![]() There is a noticeable gap in the lack of mentioning the legendary and herculean amounts of drug use that went through the label and its bands and how that impacted thought processes and the bottom line. Either way, the doc does a good job not sugar coating the reasons for Wax Trax!’s collapse in the ‘90s, the analysis of the years in which TVT bought the label and how their unfocused flooding of the market essentially killed the whole thing off. What’s striking is that you get the sense that Nash and Flesher never had a plan and just fell into releasing music from this scene because it sold boatloads and that the counter-cultural lifestyle, belief system and values of many of these bands fit well with the duo’s laissez-faire approach to spending and hardcore approach to partying. The praise and reverence that members of KMFDM, Front 242 and Ministry exude for Wax Trax! taking a chance on them, distributing their releases, organizing tours and so on can be seen in the filmed interviews that are cleverly interspersed with footage from those early shows, tours and hang out sessions. It was a few years after uprooting to the Windy City that they fell into being the beacon for the burgeoning industrial scene as bands on this side of the pond struggled to find outlets for their music while they jumped on the opportunity to enter licensing partnerships with bands and labels from overseas where the scene was creating a buzz. This love was entwined in the existence of the record store in the first place, their 1978 move to Chicago and their less-than-air-tight business practices. It becomes very clear early in the film that a love of exposing people to music was one of their shared passions. ![]() Industrial Accident is as much a story about the trajectory of Nash and Flesher’s lives as it is about Wax Trax!’s. Interviews with family, friends, former employees and Jello Biafra (originally a Boulder, CO resident) about those early years painted a picture of not only what the music landscape was like in the early ‘70s, but also what it was life was like for the openly out and unashamed couple. Included were tonnes of rare photos and video footage grabbed from various sources of the original Wax Trax! Records store in Colorado. This was paid witness to in the opening scene where a treasure trove of photos, articles, documents, audio reels and endless detritus are being poured through in a barn on the Arkansas farm which Flesher retired to before his death in 2010 (Nash passed in 1995). ![]() Director Julia Nash is the daughter of Wax Trax! co-founder Jim Nash and he, along with business and life partner, Dannie Flesher, were pack rats of the highest order. Like most music-related documentaries, much of the comprehensive focus was on the origins and early years of the label with visuals providing revelations and accenting the anecdotes, story-telling and narrative. But hey, “it’s all about the experience” I’ve been told and it must be noted that I quite enjoyed the fact that this particular experience included a neatly organized seating plan and cushioned chairs in order to rest my tired bones, aching feet and expansive arse while taking in the chronicled history of Wax Trax!. I quickly discovered I didn’t have to jump through the same hoops as most of the hundreds of people lining up on an early mid-week afternoon. I didn’t know any of this when I ambled up to the Toronto stop of what was billed as ‘ Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records Experience Events, Presented by Vans.’ From my perspective, all I knew was that I was on the media list and was here to cover the evening’s event. If you didn’t want to go that route, you could secure tickets on a first come-first serve basis via Ministry’s website/fanclub. If, on RSD, you purchased the film and/or soundtrack from a select record stores in Chicago, New York, Austin, Toronto, Los Angeles and San Francisco, you were given free tickets to a screening of Industrial Accident, were able to sit in on a Q&A session with the director and guests and attend a show later that evening featuring Cold Cave and Ministry doing a Wax Trax!-era set. Additionally, a ten-track soundtrack was also on offer featuring classic and rare tracks that helped establish Wax Trax! as the leading force in industrial music, including Decibel-friendly acts like Ministry, the Young Gods, Laibach and KMFDM. On the most recent Record Store Day, fans of industrial music (in general) and Wax Trax! Records (specifically) were able to purchase DVD/Blu-Ray copies of Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records, the documentary film of the pioneering label that has been making the festival rounds for about a year.
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