Sheffield may have birthed Def Leppard, Arctic Monkeys and two Cockers – Joe and Jarvis – but its the rise of the latter’s vocal stylings as Pulp’s frontman in the early 90s that has proved its most loveable claim to fame. That is, so it seems amongst locals, or at least amongst the highly entertaining street cast crop featured in New Zealand filmmaker Florian Habicht’s latest film, a documentary about the band’s climb to 10 million album sales via anthems including ‘Common People’ and ‘Disco 2000’.

Originally titled ‘Sheffield Sex City’, ‘Pulp: A Film about Life, Death and Supermarkets’ follows the band’s final concert, held in Sheffield as a sort of homecoming in December 2012, and features interviews with locals, the band and the likes of Richard Hawley. Here, Habicht talks working title woes (a right shame the original title was canned, we say), hypnotism and getting down with Jarvis Cocker…

Tempe Nakiska: What was your attitude to approaching following a band like Pulp?
Florian Habicht: I was just very curious. About the fans, the band, and Sheffield. Curious with a camera.

TN: I hear Jarvis Cocker saw your film, ‘Love Story’, and asked you to make a film about the band…
FH: Yeah. It’s like a fairytale, when Love Story was invited to the London Film festival, I sent Jarvis a message in a bottle from New Zealand, inviting him to the screening, and he said yeah. A few months later he popped over to the Curzon cinema in Soho after recording his Radio Show. There’s a scene in Love Story where I run around NYC wearing zebra tights, and nothing else. Jarvis was impressed by that. He didn’t want to consider any other filmmakers for the job.

TN: And the rest of the band?
FH: I had them hypnotised before the screening and they all loved my film.

Still from ‘Pulp: A Film about Life, Death & Supermarkets’, 2014. Image courtesy Soda Pictures. 

TN: What was the process of filming like? There must have been quite a personal element that came into it…
FH: Pulp are one of my favourite bands, so it was a dream project for me. I got to collaborate with some of my favourite artists. I had to pretend I knew what I was doing, that kinda thing. I’ve worked with my core filmmaking team on several films, so we felt like a band ourselves.

TN: What was it like filming the locals? 
FH: It was very different to making Love Story in NYC. The band warned me, but it didn’t hit me til I arrived how camera shy most Sheffielders are. But we all became friends, and Sheffield made me feel very at home.

TN: Was it an easy gig in terms of capturing the emotional that would have been present at the band’s last gig? What was that experience like?
FH: The challenge was that we only had one shot at the concert, and at capturing that emotion. Going back for a reshoot was not an option. After the show, our camera team went back to our base and celebrated amongst ourselves – that we pulled it off. Then in the early hours we caught taxis to the band’s after party. We got there so late, that the only person left, who greeted us in the car park was Deborah [Disco 2000]! I’m not kidding.

TN: Can you tell me about the film’s title, were there other options on the table?
FH: That was the hardest part of the whole film i think. I wanted to call the film Sheffield Sex City, the band too, but we were told that this would be ‘commercial suicide.’ We still went with it, but then one of our funders was also unhappy with the title, and Jarvis came up with A Film about Life, Death & Supermarkets.

TN: Have you ever been out dancing with Jarvis?
FH: Yes, I went to Jarvis’ 50th birthday recently and the dance floor was going off. My girlfriend was dancing so hard that she fell and almost dived into the birthday cake… but Alex Boden (of Pistachio Pictures) the film’s producer, caught her just in time. That’s what a good producer should be there for.

Pulp: A Film about Life, Death & Supermarkets premieres at the Sheffield Doc Fest this Saturday, 7th June.