Daniel Lanois Shows Here Is What Is In New Documentary

08/16/07 5:00pm

by Jason MacNeil (CHARTattack)

Musician/producer Daniel Lanois is the subject of a new feature-length film titled Here Is What Is, which will make its world premiere at September's Toronto International Film Festival.

A trailer of the film on Lanois' website shows him discussing the idea behind the project with fellow producer Brian Eno interspersed with performance footage. The film was made by Lanois, Adam Vollock and Adam Samuels.

The documentary is based around a recent 18-month span and shows the creative process in the studio as Lanois travels from Morocco to Shreveport, La. It features appearances by actor/singer Billy Bob Thornton, The Band's Garth Hudson, Willie Nelson, U2, Sinead O'Connor, Aaron Neville and Emmylou Harris, among others.

"The ultimate drug for me is the ever slippery creative process," Lanois said in a press release. "My greatest joy in this has come from my associations — the creative, musical and lyrical minds that I've been lucky to work with through years of record making. A friend suggested that I turn on a camera and try to capture the elusive process."

Lanois, who had been working with Eno and U2 on new material earlier this year, is also creating new material for a solo album. Little is known about the record, but a web posting last October stated that he was working on it with Hudson, Brian Blade and Tony Garnier in Toronto and Los Angeles. The as-yet untitled record is slated to feature a guest appearance by Martha Wainwright. Lanois released his last solo album, Belladonna, in 2005. He's since worked on Snake Road, a record from his brother Bob Lanois.