RUSH: BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE is the new documentary about Canada's holy rock trio, which is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray. I had the opportunity to speak with the film's directors, Sam Dunn and Scot McFadyen, at the Tribeca Film Festival in April several hours prior to the film's premiere there. Just before the interview, I experienced a double-take when I exited the bathroom after washing my hands: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson were standing in the hallway outside of an adjacent room. Although I met Geddy in 2000 when he was autographing copies of his MY FAVORITE HEADACHE CD, I never met Alex up close before. Unfortunately, Neil was not there, and if I had met him, too, I would have thanked him for his dedication to his craft and for having written GHOST RIDER, a book that touched me deeply, as I lost a dear friend and fellow Rush fan to a cerebral hemorrhage in 2001 when she was only thirty six years-old.

With my heart pounding in my chest and ears, palms sweating, I then sat in front of Sam and Scot, who both asked if I was all right. Explaining my reaction to meeting two of my idols, they understood and laughed - the impact of having met Geddy and Alex was written all over my face. But now, it was down to business!

Todd Garbarini: As a 28-year fan of Rush since junior high, I've wanted to see a documentary on this most extraordinary musical triumvirate. I was honestly getting to the point where I thought that I was going to have to go out and make a documentary myself simply because there weren't any in-depth visual accounts available on Rush that covered their lives and careers from the very beginning. So, on behalf of all Rush fans the world-over, I would like to thank you both for having made this excellent documentary, RUSH: BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE, because it is about time.

Sam Dunn: It was our pleasure.

Scot McFadyen: Thank you.

Todd Garbarini: Sam, how did you and Scot meet?

Sam Dunn: Well, we first met in Victoria, British Columbia in 1993. I grew up there, and Scot had moved out there. We met in the music scene. I was playing in a band, and Scot was promoting shows. Then, Scot moved to Toronto, and I subsequently moved to Toronto to go to the university, and we were friends. I wanted to write a book about heavy metal, and Scot asked me, "What about a documentary?" And the rest, as they say, is history. We made our first movie together, METAL: A HEADBANGER'S JOURNEY. Then we did GLOBAL METAL, followed by IRON MAIDEN: FLIGHT 666. So, RUSH: BEYOND THE LIGHTED STAGE is our fourth movie together.

Scot McFadyen: I've always been involved in film and theater. I used to direct theater, and I've also done a lot of writing. When I moved to Toronto, I worked in film for quite a few years. When I met Sam, he was a student and didn't have the goal to work in film. He was leaning more towards going for academics or writing, and we had many discussions about it and that's what led to us making films together.

Todd Garbarini: How long has the idea of actually making a film about Rush been with you? Was it something that you had thought about for a long time or did it come up on a spur-of-the- moment?

Scot McFadyen: We were in the midst of making GLOBAL METAL, and I had just gone off to Mexico. While I was there, I started thinking about it. You know, in this business you always have to be thinking about the future and pretty much what your next project is going to be. And I started thinking about Rush, and we had actually interviewed Geddy for METAL: A HEADBANGER'S JOURNEY. And I just really felt at that time that Rush was a band that was deserving of their own documentary. This was around Christmas 2006. In January 2007, I e-mailed the management at Anthem-SRO about setting up a meeting with Rush, but it wasn't until mid-August 2007 while they were on the SNAKES & ARROWS tour that we met with them in a room while they were in Dallas. We were nervous, and they wanted to ask us some questions before they fully agreed to us doing the documentary. Geddy first said that he didn't believe that they were interesting enough. And we told them that we disagreed, and Neil asked me what our angle was going to be, and how would we tell their story. And I told him that we didn't really know yet, actually. I told him that I knew that it would take a lot of research as well as a lot of interviewing all of them before we would decide which way to go. Sam and I didn't really know ourselves how it was going to end up, honestly. It turned out to be a weird clincher in a way, because Neil appreciated that. He liked the fact that we weren't just there to feed him some line.

Sam Dunn: I think a lot of people want to know your angle from the outset. They want to know what you're doing, and what your intentions are. And I think that it was pretty refreshing for Scot and I to know that Geddy, Alex, and Neil were sort of comforted by the fact that we weren't really sure what the direction was going to be yet. I think that's a testament to the fact that they trusted us on some level, and also they understand the creative process. They understand that it takes time to put something together because they spend a lot of time putting their albums together, and they know that it probably takes about two years to put something together if it's going to be a product of really good quality.

Scot McFadyen: Especially Neil, because he's a writer. He understands the writing process, of having an idea and not knowing what the story is going to be.

Todd Garbarini: Roughly how long did it take to make the film?

Sam Dunn: It could have taken less time had we not had the opportunity to make a film about Iron Maiden [IRON MAIDEN: FLIGHT 666] sort of right in the middle of it. We were kind of anxious because we had also approached Iron Maiden about doing a documentary about them. They initially said no to the idea. So, we got started on the Rush film but at the end of 2007, Scot got a call from Iron Maiden's manager saying, "Okay, let's do it." So, we were in the middle of doing this Rush film, and we talked to Rush's management, and thankfully they were okay with us putting it on hold for the time being and focusing on Iron Maiden for a year. In light of that, it probably would've taken a lot less time, except for that (laughing and playfully making a fist) damn Iron Maiden! (laughs)

Todd Garbarini: How much footage did you shoot?

Sam Dunn: Well, for the Iron Maiden film, we shot about 500 hours, but that was a combination of concert footage and B-roll.

Scot McFadyen: In comparison, I would say for the Rush film it was closer to 200 hours. But, it was a lot more research than we have done on other films. There was a lot more editing, too. There were more instances of us doing an interview, and then having to go back out and fill in this section or that section. So, it was a long period of time.

Sam Dunn: And since this was a history, the balance of archival material is much greater. So, a huge part of the sort of "what we didn't shoot" we kind of made up for in showing the archival footage or [touching on a particular topic with] the photographs that we dug up.

Todd Garbarini: The film is very comprehensive as it covers Rush's humble beginnings and goes up to and includes the SNAKES & ARROWS tour. I couldn't help but notice that the film skipped over any mention about ROLL THE BONES. Was this due to time constraints?

Scot McFadyen: There is a large part about ROLL THE BONES in the DVD extras. That period is actually quite a long period with a lot of different albums leading from SIGNALS to COUNTERPARTS.

Todd Garbarini: Yes, that's an eleven-year period.

Scot McFadyen: Yeah, so when you're looking at a documentary, you need to kind of keep it moving. We tested the film at screenings with non-Rush fans, to see what their attention span was.

Todd Garbarini: You talk to a lot of great people in the industry in this film. Was there anyone in particular you really wanted to get but couldn't due to scheduling conflicts or unavailability?

Sam Dunn: We were able to get more people than I think we imagined. Through the combination of Rush's management and our contacts that we made through making our previous films, you know, everyone from Kirk Hammett of Metallica to Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins, and the guys in Pantera and Rage Against the Machine - all of these people sort of came out of the woodwork, and these are people who generally don't do a lot of interviews. Since this was a film about Rush and it had not been done before, for instance a guy like Cliff Bernstein, Metallica's manager, he rarely, if ever, does interviews. But it was sort of like, "Well, for Rush, I will do this." So, we were actually more surprised by the number of people who did agree to be interviewed for this project.

Scot McFadyen: I think that Radiohead was actually one band that we really wanted to interview, because they said that they were heavily influenced by Rush. Interestingly, there are a lot of bands that don't sound anything like Rush but were influenced by them in some way. And you ask yourself, "Why is that? How could that be?" But it's more in their attitude towards music and them being artists.

Todd Garbarini: I recall reading that after having seen Rush performs "Xanadu," Jon Bon Jovi went home and started his band.

Sam Dunn: How Rush and Bon Jovi are alike, I'm not real sure! (laughs)

Todd Garbarini: What extras can we expect to see on the DVD and Blu-Ray discs?

Scot McFadyen: Well, you're going to see some performances that are rare and that have never been seen before. We also filmed about three hours of footage of Geddy, Alex, and Neil having dinner, and we edited it down to about 14 minutes which is pretty fun stuff of just hearing them talk. So, as I said there's some material there on ROLL THE BONES, some more footage about HEMISPHERES, and also the very first time that they were filmed performing "Working Man" in its entirety.

At this point in the conversation I asked about Rush receiving their star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which at the time the exact date was not known. Since this conversation, Rush did in fact receive their star on Friday, June 25, 2010.

Todd Garbarini: Rush is due to get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame either this year or next year. This recognition was championed by Donna Halper, the WMMS disc jockey widely revered for introducing Rush to Cleveland and subsequently helping to put them on the map. Will you be there with your cameras?

Sam Dunn: No. (laughs) I think that the Rush guys have seen enough of us for awhile! (laughs) In the grand scheme of things, I think that one thing that we learned about Rush is that they certainly value the respect and admiration of their fans. That is very important and very dear to them. When it comes to certain accolades and awards, you know, that was never their motivation in becoming musicians. That's actually part of what we try to convey in the film, but I think that they are a band that is motivated by the thrill of playing music and, more importantly, playing challenging music. That is something that they really enjoy and something that the fans have come to enjoy about them.

Todd Garbarini: Sam, what is your favorite Rush song?

Sam Dunn: After seeing the full performance of "La Villa Strangiato" at Pinkpop [Festival in 1979], which appears on the DVD in its entirety as an extra, rekindled my love for that song. I think that it's probably Alex's finest moment in Rush - his solo in that song is just incredible. I am so pleased that Kirk Hammett could convey from a musician standpoint why that moment with Alex is so amazing. I was listening to that this morning, actually.

Todd Garbarini: My favorite version of "La Villa Strangiato" is the live version that appears on EXIT...STAGE LEFT. In March 1986 I was at a Battle of the Bands at my high school, and one of the bands there played that song, and honestly it sounded like they were just playing back the record. Their rendition of that song was so close to Rush's live version of it, I was really impressed. Scot, what's your favorite Rush song?

Scot McFadyen: I would say "Red Barchetta." That's such a great song. And even their later songs, like "Animate."

Sam Dunn: "Far Cry" is a fantastic song.

Todd Garbarini: Yes, it is. And that was recorded last but it appears first.

Sam Dunn: I think that there was some debate on how we should close the film. We wondered if we should use a common song that a lot of people were really familiar with, such as a classic Rush number, but we were excited with doing something that was new and illustrates that Rush is still a vital band and I really believe that that was an important point to make.

Scot McFadyen: Yes, that was important so that it didn't come off as closure, but that we've left it open- ended and we really hope that people stay through the credits because that is also part of the film.

Todd Garbarini: You're currently working on an eight-part show for VH1 Classic called METAL EVOLUTION. How close are you to being finished with this project and what will it cover?

Sam Dunn: Well, it's a TV series based on the heavy-metal family tree that we created in our first film that breaks heavy metal down into 24 different subgenres, so each hour-long episode looks at a specific metal subgenre. It looks at everything from thrash metal to glam metal to even grunge and new metal, and others. We are filming and editing right now and we deliver it to VH1 Classic in March 2011. So, as far as we know, there are plans for broadcast in the spring of 2011.

Todd Garbarini: Scot and Sam, thank you very much for your time.

Sam Dunn: Thank you!

Scot McFadyen: Thanks!

NOTE: You can also check out Todd's review of the film at this link.

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