Novels about rock and roll bands or artists do not occupy a very important place in the literary canon.
[Ríe] This is true. While I’m sure they are good books, I don’t remember reading any books about a fictional pop group I particularly like. I’m a big fan of Nick Hornby’s novels, but he writes about the music fan experience. And of course I read the memoirs of many musicians, a genre that I love.
Then why did you decide to invent a band? [Ships in the Night] and write a novel about it?
I am a fiction writer. And sometimes the subject of your books chooses you, not you. At a certain point an idea settles in your head and it doesn’t let go and let you write about something else. Something like this happened to me. And all because of a John Lennon book I’ve been keeping since I was about 10 years old.
Can you explain the story to me?
When I was that age, I used to go to flea markets in Dublin on some weekends that sold secondhand clothes, records and books. One day from there I purchased Lennon Remembers, a transcript of two lengthy interviews John Lennon gave to Rolling Stone shortly after the Beatles broke up. And it was a shock to read this, because there was a mixture of compassion, guilt, anger, bitterness and even hatred in Lennon’s voice towards his former bandmates. When I was a kid, I thought being in the Beatles was the best thing that could have happened to you. And suddenly, someone who was there told me that wasn’t the case. A place where ambition, fun and youthful dreams of a group come together, but also where great drama and terrible disappointments occur. It’s like a dysfunctional family. And this idea preoccupied me for years until I had no choice but to dedicate a novel to him.
The engine of many of the best bands in history is the love between their members. The Beatles are an example of this. So are Ships of the Night, right?
Clear. Lead actor Robbie Goulding believes there are three great musicians in the group. [Fran Mulvey] he’s a genius and there’s also him, a bit of a fraud. And what he discovers throughout the book is that others don’t see him that way. “The ships were Robbie Goulding and his three fans,” Fran tells him. Although unnoticed by Rob, it is this admiration and love that keeps the band working. Dreams of love, friendship and youth are the reasons people form rock and roll bands.
And then real life takes over.
Yes it is. But I think the best quote of all time is this line from Undertones: [el disc jockey y radiofonista] The words were engraved on John Peel’s tombstone: “Youth dreams are hard to overcome.” What the book wants to celebrate is the beautiful innocence and rebelliousness of youth.
The book also teaches that the price of these dreams is almost always disappointment.
The great tragedy that befalls the ships is the fulfillment of their dreams. Maybe they would have been happier if they had failed. Feelgood’s great guitarist Wilko Johnson has a very nice interview on YouTube which explains better what I’m trying to say. Dr. Feelgood came from a small town in Essex called Canvey Island, which is a pretty tough place. So when they got together, they set out to become the best band on Canvey Island. Modest ambition, you know? One day they gave a performance in London; It didn’t go well, but they still managed to perform in London. They drove back to Essex all night and stopped for a cigarette when they crossed the bridge to Canvey Island, and Wilko said to singer Lee Brilleux, “Isn’t it great? We may already be the best band in Essex next year.” The beauty of that moment seems pretty insurmountable to me. I think my novel is trying to explain how the moment of missing something is almost always more pleasant and satisfying than the reality of getting it.
In the 1980s, many pop stars had a clear political position. Judging by the taunts you threw at Billy Bragg in a passage in the book, you don’t seem to like mixing pop with politics.
I love Billy Bragg! When I was the age of the characters in the novel, he was like a saint to me. I admire her and feel very close to her, so maybe that’s why I allowed myself some innocent fun at her expense. That said, I think ’80s pop music led to major political and social conquests. The most successful political movement I know of was the anti-racist campaign supported by the Two Tone groups: The Selecter, The Specials, The Beat… They stopped being racist from looking cool. In my college years it was common to make racist comments to make people laugh. And these groups had the courage to come forward and say that this behavior was bullshit.
The last performance of Ships in the Night takes place in Barcelona. For some reason?
I love Barcelona. I spent a summer in the city about 30 years ago, and although it was hot as hell, I was blown away. Nightlife, cultural heritage, language, sense of identity… all these make Barcelona a fascinating place. So I guess it was a matter of personal love. Also, the biggest drunk I’ve ever had in my life was in Barcelona. One night, [el novelista irlandés] Colm Tóibín and I went out for a drink with a group of people and woke up at eleven o’clock in the morning on the beach in Sitges. Even to this day I have no idea how we got there!