The Complete History of Space/Time (Destination Milwaukee) is a video in six parts plus an epilogue about the musician Sigmund Snopek III.
What’s that? You’ve never heard of Sigmund Snopek III? The man whose pioneering progressive rock band opened for Jimi Hendrix at the 1970 Atlanta Pop Festival? The man who spent the 1970s writing classical symphonies and sci-fi concept albums? The man who counts among his admirers Jay Leno, Willem Dafoe, and the members of Cheap Trick? Who had a two-piece act with the saxophonist from The Stooges? Who toured the world as an on-again, off-again member of the Violent Femmes? Who has an album of bawdy polkas and three albums of Christmas music? The man who played Carnegie Hall and a Wisconsin bowling alley in the same week? You’ve never heard of Sigmund Snopek?!
Well, you’re far from alone. And now’s your chance to correct course. This documentary has a total runtime of 6.5 hours plus two intermissions. It was self-financed and self-produced over the course of seven years by filmmaker Nick Toti and his co-director/co-producer Bob Mielke. It premiered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on May 5, 2024 and was released online the same night.
For viewers who prefer the convenience of YouTube, here is a playlist of all seven parts:
Link to the trailer:
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Sigmund Snopek III is the old growth tree of Milwaukee music, an ancient redwood with numerous concentric rings of growth … Scratch that—too linear. How about Snopek as an incredibly eclectic Milwaukee musician whose imagination and talent has always moved in many directions on multiple platforms. Making sense of his life in music is head spinning.
Just ask Nick Toti. Seven years ago, the filmmaker set out to make a documentary on Snopek, a conventional 90-minute bio punctuated by the comments of relevant talking heads. It turned instead into a six-hour-plus epic, The Complete History of Space/Time (Destination Milwaukee), premiering Sunday, May 5, starting at 1 p.m., at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn. Given the film’s length, the screening will include two intermissions. Following event will conclude with a Q&A session with the directors, Toti and Bob Mielke, and Snopek himself. The full event is expected to end around 9 p.m. The screening is sponsored by the Milwaukee Independent Film Society.
“I couldn’t be happier with the finished movie,” says Toti. “Sigmund is a really special person, and he opened his life to me completely. I only hope that we can get people to actually watch the movie. I have complete confidence that anyone who invests the 6.5 hours it takes to watch the whole thing will be convinced that every second spent was a worthwhile investment. The strange thing is that people will watch a 10-episode docuseries about, I don’t know, a suburban housewife who murdered her life coach or whatever, and they won’t think twice. They’ll go on Twitter and say ‘I didn’t want it to end!’ But when I tell someone how long this movie is, they look at me like I’m crazy.
Based at different times in Austin and LA, Toti (The Complete History of Seattle) knew nothing of Milwaukee aside from Jeffrey Dahmer before diving into the project. The spark came from reading Mielke’s 2013 book Adventures in Avant Pop, a massive tome with essays on artists such as Yoko Ono, Frank Zappa, Sun Ra … and Sigmund Snopek. “The chapter on Snopek is the last chapter, and, significantly, it’s the only chapter about an artist who is not a well-known cultural figure,” Toti says.
Intriguing, but …? “This is where the story gets a bit mystical,” Toti continues. “I have this thing happen sometimes where I will encounter a story or situation and some kind of alarm goes off in my head. It’s not a literal sound, but it almost feels like one, like an irritating internal buzzing. It’s the feeling I get when I am absolutely certain that the story or situation that I’m encountering is something that I should make into a movie … Reading Bob’s chapter on Sigmund gave me that unmistakable feeling. I knew there was potential for a good movie here, and I knew that I had the resources to pull it off without needing anyone’s permission or financing to do it.”
And so, in the spring of 2018, Toti journeyed to Milwaukee, shooting B-roll of the city’s snow-edged streets and encountering the mysterious Mr. Snopek. There he is, bundled up for the weather on an East Side corner, his long alpine horn resting on the pavement. As a crowd of adolescent schoolgirls gather round, he blows his horn and leads them in a chorus of the Ricola cough drop jingle.
Toti discovered that Snopek has a sense of humor. Little wonder Jay Leno was among the talking heads gathered by the director. The comedian calls Snopek “an artist.” Leno? “Summerfest used to have a Comedy Stage that Sigmund helped manage back in the late ‘70s-early ‘80s. His band would play before some of the comedy acts, so he got to know a bunch of popular comedians from that time,” Toti explains. “Jay Leno was a name that kept coming up, so I reached out to his people to ask if he really knew Sigmund. That same day, I got a phone call from Leno and he pretty much said, ‘Sigmund Snopek! I haven’t heard that name in years!’ and then talked about how much he liked Sigmund back in the day.”
Among the more expected interviewees are Violent Femmes Brian Ritchie and Victor DeLorenzo. Snopek played keyboards for the band’s recording sessions and world tours in the ‘80s. DeLorenzo also knew Snopek from his involvement in the ‘70s with Theatre X. Snopek composed music for one of their groundbreaking productions. “We’re all die-hard eccentrics,” DeLorenzo says.
Ritchie provides an astute observation, saying that Snopek contains “many great contradictions.” Classically trained as a pianist and composer, Snopek told Ritchie that he made the decision to go into pop “because in classical music they expect you to be on time. He made major decisions based on minor factors.”
And yet he didn’t reject classical music for pop as much as try to do it all—on his own schedule. A telling scene in Toti’s film shows Snopek in a recording studio, drifting from pump organ to piano, sliding between “Daydream Believer,” “Strawberry Fields Forever” and Bach. Inspired by John Cage and Edgard Varèse yet grounded in 19th century traditions while drawn to rock’s exuberance and pop’s accessibility, Snopek’s diverse catalog includes symphonies, rock operas, rock songs and novelties. He can be compared to Frank Zappa—although it’s unlikely that Zappa ever sang a polka (or Snopek sang doowop). Zappa latched on to an international career while Snopek, after his late ‘60s psychedelic band Bloomsbury People was dropped by MGM, didn’t seem to bother with big labels but pursued symphonic commissions while releasing his own albums, DIY before punk coined the acronym.
Getting back to Ritchie: Was staying in Milwaukee a “major decision based on minor factors”? Toti grabs a quote from John Gurda, explaining the city’s allure for many residents as “a blend of large and small,” “global yet manageable,” “Midwest friendly.”
But unlike some heartland cities, Milwaukee’s cultural roots are deep enough for an ambitious composer-musician to find work as varied as the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Summerfest. Snopek never reveals why he stayed on in Milwaukee—at least not in episode one—but back in the ’70s he set a precedent for local artists by amassing a body of creative work, a career in original music, in a city far from the national media spotlight. Toti shows Snopek in the studio of Riverwest Radio, where he hosts a weekly show dedicated to playing tapes (in the process of digitalization) covering more than 50 years of work.
Did Toti’s idea for the project change as time went on? “In fact, the project changed very little from conception to finished product,” Toti insists. “When Bob Mielke and I started discussing making this back in 2017, I decided early on that the movie would be a mix of present-day footage shot with Sigmund, archival footage, interviews shot with colorful lighting in a black void, and that it would incorporate science fiction elements (as a nod to Sigmund’s alternate-reality appearances in the novels of his cousin, Russell Snopek).”
As for the length, “I actually remember the exact moment we decided to embrace a longer format,” he continues. “It was during Summerfest 2018. Bob and I were at our hotel after spending the day filming Sigmund, and Bob mentioned having recently watched the (fantastic) Abel Gance silent film, La Roue, which, in its original form, was eight hours long and shown over two nights. He said this, and then he and I just looked at each other, and we immediately agreed that that was the sort of approach Sigmund’s story was going to require.”
– David Luhrssen, Shepherd Express
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p.s. Hey. Huge treat this weekend as filmmaker Nick Toti offers this blog the online world premiere of his new marathon-length documentary about the simultaneously legendary and almost unknown and irrevocably fascinating Sigmund Snopek III, whose pioneering progressive rock band opened for Jimi Hendrix at the 1970 Atlanta Pop Festival, who had a two-piece act with the saxophonist from The Stooges, who toured the world as an on-again, off-again member of the Violent Femmes, and that’s just to start. Spend your time here wisely this weekend, and you will be very justly rewarded. Thank you, Nick! ** Lucas, Howdy, Lucas. Thanks. So far so okay and potentially better. I’m on Facebook, so I will probably do what I do there on Instagram, which is just announce and link to the blog posts daily, announce things I’m doing, ‘like’ certain other people’s things, which I assume Instagram allows as well, drop the occasional video or something I like, and try to do right by our film without becoming annoyingly relentless. But, yes, I’ll give you my handle or whatever once I’m on board. It will be nice to keep up with my friends because there are very friends of mine left on Facebook at this point. Success re: the math, congrats! I knew you could ace that. Oh, right, the class will concentrate on phone filmmaking. That makes sense. Well, phones have made some pretty good films. Scott Barley, who I spotlit here the other day, only makes films with his phone, and they’re so lush looking you would never even know. Have fun with that, and I hope selfishly that you’ll end up making film there-from since it’s nice to have filmmaker comrades. Reading ‘…Flowers’ first makes total sense. I did. And ‘Miracle of the Rose’ too. I hope your weekend throws all kinds of promising and inspiring things your way. Was my hope fulfilled? ** _Black_Acrylic, They’re nice, right? Austria is pretty impressive looking from my travels, at least when those giant mountains are in the frame. I hope she has fun. And, obviously, fingers still crossed for the big match tomorrow. Ole … ole ole ole! ** jay, Cool. Yes, I tried to find videos of Uddenberg’s works and had no luck, strangely. So I had to settle for the ‘freeze frame’. I just found ‘CotF’ on my go-to illegal streaming site, so I’m very approximate and ready to go. A film made me sob a little in a cinema a couple of months ago, but I can’t remember the film or why. I think it was probably something sentimental and embarrassing, and I’ve blocked it out. I think Nancy Grossman would have qualified, yes. I had her work in another thematic post — specific theme forgotten — somewhat recently, so that’s probably why she was a no-show. I see ‘Perv’ as a pretty broad category. It’s certainly think it’s possible that Dazai’s work was lingering in my mind while writing certain things, yes. The big Olympics ceremony is supposed to take place on the Seine, which I live very close to, and they’re talkng about moving it into some more normal locale due to ‘terrorist threats’, so, if they do, it will suck for the Olympics, but it will help my neighborhood and consequently me. I hope your locale is utterly free of external forces for the even subtly bad until further notice. ** A, I’ll let you know if I understood your Hobart piece once I gulped it down, probably today. I’m assuming I’ll ‘get’ it. I know you, and my brain’s not too bad. ‘[A] beacon of hope and support and positivity and love’: I’m sold. Bret’s idea of hot is very mysterious to me, god love him. ** PL, Thank you, sir. Very nice drawing(s)! It/they would have qualified in a sec, need I even say. Thanks for the peek. You + great weekend is my wish for you as well. ** Jack Skelley, Hi, Jack with the happily beating heart. Weird, cool re: ‘Interstellar’. I miss Nebulon. Oh, which Kraftwerk album are you going to see being physically manifested? See you in your flat incarnation in mere hours. Dennis, with the non-throbbing libido. ** Cletus Crow, Thanks, pal. Finest weekend to you and yours and all and sundry proximate to you. ** Daniel, Daniel! I know. The ultimate, really. I’m a sadsack to have excluded it. ** Harper, Hi, H. Well, that’s your cue to go see that dollhouse in the ‘flesh’ maybe? I would were I you, I think? Hm, see, knowing what I know of Stephen Tennant, I just inherently assume that he must have been a pretty stylish, worthy of reading writer whatever the genre. But, as you suggested, maybe he overworked it. Although that would be interesting too. Seems weird not to publish it in some respect. Hm. Oh, wow, that site you linked to is great. I’d never come across it. Thanks a bunch. Everyone, If you have interest in Stephen Tennant, and surely you must, Harper has linked us up with a terrific seeming site called ‘In the Time of Moss Roses, Stephen Tennant’s Library – Livres du Mois’ and it’s super worth a look. Take that look here. What an extremely curious job you’re in line for. I mean, fascinating and seemingly a great massage for the brain cells and hopefully not too exhausting to keep up. I hope you get that gig awfully much as I would like to read you unfolding it in non-taxing (to you) increments. Very cool. Surely that joke caused at the very least a repressed chuckle. Surely. When will you hear? Have a superb next couple of days. ** Oscar 🌀, ‘Megaphones are to sound what gifs are to video’: truer words hath ne’er been typed. Very nice. My pleasure about the post. Oh, favorite? … hm, I guess I wouldn’t mind having that Paul Chan piece projected on my bare white walls maybe. You managed to top my wish. And in fact it’s not implausible because there’s a massive crane on the top of the building across the street that, when it revolves in this direction, hangs directly and scarily over the vestibule of my apartment building where a piano could easily be released and, upon striking the ground, cause all kinds of improvements to the humble concrete, whatever was left of it or whatever shaped hole it occasioned. I hope someone this weekend invents a frozen pizza that looks and tastes better than any other pizza on earth and celebrates by hosting a small dinner gathering and invites you and the five people you most admire and then gives you the credit for inventing the pizza thereby causing your heroes to admire you tremendously. ** Bill, I’m hoping finals week ended yesterday? I believe that was indeed the real, bonafide W.G. I’m going to watch ‘…Glow’. Maybe even today. Okay, not today, but tomorrow. Quite possibly. Thanks, pal. ** Steve, Yuck, ha ha. I have my biweekly Zoom book/film club this evening. I need to figure out what I’m going to read at the Paris launch event for Bob Flanagan’s new book of poems next week. I might go look at art. I want to work on the new film script. (I just watched ‘Songs from the Second Floor’ for said Zoom club, and it’s inspired me and gave me a bunch of script ideas.) That’s the vague weekend plan as of this hour. Is that the friend who had briefly gone awol? Enjoy the film. And et. al. ** Justin D, Yes, perhaps Koi are wildly misunderstood. That would be nice. Okay, I now have even more reasons not to watch ‘Civil War’. Thank you for braving it and for giving me the warning. Much appreciated. ** Jamie F, Hi. Yes, David was an extremely kind and thoughtful guy. It was an honor to know him to the degree that I did. I like winter best here too, although I miss the days when Paris got snow. Good old global warming seems to have stopped that forever. Now it just rains all winter. No where near as pleasurable. Where would we be without pervs, I ask you? Thanks, I think my coat might be almost ready to get hung in the closet for the semi-long term. Except, wait, it still rains a lot, and my coat does have a hood that does come in handy. You oughta come visit Paris. Sucks that you and it are so gigantically far apart. ** Darby🐼, Idiot, you?! Oh, please, perish the thought, maestro. That worked! Ooh, it’s really nice. I really like it. And I like the photos. And I like your hand. My roommate walked over to the park to check up on the parrot, and he said there were about fifty parrots squawking in the trees there, so I think ours is happily surrounded by its fellow species. You have a good and even much gooder weekend! ** Don Waters, Hi, Don! ‘Funny’ … you mean, like, comedic novelettes? I do tend to favor the gloomy ones, don’t I? ‘Autoportrait’ is pretty witty. Jean-Jacques Schuhl is pretty funny. Maybe ‘Dusty Pink’? Semiotext(e) published it. I’ll keep thinking. I will get Magnus Mills into my mental experience and pass along any thoughts that result, sure. Thanks a lot for that tip. Adam Frelin sounds really cool and up my street. I will definitely track his stuff down. Enjoy the shy sun. I wish ours was just a little shyer. ** Corey Heiferman, Hey, Corey. Huh, that does seem to possibly be true. That influence, I mean. That proposed post you reference is music to my ears, so, yeah, if finishing it does something good for you, I would welcome it very smilingly. Thank you, bud. I laid out my potential weekend to, I think, Steve. It should fine, I don’t expect miracles, Yours sounds lush. Minks might have just been popping in and out and didn’t see your reply. That happens. You wouldn’t think so, but this place does occasion quickies. Happy -> Monday. ** Right. I encourage you to settle in and experience Nick’s documentary portrait, and I hope you will consider taking that golden option. See you on Monday.
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