Things we like: punk memoirs, the fantastic 90s hardcore band Spitboy, and book trailers. We were happy to hear that Michelle Cruz Gonzales of Spitboy was working on a memoir when we read Jes Skolnik’s interview with her last year. That memoir, The Spitboy Rule: Tales of a Xicana in a Female Punk Band, is due out later this year, and a trailer for it has just been published.
2015: The Year Music Made Me Feel OK
I listened to a lot of music, at least according to Spotify. That doesn’t count all the records I bought and played, the shows I saw, and everything I listened to that wasn’t on my streaming service of choice. Of course, I didn’t need some report to tell me that, I always listen to a ton of music, almost most of my day is spent with headphones on and I’m fine with that. I listened to a lot of old […]
“I Want Friction High Up in the Mix”: An Interview With Sara Jaffe
There’s a lot happening in Dryland, Sara Jaffe’s debut novel. It follows several months in the life of Julie, a high school student in the early 1990s, as she struggles with the legacy of her absent brother, an acclaimed competitive swimmer; becomes increasingly aware of her own sexuality; and takes up swimming herself. It’s an impressive work, and one that moves well from the naturalistic to the dreamlike and back again. I spoke with Jaffe about the novel, her writing […]
Talking Publicist UK With Zachary Lipez
Writer, musician, and occasional Vol.1 Brooklyn contributor Zachary Lipez is a busy guy. He writes regularly for the likes of Noisey, Hazlitt, and Pitchfork, and his new band Publicist UK recently concluded a short tour behind their debut album, Forgive Yourself. Said record is terrific, a compelling selection of brooding postpunk songs that hit the right marks both for heaviness and for musical and lyrical smarts. And thus, he and I talked about the making of the album, the way […]
“I Became Accustomed to Absurdity in Early Childhood”: An Interview With Eric Paul
Eric Paul has been writing since his days as singer for the celebrated noise-rock band Arab on Radar. The Providence-based poet recently released his latest book A Popular Place to Explode to critical acclaim on Heartworm Press, run by Wesley Eisold of Cold Cave and the hardcore band American Nightmare. The New York release party for this is on Saturday at Over the Eight in Brooklyn. I asked Paul questions over email about absurdity and being mentored by writers you […]
Where Chamber Music Meets Miéville
Qasim Naqvi is one-third of the compelling, often experimental Brooklyn trio Dawn of Midi. He’s also a composer in his own right. Next month, NNA Tapes will release “Preamble”, a collection of new compositions written by Naqvi and performed by The Contemporary Music Ensemble of NYU. There’s also a literary connection, which may well interest those who like their music and their fiction unpredictable and unconventional.
“I Think Of Myself As Listening Together With All the Other Possible Listeners”: Talking Sonic Exploration With Roarke Menzies
One sunny, spring afternoon about five years ago, Roarke Menzies, a composer, sound artist and longtime Brooklyn neighbor, showed up at my apartment with a laptop, a microphone and a small army of audio pedals. It was the first time we’d hung out and I wasn’t totally sure what to expect. I’d asked him to contribute a theme to a radioplay I was writing. And after listening to a portion of the script, Roarke launched into a captivating vocal improvisation […]
Announcing Ian Svenonius and “Censorship Now!!” in November at WORD
We’re happy to announce that we’ll be teaming up with Akashic Books in early November to celebrate the release of Censorship Now!!, the new essay collection from Ian F. Svenonius, taking on subjects ranging from vampires to hats, from Heathers to IKEA. You’re probably familiar with Svenonius via his earlier book Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock ‘n’ Roll Group, his hosting of the chat show Soft Focus, or his time in bands like Chain & the Gang, Weird War, The […]