It was a nerve-wracking assignment: reaching out to one of my idols since … I can’t even remember.
But on a stormy Wednesday afternoon, after my first attempt to reach her failed, the name “Patty Schemel” popped up on my phone just two minutes later and her pleasant, friendly voice on the other side of the country — all the way from California to Massachusetts — calmed my nerves.
Still, it felt a little unreal to be talking to the drummer of the ‘90s celebrated alternative rock band Hole, led by Courtney Love, herself a huge figure in the alt-rock scene. Schemel, now 51, has also drummed for numerous other bands, recording with Juliette and the Licks on their first album as well as Courtney Love’s solo record, “America’s Sweetheart.”
But there’s much more to Schemel’s story. Her documentary film, “Hit So Hard,” touches on a lot of it, documenting her early life as a rock star at band practice, on the road and on stage. There are also behind-the-scenes moments with Hole and Kurt Cobain, of the legendary alternative band Nirvana, as well as Schemel’s struggles with addiction and with her coming out as a lesbian.
Now both Schemel and “Hit So Hard — that’s also the title of her acclaimed 2017 memoir — are coming to the Valley. She’ll appear at the Amherst Cinema on Wednesday at 7 p.m. for a screening of her film, which is being presented in conjunction with the Women of Rock Oral History Project, based at Smith College in Northampton.
Released in 2012, “Hit So Hard” is based on some Hi8 format video that Schemel recorded on Hole’s 1994-1995 world tour. After Schemel began digitizing the footage, a friend suggested she do something more with it.
Schemel agreed. “I wanted to tell my story, the music, the addiction,” she told me.
The documentary is full of ‘90s gems. Aside from interviews with all the members of Hole and footage of the band on tour, the film offers profiles of Veruca Salt, Faith No More, Luscious Jackson, The Go-Go’s and Kurt Cobain, along with members of Schemel’s family.
There’s candid footage of Cobain at home, being a dad: It’s raw and real and will make you cry. And a sequence in which Hole bassist Melissa Auf Der Maur asks Schemel if she’s “documenting her misery” on camera, followed by a closeup of Patty’s saddened face, will also kick you in the guts.
There are some comedic moments, too, but the footage also documents her struggles with crack cocaine and alcohol and her eventual descent into homelessness. As she writes in her memoir, “I was born recovering. I don’t remember a time before I knew the concept. I’m surprised my first spoken sentence wasn’t ‘Hi, my name is Patty, and I’m already an alcoholic.’ ”
“I’m surprised that people don’t understand the idea of addiction,” Schemel said to me. “It’s not that easy for the addict. The [people struggling with] the opioid epidemic are now knowing the feeling.”
“Hit So Hard” is not just a powerful and emotional film. It has a nostalgic feel to it, the time of MTV and record stores in every strip mall, before the internet and downloads. Every time I watch it, I get sucked in and finish it feeling therapeutic. But it also leaves tear stains down my cheeks.
For Amherst Cinema, it’s the third summer of the “Sound and Vision: Music in Film” series, which offers a range of films on popular music. The series started as a test but ended up receiving nothing but enthusiasm, says the cinema’s general manager, George W. Myers.
“I’m partial to seeing all films on a big screen, played loud and watched with your full attention,” Myers said. “But it’s extra nice to see some of these icons of music truly larger than life, and to get to spend a little time in their presence visually when so much of our relationship with music is auditory.”
It can sometimes be hard, he notes, to find new music films or track down a filmmaker and secure the rights to a movie. But, Myers added, “The world of documentary and creative nonfiction is really exploding right now … [with] so many exciting histories being excavated and told with care.”
Tanya Pearson, a doctoral student in history at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been excavating some of those stories herself. She heads the nonprofit The Women of Rock Oral History Project (WOROHP), a collection of digital interviews documenting the lives and careers of women in rock music, like Patty Schemel, who fall outside the main rock narrative. She’s worked closely with Myers and Amherst Cinema to bring “Hit So Hard” and Schemel to the Valley.
“You’ll definitely see more collaborations in the future, and I’m excited about that,” Pearson said. “I interviewed Patty two years ago, right after her documentary came out. Patty is someone I’ve admired since I was a young closeted lesbian and hopeful rock star — I basically learned how to play the drums by listening to ‘Live Through This’ and trying to copy her. And we’re both in recovery.”
Schemel has also spoken and performed at two WOROHP fundraising events Pearson held in Los Angeles, and Pearson got to play in a band with Patty, Alice Bag and Eva Gardner at one of the events. “ENORMOUS job perk!” said Pearson.
I couldn’t get off the phone with one of my favorite musicians without asking some fan-style questions. When touring, her necessities are “coffee — always coffee” and a doll, or a “special person” like a memento she’s named “Patient Pat” that also travels with her. There’s a picture of this doll in her memoir, on tour with her for Lollapalooza in 1995.
Her taste in film is varied. There’s “La Belle et la Bête,” the 1946 French adaptation of “Beauty and the Beast,” for instance, as well as thrillers and dramas like “Vanishing Point” and “Out of the Blue” (the latter with Dennis Hopper). She’s also partial to “Times Square,” a story of two punk rock girls who take over New York City, and comedies like “Lost in America and Steve Martin’s “The Jerk.”
How about the proverbial trapped-on-a-desert-island albums? Patty goes with My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless”; Nirvana’s debut album, “Bleach” (one of my top favorites); KISS’ “Destroyer”; Yo La Tengo’s “Painful”; and the classic rock masterpiece, Led Zeppelin’s “III.”
What does her her future hold? A Hole lot. When she’s not storytelling at The Moth, or writing, she’s working with Upset, the band she helped form in 2013; they just finished recording a new album, and you can check out their debut album “She’s Gone,” which offers lots of feel-good pop punk
Patty also drums for Object As Subject, an LA-based feminist art punk band led by classical-violinist-turned-punk-singer Paris Hurley; the band has just released a debut album, “Permission.”
That’s not all — she wants to do standup comedy. I thought she was joking at first, so that must mean she’ll be successful at it, right?
“Oh and there’s a show coming up with girl drummers,” she added. She’s working with at an LA-based digital media company, Ripple Entertainment, on a documentary show, “Drum Like a Girl,” that profiles hard-hitting female drummers. Part performance and part autobiography, each episode will focus on one drummer and include a curated playlist selected by featured musicians.
For myself and other Patty Schemel fans, there’s lots to look forward to.
Jennifer Levesque can reach her on Facebook @valleyshowgirl.
Patty Schemel will be at the Amherst Cinema screening of her documentary, “Hit So Hard,” on Wednesday, September 12 at 7 p.m. and will answer questions after the film.