community
march2
2017
Working Class Hero
Vernonia
Veterinary Clinic
Small and Large Animals
continued from page 12
what the craft of writing is like for him that doesn’t do it, I end up writing a story that guy to be my brother, if he wasn’t
and how it compares to being a musician about it. The things that I’m not tough such a dick! You can sort of cherry
in a band. “Writing is about the isola- enough to handle, I end up writing about pick. And then as I got older, the movies
tion of sitting in a room by yourself and and hoping that I will fi gure it out by the weren’t working, records weren’t work-
working on it,” says Vlautin. “You just end of the book.”
ing, and I couldn’t fi nd the right novels
have to put in the grunt hours, you have
When asked if he was a good that would hit every button that I wanted.
to clock in and clock out. Being in a student in school, Vlautin says he liked So I just started making them up when I
band is so much about organizing tours, school but he was never very good at was about 19. When you can’t get what
and making sure everyone can get to re- being a student. “I was always the sad you need you just start making it up.”
hearsal, and then about writing songs. case that tried really hard. You always
Vlautin says he knows his es-
And then you
hear about kids capism was a crutch. “It’s not the most
spend months and
that never apply healthy thing, to start living in a fantasyl-
months playing the
themselves... well and and you’re not doing anything about
“Lean on Pete started as a song.
same songs over
shit, I really ap- making your life better. The only thing
I wrote this six minute dirge, a
and over.”
plied myself, but I that separated me was that I got obsessed
really depressing folk song, and
“The fun
still wasn’t a very with the craft of writing. I really wanted
I played it for my gal and she
thing about writing
good student. But to write a good novel, a novel that, for a
started crying. And I thought,
is it’s like you’re
I liked it and I al- couple of days, eases someone’s mind or
‘I’m a good enough songwriter
building a house or
ways liked trying makes them feel less lonely.”
that I made her cry.’ And she
working on a car,”
at something.”
“I didn’t know any better and I
said, ‘I’m not crying because it’s
says Vlautin. “Ev-
His writing has started writing a story about a situation
a good song. I’m crying cause
ery day you’re try-
been compared to I wished I was in,” says Vlautin about
you’re such a depressing guy.’”
ing to get the car to
John
Steinback, his early writing experiences. “I always
start, and then you
Larry
McMur- wanted to live at a wrecking yard with an
want to paint it,
try and Raymond uncle, where all we would do was BBQ
and then buy new tires for it. And then Carver. When asked about his infl u- and drink beer and have adventures. And
you realize the engine doesn’t start be- ences, Vlautin said he gravitates to- that’s what I did for about two years... I
cause you’re not that good a mechanic, ward working class novels and realism. just wrote about that. It’s hard to fi nd
so you take the engine out and start over “Steinbeck was always my guy,” he said. an uncle that owns a wrecking yard if
again. That’s writing a novel. You tin- “Ken Keasey is really cool, especially you don’t have an uncle,” he says with
ker and tinker and tinker. And just when his fi rst two books. Larry Brown is a a laugh. “But that would be my dream.
you get it under control and feel good great southern writer. They make me I wouldn’t want someone who was rich;
about it, then... I call it ‘cheating on it,’ feel good and I don’t feel so alone about I wouldn’t want an uncle that owns a
because you start daydreaming about an- things, I guess.”
golf course. But if I had an uncle that
other book, because you’re falling out of
Vlautin says he started writ- was cool, that liked good music, and he
love with one because it’s OK and it’s ing as a way to escape an unhappy life. owned a wrecking yard, and we didn’t
going to go off and do what it’s going to “When you’re a kid you watch different have to work too hard, like three hours a
do, and you start falling in love with a movies and you think, ‘I want that gal to day, and it never rained...that would be
new idea.”
be my girlfriend, and that guy to be my my dream.”
“They work together socially,” dad, and from that other movie I’d want
says Vlautin, comparing his music and
his novel writing, “because a band is
so much fun to be part of and be sur-
rounded by your pals and see things.
Writing is all about creating... all the
time. I like that aspect of it.”
Vlautin has a new book sched-
uled to come out next year, titled Don’t
Skip Out on Me, which is the name of
a song on the fi rst album by his new
band, The Delines; the album is called
Colfax. He says he is also currently
working on a new book about a lounge
musician in 1960s Reno.
Vlautin says the hardships
in life and the things he has the most
trouble understanding are the things
he ends up writing about. “Usually a
song will solve any problem I write
about,” explains Vlautin. “Once in a
622 Bridge Street Vernonia, OR 97064
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I usually write another song, and when
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what horse racing really was about. It
forced him to quit going to the track.
“I was feeling bad about myself
as it was, and I was gambling on a horse
that breaks his leg and I was surrounded
by guys who were mad at this horse for
breaking its leg,” says Vlautin. “I didn’t
feel right about it after that. And so I
wrote Lean on Pete, for one, because I
loved horse racing but I was ashamed for
loving it and was trying to understand
that. And two, because I hated being a
kid more than anything. As a kid you are
voiceless and vulnerable and you have
no power. Those were two ideas that I
wanted to mix together in that novel.”
Vlautin also discussed his musi-
cal career as a lead singer and lyricist.
He formed his band, Richmond Fon-
taine, in 1994. The band released 11 al-
bums in over two decades, and although
they found limited commercial success
in the U.S., the band was very popular
in Europe and the U.K. Often compared
to seminal alt-country artists Uncle Tu-
polo, Vlautin cites Gram Parsons, John
Doe, Tom Waites and Dave Alvin as in-
fl uences.
Vlautin talked about how his
songwriting and novel writing often
overlap, and encapsulate the same sub-
ject matter. “All my novels start out as
songs,” he said. “Lean on Pete started
as a song. I wrote this six minute dirge, a
really depressing folk song, and I played
it for my gal and she started crying. And
I thought, ‘I’m a good enough song-
writer that I made her cry.’ And she said,
‘I’m not crying because it’s a good song.
I’m crying cause you’re such a depress-
ing guy,’” says Vlautin with a laugh. “I
killed that song after that, but it inspired
the book.”
When asked how he balances
his music career with his writing, espe-
cially since he is in a band, Vlautin said
his bandmates were always very under-
standing about the time he spends on his
novel writing. “When we started the
band, all of us were in our thirties and
none of us wanted to tour that much, ”
said Vlautin. “And the books kind of
helped the band and the band helped
the books, so everybody was pretty cool
about it. The only problem is that when
I’m writing stories, I never think about
music, and when I’m playing music I
never think about writing stories. So it’s
really hard to mix the two. It’s weird be-
cause they’re like two different sides of
you.”
Vlautin dove a bit deeper into
13
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