ciotti April 25, 2024
0 Comments
NAB's Eric Trabb (right) awards SNS with two NAB Show Product of ...
26/04/2024
Sony's Ci Media Cloud Keeps NHRA Moving
Brie Clayton April 25, 2024
0 Comments
Cloud-Based Media Asset Management and Collaboration Platform Accel...
26/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting & Leadership Triangle Collaborate for Third Year
Capitol B...
26/04/2024
The staff at CBC Radio have been hard at work creating several new features for listeners and viewers. Several debuts are taking place this spring.
I have nev...
26/04/2024
26 Apr 2024
Cricket Finds Its Digital Home in Bangladesh: VEON's Banglalink...
26/04/2024
NBA Playoffs 2024: ESPN Rolls Out Huge Production Operation for Busy First Round Tech deployments include miked on-field personnel, shot-distance tracking, AR g...
26/04/2024
NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: ESPN Ops Team Navigates Both Sides of the Border With ...
26/04/2024
Behind the Scenes at the 2024 NFL Draft in Detroit (Photo Gallery) After just the first round, the 2024 NFL Draft has already made quite an impression in Detroi...
26/04/2024
NFL Draft 2024: Van Wagner Powers Onsite Entertainment Experience for Record Cro...
26/04/2024
Rohde & Schwarz presents spectrum dominance in all domains at AOC Europe Rohde & Schwarz demonstrates the next generation of SIGINT/EW systems and sensor fusi...
26/04/2024
MCine Mauritius is to use Qube Wire for all future DCP deliveries across their e...
26/04/2024
Skeem Saam' May Spoiler: Has Lehasa killed Khwezi?The Skeem Saam' May teasers mention Lehasa being apologetic about killing someone. Is it his baby mam...
26/04/2024
Skeem Saam: Thursday's episode, 25 April 2024 [video]Missed an episode of Skeem Saam? No problem! Watch the latest episode of your favourite South African s...
26/04/2024
Prison Journalism: Some issues to considerWesley Leong was incarcerated at the age of 15 in 1996 at Pollsmoor Prison. He is currently part of Restore's rese...
26/04/2024
Tonight on Scandal: A line is crossed and a mother starts to lose focusDon't miss Friday, 26 April's riveting episode of South African soapie Scandal! o...
Square Circle band pin. 
