Miami New Times | Pain and Gain Song Review

Real-Life Pain and Gain Star Ed DuBois Pens Blues Song to Torture Plot

The bluesy track starts with eerie piano chords and a spooky fiddle. Then a deep, raspy voice croons, "They stole my money, they took my home. Left me on the street, to die alone. I live in paradise, so they say. Things shouldn't be this way. Paaaaaiiinnn, pain and gain."

That's the first verse to a private-eye's ode to the most gruesome case he's ever worked on, a caper so dastardly and pulpy it inspired a three-part series in Miami New Times in the late '90s that in turn formed the basis of a new star-studded film set to hit theaters nationwide April 26.

Riptide is talking about Pain & Gain, the big-budget flick shot in Miami by Michael Bay and starring Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson. The two headliners portray shady characters based on the real-life members of the Sun Gym Gang, a crew of homicidal muscle heads that used torture and mayhem to extort money from victims in late 1994 and early 1995.

Almost four minutes long, the ditty called "Pain & Gain — Retribution Song" isn't just any attempt at a Hollywood tie-in. The piece was composed by Ed DuBois, the private investigator who broke the case and who is played onscreen by actor Ed Harris. "I had a lot of fun writing this song," says DuBois, who pens his own music as a hobby. "It came out pretty damn good."

Without DuBois, there would be no story, movie, or song, and the Sun Gym Gang members would have gotten away with their crimes. DuBois's saga began with a phone call the morning of December 16, 1994. Accountant Marc Schiller was on the other line. From his hospital bed, a badly injured Schiller relayed his harrowing story of how the Sun Gym Gang kidnapped him, tortured him for a month, stole everything he owned, and almost killed him.

Despite Schiller's outlandish yarn, DuBois accepted the job of investigating the crooks. Once he obtained proof that Schiller was telling the truth, he went to Dade police investigators, who initially dismissed DuBois's story. But when the Sun Gym Gang brutally killed two victims — wealthy executive Frank Griga and his girlfriend — the cops finally busted the gang.

Following the arrests, DuBois convinced Miami crime reporter Pete Collins to write a book about the gang. The book deal never happened, but New Times ran three cover stories between December 1999 and January 2000. Bay read the series, and the rest is history.

With all the hype surrounding the film, DuBois wanted to leave his own mark on the twisted tale. He played a rough cut for Clay Ostwald, a former band member of Miami Sound Machine, and Tommy Anthony, a guitarist for Santana. "Both of them loved it and joined me on the final recording," says DuBois, who's selling the cut on iTunes and CD Baby.

Francisco Alvarado (Miami New Times - March 19, 2013)

Click HERE to buy 'Pain and Gain - Retribution Song' on iTunes
Click HERE to buy 'Pain and Gain - Retribution Song' on CDBABY

Music News Nashville | Pain and Gain Song Review

Ed DuBois – Pain And Gain – Retribution Song

Singer/songwriter and soon-to-be internationally known private investigator Ed Du Bois’s debut single is called “Pain And Gain;” just so happens to also be the title of the new Paramount Pictures release directed by Michael Bay. Based on newspaper articles written by Pete Collins in collaboration with Du Bois, “Pain And Gain” – both the song and movie – tell the real-life story of this no-nonsense Miami P.I.’s hair-raising case involving the violent Sun Gym Gang back in the mid-1990s.

The film’s crew began shooting on location in the Magic City last May, and stars Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Tony Shalhoub. Ed Harris portrays the larger-than-life P.I., while the real Du Bois makes a cameo appearance opposite the actor. According to Du Bois, on the set, Harris had hoped he was doing the P.I. justice, and as Hollywood expanded on his story, producer Donald De Line assured him that his character would remain a good guy in the movie, which is set to premiere in April.

Du Bois’s country rock single has the subtitle “Retribution Song,” referring to main character Marc Schiller, played by Wahlberg in the film, and his saga of survival against all odds. Here the singer takes on the persona of Schiller, who tells his harrowing tale of kidnap, torture (when you see the film you’ll know that “torture” is an understatement) and finally justice, mixed over solid tracks of gritty electric guitar and haunting keyboards produced, played and recorded by Red Rock Studios owners Tommy Anthony (Santana) and Clay Ostwald (Miami Sound Machine). But it’s the unexpected wow addition of The Devil Went Down to Georgia-inspired Tennessean fiddling produced by Bernie Faulkner (former member of Exile) that gives this record the over-the-top dynamics it deserves.

Janet Goodman (Music News Nashville - March 19, 2013)

Click HERE to buy 'Pain and Gain - Retribution Song' on iTunes

Click HERE to buy 'Pain and Gain - Retribution Song' on CDBABY

"NOW I GO TO WORK." | Ed DuBois

Pain and Gain trailer #1 released last week.
Ed Harris as Ed DuBois - "Now I go to work." 
DuBois vs. Sun Gym Gang. The film looks amazing. Click on the video above or click HERE to go directly to YouTube.

DuBois | Game day | Miami Dolphins | Sun Life Stadium

Ed DuBois with Roger Reyes, FHP 

Ed Harris | Pain and Gain | Ed DuBois

Ed Harris on P&G set in costume as Ed DuBoi

The real Ed DuBois on the field at Sun Life Stadium.

The Pain and Gain costume designer did his/her homework on the real Ed DuBois evidenced by this photo captured of Ed Harris on set in Miami. DuBois is frequently seen wearing linen pants & shirt along with a Bimini Bay-type hat that you see in this photo. 

DuBois @ Dolphins vs. Patriots - 12/2/12

The guy in the red tie....NFL's Security Consultant in Miami since 1968.

Pain & Gain "Teaser" Poster Revealed

Pain & Gain Press

An interview with Pain & Gain actress Rebel Wilson (who plays one of the bodybuilder's girlfriends) gives a bit of a hint as to P & G's possible aesthetic & tone in a recent interview on Craveonline.com. Read the excerpt below or the entire interview here.

What’s your role in Pain and Gain?

Pain and Gain, oh, that’s going to be a really interesting movie because it’s based on the true crime story of these three guys played by Mark Wahlberg, Anthony Mackie and The Rock who torture and kill people. I play the girlfriend of Anthony Mackie’s character, based on a real life lady who did go to jail for her involvement. I can’t wait to see what Mr. Bay’s going to do with this movie because it is so dark but at times he wanted comedy out of it. So there’s people like myself and Ken Jeong from The Hangover. I’m just so fascinated to see what’s going to make the cut because on some days we were doing improvising and being funny. Then on other days it’s very serious where there’s bodies being cut up and put into barrels. It’s really dark so I think people are going to be fascinated with the movie.

We hear there’s a lot of slow motion in it.

Is there? Maybe of Mark Wahlberg flexing his muscles, I don't know. Michael, the way he sets up the shots, are all incredible. I think me in particular on some of the really dramatic stuff, I think I get pulled out of a house by a SWAT team in slow motion. I can’t wait to see the footage of that. I think it will be a fascinating movie.

Talk about flawed women, Michael Bay movies usually have underwear models, literally. Was he interested in exploring different types of female characters?

Well, what’s fascinating is that when I was in that movie, I get there and my outfits were like Victoria’s Secret underwear. I’m not joking. And I was like, Michael obviously knows that he cast me, and the other two girls were supermodels who played the other girlfriends, but I found that really interesting that I was made to be wearing what they wear, and I clearly don’t look at all with them. I found that really interesting from Michael’s movies, to cast someone like me who is a different body type to the supermodels that he usually tends to cast.