Oh thank you Sarah! It’s hard to know how much to write for these things, but with the first draft I felt I’d gone down the wrong path – especially as there are others who could do a better job, and especially if I also wanted to talk about Mitski and seed catalogues (which I very much did).
Wasn’t a huge fan of the Seattle scene but a few bands like Tad, Mudhoney and Screaming Trees had enough punk rock crossover to edge their way in. Everyone had at least one Gits tape. It was huge news when Mia died. The Evil Stig album released afterwards is well worth a listen.
In the beginning, all the music I listened to I had to track down myself by reading magazines (and risking forking out for a CD) or listening to Steve Lamaq and Jo Wiley on Radio One. (I couldn’t even do the John Peel thing because I was at boarding school.) Later, I made local (normal, non private school) friends who were into the same music as me, but they veered more towards stuff like old duffer rock (Pink Floyd, Dire Straits) or more poppy Wildhearts type stuff. But I never encountered a single Gits album in all my travels and I didn’t hear about Mia’s death at the time either. Then again, I was only 14 when it happened and still hadn’t met any music friends. A big loss. I think hearing her would have made a big difference to my own nascent band ambitions
I have about seven years on you so my music at 14 was less sophisticated. I kinda got John Peel but I enjoyed Tommy Vance more. Those formative years were all metal with a few hardcore shows thrown in. Finding American punk rock just as my reading got a little more highbrow helped a lot. Also the girls I hung out with changed from those that wanted to sleep with the bands to those that wanted to be the bands. And then Riot Grrl happened. There’s a wonderful book called This Band Could Be Your Life that’s worth picking up too. I still listen to a lot of metal but I still read a lot of punk rock. I still pick up the occasional magazine but boy is that a lost art.
It’s been fascinating to watch my 14yr old daughter’s music tastes shift and evolve dramatically in the past year or so. She now denies ever liking Taylor Swift. I love how she dresses almost exactly like we all did. Nothing really changes when it comes to wanting to look alternative (so that we end up all looking the same). I miss music magazines. I’m more alt folk than punk though. My magazine tastes went from Sky to Raw to Uncut and stayed at Uncut. I do love a bit of metal though 🤘
“Old duffer rock” 😂 Anyhow if you needed a book plot then “murder at the festival I took my teen daughter to” would work quite well. I think your author’s voice comes through really well here.
Also how far down the bill is Arlo Parks?! I thought she was meant to be huge. Shows what I know.
1. I love old duffer rock. I have recently established that I fit the demographic “internet dad” almost perfectly. 2. I like that plot idea but I can’t imagine any murdering. This probably sums up why I am not very good at writing crime fiction 🤣. 3. I too couldn’t believe how far down the bill Arlo Parks was and remain deeply confused about it. We didn’t get to see her due to the absolutely insane way the whole thing was scheduled. You’d have kids singing the songs of the act they’d just left in order to run to another act on a different stage because they all overlapped. It meant really popular acts suddenly saw their audiences diminish by half while they were doing their final songs.
The murdering isn't hard - you find the body of a young girl in one of the spotless toilets. Oh, you remember that you talked to her earlier, you gave her a headache pill because she was saying she felt hot. OMG NOW YOU'RE ACCUSED. Off you go ChatGPT!
I enjoyed this (and it made me determined to check out the Gits, a band who passed me by), and I am glad you put the first version up too.
Oh thank you Sarah! It’s hard to know how much to write for these things, but with the first draft I felt I’d gone down the wrong path – especially as there are others who could do a better job, and especially if I also wanted to talk about Mitski and seed catalogues (which I very much did).
Wasn’t a huge fan of the Seattle scene but a few bands like Tad, Mudhoney and Screaming Trees had enough punk rock crossover to edge their way in. Everyone had at least one Gits tape. It was huge news when Mia died. The Evil Stig album released afterwards is well worth a listen.
In the beginning, all the music I listened to I had to track down myself by reading magazines (and risking forking out for a CD) or listening to Steve Lamaq and Jo Wiley on Radio One. (I couldn’t even do the John Peel thing because I was at boarding school.) Later, I made local (normal, non private school) friends who were into the same music as me, but they veered more towards stuff like old duffer rock (Pink Floyd, Dire Straits) or more poppy Wildhearts type stuff. But I never encountered a single Gits album in all my travels and I didn’t hear about Mia’s death at the time either. Then again, I was only 14 when it happened and still hadn’t met any music friends. A big loss. I think hearing her would have made a big difference to my own nascent band ambitions
I have about seven years on you so my music at 14 was less sophisticated. I kinda got John Peel but I enjoyed Tommy Vance more. Those formative years were all metal with a few hardcore shows thrown in. Finding American punk rock just as my reading got a little more highbrow helped a lot. Also the girls I hung out with changed from those that wanted to sleep with the bands to those that wanted to be the bands. And then Riot Grrl happened. There’s a wonderful book called This Band Could Be Your Life that’s worth picking up too. I still listen to a lot of metal but I still read a lot of punk rock. I still pick up the occasional magazine but boy is that a lost art.
It’s been fascinating to watch my 14yr old daughter’s music tastes shift and evolve dramatically in the past year or so. She now denies ever liking Taylor Swift. I love how she dresses almost exactly like we all did. Nothing really changes when it comes to wanting to look alternative (so that we end up all looking the same). I miss music magazines. I’m more alt folk than punk though. My magazine tastes went from Sky to Raw to Uncut and stayed at Uncut. I do love a bit of metal though 🤘
“Old duffer rock” 😂 Anyhow if you needed a book plot then “murder at the festival I took my teen daughter to” would work quite well. I think your author’s voice comes through really well here.
Also how far down the bill is Arlo Parks?! I thought she was meant to be huge. Shows what I know.
1. I love old duffer rock. I have recently established that I fit the demographic “internet dad” almost perfectly. 2. I like that plot idea but I can’t imagine any murdering. This probably sums up why I am not very good at writing crime fiction 🤣. 3. I too couldn’t believe how far down the bill Arlo Parks was and remain deeply confused about it. We didn’t get to see her due to the absolutely insane way the whole thing was scheduled. You’d have kids singing the songs of the act they’d just left in order to run to another act on a different stage because they all overlapped. It meant really popular acts suddenly saw their audiences diminish by half while they were doing their final songs.
The murdering isn't hard - you find the body of a young girl in one of the spotless toilets. Oh, you remember that you talked to her earlier, you gave her a headache pill because she was saying she felt hot. OMG NOW YOU'RE ACCUSED. Off you go ChatGPT!
Ha ha! Thanks Charles. But see this is why I’m not good at writing crime because that sounds really horrible 🤣. I’ll never be Belinda Bauer god damn