Laura Loss was the teenage First Lady of the pivotal 1980s DC hardcore punk scene, playing bass alongside her beloved older brother Anthony. A decade after tragedy dissembled their iconic band and DIY movement, she finds herself serving coffee in Seattle.
While
on a reluctant tour through Montana, she meets Josh and Brent, two talented
young musicians dying to leave their small mountain town. They follow her back
to Seattle, where Laura quickly recognizes their musical chemistry. Brent
proves to be a charismatic front man and song-smith. Josh suffers from a
neurological condition known as synesthesia, which allows him to see music as
color, and makes him a genius on lead guitar. With Laura’s veteran wisdom, the
three of them become the Mistakes—accidental standard-bearers for the
burgeoning “Seattle Sound.”
As
the band graduates from old vans and darkened bars to tour-buses and stadiums,
Laura’s new-found fame exceeds anything she experienced in the eighties. Caught
in a spin-cycle of touring, recording, and self-promotion, there’s no time to
wonder whether stardom is something the three of them wanted—or can
handle.
When
the band finally comes apart in a blurry wreck of deceit and betrayal, the fans
and critics blame Laura. Years after the fact, she tells her side of how the
Mistakes were made and unmade.
