D.I.Y. or DIE

Filmmaker Michael W. Dean is selling DVDs of his 2002 documentary for only eight bucks apiece, but given what it's about -- do-it-yourself artists making a go of it outside the corporate/institutional sphere -- it's fitting that he's giving the entire thing away on YouTube.

In D.I.Y or DIE: How To Survive as an Independent Artist an array of artists across disciplines, including Fugazi's Ian MacKaye, J. Mascis from Dinosaur, Jr., writer Lydia Lunch, Craig Newmark of Craigslist, and Minutemen co-founder Mike Watt, discuss everything from self-publishing and independent record labels to spirituality and scrapping to put food on the table.

Killian MacGeraghty, who uses his van as a furniture mover by day and a gear-hauler for his Bay Area band The Gun & Doll Show by night, sums up the gist of the film. Asked why he's a DIY artist, he answers, "Well the main reason is to make sure it gets done. And then later on, I guess you fall in love with it."

Here's the first of eight installments of the film.
Via Laughing Squid.