10/08/2025
Bu****le Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt, Tom Stern’s bio-doc chronicling the chaotic yet culturally significant career of San Antonio, Texas’ Bu****le Surfers, was much-lauded at South By Southwest earlier this year for its revelatory examination of the band—which lives up to its title with a humorous, heartfelt, and unflinchingly honest approach. It’s also a rollicking look at one of the most brilliant, experimental, and misunderstood collectives in music history.
The documentary made its West Coast debut September 23, kicking off Beyond Fest—the popular alternative genre movie series hosted by Neon and the American Cinemateque inside Hollywood’s Egyptian Theatre.
Friends, famous fans, and a multitude of bassists and drummers throughout Bu****le Surfers’ trajectory are interviewed, but the spotlight is mostly on its founders, vocalist Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary. Their relationship started off as a creatively charged stoner bromance and ended up distanced, if not estranged, with both men recalling certain parts of their journey differently.
“My goal was to cement a place in music history for this amazing band because they deserve it,” Stern shares. “They were singular artists, each one an amazing character, and they evoked such strong, emotional responses from audiences, including, obviously, me.”
