Edgar Wright talks music doc 'The Sparks Brothers' and why he's 'a frustrated band member'

The art-pop/glam-rock band Sparks has constantly been evolving over the last 50-plus years, and during that time they’ve never quite had a publicist like Edgar Wright.

The British filmmaker of “Shaun of the Dead" and “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” directs his debut documentary with “The Sparks Brothers” (in theaters Friday), a star-studded retrospective that tracks the influential albeit underrated career of siblings Ron and Russell Mael and also questions the idea of what exactly defines musical success.

Wright knows a lot of people, even after 25 albums and hundreds of songs, have no idea who Sparks are. And that’s why he made the movie. “When you become an evangelist for a band, you grab anybody within earshot to say, 'Hey, listen to this!' " he says. “In a way it was that thing that I felt as a fan: I love them and I sometimes felt aggrieved on their behalf that they weren't as lauded as I thought they should be.”

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It’s a big year for the eccentric California-bred siblings of Sparks: Russell Mael, the energetic singer with a wide vocal range, and Ron Mael, a playfully stoic keyboardist whose toothbrush mustache once caused John Lennon to remark, “It’s Hitler on the telly.” In addition to the doc, an album of their songs has been turned into the Leos Carax film “Annette” (in theaters Aug. 6, on Amazon Prime Aug. 20), a musical starring Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard that opens next month’s Cannes Film Festival.

Wright has his own next high-profile project coming soon with the release of the psychological horror movie “Last Night in Soho” (Oct. 22) with Anya-Taylor Joy. The director talks with USA TODAY about Sparks, movie songs and musical ambitions.

Question: The Maels are so endearing in the documentary. Were they an easy sell to be your subjects?

Edgar Wright: They had turned other people down in the past. I'd sort of become friendly with them in Los Angeles and I'd observed enough of them just as people that I found them incredibly charming, but I was also very aware of how dedicated they were to the cause. They're so committed to being Sparks, 10 hours a day, six days a week - that was sort of extraordinary.

Usually when a band gets famous, they all go spinning in different directions and then it's difficult to keep the chemistry together. For Sparks, they're thick as thieves, the rock brothers that didn't fall out. (Laughs) The anti-Oasis, the anti-Kinks.

Q: Would you agree to it if someone slid into your Twitter DMs and wanted to make the Edgar Wright documentary?

Wright: Nobody's asked to do a documentary about me, but I do get asked by quite a few people to shadow me. And the truth is is that 80% of the time it's boring. Somebody emailed me the other day and said, "My daughter wants work experience. Can she follow you around for the summer?" She happened to mention that she was doing a degree in criminology and I said, “Can I shadow your daughter? The criminology thing sounds really interesting, to be honest.”

Q: You've always had songs in your movies but never a Sparks track. Is it because they're so idiosyncratic?

Wright: The honest truth is that Sparks demand your undivided attention. In "Hot Fuzz," I tried to use "This Town Ain't Big Enough for the Both of Us" where Timothy Dalton and Simon Pegg are fighting in a model village – so, literally, this town ain't big enough for the both of us – and I noticed it started really well (but) then I found myself listening to Sparks and not watching the scene. I guess the compliment that you could pay to Ron and Russell is it's not wallpaper music.

Q: Are you even more of a music fan after spending so much time around them?

Wright: I had piano lessons when I was 5 for like one year and then my parents had to sell the piano. That sounds like one of those sob-story things, but it's absolutely true. So I feel like I'm probably a frustrated band member. (Laughs) I've been thinking about taking up the piano, even at 47. Why not? It's probably a good thing to keep your memory sharp in later years. I can never be Ron Mael, I understand that.

Q: How have those two brothers inspired you as an artist?

Wright: They remind me of George Miller. He made "Mad Max: Fury Road" when he was 71, and Sparks are releasing great albums and now have an opera opening Cannes in their early 70s. My God, we all wish that we were doing some of our best stuff in those years. Wouldn't that be amazing? It's the ultimate.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'The Sparks Brothers': Edgar Wright crafts rock doc for a fave band