Bend It Like Beck

Make Out City Studios good friend Rob Saunders just appeared on my internet the other day. For those who don't know, Rob Saunders is a puppet master who worked on Crank Yankers, Spiderman 2, and Team America. He also worked on A Freezerburnt Christmas with me at Wreckless Abandon Studios in Connecticut, although he may never admit to it.

Right now Rob is on tour with one of the most amazing artists of our time, Beck.


Here is an article from Blender that talks about the life of a puppeteer roadie. He's living the rock n' roll dream. Below is a sample from the article.

Rob is pictured in the middle.

"They're not roadies, musicians or tour managers: They're puppeteers. Throughout his summer tour, Beck's show is recreated onstage on a nightly basis by four L.A.-based puppeteers who until now worked primarily on films like Team America: World Police. We caught up with three of them backstage during Elvis Costello's set at Bonnaroo — just before they were set to play with puppets in front of 80,000 people — to see how life on the road was treating them. Unsurprisingly, they were a bit ecstatic.

Have you done anything like this before?

Rob Saunders: I think this is a first. There are touring shows for puppeteers, but nothing near this big as far as audience. We're onstage for 80 minutes straight, and performing the whole time. That's incredibly different than what a normal puppet show would be. And it's rock & roll. The fact that Elvis Costello is right there… "

As a bonus for reading this far down, and kinda on subject, here is a link to the (not official) Beck music video Liz worked on last summer with Tennessee. Enjoy.