Like nearly all of Sublime's projects, their posthumous documentary, "Stories,

Tales, Lies and Exaggerations," is a family affair.

Over the course of the just-released two-and-a-half-hour home video, everyone

from the band's former tour manager to family members, peers, drinking

buddies, producers and tour mates weigh in on the Long Beach, Calif., trio's

short but volatile career. It traces Sublime's hectic and unlikely climb to multi-

platinum status and deals with the group's sad, unexpected demise following

singer Bradley Nowell's death from a May 1996 drug overdose.

Given Sublime's reputation as a hard-partying crew, it's fitting that the lengthy,

low-fidelity documentary begins with the sound of a bong hit. A number of

candid interviews follow, with the group's two surviving members, bassist Eric

Wilson and drummer Bud Gaugh, telling the story of the ska-punk-reggae trio's

rise from humble beginnings at late-'80s backyard parties to the smash success

of its self-titled 1996 album.

"I just wanted to get as many stories as possible and get their feelings as

honestly as possible," said Josh Fischel, 28, the video's director.

"One thing I always noticed in hanging out with them is that it really is a family,"

said Fischel, who co-directed Sublime's

HREF="http://www.addict.com/music/Sublime/Doin'_Time.ram">"Doin'

Time" (RealAudio excerpt) and

HREF="http://www.addict.com/music/Sublime/Wrong_Way.ram">"Wrong

Way" (RealAudio excerpt) videos. "It wasn't just those guys [in the

band], but the 70 [other] people that make up Sublime. Everyone was a catalyst

in some way, either by inspiring them or being inspired by them."

Among those interviewed were family members; Nowell's widow, Troy;

members of fellow Long Beach surf/punk band the Ziggens; and fellow punks

Pennywise, the Falling Idols, Gwen Stefani and Tony Kanal of No Doubt and

former Minutemen/fIREHOSE bassist Mike Watt.

"It really is like a tapestry," Fischel said. "That's why I interviewed Watt, because

Sublime were huge Minutemen fans. The sample at the beginning of [Sublime's

1992 album, 40 Oz. To Freedom], 'punk rock changed my life,' is from a

Minutemen song."

The director said editing down more than 82 hours of material was more difficult

than getting the bandmembers and their peers to talk. According to Fischel, Watt

needed hardly any prompting at all.

"They were just all over the place,"

Watt enthused (excerpt of interview), on video, about the first time

that he saw Sublime play in the early '90s.

Filmed in his tiny rehearsal studio in San Pedro, Calif., Watt rocks back and

forth and gets visibly emotional when discussing the similarities he saw

between Nowell and his own former bandmate, Minutemen leader D. Boon,

who died in a 1985 car crash.

"Brad was like D. Boon," Watt said, remembering a time that he saw the

Sublime singer splayed out backstage with his shirt off, "like a sea lion in the

sun. [Sublime] had their own mission and their own boats, but we could be in

the same fleet."

Most of the interviews in the film, released through Sublime's Skunk Records,

were recorded over a one-month period in December 1997 and January 1998,

Fischel said. He owned up to the sometimes lo-fi quality of the sound and video,

chalking it up to time and monetary constraints.

"I think it's an incredible piece," said Jason Westfall, 26, Gaugh's brother and

Sublime's one-time tour-manager/co-manager. "The way [the documentary]

looks at the band at a bunch of different levels, from the extended-family aspect

of it ... to the integrity of the music and the intensity they felt for it."

Another aspect of the band -- what Westfall dubbed their "fun-loving,

mischievous" nature -- comes through in the often graphic, scatological road

stories to which the movie owes its title.

"It seemed like a great idea, since they're so like that," Fischel explained.

"They're storytellers, and they tell their story so well, but every time you talk to

one of them, it changes or it sounds different."

One of the band's most memorable stories is an infamous tall tale of revenge on

some unsuspecting workers at an Oregon Denny's, involving the group's tour-

bus toilet. It's told from half a dozen perspectives in the film.

Also included in the movie is early footage of the band performing "Smoke Two

Joints" during a backyard birthday party; a 1995 Nowell solo acoustic gig in

Anaheim, Calif., during which the singer croons an homage to his omnipresent,

much-revered Dalmatian, Lou Dog; and rare footage of Nowell doing a guest

rap with pals No Doubt during a 1995 stop on the Warped concert tour.

No Doubt singer Stefani, who is seen in the film dueting with Sublime on their

song "Saw Red," is one of several musicians who heap high praise on the

group. "Brad came in to [the studio to] do his part on ['Total Hate'], and he was

stalling for, like 45 minutes," Stefani said. "Then he came in and just nailed it in

one take."

In keeping with the familial aspect of the band, the film's end credits come with

more than 20 screens' worth of thank-you's to collaborators, relatives, friends

and inspirations. "We thought of 20 or 30 more names we forgot," Fischel said.

"That's definitely part of this. It's amazing how many people worked on this and

didn't make a cent."