I was listening to Human Pippi Armstrong's new album The Drogues
this summer on the beach when something hit me. A pan seared scallop.
That made me think. Why isn't there a documentary about Human Pippi
Armstrong? I'm not sure, but I don't want or need to explore that "why"
any further. Why? Because I want to make one.
Who is Human Pippi Armstrong?
Artist. Songwriter. Musician. Performer. Those words cover the basics for the completely uninformed people reading this. There is a shocking lack of official accreditation for Human Pippi Armstrong's talents on the internet. No song-by-song analysis. No wiki. No blog gossip. One of the reasons for making a documentary is to get his music into the ears of more people. If this is your first time learning about one Human Pippi Armstrong, stumbling on this webpage by accident in the dark, here is a short descriptive piece that I did not write.
He has coined his music “buzzpop,” but it’s better described as imminently catchy, experimental pop. His songs skip from style to style, a Western-tinged “Orango” immediately followed by the pseudo-chillwave “The Best Coasts have Surfer Blood Washed Out by Waves” on his Easy Times EP. Over the years, he has found fans in folks like Future Islands and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, for whom he’s opened. He’s been at this thing since 2002, holding down a day job while remaining a prolific artist, with 12 albums to his name. That dedication reflects a love of the game that’s easily heard in the music.
- 2013, defunct Charlotte Alt-Weekly Creative Loafing ("The Cloaf")
If you need more to base your understanding of him on, just listen to his music. His 2025 album "The Drogues" is available on all streaming services and there's more stuff on his bandcamp page.
Who am I and what gives me any qualifications to make such a film?
I'm Tyler. I've been a fan of Pippi's since first seeing him perform at a house party in Charlotte in 2008. It was probably around that time that I was introduced to Pippi's alter ego "Nathan" and became friends. I've been honored to share a bill with him on more than one occasion, both as a member of the late 2000s spork jazz conglomeration, Great Architect, and performing my aimless solo slide guitar noodlings. I have felt a calling to share his music with the world for many years. My first effort in this important mission was interviewing him for my arts/entertainment blog in 2020 to promote his album "Exactly Where You Are". Read that informative piece here.
As far as filmmaking, I've been doing animation and video stuff since 1991, when I was 14. Things really picked up when I got a decent computer around 2012. Since then, I've made a lot of music videos for bands and my own attempts at music. Of particular note is my 13-minute, 8 song animated musical odyssey into and out of the unknown called Thrift Store Shampoo. It was an official selection of the 2020 Cucalorus Film Festival. Please watch it, but be careful. Things get a little hectic and confrontational. If you want something completely black & white and much more drowsy, check out my film from 2023 called Calliope Haystacks. It's on Tubi, Amazon Prime, and YouTube. I get a penny every time somebody streams it! And, just because everyone finds out eventually, yes - I wrote an episode of the Adult Swim show "Assy McGee". Call the kids over and pull grandma's chair up to the laptop to enjoy The Ballad of Blind Anthony together. In conclusion, I can adeptly film, edit, animate stuff, and I know how to send the finished project to film festivals and get it on streaming services like Prime and Tubi.
Nathan approves of "The As of Yet Untitled Human Pippi Armstrong Documentary Project". We are working together, but I'll be responsible for the majority of production duties. What are those? Keep reading.
What's the plan for the Human Pippi Armstrong documentary?
First things first, we are gathering every Human Pippi Armstrong thing available. Digital and tangible. We have a ton of show posters, photos, and live footage. However, there's a bit of a speed bump before jumping into production. I need to find out who took each photo and each piece of footage. Yep. Permission must be obtained to use somebody else's stuff. Why? For legal reasons. If the movie wins every award at every documentary film festival and NetMaxStream wants to purchase it, they will want proof that every clip/pic has been "cleared". They don't want a photographer to contact them and say "Hey! That's my photo of Pippi doing a handstand on top of Thomas Street Tavern and I didn't give anyone permission to use it! Lawsuit! Lawsuit!".
Getting permissions might take a while, but it needs to be done. I can't start editing anything together until I know what I have to work with. In the meantime and beyond, we can get brand new footage. Videos and photos taken by me or anyone working in conjunction with the documentary are 100% fine to use. We are planning some various video shoots. There will be brand new live performance stuff. That's for certain. As well as some stuff in Charlotte, some stuff in Boone, some stuff in his studio - and interviews. That's what the next sentence in red, bold letters is about.
Who will be interviewed for the Human Pippi Armstrong documentary?
Who is Human Pippi Armstrong?
Artist. Songwriter. Musician. Performer. Those words cover the basics for the completely uninformed people reading this. There is a shocking lack of official accreditation for Human Pippi Armstrong's talents on the internet. No song-by-song analysis. No wiki. No blog gossip. One of the reasons for making a documentary is to get his music into the ears of more people. If this is your first time learning about one Human Pippi Armstrong, stumbling on this webpage by accident in the dark, here is a short descriptive piece that I did not write.
He has coined his music “buzzpop,” but it’s better described as imminently catchy, experimental pop. His songs skip from style to style, a Western-tinged “Orango” immediately followed by the pseudo-chillwave “The Best Coasts have Surfer Blood Washed Out by Waves” on his Easy Times EP. Over the years, he has found fans in folks like Future Islands and Tim and Eric Awesome Show, for whom he’s opened. He’s been at this thing since 2002, holding down a day job while remaining a prolific artist, with 12 albums to his name. That dedication reflects a love of the game that’s easily heard in the music.
- 2013, defunct Charlotte Alt-Weekly Creative Loafing ("The Cloaf")
If you need more to base your understanding of him on, just listen to his music. His 2025 album "The Drogues" is available on all streaming services and there's more stuff on his bandcamp page.
Who am I and what gives me any qualifications to make such a film?
I'm Tyler. I've been a fan of Pippi's since first seeing him perform at a house party in Charlotte in 2008. It was probably around that time that I was introduced to Pippi's alter ego "Nathan" and became friends. I've been honored to share a bill with him on more than one occasion, both as a member of the late 2000s spork jazz conglomeration, Great Architect, and performing my aimless solo slide guitar noodlings. I have felt a calling to share his music with the world for many years. My first effort in this important mission was interviewing him for my arts/entertainment blog in 2020 to promote his album "Exactly Where You Are". Read that informative piece here.
As far as filmmaking, I've been doing animation and video stuff since 1991, when I was 14. Things really picked up when I got a decent computer around 2012. Since then, I've made a lot of music videos for bands and my own attempts at music. Of particular note is my 13-minute, 8 song animated musical odyssey into and out of the unknown called Thrift Store Shampoo. It was an official selection of the 2020 Cucalorus Film Festival. Please watch it, but be careful. Things get a little hectic and confrontational. If you want something completely black & white and much more drowsy, check out my film from 2023 called Calliope Haystacks. It's on Tubi, Amazon Prime, and YouTube. I get a penny every time somebody streams it! And, just because everyone finds out eventually, yes - I wrote an episode of the Adult Swim show "Assy McGee". Call the kids over and pull grandma's chair up to the laptop to enjoy The Ballad of Blind Anthony together. In conclusion, I can adeptly film, edit, animate stuff, and I know how to send the finished project to film festivals and get it on streaming services like Prime and Tubi.
Nathan approves of "The As of Yet Untitled Human Pippi Armstrong Documentary Project". We are working together, but I'll be responsible for the majority of production duties. What are those? Keep reading.
What's the plan for the Human Pippi Armstrong documentary?
First things first, we are gathering every Human Pippi Armstrong thing available. Digital and tangible. We have a ton of show posters, photos, and live footage. However, there's a bit of a speed bump before jumping into production. I need to find out who took each photo and each piece of footage. Yep. Permission must be obtained to use somebody else's stuff. Why? For legal reasons. If the movie wins every award at every documentary film festival and NetMaxStream wants to purchase it, they will want proof that every clip/pic has been "cleared". They don't want a photographer to contact them and say "Hey! That's my photo of Pippi doing a handstand on top of Thomas Street Tavern and I didn't give anyone permission to use it! Lawsuit! Lawsuit!".
Getting permissions might take a while, but it needs to be done. I can't start editing anything together until I know what I have to work with. In the meantime and beyond, we can get brand new footage. Videos and photos taken by me or anyone working in conjunction with the documentary are 100% fine to use. We are planning some various video shoots. There will be brand new live performance stuff. That's for certain. As well as some stuff in Charlotte, some stuff in Boone, some stuff in his studio - and interviews. That's what the next sentence in red, bold letters is about.
Who will be interviewed for the Human Pippi Armstrong documentary?
Not entirely sure. We came up with a list of some good possible heads that can talk. Those will take some time to coordinate. How about you? Do you have a story, observation, critique, anecdote, memory, or anything able to be verbalized related to Human Pippi Armstrong? Let me know.
Will the Human Pippi Armstrong documentary be crowdfunded?
Not sure. Need to get some work done on it first to have an idea of what it's looking like. If anything, money would be needed to hire some awesome animators to do some cool stuff. And some film festivals have entry fees. Legitimate ones, not ones like "The 1st Annual Amish Children's Sci-Fi and Slasher Film Fest". Money would be helpful for that.
How can I, a fan of Human Pippi Armstrong, help get this documentary made?
Do you have any footage or photos of Human Pippi Armstrong? We need permission to use your stuff. Just squeeze this email address together and send a message to me - tylaum.email @ gmail.com
If you have photos on flickr or facebook, let me know! If you have footage that you uploaded to YouTube years ago, I've probably left a comment on a video asking for permission. Maybe you lost the password to access that YouTube account? Check this playlist to see if I'm aware of your Human Pippi video.
Would you be down with helping out filming a live show or something? Send me a message! Sophisticated iPhone camera training is not mandatory.
Also, I should go ahead and ask just in case, do you have access to any type of cool location or vehicle in the Charlotte area? Know anyone that does? We could use it in the documentary. A hot pink '57 Chevy with camouflage upholstery? An abandoned underground peanut brittle factory? A tank? Do you own an ostrich or a realistic ostrich costume? Send me a message!