The center of ‘Beastie Boys Story’ is music. Friendship too.

NEW YORK (AP) Bringing together the Beastie Boys Michael Mike D Diamond and Adam Ad-Rock Horovitz and his longtime friend and collaborator Spike Jonze, together in normal times would be full of jokes, playful jokes and general fun.

But what about during a Zoom video call during the quarantine era? It’s a hilarious nightmare.

I feel like weirdly more beautiful than I was back then, said Horovitz, referring to the archive footage for Beastie Boys Story, a new documentary about the legendary group debuting on Apple TV Plus on Friday.

You are hot now. But you were pretty sexy at the time, replied Jonze, who directed the film.

Different types of heat, said Horovitz.

There are more moments like this than lifelong friends, although more like brothers and sisters, remember good times.

Adam Horovitz makes me laugh, said Diamond after trying to answer a question.

I would like to put Mike in a box. Put him on someone’s doorstep, replied Horovitz.

Like, my head in a box? Asked Diamond.

I put my head in a box, replied Horovitz.

The trio of Diamond, Horovitz and Jonze feature more jokes and playful moments in Beastie Boys Story, which also highlights the long-standing bond between group members, including the late great Adam MCA Yauch, who died in 2012.

The documentary was filmed as a live comedy taking place in front of the audience with a backdrop of photos and videos bringing the words of Horovitz and Diamonds to life as they travel through the history of one of the most popular music groups. sold, an act defying the genre, although rooted in rap, which explored and experienced other sounds, including rock, punk, jazz and funk. Few acts have won Grammy Awards in the rap, rock and pop categories like them.

The film performances, recorded at the Kings Theater in Brooklyn, were originally produced for the promotion of Beastie Boys Book, their 2018 New York Times bestseller.

We asked Spike if he would film it, said Horovitz. He wanted to rewrite it. We did the show and Spike filmed it. Then he took the footage from the show in the editing room, and then …

Then the (explanatory) really fell, intervened Diamond.

Then Adam and I had to fight, replied Jonze.

It was like Ice-T on a real procedural TV show. The (explanatory) has fallen, said Diamond.

Ice-T and Steven Seagal, said Jonze.

Group members say they have been thinking about making a documentary for some time.

Much earlier, yes. Adam (Yauch) had this thing and he was obsessed with this movie The Kids are Alright, said Diamond, referring to the 1979 documentary rock film on The Who. He had this idea of ​​doing something like this with existing images of the group. It was around the time that we started working on the book when it was still alive, conceptually. I shouldn’t say work; conceptually we knew it was something we wanted to do.

Jonze, who has made several Beastie Boys music videos and won an Oscar for writing the movie Her in 2013, said he enjoyed browsing the group’s archive hours in the 80s and 90s. He said that although the Beastie Boys came together through music, the center of their story is true friendship.

What made me want to do it is everything I love about the band, the music, but also their relationship and their loyalty to each other. Their correctness for themselves and for themselves as a group. I’m really happy to put this in the world right now, he said.

It’s really rare, added Jonze. I have worked with many groups and yes, having a group with friends for 35 years or more is really rare.

Beastie Boys released their last album in 2011 with Hot Sauce Committee Part Two. But the members said they had a ton of new music and they were in the process of deciding what to do with it.

It’s something Adam and I talk about, going back and working on (this music), said Diamond. There are tons of things we have done together. There are many things that are published. There are quite a few ideas, leads, unfinished clippings which, at one point, Adam and I, I don’t know, could be fun to dig through and look at these things a little.

There could even be new music from at least one of the Beastie Boys.

Pickups that create a band, I guess, revealed Horovitz.

I’m starting a group just because I’m in quarantine, said Diamond. The two songs I have written so far for the group, one of my teenage sons has taken the two songs so far. He’s my engineer, so that’s what I get.

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