JamCation: The Chronicles of ‘Now Defunkt’ is a 2024 documentary feature that chronicles the birth and the first live gig of the creative collective ‘Now Defunkt’.
Now Defunkt is a creative collective of family, friends, sons, and daughters who came together during the pandemic. Despite being scattered across different corners of the world; the band does the impossible; managing to produce two vinyl albums during the lockdown. However, they now face their biggest challenge yet; performing live at the Northwest Folklife Festival in front of a crowd of hundreds. Used to playing and collaborating over the internet, the group realises the magnitude of the challenge at hand. They must now learn to play their music together in the same room as a plethora of creative challenges arise as the date of their first live performance draws closer.
JamCation: The Chronicles of ‘Now Defunkt’ chronicles this story of a group of people who came together despite towering odds to make something extraordinary. Self coining the term ‘JamCation’; an amalgamation of jamming and vacation, this group of misfits will make you wish your family and friends were this cool.
For an hour long documentary, the film whizzes by in a flash. Filled with so many little moments of joy and levity, the film methodically builds the story of the group step by step. Focusing on interviews with the core group and interspersing this with footage of them brainstorming, creating and rehearsing, the film charts the humble beginnings of the group as it turns into a significant band that makes its mark on the big stage. As the narrative momentum picks up, the film takes care to dive into the inner workings of the group and how competing creative voices worked together to take on a myriad of challenges. This group is a family and like a family, they come together despite their differences to create something truly extraordinary.
The documentary sprints from the get-go, quickly introducing us to each member of the team and the circumstances in which they met. Not only does the group come across as extremely earnest and hearty, there is an innocence to their wit and charm that is hard to describe. As they dive into the stories and their lives, one cannot help but marvel at the miracle that this group of people could only connect on the internet using Zoom and text messages during the pandemic to produce songs together that actually sound good. As outlandish as this sounds, this is what really happened and the result is something that any music fan can relate to and celebrate.
Running just over sixty minutes, one thing that sticks out is that the documentary could have benefitted from a longer runtime. This is because as exciting as the story of this group of creatives is, it whizzes by in a flash and by the end, we are left hoping for some more time with this lovable group of misfits. The makers behind the project manage to keep things interesting through focusing on the human element behind the group and their varied sense of humour. While most of the humour in the films is family friendly, the comedic angle and undertones make it work flawlessly.
From a technical aspect, the editing is on point whilst the sound mixing also elevates the narrative storytelling of the production. The makers behind the project do well to lay out everything chronologically as it helps the audience understand the whole arc better. From the members quarantined away from each other during the pandemic four years ago to the actual first live gig, everything comes together without fail to create an inspirational story of these underdogs who did the impossible.
Thus, JamCation: The Chronicles of Now Defunkt is a moving and poignant documentary, one that immortalises the beginnings and the struggles of the band as they get ready to perform their first live gig. A triumph of inspirational storytelling and earnest characters, the film hits it right out of the park. We loved the film in its entirety and will recommend it to any one looking for a feel good tale of succeeding against towering odds.
