'Mistaken For Strangers': A Story About A Band Becomes A Story About Two Brothers




Soundcheck show

Summary: Brooklyn indie rock outfit The National is a band of brothers -- literally. The group consists of two pairs of brothers -- there's Bryce and Aaron Dessner, and Scott and Bryan Devendorf, plus frontman Matt Berninger. But Berninger does, in fact, have a brother who is nine years his junior. Tom Berninger joined The National as a roadie for a portion of its recent world tour, and he brought a camera along. And what he documented along the way has now been released as Mistaken For Strangers, a chronicle of Tom's relationship with his big brother and his conflicted feelings about Matt's rock star status.  In a conversation with Soundcheck host John Schaefer, the Berningers talk about how Tom's almost incidental inclusion in the band's tour support roster lead to a film equal parts painful character study and warm, funny portrait of family... with guitars.