Butch Willis – great name, obviously – is a man who was once a musician, weaving in and out of bands that he founded while doing solo work when necessary. Willis is a ‘character,’ an adjective people normally use to describe people half-derisively. As a fellow ‘character’ myself, I found something bittersweet watching archive videos of himself. He’s performing either on cable access channels or in live venues. He eventually found an audience in the Baltimore and DC area. But knowing from experience, there is a ceiling for guys like him, a ceiling that he may not be aware of. He had a sense of humour about it. In one interview, he says that the only reason he doesn’t have a record label yet is because of a clerical error. These complex emotions still come through in Amateur on Plastic, a film with challenging form.

Musicians like Willis are probably going to be obscure outside of the Baltimore area. Real music heads may probably know of him because he ran around in the same circles as Fugazi and through Heavy Metal Parking Lot. Director Mark Robinson gives viewers what seems like his only film so far. Stylistically, he thrusts Amateur on Plastic and his viewers together without the long introductions that rockumentaries often give their subjects. Besides, even if he doesn’t tether the archive footage with context, it takes a bit of media literacy to figure out who Willis is. The same goes for figuring out which community he belonged to. There’s a lady interviewing him who is maybe being polite to someone ‘peculiar’ like him. Or, her attitude towards him is a reflection of how much the scene loved his music.

Other than its challenging form, the only thing Amateur in Plastic may have going against it is that some of the Baltimore bar scenes feel repetitive. But it finds variations in watching Willis perform. Obviously, the band scenes have a more polished dynamic to them as opposed to him singing a capella. But again, the film successfully makes its viewers feel that bittersweet feeling as Willis’ audiences sing along with and and cheer him on. That’s the sweet part, as the film depicts those gigs that take place in the 1980s with footage after that. Some footage has him foregoing his mullet to look like someone’s uncle. And others at a house where he discusses how he juggled music with actual money jobs. I don’t know if well wishes help. I just hope he knows that there are people who care about him, because the film shows that a lot.

Amateur on Plastic is a Factory 25 production coming to OVID soon.