A new short film telling the story behind the late Andrew Weatherall‘s mantra ‘Fail We May, Sail We Must’ has been released. Watch Sail We Must below.
The 11-minute documentary unveils the story of Weatherall’s encounter with fisherman Gerard Sheehy in rural county Cork. As they exchange stories and tales of the sea, the seafarer shares some words of wisdom that end up changing Weatherall’s path, inspiring the signature phrase that he had tattooed on his arms.
The film, directed by Trevor Whelan and Rua Meegan of Grizzly and produced by Dublin-based creative agency The Tenth Man, travels from London to Ireland to tell the story. It acts as a tribute to the much-loved DJ and producer, while also highlighting his enduring influence.
“We can’t thank those closest to Andrew enough for allowing us to create this film,” said Eric Davidson of The Tenth Man. “This is a celebration of club culture, dance music, and the cultural ties that bind us all together. But more importantly, it’s a celebration of a once in a generation artist, Andrew Weatherall.”
The film follows the release of a new radio documentary from Paul McDermott titled ‘Fail We May, Sail We Must – A Tribute to Andrew Weatherall’, which arrived on the anniversary of Weatherall’s death.
In the NME obituary of Weatherall, who died in 2020 from a pulmonary embolism, Mark Beaumont wrote: “For many he will be remembered as a figure of enlightenment, opening doors and shattering barriers to wake young minds to the wide-reaching possibilities of dance music. His lingering message remains: don’t fight it, feel it.”
Earlier this year, Weatherall‘s remixes for Heavenly Recordings were compiled on a new album. Divided into two parts, ‘Heavenly Remixes 3 – Andrew Weatherall Volume 1’ and ‘Heavenly Remixes 4 – Andrew Weatherall Volume 2’, the collection includes the Scottish DJ, producer, and artist’s mixes of original songs by Mark Lanegan, Saint Etienne, The Orielles, Doves, Gwenno, Sly & Lovechild, TOY, and Espiritu.
Heavenly Recordings’ Robin Turner, author of the book Believe In Magic: 30 Years of Heavenly Recordings, said of the release: “Andrew fed more Heavenly bands through the mixing desk than those of any other label.”