This interview was conducted by Daniel Wickett, who runs the Emerging Writers Network email newsletter and Web site. You can subscribe to the newsletter at emergingwritersnet@yahoo.com or check out the web site at www.emergingwriters.net.

You can read Wickett's review of Brutal Music here.

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Interviews

21st Interview: James Lindsay July 21, 2003

The following is an interview with James Lindsay, author of BRUTAL MUSIC, released by SMU Press in 2002.

He works in the software industry in the Arlington, MA area, where he also lives with his wife, Laurie,
and their son.

Dan:

James, thanks much for taking some time out of your schedule for this.

James:

It's a pleasure. Thanks for asking me, and thanks for reading.

Dan:

Your author biography states you wrote music reviews for a now obsolete webzine, "Occupational Hazards." How much fun was that to do?

James:

It was a lot of fun, although I missed the give-and-take of arguing with someone across a table
about one or another of my deeply-held musical opinions. A friend enlisted me to write the reviews,
at the height of the web boom a few years back, when everyone seemed to be creating personal web sites and webzines and the like. There was a little bit of a sense of throwing rocks into a bottomless pit: I had no idea who, if anyone, was reading. Still, it was fun to force myself to be specific about why I liked or didn't like something, and I did get a few free CDs out of it.

Dan:

As one who has written reviews of the art of other individuals, do you in turn read reviews of your own
work differently than you may have?

James:

Like, I know that writing to deadline and struggling for a funny line can make reviewers say things they
don't exactly mean, and so I shouldn't take it too personally? I don't think so. I sort of wish it did.
Reading reviews of your own work is always a bit of an out-of-body experience--even when the reviews are complimentary, you feel like the book the person read isn't really the one you wrote. Which is fine, but just a little disquieting.

If anything, it's the opposite: being a writer has made it hard for me to be too critical of any other
book that seems well-intentioned. I just know how hard it is to do. I want to give other writers the
benefit of the doubt.

Dan:

BRUTAL MUSIC has a bit of an NBC Law & Order feel to it - snapped from today's headlines! The story involves a teenager committing suicide and another failing in his attempt, while they are listening to
the music of heavy metal band Shallow Grave.

The story starts off with a very impersonal section - it is the suicide scene itself - where neither
character is referred to by name. Was this always how you had begun the novel, or did this come about in rewriting?

James:

Great question, and you're right, it came about in rewriting. One of the themes I was trying to develop
in the book was how those "snapped from the headlines" acts of violence always seem to come out of
nowhere--they seem like spontaneous eruptions, completely cut off from context. Which they are, in a
way, they are spontaneous and incomprehensible, but they also do have a context. There's often a long
string of events and pressures and circumstances that have led to those out-of-nowhere moments. Beginning with the suicide scene, and then going back through the events that came before and forward to the events after, let me (I hope) replicate this process in a reader, of getting the "headline" version first, and then everything swirling below. It also (again, I hope) allowed the readers concentrate more on the characters, and not be preoccupied with a mounting dread of the awful act to come.

Dan:

You did an excellent job in developing the background for the story in flashbacks. You were able to show what sort of pressure there is on so-called perfect students, and really get into the head of Chris, the boy who fails at his suicide attempt. Have you done much research into the cases where parents have blamed musicians (Judas Priest comes to mind as a case that I believe actually made it to court) for the deaths of their children?

James:

I did do some research, both into troubled teenagers and into the "rock and roll" defense that's been
attempted a few times. The germ for the novel came from a documentary I saw back in the early nineties about the Judas Priest case, called "Dream Deceiver." It's easy to make fun of the parents in that film, and of other people who attempt such "the music made me (or them) do it" explanations, which I wanted to be careful not to do. I wanted very much to take it seriously, to show how someone out of grief and desperation might come to absolutely believe such an explanation. I also wanted to point out its flaws.

Dan:

One blurb noted that you didn't just show that the character tried to kill himself, but really explained
to the reader why. Was this a natural extension of the story for you, or, being a music lover, was it an
intention of yours all along to show a real possible why in such a case?

James:

The "why" is the story for me, although I have to say in mind the book doesn't propose any single, specific "why." The father in the book, Tommy, struggles after his son's suicide attempt to find this single "why" that will explain everything, and of course fails. To me, it's almost more of a "how" book: how could this happen, how could the accumulation of "why"'s (and one of them is the music, in my opinion) lead to this tragedy?

Dan:

I found it really interesting that you chose to have the dad try to meet as many people that Chris knew, or might have known, in an attempt to gain an understanding of what happened. The scenes with
Sean-Patrick, lead singer of a local music group, must have been fun to write - they seem to be the only time that you allowed the somber mood to disappear.

James:

Yes, that was a point at about the middle of the book that I felt we needed another perspective, another voice, someone from outside the family who could say all the unsaid things. Sean-Patrick is no less messed up than the others characters in the book, he's just more articulate about it.

Dan:

Throughout the novel, bits and pieces about the band Chris followed religiously, Shallow Grave, are given to the reader. They come in the forms of old interviews, reviews of their cd's, liner notes from
their cd's, and lyrics from their songs. Were these brought into the story as you originally wrote it, or
did you need to sit back and plot when and where they would most beneficial to your story?

James:

Most of the Shallow Grave material came pretty naturally: recompense for all the hours I've wasted
reading other people's music reviews, maybe. Those are some of my favorite parts of the novel, when Chris is describing his connection to the music. It's not something I've ever felt myself, that sort of intense identification to the exclusion of everything else, but I think I understand how it could happen.

Dan:

While you were writing the novel, did you draw up a logo for Shallow Grave?

James:

No, I'm not that visual. All I had to do was go down to Newbury Comics in Harvard Square and flip through the heavy metal section to get all the logo inspiration I needed.

Dan:

You've developed a website, www.jameslindsay.net. Has it helped gain much interest in the novel, or is most of the traffic from those who've already read the book?

James:

I think a web site can help if someone sees a mention of your book or your name somewhere else, and wants to find out more, but I don't think it's going to create much interest on its own. Plus, there's another James Lindsay who's a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute or something like that, and he's snatched up all the prime spots at the top of the search engines.

Dan:

Have you done many readings? What section of the book would you prefer to read at one?

James:

I've done a few readings; I really enjoy it. As you might have guessed, I tend to go for the Sean-Patrick
sections. The give-and-take dialogues between he and Tommy seem to "play" well.

Dan:

Are you currently working on anything new?

James:

Yes, I'm putting the finishing touches on a new novel. It's a love story that takes place over an entire
lifetime. It's different than "Brutal Music," gentler, roomier, but shares some of the same
concerns. I have high hopes.

Dan:

What are your five favorite bands and five favorite albums? What emerging band should readers be looking out for?

James:

Ah, the way I amuse myself when I wake up at 3 a.m. and can't get back to sleep. I usually give myself
ten choices, but I'll try to winnow it down to five albums:

In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning, Frank Sinatra
Born to Run, Bruce Springsteen
Imperial Bedroom, Elvis Costello
The Belle Album, Al Green
Ben Folds Five, self-titled debut album

In terms of new, younger, bands, I'd recommend the Mayflies USA from North Carolina for power pop fun, the Weakerthans from Canada for lyrics, and the Lucksmiths from Australia because when I listen I find myself wanting to hang out with them, or be their older, slightly wiser, brother.

Dan:

Give me a ten word description of boy bands.

James:

Great material for a novel, not so much to listen to.

Dan:

As a music lover, do you prefer the precision of the studio effort, or the additional excitement of live
performances?

James:

I love going out to clubs, though I don't do it as much since my son was born (he's four now). Different
types of music work better in each of the two formats. I love rockabilly bands live, for instance, but
don't care much to listen to rockabilly albums. On the whole, I'd have to say I prefer studio--it seems
closer to the musician's original intention of what these songs should sound like, and I'm inclined to
want to honor that. And I almost never like live albums.

Dan:

Back to books, if you were a character in "Fahrenheit 451," what work(s) would you memorize for posterity?

James:

John Updike's Collected Stories. Which hasn't been published yet. So hopefully the book burning edict
won't come down for another few years. Although given the recent trend of things...

Dan:

Thanks again James, for taking the time out for this. Good luck with the novel.

James:

Thank you. It's been fun. You've asked me some of the questions I would have asked myself. Good luck with the Emerging Writer's network.

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Interested in having me read at your bookstore, school, or dinner party?
Go ahead and ask, the worst I can do is say no. Will provide own transportation.
You can e-mail me at jameslindsay@worldnet.att.net.