Pavement understood from the beginning that mythologies could benefit a band. Starting in the late 1980s with their cryptically titled debut EP, Slay Tracks: 1933-1969 (1989), Stephen Malkmus, who went by S.M., and Scott Kannberg, who adopted the name Spiral Stairs, seemed intent on creating an enigmatic aura for themselves and their recording project.
There were precedents. Sonic Boom (Peter Kember) and J. Spaceman (Jason Pierce) of Spacemen 3 immediately come to mind. Pavement genuflected toward these precursors while also using their crafted elusiveness to drum up attention through a form of reverse psychology: a lack of information primed the desire of listeners to learn more. This approach worked brilliantly in a pre-Internet context.
The actual truth of Pavement’s origins was more mundane yet equally strange. Malkmus and Kannberg grew up in the unlikely suburban locale of Stockton, just south of Sacramento, in California’s Central Valley. They played soccer together and discovered a mutual interest in music. By the time they were in high school, Malkmus was playing in punk bands. By college, they talked about recording a single.
Their improbable enabler and, thus, a crucial figure in the founding of Pavement proved to be a fixture on the local punk scene: Gary Young. Named after the ramshackle recording studio he owned and where Pavement first tested their ideas, Louder Than You Think is a documentary about Young and his role as Pavement’s first drummer. Directed by Jed Rosenberg, it is a skillfully made portrait grippingly told from its first frame of archival footage, which has a shirtless Young greeting Pavement fans at a show.
In many ways, Young is a perfect subject for a film profile: obscure but colorful, a minor character but vitally involved in creating something bigger. Louder Than You Think is certainly for Pavement fans. However, it is also an emblematic story about the lost figures of rock and roll history: the sidemen, the backup singers, the recording engineers, and other persona who too often fade into the background.
A generation older than Malkmus and Kannberg, Young was in his 40s when Pavement started out. Louder Than You Think begins with Young talking about how he took LSD 375 times and played in 29 bands. Visibly, these facts are easy to grasp. An old man with bad posture and slurred speech, he looks like a paradigmatic casualty of drug use and a rock and roll lifestyle. That said, he is a compelling storyteller, and Louder Than You Think reveals an enormous amount about Pavement’s early history.
Before Pavement, Young’s best-known band was the Fall of Christianity (great name), a local punk act that Kannberg had seen perform. Notably, both Malkmus and Kannberg participate in this documentary. Young refers to them as “these kids”, which is unsurprising given that they were 19 when they first approached Young about recording a single at Louder Than You Think. Young’s brother, Rory, was also a recording engineer based in New York, and Young set up his studio with money from selling marijuana.
Louder Than You Think proceeds to detail the circuitous route that Pavement took from Stockton to global fame on the indie rock scene during the 1990s. Ambitions were relatively low in the beginning. Limited by their musical ability at the time, Malkmus and Kannberg were essentially two guys with guitars making obscure lo-fi noise rock. Through a mix of strategy and blind luck, Kannberg mailed their recordings to different zines of the time, with word of mouth gradually accruing around Pavement. By their third EP, Perfect Sound Forever (1991), Young’s drumming became integral to Pavement’s sound.
Pavement’s first tour occurred just before then, in August 1990. Young not only engineered their early recordings and defined their lo-fi sound through his elemental drumming; he also provided a stage presence that established their slacker rock reputation. At one point in Louder Than You Think, Young describes that his job was “to wreak fucking havoc”. This approach was initially embraced, though, unsurprisingly, it proved problematic in the long run.
Fueled by alcohol, Young would typically engage in a series of antics during Pavement shows. He would do headstands during quiet numbers that did not require his percussion. He would toss his drumsticks into the air, sometimes catching them on the beat but just as often dropping them. Young constantly stepped out from behind his drum kit to engage with the audience and demand drinks. Before the start of a show, he would go out and welcome people standing in line, dispensing perplexing items like carrots, celery, and loose change.
This behavior could be charming. Young recalls handing out mashed potatoes and gravy with Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth at one show. It could also be chaotic. Bob Nastanovich, a college friend of Malkmus from the University of Virginia, was recruited as a second drummer, even though he had no musical experience. As Nastanovich describes in Louder Than You Think, he was brought into Pavement as “an insurance policy”.
Growing fame ultimately created a fork in the road for Pavement and Young. Louder Than You Think depicts how the early team of Malkmus, Kannberg, and Young, with their clear division of labor between songwriting, management, and recording, quickly frayed after outside pressures arrived. Once a mentor and even a muse, Young became a liability.
Slanted and Enchanted (1992) provided their anticipated commercial breakthrough, and Young wanted a major label contract against the wishes of Malkmus and Kannberg. A climactic moment occurred when Young skipped a sound check at Maxwell’s in Hoboken to go to the offices of Columbia Records in Manhattan to demand a record deal, where he proceeded to pass out.
Young quit Pavement shortly thereafter. The last third of Louder Than You Think delves into the aftermath, which was not completely tragic. Young started a new band and released an LP, Hospital (1994), with the minor hit “Plant Man”, resulting in Young joining the 1995 Lollapalooza Tour. Pavement were on the same tour, albeit on the main stage. But no bitterness existed.
Still, Young’s post-Pavement career never took off. Louder Than You Think mentions how he briefly (and comically) became an advice columnist for a prominent rock magazine in Japan. Yet, he continued to struggle with alcoholism. Young drinks vodka and Sunkist soda throughout the interviews in Louder Than You Think. He mentions how he has tried rehab 15 times and how he was institutionalized for two weeks when he was young. As noted earlier, this film depicts unsparingly how the older Young has destroyed his health and body through his hard lifestyle. Rosenberg shows considerable restraint in conveying any transparent judgment.
There are bright moments. Young describes how he got his first drum kit when he was 11. Like many other future musicians, he was enchanted seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. His hero was Bill Bruford, the drummer for the progressive rock band Yes. His elderly mom and brother discuss how active he was as a child. Young’s wife, Geri, is also a dominant presence in Louder Than You Think. She provided a much-needed stabilizing force in his life.
For Pavement fans, there are numerous gems. There is amazing footage of live performances throughout Louder Than You Think. Kannberg talks about initially forming Pavement sans Malkmus at Arizona State, where he was a student. The name “Pavement” came from his undergraduate major in urban planning. A snippet of archival video footage has Malkmus playing in his teenage punk band, Straw Dogs, named after the controversial Sam Peckinpah film from 1971 starring Dustin Hoffman. Kannberg recalls the first time they visited Louder Than You Think, where Young was roasting a chicken in his fireplace.
More poignantly, Malkmus, Kannberg, Nastanovich, and Mark Ibold, Pavement’s bassist, give full credit to Young for helping establish Pavement’s early sound. Despite his clear flaws, Young created the rhythms and drum fills on classic tracks like “Summer Babe” from Slanted and Enchanted that Steve West, who replaced Young, would sustain. Young continued to receive royalties for his songwriting contributions, a fact that Geri recalls with astonishment, remarking, “Those guys in Pavement have always done Gary right.”
Louder Than You Think premiered in April 2023, and it still awaits wider release, which it deserves. Young did attend its debut screening at SXSW. He died several months later, in August, at the age of 70. Initiated as a sympathetic, fans-only character study, the film has since become a moving elegy. Fortunately, Rosenberg avoided turning Young’s story into an allegory or cautionary tale. Young loved being a rock star, however briefly. Louder Than You Think allows Young to shine on his own terms in all his bruised and cracked glory.
For many fans, Slanted and Enchanted remains Pavement’s best album. Upon Young’s passing, Pavement posted an affecting tribute on their Instagram page, saying, among many things, how he “was made to play drums in rock and roll bands.” “We embraced him, and he taught us myriads of things that we never thought about,” the homage summarized with feeling. “He was an educator. In ways, we were his apprentices.”