If you’ve been around the Milwaukee music scene for a while—and/or have ever attended a Locust Street Fest—you know Sigmund Snopek III. The tireless musician and WAMI Hall of Famer has been beating his own drum (or would that be blowing his own horn?) since the late ’60s. He’s released oodles of inspired and idiosyncratic solo material. He’s toured the world with the Violent Femmes. He’s played Summerfest for 52 years. He’s rocked the hell out of that alpenhorn.
And now Snopek is the subject of a new documentary titled The Complete History Of Space/Time (Destination Milwaukee). But it’s not just any documentary—it’s a documentary that weighs in at a whopping six-and-a-half hours. Eat your heart out, Christopher Nolan.
“Sigmund Snopek III’s long, idiosyncratic, unpredictable career deserved an equally long, idiosyncratic, unpredictable documentary,” says Nick Toti, the film’s co-director. “This is a man who opened for Jimi Hendrix when he was still a teenager. He’s written symphonies, space operas, and an album of dirty polkas. He worked in theater with Willem Dafoe, used to pal around Summerfest with Jay Leno, and toured the world with the Violent Femmes. The fact that no one has ever heard of him is either a crime…or an absolutely integral reflection of his character. Even after making this movie, I still don’t know what to make of him.”
Want to take in the full Complete History Of Space/Time experience? You can on Sunday, May 5, when the doc premieres at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn. The screening (sponsored by the Milwaukee Independent Film Society) will begin at 1 p.m. It will include two intermissions and a post-film Q&A with Snopek and directors Toti and Bob Mielke. Things are expected to wrap up at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10.
According to a press release, the film features “extensive footage shot over six years with Snopek himself, along with original interviews with fellow musicians, fans, and industry insiders—including longtime Snopek collaborators and fellow Milwaukee eccentrics, the Violent Femmes. Through archival footage, live performances, and even a few glimpses into alternate realities, viewers will gain a newfound appreciation for Snopek’s restlessly innovative spirit and enduring legacy.”
Says original Violent Femmes drummer Victor DeLorenzo: “This superb documentary is a marvelous look at the way someone creates. To find something personal from the beginnings of nothing, to express the supreme beauty of music is what Sigmund does. Not in a stuffy or arrogant way. Rather, he invites the audience to enter his living-room-world for a while and have a beer!”
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