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Hired Gun, Review by Siraj Syed: Meet the unsung heroes of top music bands

Michael Jackson, Bon Jovi, PINK, Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Alice Cooper and Billy Joel are bands and acts that were the rage of their times. Each notched-up success after success, chartbuster following chartbuster.

Supporting the bandleader/lead-singer in their pop/rock/heavy metal gigs and recordings were dozens of backing musicians, who often got credit on the records, but not always. There are many unsung heroes who were great players of their chosen instruments, some of them gifted writers and singers too, that were used as hired guns, or freelancers, where the pay was low and the effort of blending into a new situation much higher. Most of these hired guns had to deliver, outsiders that had to fit-in within hours, and yet be dropped at the dropping of a hat, making it a zero security profession.

Hired Gun is the story of the musical talent responsible for some of the most famous instrumental soloists in the world, and include Jason Hook (Five Finger Death Punch), Liberty ‘Lib’ DeVitto (Billy Joel), Kenny Aronoff (John Mellencamp), Rudy Sarzo (Ozzy Osbourne), Phil X (Bon Jovi), Justin Derrico, Mark Shulman (P!NK), Ray Parker Jr. (Ghostbusters film sound-track), Jason Newsted (Metallica), Eric Singer (KISS), John 5 (Rob Zombie), Glen Sobel, Nita Strauss (Alice Cooper; the only female in the list), Steve Lukather (Michael Jackson, Toto), Steve Vai (David Lee Roth), Paul Bushnell (Katy Perry), Jay Graydon (Steely Dan), Derek St. Holmes (Ted Nugent), Chris Johnson (Rihanna). The names outside the brackets are ones few know. These are faces very, very few will recognise. And yet, they contributed immensely to the music of their respective bands.

The film details the highs and lows of touring life, the demands of session schedules that caused domestic strife, and the dedication required to play back-seat to some of rock’ s most iconic musicians. You see them being interviewed, you see them talking about their auditions, you see them playing, and you see them in some really candid moments. But the film eschews the path of getting into their family lives. There are so many characters that if you worked on one’s back story, you would have to work on all—and that would make the length unmanageable. As one musician recalls, he was feeling bad that the audience was not looking at him, although he was putting in all he had and it was his beats they were dancing to. Then he realised, “Why should they be looking at me? They were looking at P!NK!”

Executive Producer and featured hired gun, Five Finger Death Punch guitarist Jason Hook, says, “The most important goal in any creative project is to make sure you touch a nerve in the heart of the audience, and our aim with Hired Gun is to rip the nerve out of your chest and throw it in a blender!” It is heart-rending to hear a hired gun tell you that at one time, when he was dead broke, a friend suggested he take up a job as a pizza delivery boy! Or when a musician’s services are no longer required by Disney because they have decided to suddenly stop promoting an act! Well your heart cannot but go out to them. Like Alice Cooper says, it would be wonderful if he could pick out the best A-list musicians from six or seven top bands, and constitute a band with just these guys, because he has no time for B-list musicians.

Designed in a chapter-wise style visually, most of the cuts are slow fade-outs/fade-ins

Hired Gun is a feature-length documentary and was filmed in 4K, with sound mixed by Emmy Award-winning mixer Scott R. Lewis, and contains original music and live performances by the hired guns which were recorded at the legendary East West Studios and mixed by Grammy-nominated producer Johnny K. The original score for the film was composed by The Crystal Method. Celebrity photographer/videographer for touring musicians, Franz Strine, told his friend James Hook one day that he had was fed-up of touring. Little did he realise then that the two would end up making Hired Gun, a medley of recurring cameos that add-up to an immensely watchable whole.

Keep watching in one go. A break would mean missing two or three interesting clips. And maybe the ones you miss were your favourites!

Audiences across the US of A will be able to see Hired Gun blazing across the country in exclusive viewings for one night only...and tonight's the night...Thursday, 29 June 2017. You could be among the first to catch it.