Chippewa Valley Times

Ben Mohr, a graduate student in the Master of Fine Arts in design program at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, spent the summer documenting London's underground music scene. His film, titled "Making It," explores what it means to be a musician in London and how artists define success.

“London seemed like the perfect setting. Almost any type of music imaginable can be heard there. Being so diverse, we’d be able to gather a host of perspectives and hopefully create a universal artistic statement about the matter,” said Mohr.

Mohr worked on the project with fellow musician Sean Sevant and other friends, filming performances that included genres such as punk, rap, math folk, Afrobeat, and rock and roll.

“To be a musician today takes a lot of hard work and passion. Nobody does it to get rich. In the end, it’s all about making art, bringing people together as a community and doing what one loves.

“While the exact definition of success was different for every musician we interviewed, the trend tended to be that the musicians viewed true success as being able to continue making their art. This ultimately is what it is all about,” Mohr said.

Mohr's connection to London began during his undergraduate studies at UW-Stout when he studied abroad at University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield. Through this experience he met many musicians including Sevant.

With careful planning for their documentary, they used Sevant’s network for interviews and access to venues. The team interviewed 12 musicians and filmed more than 20 bands or solo acts across several venues including The Jago—home to Tao Sol open jams—and Ram Jam Records.

“None of this could have been achieved without the efforts of all parties involved,” said Mohr. He directed and operated cameras while his fiancée Delilah Schuster recorded audio; Sevant helped produce and conduct interviews; Declan Coker assisted with organizing gigs and contacts.

The group navigated London daily using trains before walking with camera equipment to shooting locations. They often filmed in high temperatures due to limited air conditioning in many buildings where musicians performed.

“Not being from London, I had no appreciation for how truly massive the city is until after we started filming. Each day was a regular routine of getting up, riding a train for about 60-90 minutes to the general location of our shoot and then hiking to the location with a suitcase full of camera supplies,” Mohr said.

Despite long days filming performances at night followed by late returns home—and offloading footage before sleeping—Mohr valued experiencing live music firsthand: “Despite all of this, we had the pleasure of listening to the music of some of the best bands ever and watching artists do their thing. Truly, I would not trade this entire experience for anything.”

Professor Erik Evensen commented on Mohr’s approach: “Ben’s thoughtfulness and natural curiosity exemplify the strengths of our M.F.A. in design program. His focus area in video production has allowed him to flex his broad, multidisciplinary skills in ways that continue to surprise me.”

Mohr plans to finish editing over 20 hours’ worth of footage into an hour-long documentary by November. He intends first to provide a copy for archiving at UW-Stout’s University Library Archives before creating a shorter version for film festival submissions and organizing campus screenings as well as events in Minneapolis–Saint Paul (the Twin Cities).

“I’d like to thank Professor Jonny Wheeler and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at Stout for helping me with the grant that allowed me to create this film; Delilah, Sean, and Declan who were instrumental in helping this project come to life; and all of the musicians who made ‘Making It’ possible,” Mohr said.

After earning his bachelor's degree from UW-Stout's School of Art and Design—which is Wisconsin's largest public art school—Mohr taught K-12 art before returning for graduate study seeking better career prospects within creative fields accredited by National Association for Schools of Art & Design (NASAD). The school offers degrees ranging from animation through industrial design.

“I felt this would afford me better career opportunities. Having received my bachelor’s degree from Stout, I was already familiar with the rigor of its School of Art and Design. I felt like there was more I could learn there,” he explained.

Although interested in cinema throughout his life Mohr only recently turned toward filmmaking after discovering UW-Stout offered video production courses as part its M.F.A., leading him now also teach within SOAD: “It attracted me because it combines many my interests including writing visual media music… It didn’t take long before I fell love.”