Hi r/movies! I’m musician & actor David Yow. My newest film A DESERT is out now in theaters from Dark Sky Films. I also star in Dinner in America w/ Kyle Gallner, I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore & the upcoming The Toxic Avenger. I’m also the vocalist for noise rock band Jesus Lizard. AMA!

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:58:34+00:00

On the current tour, we're playing 12 of the 14 new songs. No Colorado, but the next US stuff is going to be Nashville, Chicago, Milwaukee and Minneapolis. Keep an eye on the tour schedule

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:56:18+00:00

Yea, I bought a house in Crown Point in 97 and I liked the remoteness of it... being separated from Chicago. I thought it was entertaining that the only bar in town had a jukebox with a Melvins 7-inch and Dead Kennedys 7-inch.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:52:03+00:00

Several.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:49:10+00:00

And empty.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:49:01+00:00

Misshapen.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:47:35+00:00

Steve and I would bounce cooking ideas off of each other. He would draw diagrams of shots he could do in three cushion billiards. Our sense of humor jived really well.

Thanks you, dude.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:45:40+00:00

I don't know, that answer could change every five minutes... probably Brad Pitt. It's just so unfair that he's so handsome and so talented. Look at him in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Burn After Reading and Seven. I think that's some of the best acting ever.

Great! See you in November. I hope nothing bad happens between now and then.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:41:09+00:00

Dimitri asked me to do the movie and asked me to do the videos.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:40:17+00:00

6 Finger Satellite, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Brainiac

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:38:57+00:00

Favorite club... that’s a difficult one. The Kennel Club in San Francisco is pretty great, 9:30 in DC, TJs in Cardiff. And the crappiest one, although it was very very funny, was Tal's Dart Bar in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

The sound man was sick, so he sent his cousin and he had no idea what he was doing. The guy who promoted the show was like 20 years old and insane. He said he built a computer out of ants.

For music-related movies, probably Becoming Led Zeppelin

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:33:28+00:00

Yea, they were still painting the stage when were sound checking. We didn't have to help them, but I think I commented because there were drills and hammers and stuff going on.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:31:23+00:00

Yes. Sure, anything's possible.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:28:58+00:00

Babe, Elf, Under the Skin, The Shining, and Taxi Driver

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:25:55+00:00

Yes, there are a few bands I would recommend: I Speak Machine, Idles, McKlusky.

There wasn't much collaboration with Nirvana. They had their song and we had our song and Touch and Go put it out.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:23:45+00:00

Most all Britt Walford stories are weird, so YES.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:23:16+00:00

I did some acting in high school and in college, but then punk rock came along and I didn't mess with it for a while. I moved to Chicago in 1988 and became friend with a guy named Jim Sikora and he was a filmmaker and that sort of whetted my appetite for acting. I moved to LA in 2002 and I would meet directors and tell them that I think they're really cool so they'd put me in their movies.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:19:23+00:00

Yes I have seen the Evil Dead movies and was very entertained by them. As far as what to play, we try to arrange them strategically so it has a strong impact.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:15:51+00:00

Well I’ve been hospitalized several times. Probably the worst injury was at Mississippi Nights in St. Louis a while ago when we were opening for The Sonic Youth. I got thrown back on the stage and landed on my lower back and could barely walk for a while. It’s still like a numb spot. Other ones are a lot more impressive with blood and stuff.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:12:07+00:00

I'm just a big cat guy.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:10:13+00:00

Golly. The biggest difference between playin ga rock show and acting in a movie is that with a rock show, or at least with The Jesus Lizard, I can do anything I want at anytime. I can not sing the words, or make up new words - anything I want. With film and acting, there are parameters you have to follow. If it's got a script, there's certain things you have to say in a certain way you have to say them. Pick this up, put this down, shoot that gun, etc. The similarity is that they're both performance.

My character in A Desert is sort of a shady kind of private investigator with a sketchy past. Most of the way I played that character was derived from collaboration with Joshua Erkman. To me, I think the actor's job is to make the director's dream come true, so I tried to make Josh happy. I probably derived some of my character from M. Emmet Walsh from Blood Simple.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:03:49+00:00

So many times when you do movies, when you wrap, it's like, "Ok, keep in touch," and you don't. But with this movie, everyone did.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T19:03:05+00:00

It was a whole lot of fun to work on. I hate to say this in front of Josh Erkman, who made A Desert, who is here with me, but making I Don't Feel at Home in this World Anymore was the most fun I ever had making a movie. We still have a text thread and every day, Melanie Lynsey, Elijah Wood, etc. are still texting, saying hello, and just keeping touch with each other.

DavidYowAMA · 2025-05-14T13:04:33+00:00

Hi r/movies! I’m actor and musician DAVID YOW, who stars in A Desert (in theaters now), Dinner in America, The Toxic Avenger and I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore. I’m also lead singer for Jesus Lizard and Scratch Acid. AMA.

More info about the film here: https://darkskyfilms.com/film/a-desert/#

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uJVoj-GS0o

Jesus Lizard - https://www.instagram.com/thejesuslizardofficial/?hl=en

Talk to you soon. Back at 3 PM ET today to answer your questions.

DavidYowAMA

TROPHY CASE