Nerve Insider : interview

Behind the Scenes: Dandy, Dirty Talk with Sebastian Horsley

Nicole Ankowski — Tue, 20 May 2008 19:34:00 GMT

Today’s Q&A with dandy Sebastian Horsley will rock your world. Ever had your girlfriend hide in a cupboard to spy on you having sex? Ever fall truly, madly, deeply in love with a prostitute? Ever been deported from the U.S. for “moral turpitude”? Didn’t think so. But Horsley has. Nerve’ own Alexandra Godfrey dishes on what it’s like have your socks charmed off by a natural-born dandy:

“Alexandraaaah,” he breathed into the phone, in all of his seductive, British glory.

“Oh” I said, taken aback. I hadn’t even announced myself. “I love my name in a British accent.”

“Do you, darling? Well then, I shall say it over and over again throughout our whole interview! Alexandraalexandraalexandra.”

And that is how I “met” Sebastian Horsley. Truth be told, I was quite nervous dialing those overseas digits as I prepared to call up a perfect stranger and ask him all about his sex life. I had no idea how he would react when I asked him about his drug addiction, his obsession with prostitutes or his sexuality. It’s a strange thing to do, even if you’re not shy. Which I’m not. But still, throughout our chat, I couldn’t help but wonder if Sebastian could somehow hear me blushing through the telephone wire. That’s just the sort of man he is, the kind that makes non-shy girls blush over telephone wires.

Sebastian and I did not just talk sex. We talked music, movies, MySpace, life, dreams, aspirations (his and mine) and by the time I thought to look at my watch, nearly two hours had passed. It felt like we were teenagers, dissecting life through the telephone, hiding under the covers so our parents wouldn’t know we were racking up the phone bill. It was the kind of conversation that changes your perception of the world. Before reading his memoir, I had no idea people like Sebastian existed, but after talking to the charming devil himself, I am so very glad they do.

The day after the interview I e-mailed Sebastian to thank him for his time and offered him a drink (or twelve) the next time I breeze through London. To my surprise, the immediate reply was:

“OK. Come to my room at 7.00 p.m. If you're late, I'll start without you. Sx”

Of course, he knows I live in New York City, making it impossible for me to come to his room at seven, but the gesture was nice. Besides, it’s always refreshing to talk to someone who lives in a fantasy land that the rest of us can only wish to visit.

“Ok, see you there.” I wrote back.

— Alexandra Godfrey

Visit the fantasy land: read the entire interview here.

Insider Interview: Behind the Scenes With Stuff Nobody Likes

Nicole Ankowski — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:37:00 GMT

First there was Stuff White People Like (water bottles! New Balance tennis shoes, book deals!). Then came Stuff Educated Black People Like, Stuff Christians Like, and a plethora of copy-cat incarnations. How to follow these class acts, yet bring the whole of humanity together? Enter Stuff Nobody Likes. Scanner agreed: who has love for Anal leakage, ex-girlfriends with book deals, windowless rooms, other people's farts, the G train, or herpes?

We snuck behind the scenes and interviewed on of the founder of Stuff Nobody Likes, who will go by the code name “Afroblanco”...

So, Afroblanco, who are the evil geniuses behind Stuff Nobody Likes, and how did you come up with the idea?
I have this group of friends that loves to communicate through long, weird gmail threads. [We were discussing] StuffWhitePeopleLike.com, and started joking about possible parody sites. Galenblade suggested "stuffpeoplewholikestuffpeoplelikelike.com," but I thought meta was the wrong way to go with this, that we should instead go contrarian and make a site called "stuff nobody likes." At this point, it was really just a joke. But then Navelgazer responded with, "YES! WE TOTALLY NEED TO DO THIS!" Yuri acted quickly (curses!) and bought the domain. And then Alia set up Wordpress and created our distinctive header graphic...and within 24 hours of inception, we had a blog up and running.

A few days later, we got linked to from Metafilter, which drove a ton of traffic to the site. And then the people at NPR got wind of this and interviewed us. We're still a bit amazed that people are so fond of our weird little joke, but I'd be lying if I said we weren't having fun with it.

What are brainstorming sessions like? (Or do y'all just post as you see fit?)
We pretty much just come up with ideas on our own. It's easy to do, because there's a lot of stuff that nobody likes.

Have there been any ideas that were revoked, because maybe one person liked the subject matter?
Yeah, that's happened a few times. I wrote a post about Tootsie Rolls that got nixed, because apparently some people like to eat the disturbingly turdlike candy. And we try to avoid stuff that's politically controversial, because we just don't want to go there.

Have people submitted any good ideas? Or, do you get angry "I like Necco wafer" emails?
Hah! We get both. A few people have sent in suggestions, and we've had a couple of guest columnists. We don't get many angry emails, but we do get lots of angry comments. I wrote an entry about Douchebags With Bluetooth Earpieces that got some angry responses. In the end, though, I think it was pretty obvious that nobody likes them.

Where do you go from here?
We're gonna ride this badboy out until heavens come crashing down and the angels sing Hallelujah from the heads of a thousand pins. Or until we get bored with it. Whatever.

The Modern Materialist Interview: Geoff Haggerty and the Comfy Bed

Nicole Ankowski — Thu, 08 May 2008 17:30:00 GMT

What do you think makes J.Lo go "woooo"?

This week, The Modern Materialist talks to Geoff Haggerty, a writer for the Onion News Network, who, for a very long time, had a teeny tiny bed. And then he went shopping…

MM: So, without necessarily getting too explicit, any interesting stories you can share about the bed?
GH: Oh, you mean besides all the incredible sex I've had in it? Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. That's what it sounds like when I have sex. I'm sort of at a loss interesting story-wise. I will say that for the first month or so after I bought it, it completely felt like any extravagant purchase or gift. You know that feeling of, "I can't wait to play with my new video game or iPod or whatever?" Well I had that feeling, except with a bed. I got all happy and sleepy and tired at the same time and went to bed earlier than at any other time in my life.

Want a bed that makes you go “Wooooo”? Find it right here, on the TMM.

New on Nerve, 4.28.08: New York’s Finest, Q&A with “The Wire” writer Richard Price

Nicole Ankowski — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:01:00 GMT

I admit: I was incredibly jealous when Nerve editor Will Doig told me he was going to interview Richard Price. I just recently discovered the joys of HBO’s The Wire (I know, I’m only a few years’ behind the times) and to sit and speak with one of the geniuses behind the scripts sounded like a dream come true…

As Will writes, “Richard Price's books appeal, in large part, because the author behind them has achieved near-mythical status for being the genuine article: he grew up in a housing project, hangs out with his characters (cops, thugs, undocumented immigrants), and, above all, writes more realistic dialogue than virtually any other novelist working today.

“His latest novel, Lush Life, takes place on Manhattan's gentrifying Lower East Side. In this small physical space, where rich hipsters, bodega owners and kids from the projects uneasily coexist, two homicide detectives slog through sludge-like bureaucracy and amnesiac eyewitnesses as they try to solve a murder. The book, however, feels more like an anthropological study of downtown New York than a police procedural, the story of a neighborhood changing so fast you can see it in the time-lapse feed of its own surveillance cameras. Price spoke to Nerve about mingling with the folks he portrays in his novels, and the strange popular nostalgia for the city's darker days."

I thought your portrayal of the Lower East Side hipster scene was surprisingly nonjudgmental.
Actually, I caught a lot of flack for the way I treated the quote-unquote hipsters. I was kind of surprised. Then I looked back on it, and I think I got too absorbed in the self-centeredness of some of these people. I mean, my kids are that age and part of that movement, that subculture. With my books, everybody tends to think everything I write is journalistically true, and it's not. If I had a chance to rewrite the book, I don't know if I'd undo that. This is how I'd experienced some people.

Read the entire interview here.

Interview with the “Baby Mama” Crew

Nicole Ankowski — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:52:00 GMT

Now this would be a tough “Who Would You Rather?”: Tina Fey versus Amy Poehler. I’m not even going to try to decide; it would rip my mind in two. Lucky editor Gwynne Watkins didn’t have to choose, however. Over at our lil’ sister site, Babble, she got to interview both funny women:

Can you talk about the first time you met and what you thought of each other? Was your chemistry instant, or has it evolved over the years?
Amy: I was like, I finally found the woman I want to marry.
Tina: And then I had to break it to her that that's not legal.

Check out the full interview here. And, do you like to hear real women talk about stuffing their faces? (With food, yo.) Of course you do. Here are Amy and Tina, talking food and smack with each other…

And here's Amy on "rude people" (aka Tina):

The MM Interview: Mary Burke and the Mobile Internet

Nicole Ankowski — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 19:33:00 GMT

Today The MM Interview features Zac Posen employee Mary Burke, and why she loves her Verizon Wireless USB720 Modem. Plan before you buy, kids! Check out Mary’s full review and life story here. Well, her life story as it pertains to this marvelous, modern gadget, plus what it’s like when the open road is your office, and a luxury women's wear designer is your boss.

From the Archives: An Interview with Mary Gaitskill

Sarah — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 18:00:00 GMT

One of my favorite Nerve interviews is this one, with Mary Gaitskill from November, 2005, when her novel Veronica was published. Gaitskill discusses intimacy, AIDS in the 1980s and 2000s, pity, feminism and, of course, Veronica.

“A confidently sexual person doesn't have to announce it all that much. But if it's who you are — if you love to get dressed up in the big heels and the tiny skirt and the wig and the whatever, why not? But I don't feel like that should be idealized any more than the modest, demure person. The same woman can feel both ways on different occasions.”

“He's not weird for the sake of being weird; he's just weird because he's weird.”

Sarah — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 19:00:00 GMT

Two terrific pieces from the film issue that I missed while I was out:

This is a great, long interview with Joseph Lanza, whose book Phallic Frenzy “spends as many pages describing [Ken] Russell's onscreen pageantry as its symbolic underpinnings: exaggerated phallic imagery, abrasive anti-religious scenes, nude male wrestling, incontinence, rape and forced enemas.”

Says Lanza, “Some people will look at the book and say, "Phallic Frenzy? This must be pornography." Well, it's about penises, but it's often about how terrifying they can be, and what the penis might have represented to Ken Russell at various times of his life.”

In Will Doig’s charming piece, “Hollywood Square,” Will talks about his love for mediocre Hollywood comedies. Many of them feature John Candy. None of them are good date movies.

“Made in America is not a film you want anyone to know you've seen, least of all a philosophy major from the University of Maryland whom you're trying to have sex with. I knew, even as I was walking the box to the Blockbuster counter, that I was torpedoing the date. I could have rented a Cassavetes or a Schlesinger, but I couldn't stop myself. I was going to make him watch this, dammit.”

Today in Music: “I kind of write with my heart, and Dan writes with his dick.”

Sarah — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 22:52:00 GMT

Choice excerpts from today’s interview with A.C. Newman, of The New Pornographers.

Anyone who is doing something creative, they're always chasing something. And a lot of the time you're not even sure what it is you're chasing. That's the best explanation I've ever found for that.

What have you been chasing?
I don't know, maybe some sort of formless happiness? If I could put it into words I would have a number-one hit.

You’re not a porn fan?
No, not particularly. It usually looks like they just fell out of a Skid Row bar. You might as well be jerking off over an anatomy textbook. Which people probably do.

Do you find that married sex is better?
Sure. Infinitely better. What possible answer would I give? Like I'm really going to say, "Things aren't going too well in bed for me now." That'd be the pull quote, right?

New on Nerve, 10.19.07: "Hey, you're sexy! But you're kind of ugly!"

Sarah — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:24:00 GMT

Actors like you — Simon Pegg, Seth Rogen — you're depicted as schlubby sex symbols. How do you feel about that?
Well, it's not great, to be honest. The whole idea of, "Paul Giamatti is kind of sexy." Well, yeah he's sexy. Ask his fucking wife or anyone he's ever laid.

Is it surprising? No, because attraction doesn't come from abs and pecs. It comes from somewhere else altogether. If Penelope Cruz was a shit actress, no one would fancy her. It's that simple. Because the actresses who are beautiful and act like shit are going to be forgotten in about five days. So it's double-edged sword, because people are like, "Hey, you're sexy! But you're kind of ugly!" I'm not supposed to be happy about that.

New on Nerve, 9.19.07: Weirdo Laureate, an interview with George Saunders

Sarah — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 15:30:00 GMT

Today Will Doig interviews George Saunders. According to Will’s introduction, “it's with no small amount of fanfare than The Braindead Megaphone, Saunders' first collection of nonfiction, arrives on the scene. Happily, his incisive wit survived the transition intact. The book opens with the titular essay, a commentary on the twenty-four-hour news cycle in which Saunders manages a fresh take on a topic that's been rehashed a million times before. Other stories depict the insane concentration of wealth in Dubai and the total minimalism of a Nepalese boy who's been meditating under a tree for six months. But the central theme of media coverage — its ridiculous relentlessness, its relentless ridiculousness — recurs as an amplified squawk that gives the collection its name.”

“I honestly wasn't super familiar with his work,” Will told us. “I'd read some of his magazine articles, but to prepare for the interview I had to go out and buy three of his books and read all three in a week. (For the record, I loved them). I basically just wanted to get him talking about media, since that's what his new collection of essays is largely about, and I'm really into TV news (though not because I think it's good).

He talked really fast, and went off on lots of tangents. He's a professor at Syracuse, so I could see him being one of those professors who's all exuberant and hyper and tells lots of stories. About halfway through the interview he apologized for acting so crazy and said he'd had "like, seven pots of coffee." This was a late-afternoon interview, so that seemed reasonable.”

Here's something that didn't make it in the piece.

Will: “It’s mostly me babbling incoherently, but I guess what I kind of like about it is that I’m trying to get Saunders to go off on some big media theory by positing my own grand, rambling, complex theory about cable news, and then in the end he's like, ‘dude, just relax and enjoy.’”

WD: Just to bring it back to news, and to media for a second, I mean, it’s sort of amazing to watch a movie like Broadcast News, have you ever seen Broadcast News? With Holly Hunter?

GS: Yeah. Is that, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not—“

WD: No, that’s Network.

GS: I haven’t seen Broadcast News

WD: Okay, basically it’s about, you know, this TV news station, it’s similar to Network and William Hurt ends up getting this TV anchor job because he’s better looking than Albert Brooks even though Albert Brooks is the better reporter. The movie has all sorts of little concerns like that, about the state of television media, that today just seem totally prosaic, because you’re like, ‘Of course the pretty person gets the anchor job.’ Like, I mean, would there be any question about that today? So I think, I don’t know, it’s interesting that like uh, I guess, like um, I’m sorry, I’m kind of, I’m not getting to the point—

GS: Oh believe me, I have no grounds on which to criticize—

WD: Like I remember when CNN got in trouble because a couple years ago they put this ad on for Paula Zahn’s show, and there was the sound of a zipper unzipping and there was a voiceover that said something like, “What other morning show is Brilliant, Super-Smart and Sexy?” Other that just the idea of advertising as news program as "brilliant and super-smart," which i love, um, I mean, I guess, is it weird, or is it bad, that basically it’s like Aryan Nation out there on cable news? it’s like all blonde women. With blue eyes. Is it bad that they’re doing this, or does it not matter do you think? Cause I figure if it gets people to watch news, not the dumb news, but like actually get information, maybe having pretty people as anchors isn’t such a bad idea. You know?

GS: Yeah, you know I really don’t have much opinion about it, except sort of to say…You know, this idea that you’re describing is actually funny. This special race of Aryan, beautiful people who are smart enough to have gotten that far. You know, they might come off a little vapid, but to be, you know, even in that rank, you’ve got to be pretty sharp. Got through journalism school and all. Honestly, like 95% of my personality just sits back and kind of enjoys it.

Full interview here.

New on Nerve, 9.18.07: "It's my duty to talk about sex."

Sarah — Tue, 18 Sep 2007 14:31:00 GMT

This morning we have an interview with Will Sheff, lead singer of Okkervil River by Sarah Hepola. The Nerve Insider is a huge fan of Okkervil River, and the interview does not disappoint. Sheff is thoughtful, insightful and extremely appealing.

At the beginning of the piece Sheff orders a sandwich from Subway. Sarah didn't put this in the article, but he told her, “I want this interview to be really good, let me finish this sandwich and call you back.”

Other tidbits that didn't make it in the piece:

"One thing about will is that he's a movie fanatic, and he's pretty encyclopedic in his knowledge. I used to write about film for The Austin Chronicle, and we actually asked him to contribute to the film section. The articles are published under his full name, Will Robinson Sheff. Here's a link to the archive of his work.

Also, during the interview, we had a funny conversation about his working at video stores. He told me he'd been fired from his job at I Love Video, another famous indie movie enclave in Austin, and I asked why. This is what he said:

WS: Because I was incompetent. I forgot to open the store one day. What can you do? Musicians. But this one girl was really gunning to get me fired, too. She wanted to see me go down.

ME: Do you think she just wanted your space on the employee pick's wall?

WS: Yeah, she wanted to fill it up with vampire movies.'" -- Sarah Hepola

From the interview, Will Sheff on...

Trashy TV:
I think low culture is all culture. Rock and roll is low culture that has been elevated to high culture. There is something so boring about the idea that something must be an opera or an etching to matter. It's all human beings trying to connect, trying to understand one another.

Porn:
It's the most simple art imaginable: It's people and sex. You might throw in costumes and a storyline, but that's not what people rented it for, or downloaded it for. They downloaded the porn to see people fucking. There's so much debate about what it means. All it means is what it is.

I think rock and roll is supposed to be about sex. It's my duty to talk about sex, just a little bit. Especially in indie rock, because there's this trend toward kind of fetishizing childishness and being freaking out by sex. But the songs that I loved, the David Bowie and Iggy Pop, those songs were all about sex.

Groupies:
That was a big theme, yeah. I guess I'm trying to look at people who are such big fans of art that they would throw their lives away. And they're such big fans that art becomes sexual. This is your way to interact with this person, that you want to have sex with them.

His sad songs:
I don't think of the songs as being sad. I think of them as being ecstatic. Like having a blended sadness and happiness and poured on in enormous quanities. I like the idea of these strong emotional states, for those things to be present at once, that there is something jumbled in the way they co-exist.

New on Nerve, 9.13.07: Music! Frankel!

Sarah — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 13:00:00 GMT

Check out Gwynne Watkins' interview with Frankel, a California singer-songwriter whose album Lullaby for the Passersby came out this summer. According to Gwynne, “The album’s hummable melodies and sunny harmonies, shadowed by layers of strange instrumentation (theremins, electronic feedback, children's toys), create a lush sound that you want to crawl into, like a hammock.”

Frankel’s MySpace is here.

His website is here.

New Today

Sarah — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 15:47:00 GMT

The Nerve Date, Installment 2

"When we finally met Madison, on a hot summer afternoon, we learned that her interests include wine, art, politics, and being photographed by Samantha Wolov increasingly naked in her apartment."

An Interview with Lisa Carver, author of The Lisa Diaries.

"I had like six boyfriends and a couple of girlfriends. One day, Genevieve said, you should have a live diary."

An interview with John Tuturro, actor and director of Romance & Cigarettes.

"I was trying to connect the Charles Bukowski quality to the James Brown, Bruce Springsteen quality. Regular people have imaginations, they have sexuality, they have stupidity, they have rage, they have love."