Subject/Whistler Lauren Elder talks to Fest Track about creating, technique and respect for the art form in regards to her documentary: "Whistle" which was the Opening Film as part of the Art & Design section of DOC NYC 2025 in New York, New York.
00:27aspect of the whistlers and the competition, obviously, Caroline is not here to talk
00:34about it, but it seems like it's a very interesting mixture of people and all have their very
00:40specific strengths in whistling.
00:42Can you talk about that, both your approach, but then also seeing these other people, because
00:48you've probably seen them before, or could you talk about that a little bit?
00:52Yeah, absolutely.
00:53Um, I've been whistling since I was four years old.
00:57My dad taught me to whistle when I was a kid.
00:59And my particular approach is probably more pulling from like the jazz world.
01:06I was very inspired by like Bing Crosby growing up.
01:11He's a whistler.
01:12And my dad and my mom would both whistle along with music.
01:16And we listened to a lot of classical and jazz music when I was growing up.
01:20And so all of that has really influenced the way that I whistle, uh, in my adult life.
01:26Ella Fitzgerald has become my absolute favorite.
01:28And I kind of take from a lot of her scatting.
01:33Uh, I, I get a lot of inspiration from there for my whistling.
01:37Um, but yes, you are correct in that there are a lot of different types of people and a lot
01:45of different types of whistling in the competitions.
01:48Every whistler does kind of have their own specific style.
01:53Um, some, you know, like to use a lot more staccato where it's, you know, just very quick,
02:00light notes, um, single notes.
02:03Some like to be very legato and, and drawn out.
02:07Some do what is called warbling, which I'm not a great warbler, but it's really, I'll give
02:12you like a little bit of a taste of what it is.
02:14It's kind of like a, where it kind of goes back and forth in the pitch.
02:21Um, I have not perfected that, but my gosh, do I want to.
02:31I've heard a record with someone who's like a whistler, Molly something.
02:35Yeah, that's me.
02:36That's you?
02:37Are you kidding me?
02:38No.
02:39I love that record.
02:40Oh my God.
02:41Thank you so much.
02:41Hey, you're making me look really good right now.
02:46I didn't pay him.
02:47I don't know that man.
02:51This weekend is special.
02:54It's the largest convergence of whistlers on the planet.
02:59Is it fun?
03:01Yes.
03:02Is it strange?
03:06Very?
03:06I would say the personalities are, are what really makes this world magical.
03:12The whistling is beautiful.
03:14But you've got this community of really interesting people that are also really supportive.
03:21Everyone is doing their own things in their lives.
03:25Some people are like in the business world or doctors or teachers.
03:29And then there are people like me that are also performers.
03:33That's my professional career is being a performer.
03:36And so you've got all these people from all these different walks of life coming together to celebrate this one very niche world and concept.
03:45And so it's kind of bound to bring out a bit of eccentric characters and all of that.
03:53And I always say that when I first, when I went to my first competition, which was in 2017, I turned to my mom and I said, I feel like I'm inside of a Christopher Guest film right now.
04:04Because that's exactly what it felt like.
04:08Like I was in Best in Show with those characters that all had such passion for what they were there for.
04:17And I've got to say, I feel like our film is like a Christopher Guest film.
04:22It's funny and full of heart and full of kooky characters.
04:29I love playing different instruments, guitar, flute, percussion, saxophone, beatboxing.
04:50Needless to say, whistling.
04:54I forget about time when I am playing music.
04:58I feel alive.
05:00I feel completely, much more, 100% more alive than when I'm doing anything else.
05:06Did you know about it from the beginning?
05:08I mean, with something like this, you know, obviously, Carol Ann and then the director, there's all these things going forth.
05:15You know, do they approach you saying, do you want to be part of it?
05:18How does all that work with something like this?
05:21So I think it may be different for certain people in the film.
05:26But for you.
05:26For me.
05:28They did find me, gosh, about a year and a half before filming started.
05:34And one of the producers got in touch and said, hey.
05:40It was just an email that came out of the blue saying, hey, we're going to do this documentary.
05:45Do you think you're going to go to the next competition?
05:46And I didn't really think too much of it because I've gotten a lot of emails like that before where it's like, hey, we're doing this thing.
05:53Want to be a part of it?
05:54And I'm like, sure.
05:56And you never know if it's going to actually come to fruition or not.
06:00But I'm game.
06:01I'm always into to make something and create something with people.
06:05So I said, yes, I would love to be a part of this.
06:09And so we did some Zoom interviews because the whole crew is from Australia.
06:13And I was in New York at the time.
06:16And so we did some Zoom interviews and just kind of kept in touch up until the 2023 competition.
06:25And that's when they came out a little bit early and they filmed some of my life in California, some of my life in New York.
06:32I'm a bicoastal performer now.
06:34And that's when they got some of the other people they were filming.
06:39And then I think they found other amazing characters along the way once they got to the competition and were able to kind of focus in on some of those as well.
06:51Okay, so it's Thursday.
06:52It's the load in day.
06:53This is the day we're doing the whole crazy, like, get everything set up.
06:57The Masters of Musical Whistling kind of looks like any talent competition you'd see on television.
07:06I actually think it might need to be just a touch brighter.
07:09So let's bring it up just like 10%.
07:11It's a three-day event.
07:13And this year we have like 75 people coming from all over the world.
07:17It is a truly international festival.
07:20And that's what I want for our event to be world class.
07:22We have to change the way people think about whistling.
07:28We're doing fine art.
07:30But can you sort of talk about, you know, looking what you can control in that situation versus what's being shown?
07:39Well, I mean, I think you're totally right.
07:42I could only control myself.
07:44I had no control over what the crew was filming, what they were going to edit, how they were going to edit it.
07:51But I feel very, there are a couple of things that go into my personal experience.
07:57One, I have done a good amount of TV work, TV and film work.
08:02And in that case, it's very similar.
08:05I don't get to control where the camera is.
08:07I don't get to be in the editing room with the editor choosing what takes they're going to use.
08:12The only thing that's different about that is I have a script.
08:15So I know the parameters of what the story really is going into a TV or film experience.
08:22With this, I didn't have that.
08:24So it really came down to trusting the filmmakers.
08:30I had gotten to know them at that point, and I trusted them implicitly.
08:35They had really shown me how much they cared about this project and how much they cared about the people in the project.
08:44And it really guaranteed me that they were not trying to make anyone look like a fool.
08:50They weren't trying to make fun of anyone.
08:52They really did have great respect for the art form that we were all there to be creating.
09:00And I felt that, and so it made me feel comfortable to be myself and to just experience the competition in the moment and be there in a present way that I wanted to be.
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