Talking Heads broke up rather acrimoniously back in 1991, but keyboardist Jerry Harrison says the upcoming 40th anniversary rerelease of their iconic concert film Stop Making Sense has healed some old wounds.
During an appearance on Consequence’s Kyle Meredith With … podcast, Harrison says when they were approached by distributor A24 about rereleasing the film, it forced them to “work together to make a decision” about whether it was a good fit.
“Then A24 is going like: ‘Here’s the offer — we’re going to get really behind this, if you help us.’ And so it was like, ‘Obviously, we need to work together to make this a success,’” he says.
All four original members — Harrison, David Byrne, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz — are set to reunite for a Q&A about the film at the Toronto Film Festival on September 11.
“I think it’s been a somewhat of a healing experience for everybody,” Harrison shares. “It’s like, ‘Yeah, we actually can work together and do this.’ And this is something we’re all proud of.” He adds, “It’s not like the feelings that made people say various things are totally gone or anything like that, but it’s sort of like they’ve been voiced, do you need to voice things like that over and over again? I mean, I made my point.”
Harrison also says thanks to his success on Broadway, Byrne has gained a “new confidence” that has actually helped his relationship with his former bandmates. He notes, “It also [helped him] let bygones be bygones, because why waste our time on these petty complaints from the past? I don’t need to prove anything, because now, I have proven it.”
A24 will release the newly restored Stop Making Sense nationally on September 23.
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