Today we’d like to introduce you to Justin Connor.
Hi Justin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Thanks for having me. I started out in Los Angeles as an actor in film, television, and commercials and, between auditions, started playing piano again which led to the release of my first album “Kaliyuga” on my own record label, and played the songs around town with a band. When it came time to approach my second album, I had been flirting with the idea of writing and directing a musical feature film, with the songs themselves telling the story in the narrative way pivotal scenes often do throughout a film, but also wanted to make sure that the songs were performed live versus lip-synced.
I had been watching a lot of documentaries about musicians’ lives at the time, which somehow led me into the mockumentary world of Christopher Guest, especially “Waiting for Guffman” which just inspired me to no end as well. I might sound like a broken record as I’ve said this so often, but the idea of improvisational documentary-style storytelling compelled me to see if I could pull off a similar verite-style film that might make an audience member have trouble discerning what was real from what was fake. Around that same time, my mom showed me some old super 8mm family films from when I was a child and they became the impetus for the story. Over the course of two years, I wrote the musical script with a live soundtrack album in mind and recorded it while writing the script for THE GOLDEN AGE, and the rest is history.
While singing on some of the earliest demos, I noticed my voice was different than normal and jokingly dubbed this new character ‘Maya’ which then became the protagonist’s name in the script. I had been delving deeper into Krishna Consciousness and the teachings of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, so ‘Maya’ made sense as its definition is ‘representing the illusion of the material world that seeks to distract us from our devotional path.’ In a way, Maya O’Malley became my alter-ego to help me better understand and bring my past to light. The soundtrack was released in the States and UK in May of 2020, the film in June, and a couple of months ago, the film was released worldwide on Amazon Prime. I’m just finishing up a book, A Day in the Lies, which is the main character’s memoir.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I wish! To me, filmmaking is a testament to one’s intestinal fortitude and the ability of the director to follow through — by any means necessary — to make sure that by the end of the day, what’s captured in those cameras is as damn close to perfect as one could hope to have achieved. The rest of the intangibles and obstacles that it took to get there are often arduous for all filmmakers, I imagine, but all of those many challenges take a distant back seat and in large part are irrelevant, as long as the performances in the end were on point and captured in their own respective light. Throughout my early years as an actor, on every set I watched and studied what it took to bring each day’s shoot and scene to life. Even with that front-row seat, I had no idea how much work making a feature film required. I am continually humbled by filmmakers’ passion and sticktutitiveness, and for a good decade or so, I followed suit by carrying out the workload of 10 people.
Sure, it would have been nice to delegate some of those responsibilities to others, but rather than risk any aspect of the production not realizing its full potential, I chose to control as many of the variables as possible. What’s that expression? – ‘The devil is in the details.’ Producing THE GOLDEN AGE yielded many challenges. It was a jigsaw puzzle of sorts, having to piece together the footage with storylines in chronological order to allow Maya’s narrative arc to succeed. I shot my test footage in Vrindavan, India to see whether what I envisioned could be captured and warrant moving forward with the project. It did. Yes, I wore many hats and was consumed by it and it almost drove me mad, but it allowed my creative and karmic worlds to unite and release. It simply had to be made and I was happy to play my part in bringing it about in this lifetime.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I would hope I’m now known for THE GOLDEN AGE but you’d have to ask others what I’m known for. I immerse myself in art, with genres varying from film to music to painting to writing. With the film and soundtrack finally released, I have been finishing a book as I mentioned earlier, tentatively scheduled for release early this summer that is a companion piece to the film — a sort of memoir of Maya O’Malley entitled A Day in the Lies, which goes deeper into the story of his relationship with his father and other details from his past that the film only loosely addressed. Art imitates life, I suppose.
From working away on this long-form project for so many years, I now need to recuperate for a little bit and make more room for myself, and more specifically, my devotional path. In addition to promoting THE GOLDEN AGE film and soundtrack and forthcoming book, I’m working on my next album and have been doing a lot of painting and drawing, which has been really liberating for me. I’ve been working on a series of mixed-medium pieces and that has been a much-needed release. I’m sure I’ll make more music and films and spend some time camping and communing with nature before getting back into the studio to see what arrangements and lyrics are destined to arrive. That’s the plan as of now.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
Not to sound too new-agey, but a dear friend of mine turned me on to The Pattern and Co-Star apps — astrology apps that give me a dose of perspective when the to-do list and promotion duties get too overwhelming. I love the ‘Wisdom of the Sages’ podcast, which is run by two devotees who recently had me on their podcast and their devotional acumen and banter always keep me centered in the best of ways. I’m just now starting to dive deeper into the podcast world, and recently was a guest on ‘Eat Green Make Green’ hosted by Pat McAuley, a sweet fellow vegan and New Englander, and DreamPath podcast with Bryan Smith. They were incredibly kind and insightful and I’m grateful to have met some kindred souls.
In addition to being a guest on a handful of other podcasts forthcoming in January, my main standby is still tuning in to more documentaries about musicians. ‘David Crosby: Remember My Name’ and ‘The Go-Go’s’ documentaries hit me deeply — so heartbreaking — especially given my boyhood crush on Belinda Carlisle which, after watching her personal story and the band’s plight, added a deeper level of my lovelorn affections for her. I’m actually trying to watch less TV and stay off my phone as, after watching a computer for so many years with music production and the film edits, my eyeballs need a break for a bit…So some daytime hikes and evening walks seem to be the best panacea as of late during the pandemic and lockdown. Even though there aren’t many places to go in LA given the current situation, I don’t necessarily want to resort to diving back into TV or sports, and so I’m trying to make more room for chanting and catching up on some books, including finishing my own.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Film: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M98K6NJ
- Website: https://www.thegoldenagefilm.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tgafilm/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/justinconnormusic AND https://www.facebook.com/tgafilm
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/tgafilm
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU_VDyLpXOLNG0i7ReStPDg
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/iamjustinconnor
Image Credits
Anthropomorphic Films
