A Night of Musical Celebration and Hope for US Veterans

By David Scott Barron

West Hollywood -“For us music is about three things:  Music is about love, Music is about respect, and mostimportantly, especially on days like today, Music is about support! Can you feel me LA?”

Those were the intimate sentiments administered to the audience at the world famous Whisky A Go Go in West

Hollywood, Wednesday April 24^th by Eye Empire lead singer Donald Carpenter.  Eye Empire and a rock all-star supporting cast gathered to help spread awareness and support for US veterans at the Battlefield of the Mind documentary premiere and musical benefit concert.  The documentary poignantly captures the plight of soldiers who have returned home from war, only to face the horrors of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and homelessness.

Director Fran Strine was on hand for the LA screening, along with Dave Ellefson of Megadeth, Sal G from Staind, Troy McLawhorn of Evanescence, Pete Murray and Neil Godfry of Lo-Pro, John Fahnestock of Snot, Corey Lowery (along with all of Eye Empire), and Otan Vargas.  An excerpt trailer from the film was screened before approximately 150 attendees prior to the live music getting started. 

Afterwards, a question and answer panel featuring Strine, Ellefson, and Margy Bons, CEO from Military Assistance Mission fielded questions from audience members; some were veterans of war, or parents of those fallen.  Bons, whose son died in Haditha, was featured in the film after a chance meeting with Strine at a Staind concert. 

Strine, a well-known still photographer/filmmaker produced the film with Staind lead singer Aaron Lewis.   Staind guitarist Mike Mushok provided the score and played on the soundtrack.  Fran moved to the Bay Area recently, and was taken aback of the number of homeless veterans on the streets of San Francisco.   After he wrapped a leg on tour with Staind, Fran grew tired of constantly seeing all the homeless veterans lying all over the streets.  It was then he decided to make a non-music documentary about the subject. 

Watch the report on RockRevolt™TV with interviews, music & more!

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“A lot of people hear PTSD, and they don’t really know or understand what it means, as people deal with it differently.  And these veterans are slipping through the cracks by not getting their treatment through the Veterans Administration, and they come home, they lose their jobs, and their family support system, and eventually they are homeless. ” stated Strine. 

“It was scary, and after stepping over veteran after veteran, I was able to sit down and meet these vets and hear their stories, and the film came together quickly”  Strine added. 

Carpenter, who served in the US Army from 1997-2000, never went to war or overseas, but was trained for those type of situations.  

“It gives you the ability to put yourself in their (vets) shoes, and when we meet or talk with these vets, their stories are very clear, as if it happened yesterday, and you start to realize that not everyone wears their scars on the outside, but everyone comes back wounded to some extent.” 

By enlisting his friends from the music business to assist in making the film and soundtrack, Strine achieved what he called the most emotionally draining project he has ever worked on.  Most were on hand for the premiere to play in the benefit concert, captured by RockRevolt™Magazine Photographer, Caitlin Helms: 

For Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson, who was the voice of the film and played on the soundtrack, it was the message that got him hooked. 

“The music is the fun part of the film, but obviously the serious part is the content of the film, but I am excited for those who were apart of this project both on camera and behind the camera, as they get the spotlight tonight,” said Ellefson. 

The Boot Campaign, a 501(c) national non-profit organization,  was one of the executive producers of the film, and they were on hand raising awareness and meeting supporters at The Whiskey selling copies of the film, along with t-shirts.  Larry Murray, executive director for The Boot Campaign, received an award from City of LA for assisting veterans with past fund raising events.

“We were aware of what Fran Strine was doing with Battlefield of the Mind early on, and we decided we wanted to be involved with it.  One of our three mission points is to cultivate awareness, promote patriotism, and to provide assistance to veterans.  Fran was doing a amazing job raising awareness with the homeless veteran issue, and we are ecstatic at how he stepped up and had the courage to talk about the problems at hand,” said Murray.

Musically speaking the artist lineup was atomic as various stars jammed acoustically early on with Donald Carpenter and Otan Vargas, doing a cover of Alice in Chains, “The Rooster”, a song written by Jerry Cantrell, in honor of his father, a Vietnam Veteran.  Pete Murray, Neil Godfry, Sal G, along with Troy McLawhorn and Ellefson, rocked a memorable performance of “No Words” from the film soundtrack.

McLawhorn, like many donated music for the soundtrack, and summed up why he and others did the project.

“It takes a lot of passion, to pull off a project that’s not some huge blockbuster film that is not going to make a lot of money.  The only reason all of us did this is because we all felt passionately about the film,” McLawhorn said.

“We know what has transpired the last 10-15 years with our military, and we now see the fall out of what veterans go through, and this film helps deal with it,” said Corey Lowery. 

The film runs 93 minutes and is a must see for anyone wanting to understand what issues are at hand in the states for our veterans.  Battlefield of The Mind and the soundtrack are available online for DVD’s and downloads at Chill.com.                                                                  

 

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