Psychedelic stoner shoegaze instrumental rock on cassette. Review published by Heathen Harvest, and tenderly edited by Sage Weatherford.
"When I listen to this cassette, I’m dragged back to my Uni days, the
bands we were all in at the time, and the delusions of grandeur from
which we all suffered. The air is thick with bong smoke and big dreams,
and limitless potential stretched out before us all like our unending
never-getting-old lives."
Land – The Container
The assorted writings, ramblings, ravings and misc of multi-award-winning writer Mat Blackwell. Old stuff, new stuff, linked stuff, and stuff that I really should've thought harder about before posting. Welcome to my internets!
Monday, June 20, 2016
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
FAQ: Beef (Spoiler Edition)
This FAQ post absolutely contains massive spoilers, and it is highly recommended that you read the story it refers to before reading this. These questions are about the novel “Beef”. For the actual novel itself, please go here for the eBook, or here for the print-on-demand physical version.
*CONTAINS SPOILERS!*
Why the tired old patriarchal power structures? I mean, this is a fictional story about the future, you could’ve made the power structures anything. Why just more tired white male bullshit? Seriously man, I thought you were cool.
That’s a damn good question, sorry to disappoint you. It’s not like I didn’t think long and hard
about this stuff when I was writing it, I tend to labour over exactly this kind
of stuff all the time. I guess there are
several answers here, the first of which is, I feel like I have to tread
carefully when I write, to make sure I’m telling a story that is my story to
tell: am I really qualified to tell the story of a Hispanic lesbian’s struggle
with heroin, when I’m not any of those things?
In the same way as I kinda feel like black roles should be played by
black actors (instead of white folk in blackface) or gay characters should be
played by gay actors (instead of straight folk in gayface), I sorta kinda feel
like writers should tell stories that they are qualified to tell. (This is all wishy washy kind of
philosophical stuff, and at the same time as I feel quite strongly about all
this, I also feel quite strongly about the opposite: that the whole point of
being an actor is to be someone you’re not, and the whole point of being a
fiction writer is to tell stories that aren’t true. So I’m really quite ambivalent about this
topic, actually (the word “ambivalent” used in the old sense of “having strong
feelings both ways”, rather than the new sense of “feeling kinda
neutral”). So, with “Beef”, I guess I
erred on the side of telling the story from the point of view of a white male
sociophobe, three things I quite clearly am.)
Another reason why I went for the white male patriarchy is
that, in my country (Australia), demographically-speaking, most of the power is
currently held by white males. Like it
or not (and I don’t like it one bit), it does seem to be undeniably the
case. So, when creating this world where
no-one eats animals, I felt like that was already the one Big Departure From
Reality, and that too many more would maybe make the reader harder to
convince. I mean, sheesh, I already have
psychics and teleportation and unlikely cults and giant murderous bovines, to
be honest I’m already stretching reality a little too thin for most people, I
was wary of making the whole thing seem like a “these are all the things Mat
disagrees with” political fantasy. I
felt like, by creating a
world with no animal exploitation, and by making the woman Royston has this
emotional affair with non-skinny, I was
already kinda dealing with a couple of Big Issues, and too many more would’ve tipped
the book into something maybe too alienating for a lot of people. I really don’t know. I did think about all this lots, though, if
that makes any difference.
And, like it or not, I feel like the powerful white males are
unlikely to give up their power any time soon.
This may be a poor reason, but it’s a true one. Similarly, demographically-speaking,
Australia is mostly populated by whites, so, statistically, it’s likely that my
readers are going to be People of No Colour.
This also may be a dodgy reason, but it is, I think, an accurate one.
Again, sorry to disappoint.
I really did hope you’d think I was cool.
Sorry, I vagued out
during all that. But whatever the answer
was, I doubt it was good enough.
I suspect you’re right.
Why did you feel the
need to make fun of people with Aspergers Syndrome?
I didn’t. The reason
that was part of the book was because I’m a lazy writer, and I just used my
real life instead of coming up with something creative. My otherwise-lovely partner Nalin does
believe that I’m Aspergery, and she calls me all the very clever burger-themed
nicknames that Luka calls Royston. So
really, it wasn’t me making fun of Aspies, it was her: honestly, when it comes
to that shit, I just copied and pasted my real life straight into the
novel. If you’ve got any complaints,
take them up with Nalin.
The book is set two
generations into the future, right? So how come the nightcows evolved so
drastically in so little time? Seems unlikely to me.
You think I’m a biologist?
Beats me. I kinda imagined it
like, the cow has been domesticated and inbred for so long, bovine genetics are
inherently unstable, and the instant they get to express themselves in different
phenotypes, they do – it’s like they’re making up for lost time. None of this is supported scientifically,
it’s total poetic licence. I just liked
the idea of cows becoming scary beasts who fuck up our complacency. Let me dream, won’t you?
Gene is a one-dimensional
Manic Pixie Dream Girl. You even admit
that in the book, when she says something like “I’m not just a one-dimensional
Manic Pixie Dream Girl”. Why didn’t you
explore her more, make her more than just a sex object for Royston’s mid-life
crisis? Lame, Blackwell, lame.
These questions all seem really negative. I didn’t know this would be such an
anti-Blackwell diatribe. But yes, well,
fair enough question, I suppose. I guess
the answer is, I wanted the whole book to really be an exploration of Royston’s
inner states, not other people’s. Once
other people’s inner worlds are being explored, it feels to me like it loses
the claustrophobic neurosis of being trapped in Royston’s head. There are only two voices in “Beef”:
Royston’s, and mine (as narrator). Every
time I tried exploring someone else’s inner world, it felt like the story was
being diluted, and I ended up scrapping it (I think there are maybe still one
or two moments where we get to experience Lena’s inner world, but that’s about it). So, to
Royston, Gene is this Manic Pixie
Dream Girl, that’s exactly who she is in his world. I wanted to explore these notions of
obsession, and, I think, a large part of this kind of obsession is the element
of fantasy: once reality intrudes, the fantasy is negated. In a way, the whole point is that Gene never
really becomes more than one-dimensional to Royston, that’s the whole story:
because it’s just his ego, it’s his own inner obsession, it’s not actually
about her at all. In the end, this story
is about Royston, and to tell his story properly, I knew I couldn’t really tell
Gene’s. Maybe in another book.
Are you a vegan?
That’s not really about “Beef”, is it.
Well, it sort of
is. I mean, “Beef” is a book all about a
world without animal exploitation, so it does beg the question “does Blackwell
walk his talk?”
Okay, fine, you’re right.
The short answer would be “yes”.
But as you can tell, I don’t like short answers. The long answer is “no, but I do everything
that a vegan does”. That is, I don’t
really consider myself a “vegan”, I just consider myself a normal kind-hearted
person who doesn’t want to support cruelty in any area, be it sweat-shop labour
or making people homeless or using sexist language or using racist insults or
encouraging animal exploitation. I
believe pretty much everything that a vegan believes, but I don’t really call
myself a “vegan”, in the same way as I believe pretty much everything that a
Buddhist believes, but don’t really call myself a “Buddhist”, and support pretty
much everything that the Church of Satan stands for, but don’t really call
myself a “Satanist”.
Do you really hate
parties?
Hate is a strong word.
I do find them exhausting.
The book seems to
glorify drugs. What’s all that about?
It doesn’t! I mean, well,
okay, I guess it does, sort of. I can
fully see how you got that impression, anyway.
Thing is, I try to make my writing as honest as I possibly can, and,
speaking honestly, I’ve had many lovely lovely times on drugs. The prevailing social attitude that we’re meant to have is “drugs are bad”, but if
I’m honest with myself, I’ve rarely had a bad time on drugs, whatever they’ve
been. At the same time, there was a
period in my life where I was surrounded by junkies, and they stole heaps of my
stuff and pawned it, and I would find fucking used needles and shit around my
house, and it was generally a pretty shitty environment to be in. People died, people got really low, there
were definite bad vibes and dangerous people and unsavoury living arrangements
and a lot of darkness. So it’s not like
it’s a black and white issue: drugs can definitely fuck up your life, whether
it be heroin or alcohol or even marijuana (I’ve known people who’ve lost a good
decade getting stoned when they really didn’t want to be – there just didn’t
seem to be any other good option, at the time).
But drugs can also be great
fun, and, more importantly, therapeutic: LSD or shrooms or MDMA can make you
realise what you really think, they’re quite good at tearing away all the
bullshit we fill our lives with so we can clearly see what we actually feel
about things. To me, these substances
are not “party drugs”, they’re only ever to be used therapeutically: I think of
them as “defragging” the brain, and will only ever do them one or two times a
year, max (and generally much less frequently).
So is that “glorification”? Not
sure. Certainly, in “Beef”, Royston has
the experience of finally being aware of his own true motives and feelings
thanks to the clarity of MDMA, and there are a few scoobies smoked, but I’m not
sure if that’s “glorification”, or just “accurate reporting”. I do think that, as a society, we’ll only
ever be able to deal with “the drug problem” if we talk openly and honestly
about it, instead of pretending it’s all bad, because let’s face it, people who
actually use drugs already know that it’s not all bad. Honesty is usually the key to any sort of
discussion, as far as I’m concerned. That’s why I do these FAQs in the first
place.
You live in Cape
Paterson, right? It sounds like you
don’t like the place.
What? No, I love it
here. When I said it’s “a place old
people moved to to die”, I didn’t really mean it as a slur. There’s nothing wrong with going somewhere
peaceful in the final few decades of your life, sounds ideal. What I meant was, it’s a peaceful quiet place
filled with old people. Because it
is. And not much happens here, that’s
also not meant as a slur, it’s just the case.
That bit where I said that the local newspaper had a front-page story
about a Canadian guy who ate quite a lot of pies: that was totally true. To me, that was just the perfect example of
how little of note happens here: it was not meant as a put-down, or a negative,
or making fun of the place, it was just an example of the kind of place this
is. It’s peaceful. It’s quiet.
It’s far away from the Big Smoke.
And the stars are beautiful here, and the rocks are gnarled and crocodilian
and ancient and amazing, and the cold cold ocean does stretch out to Antarctica,
and it fully does not give two shits about anything we do, and I really do love
that so so much. That enormous ocean was
here before us, and will be there after we’re all gone, and it will be doing
the same thing it was doing before we ever popped up our hairy heads. We’re absolutely insignificant here, which,
if you think about it, is one of Royston’s subconscious issues: his own
insignificance.
And all that shit about fracking, that’s also a genuine
concern for the area. I desperately hope
it won’t happen like I described in the book, but it totally could. Scary scary times, for a beautiful beautiful
place.
The ending seemed
really sudden. It’s like, there’s the
climax, and then suddenly I’m reading the epilogue. What happened there? That felt really rushed and weird. It made me angry.
Sorry to make you angry.
That wasn’t my intention. From my
point of view, I just keep on seeing movies where it feels like the real story
has actually finished, but the film keeps on going because they feel they have
to wrap up a whole bunch of narrative loose ends, and so I really wanted to
avoid that feeling. So, for me, as soon
as the real story was over, I wanted to end it as quickly as possible. For me, there are two real threads to the
story: the individual story of Royston’s infatuation, and the bigger-scale
story of the consciousness of the vat-meat.
Once both of those stories were over, that was it: “Beef” was over. Instead of labouring over another dozen pages
of narrative blah, I thought the neatest and least painful way of tying off
those loose ends was to simply tell you what happened, and get the hell out of
there. Sorry that made you angry. It made me very happy indeed.
So, you’re some
fruitcake who believes in psychic powers, huh.
That’s not even a question.
Okay: are you some
fruitcake who believes in psychic powers?
Much better. Am
I? I’m just not sure. It’s one of the many many things that I like
to keep an open mind about. After all,
it seems like a hard thing to prove either way, and so having a specific position
on it seems to be presumptuous. I do
believe that we’re unlikely to know for certain one way or the other without a
whole lot more serious study on the phenomena involved, and that, at this
stage, we’re unlikely to see a whole lot more serious study on it, because no
serious scientist wants to look like some fruitcake who believes in psychic
powers. I don’t believe in “supernatural
powers”: I believe that, if psionic powers (etc) do exist, they are just a
scientifically-describable phenomenon that we simply don’t have the proper
terms and/or tools to describe/measure adequately yet. But my personal beliefs are pretty much as
irrelevant as everyone else’s, when it comes to what actually does or does not
exist. As far as “Beef” is concerned,
psychics exist because it’s the only way to detect the “consciousness” of
vat-meat.
You really don’t like
“yes” or “no” answers, do you.
No.
I see what you did there.
I see what you did there.
INTERVIEW: The Stooge
This time, it's not me interviewing someone else, this is me being interviewed! Very exciting.
It was for a podcast called "The Right Space", dedicated to creative folk and the spaces in which they be creative. My space is a cramped, filthy, disorganised jumble of art and noise-making gear, that I like to call "The Stooge" (short for "studio"), and I love it.
Hear me being interviewed by Rojé Augustin and Linda Ung right here:
Mat Blackwell on The Right Space Podcast!
(Oh, and the interview mentions in some detail the short tale "The Moral of the Story". For the sake of reducing spoilers, you might want to read that first, by clicking here.)
It was for a podcast called "The Right Space", dedicated to creative folk and the spaces in which they be creative. My space is a cramped, filthy, disorganised jumble of art and noise-making gear, that I like to call "The Stooge" (short for "studio"), and I love it.
Hear me being interviewed by Rojé Augustin and Linda Ung right here:
Mat Blackwell on The Right Space Podcast!
(Oh, and the interview mentions in some detail the short tale "The Moral of the Story". For the sake of reducing spoilers, you might want to read that first, by clicking here.)
Friday, June 3, 2016
NEWS: my novel "Beef" now available as a paperback!
Some people like to read books on newfangled electronical machineroids. That's totally fine, there's no shame in that. Honestly, that's hunky dory with me: after all, it's way cheaper (like, the price of a large coffee), and it's way more portable (let's face it, when the zombie apocalypse hits, none of our ever-so-precious physical-copy books are making it into the survival pack). For those technologically-minded modern-type readers, there is an Amazonian version of 'Beef' ready and waiting RIGHT HERE.
BUT! The exciting news is, there is also now a more papery holdable door-stoppery physical version of 'Beef' available! YES! Here are the deets:
- Language:English
- Pages:458
- Binding:Perfect-bound Paperback
- Interior Ink:Black & white
- Weight:0.75 kg
- Dimensions (centimetres):15.24 wide x 22.86 tall
It's more pricey than the virtual version, but you're paying for more dimensions. You're paying for heft, baby. Three-dimensionality ain't for free.
It's available from the very reasonable people at Lulu:
BEEF - THE FULLY PHYSICAL OBJECT.
Go get it, tiger!
REVIEW: Howard Givens and Craig Padilla – Life Flows Water
Review of the kinda lame-looking but actually quite interesting synthtastic meditationcore CD by Howard Givens and Craig Padilla. Review published on Heathen Harvest and generously edited by the always-present Sage
Weatherford.
"For a good nine or ten minutes, I felt like I was browsing for crystals in a ‘magick’ shop: nothing but new-age drones washing gently over relentlessly positive-sounding synth patches, calming tones respectfully floating around a pink fluffy cloud of inner peace. But then the synths got darker and rougher and an energetic arpeggiator crept in (as well as some treated guitar loops), and the whole thing went from Theosophical Society Bookshop to classic-era Tangerine Dream."
Howard Givens and Craig Padilla – Life Flows Water
"For a good nine or ten minutes, I felt like I was browsing for crystals in a ‘magick’ shop: nothing but new-age drones washing gently over relentlessly positive-sounding synth patches, calming tones respectfully floating around a pink fluffy cloud of inner peace. But then the synths got darker and rougher and an energetic arpeggiator crept in (as well as some treated guitar loops), and the whole thing went from Theosophical Society Bookshop to classic-era Tangerine Dream."
Howard Givens and Craig Padilla – Life Flows Water
REVIEW: Clinton Green and Barnaby Oliver – Discretions
Review of the amazing-looking and conceptually-inspiring randomised CD by the duet of Barnaby Oliver and Clinton Green. Published by Heathen Harvest and gingerly edited by the ever-busy Sage
Weatherford.
"[W]hen it comes to Discretions, I really loved everything about this CD (that is, I thought it was ‘good’)—the concept, the artwork, the execution, even the web app—I loved absolutely everything about it, except how it actually sounded."
Clinton Green and Barnaby Oliver – Discretions
"[W]hen it comes to Discretions, I really loved everything about this CD (that is, I thought it was ‘good’)—the concept, the artwork, the execution, even the web app—I loved absolutely everything about it, except how it actually sounded."
Clinton Green and Barnaby Oliver – Discretions
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