Nathanial Hörnblower (aka MCA, aka Adam Yauch) talks about his documentary Awesome: I F-n' Shot That!

Likely the most successful Jewish rap group ever, Beastie Boys launched back in 1981 when bassist/singer Adam Yauch and other New Yorkers debuted at Yauch's 17 th birthday party. Although the band went through some lineups in the beginning, in 1984 they established the current longstanding group of Mike D (AKA Michael Diamond), Adrock (Adam Horowitz) and MCA (Yauch). Over two decades later, Beastie Boys are now hip-hopping household names.

While the B Boys seemed reluctant to claim their Jewish heritage on wax in their early days, they eventually "came out" as members the tribe in 2004, on To the 5 Boroughs , when Ad Roc announced:   "I'm a funky-a** Jew and I'm on my way."

Thanks to director Nathanial Hörnblower (one of Yauch's aliases), you can now check out the Beastie Boys' October 09, 2004 show from 50 different points of view. Hörnblower had 50 cameras handed out to audience members and these 50 camerapersons had only one direction: once the show starts, turn the camera on and do not turn it off until the show is way over. From the massive amount of footage that followed from members located all over the Garden comes Awesome: I F-n' Shot That!, a documentary of dancing and disarray. Shots come from far and wide, up close and personal.

As the B Boys, Mix Master Mike and Keyboard Money Mark are charging the house with hit songs, it's obvious that everyone is feeling the energy- and so is the viewer. We spoke to Beastie Boy, Hörnblower about his latest artist endeavor. While the title suggests that this is not a PG film, and we understand you may not be old enough to check it out yet, the concert was for all ages, and we think you'll linger on MCA's every word the way we did.

Where did you get you alias name Nathanial Hörnblower?

I just thought it sounded funny. I had to put something down.

Where did you get the concept for this film?

I guess I had seen this clip of this kid who shot part of a concert on his camera phone and he uploaded on the Internet and I thought it just looked really cool. There was a certain video grain to it, and it was handheld. It had this certain energy to it. The guy was jumping up and down and he shot it. Most concerts that are documented these days are so high-tech. Cameras are on sweeping booms, and it's all so smooth and cleaned up, and I don't think you really get the feel of the concert.

You have 50 people shooting the film and several editors; where does your directorial vision come in?

Coming up with the idea of giving out the cameras to all the people, or sitting next to an editor in the editing room, telling him what to do for a year.

The MPAA slapped an R-ratting on the film, which means a legal guardian needs to be present at a theater for children under 17. The film is of a concert that kids could attend without a legal guardian, yet they need supervision if they want to see that concert on film at a theater. Is it fair to limit kids' access to your music?

We probably shouldn't have put the word "f-ck" in the title if we were trying not to get an R-rating. I didn't really think about that too much at the time. The title certainly put us over the top.

After 20 years of performing, are you still able to rise to the same energy level you had back at the beginning? Is it still exciting for you to get out there on the stage?

I think so. Sometimes things click. Mix Master Mike drops the right beat at the right time and you just feel it, you know. The whole room lights up. There are amazing moments when you play music, especially when working with a DJ like Mike. You don't know what he's going to do. The majority of the time it works because he has real good instincts.

Are there any plans for the next Beastie Boys album?

No. We usually do an album, go on tour, and then take a break.

Have you ever received an email or letter from Jewish kids saying you have inspired them?

I can't think of anything specific but I'm sure I've got things like that. I don't have any good stories off the top though [laughs].  

Besides the consistent Jewish following over the years, how has your audience changed?

That's a good question. I think the audience has gone through a bunch of phases. Early on the audience was pretty much black. Then when "Fight for your Right (to Party)" exploded, it was a bunch of frat boys. I think it's settled into a good bunch.

How long can we expect Beastie Boys to last?

We don't really have a game plan. We just get together every now and then make some stuff. It's kind of hard to plan too far ahead.