Synopsis

One-man bands. Showmen, eccentrics, loners. But whatever you do, don't call them buskers. This feature documentary is a funny and moving portrait of contemporary musicians who play as one-person acts. For them, music just sounds so much better when you make it all alone.

With an eclectic array of musical styles - ranging from theremin rock to hurricane drum solos and a backing band made of bicycle wheels - these one-man bands bring to the stage noise and spectacle worthy of a whole band, but at a fraction of the budget. We meet a selection of contemporary one-man bands from Europe and the USA and join them for their lonely existence on the road. THOMAS TRUAX [USA] is a legend in his own lifetime as he duets with homemade instruments including the Hornicator, Stringaling and Sister Spinster. MAN FROM URANUS [USA], a veteran of the US military washed up in the English countryside after the first Gulf War, plays avant-garde space rock while wearing wellington boots on his hands. The drummer DURACELL [France] wires his drums to sing and plays so hard that he almost explodes. NINKI V [UK] uses a skeleton puppet to play her theremin and HONKEYFINGER [UK] wrestles werewolf rock from his lapsteel guitar. THE TWO TEARS [USA] is an ass-kicking Californian punk band boiled down to one girl and DENNIS HOPPER CHOPPERS [UK] plays the sort of blues you get when you sell your soul at the musical crossroads.

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