Wowwww that’s a unique sound. Love the trombone. What is that a dog bowl mute?? I know nothing about horns. Guitar player. Jealous of that pedalboard setup.
Got a question for ya. What would be your advice on taking a similar approach to writing a novel in the format of Jesus’ Son? I absolutely love what Denis Johnson did. It feels like you’re sitting next to a guy you’ve just met at a bar and he’s just telling you the most random, miserable, intriguing shit about his life. I’d like to steal the format, but I want to make it my own and I don’t want it to come across as a Jesus’ Son cover band. Any advice on imitating without seeming unoriginal?
First, read several novels of that linked-short-story form. Look for Nami Mun's Miles from Nowhere, and Tama Janowitz's Slaves of New York. And Bret Ellis's The Informers.
It's best you see how several writers treat the linked stories. That way you can pick and choose aspects and create your own hybrid.
And notice how the Johnson and Mun books stay in the POV of a single character from story to story. While the Janowitz and Ellis books use a rotating POV that tells stories from different characters.
Oh ok! That’s good to know going in. I read both Mun and Johnson, but haven’t yet read the Ellis book or Janowitz. I’ve had The Informers sitting in my reading stack for a while. So, I’m taking that with me on my girlfriend and I’s trip to the Ozarks this week. I’ve had trouble finding a copy of Slaves of New York, but I’m sure I’ll come across it at some point. No rush, as I can be a bit of a slow reader.
I remember reading the line “The only difference between martyrdom and suicide is press coverage” in Survivor and realizing that that’s where Panic! came up with that song title.
My favorite songs all seem to include a "drop out" section near the end -- where the song goes to silence or just the drum beat -- before coming back full strength for the finish. I've been writing a post on it forever.
Amy Hempel once wrote that true love is like the part of 'Be My Baby' where all the Ronettes go silent near the end, then burst forth in a last, loud chorus. The moment is electric. I could not agree with Amy more. Just listen:
I’ve known that moment since I first heard that song as a child.
That’s exactly what it’s like. Exactly.
It’s the time where everything is quiet… because your heart is getting it’s footing, it’s bearings, and silently being pumped up so it can EXPLODE, shooting brilliance all throughout your whole body and somehow it makes the whole world outside of you feel brilliant, too.
If I’m standing when this happens I swear it feels like my feet leave the ground just a hair. But not like I’m floating, like my heart is reaching out and pulling me forward.
I wanna see someone take the instrumental score to ‘(I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight’ and overlay it to audio of you reading the scene from ‘Snuff’ where the guy’s copulating with the deflating blowup doll.
You can retcon your comment but you can’t retcon my memory, Palahniuk. I can see the cracks appearing. Pretty soon you’ll have bad dental hygiene and will begin changing the way you measure things. Think of what you’re going through right now as Cronenberg’s ‘The Fly’, but worse -- you’re becoming British.
PATD's first album, particularly the song "Time to Dance" and the line "Boys will be boys, hiding in estrogen and wearing Aubergine Dreams", led me to Chuck's work. Invisible Monsters was the first book from Chuck I read. It became my second favorite novel of all time and now here I am, desperate to learn how to write. One might say Panic! ruined my life -- I used to be normal. Now I'm obsessed with whatever it is y'all do here. Damn you, Panic! and Chuck!
Thanks for inviting us to Jet Black Pearl. Really cool sound.
Speaking of music and patterns, yesterday while watching Chris Rock's new special, I noticed a chorus in his act ( it being the joke of getting slapped by angry rappers). The special is an hour long, the chorus is placed once every 15 or 20 minutes I think. Then he finished it off with a take on the Will Smith slap. The choruses made the transition between jokes smoother, and made the whole piece compact. It also created an eager anticipation in the crowd. My question is how many times should a chorus be repeated? Cause at the moment, they are my favorite thing to write.
Interesting. A chorus seems so interesting because it morphs from funny to useful to nostalgic. People always need a way to say "whatever" or "anyways" as a shift between topics, so each generation has its own device for doing so. For my peers it was the Sprockets line from Saturday Night Live. (said with fake German accent) "This idle chitchat grows tiresome. On Sprockets it's time we dance."
The reference reinforces generational identity. Amazing how those things work.
Fascinating indeed. It also seems that each format ( Normal conversations, written or oral stories, music... etc) has it's own unique choruses. In a Bert Kreischer pod ep with Louis Ck, again once every 20-35 or so minutes, the chorus was Bert's fear of dying. Each chorus was different, in the way that Louis uses different jokes to poke fun at the other's fear. The chorus seemed casual, not planned at all. Choruses are like a must have thread in any story.
I never knew Panic! at the Disco based that song off your novel, I hear it now. This reminds of this album I listened to a ton in high school called Chinese Man Grove Session Vol. One. Samples of Brad Pitt's dialogue from Fight Club are used through the album. The song "Searching for the Space Monkey" begins with laughing in the basement of the Lou's Tavern, then Pitt yells "Shut up" and the music fades in and then it's drums and analogue DJ mixing with "F*** Martha Stewart," and the track fades out on Tyler's post bombing vision of hunting venison.
Wowwww that’s a unique sound. Love the trombone. What is that a dog bowl mute?? I know nothing about horns. Guitar player. Jealous of that pedalboard setup.
Got a question for ya. What would be your advice on taking a similar approach to writing a novel in the format of Jesus’ Son? I absolutely love what Denis Johnson did. It feels like you’re sitting next to a guy you’ve just met at a bar and he’s just telling you the most random, miserable, intriguing shit about his life. I’d like to steal the format, but I want to make it my own and I don’t want it to come across as a Jesus’ Son cover band. Any advice on imitating without seeming unoriginal?
First, read several novels of that linked-short-story form. Look for Nami Mun's Miles from Nowhere, and Tama Janowitz's Slaves of New York. And Bret Ellis's The Informers.
It's best you see how several writers treat the linked stories. That way you can pick and choose aspects and create your own hybrid.
Perfect. Thanks!
And notice how the Johnson and Mun books stay in the POV of a single character from story to story. While the Janowitz and Ellis books use a rotating POV that tells stories from different characters.
Oh ok! That’s good to know going in. I read both Mun and Johnson, but haven’t yet read the Ellis book or Janowitz. I’ve had The Informers sitting in my reading stack for a while. So, I’m taking that with me on my girlfriend and I’s trip to the Ozarks this week. I’ve had trouble finding a copy of Slaves of New York, but I’m sure I’ll come across it at some point. No rush, as I can be a bit of a slow reader.
I remember reading the line “The only difference between martyrdom and suicide is press coverage” in Survivor and realizing that that’s where Panic! came up with that song title.
This is soooooo good!!! The extreme contrast of silence with sound is Sooo fitting for something inspired by your work!!
My favorite songs all seem to include a "drop out" section near the end -- where the song goes to silence or just the drum beat -- before coming back full strength for the finish. I've been writing a post on it forever.
Amy Hempel once wrote that true love is like the part of 'Be My Baby' where all the Ronettes go silent near the end, then burst forth in a last, loud chorus. The moment is electric. I could not agree with Amy more. Just listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrVbawRPO7I&list=RDMM&index=1
That feeling of true love is at 1:48.
I’ve known that moment since I first heard that song as a child.
That’s exactly what it’s like. Exactly.
It’s the time where everything is quiet… because your heart is getting it’s footing, it’s bearings, and silently being pumped up so it can EXPLODE, shooting brilliance all throughout your whole body and somehow it makes the whole world outside of you feel brilliant, too.
If I’m standing when this happens I swear it feels like my feet leave the ground just a hair. But not like I’m floating, like my heart is reaching out and pulling me forward.
Thank you so much for sharing this with us.
Maybe of interest.
https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/music-theory/best-classical-music-drops/
Thanks. Can't wait to listen.
Wonder what the Dust Brother and the Chemical Brothers and the Farrelly Brothers have been doing since the 90s?
There has to be an act called the Durden Brothers somewhere out there.
That would make an interesting book. Sibling acts. But it might be too close to Geek Love.
You can get all the sibling acts you want on the front page of pornhub these days.
Sibling musicians get blackballed because theyre caught being incestuous and double down by making pornography too. As well as the soundtrack.
🎶He aint heavy, hes my brother...🎶
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_OAJq0U2xs This remix of Medulla Oblongata is a constant on all my playlists. It rocks the casbah...Chicken Little.
This is a great song and video as well. She acts her buns off in this! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlLx7oE7q3I
I wanna see someone take the instrumental score to ‘(I Just) Died in Your Arms Tonight’ and overlay it to audio of you reading the scene from ‘Snuff’ where the guy’s copulating with the deflating blowup doll.
THAT was the scene that got me kicked out of my first workshop. (thank God)
Was the “me workshop” intentional or, since writing ‘Not Forever, But For Now’, have you become stuck in British mode?
Fixed.
You can retcon your comment but you can’t retcon my memory, Palahniuk. I can see the cracks appearing. Pretty soon you’ll have bad dental hygiene and will begin changing the way you measure things. Think of what you’re going through right now as Cronenberg’s ‘The Fly’, but worse -- you’re becoming British.
PATD's first album, particularly the song "Time to Dance" and the line "Boys will be boys, hiding in estrogen and wearing Aubergine Dreams", led me to Chuck's work. Invisible Monsters was the first book from Chuck I read. It became my second favorite novel of all time and now here I am, desperate to learn how to write. One might say Panic! ruined my life -- I used to be normal. Now I'm obsessed with whatever it is y'all do here. Damn you, Panic! and Chuck!
Thanks for inviting us to Jet Black Pearl. Really cool sound.
Speaking of music and patterns, yesterday while watching Chris Rock's new special, I noticed a chorus in his act ( it being the joke of getting slapped by angry rappers). The special is an hour long, the chorus is placed once every 15 or 20 minutes I think. Then he finished it off with a take on the Will Smith slap. The choruses made the transition between jokes smoother, and made the whole piece compact. It also created an eager anticipation in the crowd. My question is how many times should a chorus be repeated? Cause at the moment, they are my favorite thing to write.
Interesting. A chorus seems so interesting because it morphs from funny to useful to nostalgic. People always need a way to say "whatever" or "anyways" as a shift between topics, so each generation has its own device for doing so. For my peers it was the Sprockets line from Saturday Night Live. (said with fake German accent) "This idle chitchat grows tiresome. On Sprockets it's time we dance."
The reference reinforces generational identity. Amazing how those things work.
Fascinating indeed. It also seems that each format ( Normal conversations, written or oral stories, music... etc) has it's own unique choruses. In a Bert Kreischer pod ep with Louis Ck, again once every 20-35 or so minutes, the chorus was Bert's fear of dying. Each chorus was different, in the way that Louis uses different jokes to poke fun at the other's fear. The chorus seemed casual, not planned at all. Choruses are like a must have thread in any story.
I listen to Panic and had no idea that song was related to one of your books! Nice!
Jetty looks like a fun show show to go watch!
I never knew Panic! at the Disco based that song off your novel, I hear it now. This reminds of this album I listened to a ton in high school called Chinese Man Grove Session Vol. One. Samples of Brad Pitt's dialogue from Fight Club are used through the album. The song "Searching for the Space Monkey" begins with laughing in the basement of the Lou's Tavern, then Pitt yells "Shut up" and the music fades in and then it's drums and analogue DJ mixing with "F*** Martha Stewart," and the track fades out on Tyler's post bombing vision of hunting venison.
Here: https://youtu.be/wmMWtKdVUWg
You know who else rules!? Mr. Mark Lanegan . His excellence is greatly appreciated. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvbwsgmmk-Y