Writers on Music: An Interview with Robin Benway
"For
a band that's just starting out, it's still fun and exciting and
very Kerouacian to be in a van and touring the country. That's the
spirit I wanted for Audrey, and listening to that music
definitely helped to infuse the book."
Posted: July 14, 2008
Interview by Anna-Lynne Williams
Robin Benway attended UCLA and NYU, where she
won the Seth Barkas Prize for fiction. She is the author of the
young adult novel Audrey, Wait! recently published on Razorbill.
The book's title character is an average teenage girl until her
ex writes a song about her that becomes an international hit. She
has to accustom herself to paparazzi, gossip, stalkers, and drastic
changes in her social and school life as she becomes a sudden and
unwitting celebrity.
Robin and I attended the same schools growing up in Laguna Hills,
CA, swapping mix tapes and attending sleepover parties where we
lip-synched competitively to True Blue. I have a vivid
memory of Robin driving me and about eight other girls in her parents'
van to Magic Mountain for a field trip in our junior year of high
school. The albums in rotation on that drive were the Reality
Bites soundtrack and Depeche Mode's Songs of Faith and
Devotion.
Pop music is a presence throughout your novel... bands
like AFI and The Smiths (music that is relatable to teens) are not
only quoted but are also mentioned as favorite bands of the characters.
Does Audrey's musical taste reflect your own?
Absolutely. I don't think that I could have mentioned a band in
the book without being a fan of them! The hard part was trying to
figure out how to mention bands that were current, but that could
still be memorable for people who read Audrey in several
years. There are so many bands that I listen to right now, but I
wasn't sure if they would "date" the book in five years,
so it was a challenge to include bands that had the potential to
be relevant in ten years. Or, if not relevant, then at least recognizable!
What music did you grow up listening to? How have your
tastes changed since high school? How have they stayed the same?
In high school, it was all about Nine Inch Nails and R.E.M., with
Tori Amos and 10,000 Maniacs tying for second place. High school,
especially junior and senior year, was really difficult for me,
and those bands' music carried me through. I used to wake up super-early
before school, and [go] downstairs to watch videos of R.E.M. on
Unplugged & NIN performing at Woodstock in 1994. It
almost felt like an infusion of strength where I would think, "Okay,
you can do this, you've got this music, let it get you out the door
and through the day." And then I saw the video for "Silent
All These Years" by Tori Amos, and I remember standing there,
completely dumbstruck at the lyric: "Got the Antichrist in
the kitchen yellin' at me again..." Music is still one of the
biggest enjoyments of my life, but back when I was sixteen years
old, it was vital.
And luckily, I'm still a fan of all those bands. I'm going to see
R.E.M. in concert in a few weeks and I just downloaded the latest
NIN album, so it's lovely to not only be a fan, but to love bands
that are still relevant and still make interesting music.
I am curious about the order of operations regarding the
quoted song lyrics that serve as the titles of chapters. Were some
of these songs already in your mind when you were writing the book
(perhaps shaping some of the action), or were fitting quotations
selected after the book or chapters were complete?
A lot of those lyrics were from songs that I was listening to while
writing the book, and when my publisher (Razorbill) asked for chapter
titles, I suggested lyrics instead, since I wanted to have a place
to put all of them. In some cases, songs did shape the path of the
book, such as LL Cool J's "Mama Said Knock You Out." When
that song came up on my iPod shuffle, I immediately thought about
where the book was going and realized that Audrey needed to DJ a
party. Hence, the backstage scene after the Lolitas concert...
How do you feel about lyrics in music? Are they the focal
point?
They can be, for sure. I have a document on my computer with pages
and pages of lyrics that I want to remember. I think Leonard Cohen
is one of the most brilliant lyricists ever. His songs make me cry,
I think they're so beautifully written. And as a writer, I get jealous
of his abilities. :)
As good as lyrics can be, though, if they don't have a great foundation
of music to back them up, then the song won't be one of my favorites.
It's the combination of words and melody that does it for me.
Do you listen to music while you write? What music inspires
you?
I can't not listen to music when I write. I've tried to several
times (mostly because I've forgotten my headphones at home) and
it just doesn't work. I need some sort of beat happening, some sort
of melancholy sound to play in the background while I write a sad
scene, for example.
When I was writing Audrey, I listened a lot of younger,
"poppier" bands because there's an energy in their music
that I don't find in older, more established bands. For Audrey,
I wanted there to be a lot of vibrancy and passion, and I think
younger bands aren't yet burned out on touring, or haven't had their
second album flop, or haven't realized that their label doesn't
want to support them, or whatever hundreds of things can happen
to a band over the years. For a band that's just starting out, it's
still fun and exciting and very Kerouacian to be in a van and touring
the country. That's the spirit I wanted for Audrey, and
listening to that music definitely helped to infuse the book.
That sounds like a really accurate summary of the arc that
happens to a lot of bands. Did the sort of disillusionment with
the industry that The Do Gooders experience in your book come from
stories you've heard first-hand from bands?
That's exactly what happened. I think by being a fan of music,
I've read a lot about the industry and it seems that, especially
today, there's a rush to make a lot of money fast, even if it means
sacrificing the very band that's making money. There doesn't appear
to be a lot of long-term planning or career-building, and if a band
wants to make it, they can't rely on a label to do that for them,
hence the rise of MySpace bands and such. I think all of that can
create huge amounts of pressure and disillusionment within a band
and lead to a real loss of creativity, which is unfortunate.
What recent albums or artists are you enjoying?
New Raconteurs! Jack White is a freaking genius, and I love that
they just dropped the new CD without any warning. That was brilliant.
I'm also listening to the White Stripes--surprise, surprise--and
a bootleg copy of their 2002 Reading Festival performance. I can't
get enough of it and I will totally upload it for you, if you want
it.
What else? New R.E.M., Charlie Parker's Bird at St. Nick's
(it makes me think of Rear Window, which is one of my all-time
favorite movies), new Panic at the Disco, My Chemical Romance's
The Black Parade, and Bjork's "Army of Me" just
because I really need to hear the lyric: "And if you complain
once more, you'll meet an army of me."
How do you feel about the shift in musical technology?
Are you fully integrated into the iPod and mp3 wave, or do you still
collect albums?
I love the new musical technology. I know it's led to a lot of
file-sharing and stealing of music, but I get so frustrated with
the record labels that start suing their customer base. I just feel
that all of that money spent on legal fees could be going towards
ways to work with the new media, rather than trying to stop it.
Technology doesn't go backwards. I mean, you've got 10,000 kids
who will download the new Fall Out Boy CD without even thinking
about it, so rather than try to cut them off, figure out a way to
get it into their hands! Don't start suing them!
As for me, I have all of my music on iTunes and I shop on iTunes,
eMusic, and in record stores, so yeah, I'm down with the mp3s. I
always pay for music, though. For bands that I truly love, like
NIN or The White Stripes, I always buy the actual CD because I like
to read the lyrics and thank-yous and see the album art. If I just
want a catchy summer song, I go to iTunes.
I do own records, too, and I have a little record player for them,
but I don't agree with the Vinyl Purists, as I call them. I don't
think mp3s are ruining music or making it disposable. I think mp3
technology is making music more accessible and now people have to
dig a little more to separate the wheat from the chaff. And honestly,
I don't think it matters how a song is heard, just as long as someone
hears it. A good song is a good song and will sound beautiful on
an album, a CD, or on iTunes. The heart of the matter is the music,
not the medium.
What are three things that you love?
1) The smell of a fireplace on gray, cold, windy days.
2) A letter my grandpa sent to me when I was at sixth-grade camp
because he heard that I was homesick.
3) Ennio Morricone's film score for The Mission.
What makes you unhappy?
When I doubt myself. I'm trying hard to trust my instincts, follow
my gut, etc. But sometimes I start to think, "What if I'm wrong?"
And all that self-doubt makes me frustrated and upset, which only
creates more self-doubt, and the vicious cycle begins. I don't like
that.
You are already working on a second novel--is this a sequel,
or does this work incorporate the same characters in any way? Will
music still play a primary role?
I'm pretty emphatic that there won't be a sequel for Audrey.
I think the book stands well on its own two feet and I think that
if there were to be a sequel, it would kill some of the spirit of
the first book.
I can't say too much about Book 2, but music doesn't have as strong
a role. It's there, though--I don't know how to write a book without
music!
Visit Robin Benway's website: http://www.robinbenway.com
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