‘All Things Metal’ Stars, Patterson Brothers, Filmmaker on Doc Short

The Patterson Brothers – Dan, 48, Joel, 45, and Andy, 43 – all work together making metal doors, tables, fireplaces and other works of art and spend their free time playing heavy metal together. It’s early Wednesday and there’s a lot of work to do (Andy already has his coveralls and goggles on his head), but today they gathered in a small office at their store, Santa Barbara Forge, for a Zoom call to reflect on All things metallica new short film streaming now about their brotherhood and how almost everything they do revolves around some form of metal. As they speak, they all seem to have the same mannerisms, a shared sense of humor, and laser focus, probably from being together most of the time.

Since childhood, the brothers have used music and other creative outlets as personalized therapy for Tourette syndrome, which the Tourette Association of America defines as “characterized by sudden, involuntary movements and/or sounds called tics.” All three brothers have Tourette’s, but none of them exhibited tics during the interview.

For Dan, who plays the drums, Tourette syndrome feels like “this knot that keeps getting tighter and tighter.” Over time, he and his brothers discovered a way to loosen the knot: playing music. “When you communicate on the drums or another instrument, it’s like an exhale that lets everything out,” says Dan. “It’s extremely therapeutic.”

“Playing music puts me in a peaceful space,” agrees bassist Joel, who is wearing a Santa Barbara Forge t-shirt and drinking coffee. “I think being able to check out and do something physical has helped my Tourette syndrome.”

“The reason I like playing metal is because it’s extremely physical, with both your left and right hands on the guitar,” says Andy.

All things metallic17-minute short by director Motoki Otsuka, shows how creativity secured the bond between the brothers who work together at Santa Barbara Forge and make music videos for their metal songs on their YouTube page. It tells the story of the brothers, explaining how the Pattersons became a close-knit family as their Presbyterian minister father transported them across the country, forcing the brothers to rely on each other. When each of them was diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome, their mother encouraged them to make silly videos and play music as a form of escape.

Now the Pattersons write songs and make videos on their lunch breaks. They classify songs as “Christmas metal,” “emo fantasy,” “workout metal,” or any other subgenre they can think of. Either way, though, working together helped them. “Tourette syndrome makes you feel different, and if you feel different, you have to reconcile that,” Andy explains in the film. “And me to know which I felt, and my brothers felt, ostracized for a period of time, but it brought us together in huge ways.” In the film, these connections include a quirky sense of humor, his love of metalworking and, of course, music.

The brothers see their often outrageous songs as “a friendly troll of the world.” They only perform at special events like the Fourth of July parade or to make videos at a skate park. “At our last show at a local brewery, they thought, ‘What band name should I put on the bill?’” Joel says. “I’m like, ‘Oh, whatever you want.’”

“My goal when we play live is to do an arena show in a garage,” says Dan.

The short, which Rolling Stone Films produced and premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, is available to view now on the Documentary+ streaming platform and here at RollingStone.com. The film, produced by Otsuka’s partner Lucy Sexton, is one of five docs that are part of Rolling Stone Films’ partnership with Documentary+.

Dee Snider, former lead singer of Twisted Sister and one of the film’s executive producers, felt a special connection to the brothers when she first saw the film. “When I watched the doc, I saw that the Patterson brothers did pretty much everything I do, but they took it to the next level by manufacturing heavy metal!” he says Rolling Stone by email. “We are soulmates.”

Snider’s involvement in the photo is especially exciting for Dan, as the first song he learned on the drums was Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” “When we Zoomed with Dee about the film, he said, ‘Look, I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you guys if you weren’t such great players,’” says Dan. “I was like, ‘Yeah: validation, validation.’ ”

“Their music is incredibly good,” says Snider. “We watched the doc and loved the whole package, but if you separate the music from the rest, it stands well on its own. Good songs, good execution and passion for rock!”

Another person who felt an instant kinship with the Pattersons is filmmaker Otsuka, 33, of Santa Barbara, whose day job is making car commercials. When Covid lockdown restrictions ended, he decided to make his own backyard gym. He needed to cut some metal bars, so he Googled “metal shop” and the closest result was Santa Barbara Forge.

“As I’m pulling in, the parking spaces are open and I hear metal, maybe Pantera, blasting really loudly,” says Otsuka. “I peek in and see all these metal band posters and demon art that they’ve created in the past in their spare time. So I was immediately enchanted by the place.”

The brothers offered to help him at the gym for a six-pack of beer. When he returned to get his gear, the filmmaker, who once played drums in a math-metal ensemble, wore a Tool T-shirt as a message to the Pattersons: “So you know I’m cool.” Dan was practicing drums that day. “I really wanted to be friends with them at that point and just talk to them about music,” says Otsuka. “Once I discovered the incredible story of his family and everything they do outside of metalworking, I thought this could be a really fun short to make.” When he learned of the Pattersons’ vast archive of home movies, he knew that had to make the film.

“He seemed like a local guy,” says Joel. “He has a surfboard in the back of his car. I was like, ‘Seriously, do you want to explore a story about us making stupid metal videos on our lunch break?’”

Otsuka says the more he learned about the Pattersons, the more fascinated he became. “My main question in making this film is why these guys do the things they do,” he says. “It’s so rare to see middle-aged men dressing up and spending so much time and effort, which none of them actually did, to create these videos.

“Kids have it,” he continues. “When we were young, we all used to do it, but then it disappeared as we grew up. But they managed to keep it. I think part of the answer was this generational story that they had, where their parents used creativity not as a coping mechanism, but as something for them to overcome the difficulties they had in their lives.”

Although none of the Pattersons parents have roots in metallurgy, the brothers are proud to call Santa Barbara Forge a family business. Dan founded it after earning a degree in art with a minor in sculpture and falling in love with metalwork. The company was supposed to keep him working while he taught at the university, but then it took off. Andy was the next to join after trying life as “an aspiring poet in the wilderness,” to use Dan’s words (“We all make mistakes,” Andy says to himself) and Dan and his wife took him under their roof. and don’t buy. Joel joined the brothers next and, before long, each Patterson had his own specialty in the company.

“You’d be hard-pressed to find guys better at what they do than these two,” says Joel, who has swapped his coffee cup for a neon green thermos.

“I love coming every day and being able to see them,” says Dan. “And we joke, we laugh, we share ideas, and then we go to work.”

“I always saw the music component as a way to exercise the friendship muscle outside of the day job,” says Andy. “And it’s a way of connecting that doesn’t exactly work.”

The Pattersons’ family ties were what impressed Otsuka most about making All things metallic. “They are constantly supporting each other, with work, art and family,” he says. “In some of the archival videos, there are just big circles of Pattersons playing various instruments together. It’s not just these three brothers, it’s the entire family that has this unique relationship with each other.

“I’ve never met people like that,” he says. “I’ve lived in Japan, London and the US, and that kind of genuine intertwining – just being part of each other’s lives – was very rare for me.”

Otsuka also waits All things metallic inspires viewers to get back in touch with a creative muse they might have missed when they were younger. “I think the way they dealt with Tourette’s syndrome and their struggles individually, through their creative outlet, can really apply to anyone,” he says. “It’s never too late to make art for art’s sake.”

So the Pattersons are ready for the world to discover their home movie music videos, thanks to All metal things? “Honestly, I don’t care,” says Joel. “We never did this for that.”

“Making music was purely for the creative exercise and the joy of doing it,” says Dan.

“I just want to keep doing what we’re doing,” says Andy.

All things metallic credits:

Director: Motoki Otsuka
Producer: Lucy Sexton
Executive Producers: Jenna Kelly, Beth Aala, Dee Snider, Karen Jorgensen, Justin Lacob, Bryn Mooser, Jason Fine, Gus Wenner, Alexandra Dale
Producer: KScope Movies, Optimistic