Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads has said that the re-release of their film Stop Making Sense acted as somewhat of a “healing experience” for the band.
The musician reflected on the 1983, Jonathan Demme-directed concert film in a new interview on the Kyle Meredith With… podcast, and explained how re-releasing the film has helped the members grow closer.
The band are reissuing the film to celebrate 40 years since it was first released, and the moment also will see members Harrison, David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, and Chris Frantz come together for their first public reunion in over two decades.
According to Harrison, although the band underwent a tumultuous break-up, revisiting the film – which has been restored to 4K and distributed by A24 – has helped the members settle their differences, and played a significant role in bringing them back together.
“We own the film together, [so we had] to work together to make a decision,” he told the host. “‘Is A24 the right distributor for us, the right partner for us?’ We had to have conversations about that, and this is something we did together. Then A24 is going like: ‘Here’s the offer — we’re going to get really behind this, if you help us.’ And so it was like, ‘obviously, we need to work together to make this a success.’”
He continued, sharing that, luckily for fans, reuniting helped put aside any bad blood between them and made them realise that they could move on from past conflicts.
“I think it’s been somewhat of a healing experience for everybody,” Harrison continued. “It’s like, ‘Yeah, we actually can work together and do this.’ And this is something we’re all proud of.
“The conflicts that people have spent a lot of time talking about, they still can be looked up. It’s not like the feelings that made people say various things are totally gone or anything like that, but it’s sort of like they’ve been voiced, do you need to voice things like that over and over again? I mean, I made my point.”
Elsewhere in the discussion, Harrison also added that the members’ time apart did result in some benefits for the band – particularly as Byrne’s recent time working on Broadway helped him “let bygones be bygones”. He also hinted at potentially more upcoming announcements from the band.
Talking Heads will be appearing together on September 11, for a live Q&A at the Stop Making Sense premiere at Toronto’s International Film Festival. The film will then be screened in non-IMAX cinemas around the US on September 22.
If the suit still fits… This year, we’re bringing Jonathan Demme’s groundbreaking 1984 Talking Heads concert film STOP MAKING SENSE (newly remastered in 4K!) back to theaters worldwide. #StopMakingSense2023 pic.twitter.com/Kh2Nevaf2X
— A24 (@A24) March 16, 2023
The bandmates have had a complicated relationship since their breakup in 1991. They had previously reunited in 1999 to promote the 15th-anniversary reissue of the film and, in 2002, came together to perform four songs at the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame induction ceremony – their only live performance since 1984.
Now, following news of the appearance at the film festival, Byrne has come forward to explain that he regrets the way Talking Heads split up, and confessed that he was a “little tyrant” at the time.
The reunion has also raised fans’ hopes for more potential announcements from the recently reunited band – with many speculating that the members may be planning to announce a full reunion tour or plans for new music.