Racetraitor 2042 Docuseries
An online mini-docuseries is Anthony Bourdain meets political punk swapping food for music in atypical locations and underground scenes worldwide
After two decades under the radar, Chicago-based hardcore band, Racetraitor, timed their on-a-lark return in 2016 better than anyone involved anticipated. The series of limited public appearances should have been a flash of 90s ephemera, a nostalgia tour of an aging scene with Fall Out Boy’s Andy Hurley retracing his radical roots in the time of Trump. Most of the band had spent the past twenty years working professionally on human rights, violence prevention, and social work.
Instead, years later, their catalog has been re-released, along with a new album, 2042, which made the Noisey Top 100 Albums of 2018. Tour dates throughout the US and Europe have put them on stage with their hardcore heroes. A new generation of fans has embraced them. Fall Out Boy gets little mention, and the scene they helped forge is just context. The most surprising element of this experience is how much they have been re-radicalized by it.
Wanting to make the most of their rediscovered popularity and political awakening, Racetraitor pitched a 12 episode mini-docuseries. Each was between 10 – 20 minutes in length combining tour footage in promotion of their new album, glimpses at rarely visited underground scenes in atypical travel destinations well off the beaten path—metal shows in the Middle East, punk clubs in the North Africa, hardcore sets in Brazilian favelas—and interviews with musicians, activists, and musician activists.
It was Anthony Bourdain Parts Unknown with a better soundtrack, trading food and drink for underrepresented political punk, internationally. They just needed a narrative to pull it all together.
Strategy
We started by discussing what was important to the band.
Why do this project?
What did they want to promote from their newfound platform?
What they wanted their audiences to get out of it?
Over and over, it was the music that led to their politics, the politics that led to action, the action that led to change…and, an opportunity to stage dive into a mosh pit in Marrakesh didn’t hurt either.
That provided the format for every episode.
The music needed to be upfront: local acts worldwide with a big presence, a great sound, and a powerful message.
The politics that fueled their work needed to be center stage, and a single issue had to be the focus of each episode.
We needed a street-level look at those politics in action.
Results
We provided a narrative strategy for a 12-episode season and scripted a 2-part pilot.
We put together a sizzle reel, a pitch deck, and support material for the series.
We lined up guest speakers, provided pre-production interviews and screening, conducted background research, and issue briefs to create the series.