Despite his notoriously troubled past, Daniel Johnston has been making quite the healthy resurgence of late, as he tours the globe and drops a brand new orchestral album. There’s an air of confidence and ambition about Johnston these days that reminds me of his notorious early days hawking cassette tapes in Texas — at least as depicted in a certain 2006 documentary. Now a choice quote about that film from an interview with BBC 6Music is making the rounds today…
“It wasn’t really fair,” Johnston said of the critically-acclaimed The Devil and Daniel Johnston, “because it really talked about the worst experiences of my life. I wish they had included more music instead of making it one of those Stranger Than Fiction shows.”
Though I have no way of assessing whether the film is fair or not (Johnston himself should be the judge of that), I do agree that it could have used more music. That said, however, Johnston is the epitome of an enigmatic musician, and pulling off a film about those kinds of artists (one which they approve of no less) isn’t an easy feat.