Ian Svenonious is the host of famed internet one-on-one Soft Focus and the singer in innumerous bands, ranging in styles from gospel to punk, with varying agendas united by his singular ideology, as dense and impenetrable/ personal as “In The Aeroplane Over The Sea”, “The Holy Mountain” or The Fall’s discography. Anti-drug, anti-parent, anti-cough syrup, pro-insomnia, pro-movement, his first band The Nation of Ulysses has been ripped off whole-sale door-to-door-to-torrent website musically and often psychically by bands like Refused, some emo band in the mid-west that hates Bright Eyes, a white horse who runs wild in the amazon and other bands on youtube.com that draw hits because of cover songs. But mostly Refused. The rest of the bands he was/is in are kind of based on variations of “The Make Up, tHE mAKE uP, and Make-Up” aka “Gospel Yeh-Yeh” aesthetic (all similar bands sharing members and all correct here using their correct anti-corporate grammar that does not include backwards lettering, I think. Ko(R)n is an original about that. I think Burroughs said that “Literature is 50 years behind painting.” But then Ko(R)n was a good ten-thousand years behind I imagine. It’s kind of amazing they can be original for that is it not? Hmm.) The group’s manifesto/style “Gospel Yeh-Yeh” is named after the Yé-yé style of music, apparently a globally popular one in the 1960s (examples of both embedded bellow).
…the other band fame key-terms to put in big letters on some building in New York, in lights and dramaturgy (sociology), (band names) going by Cupid Car Club, Scene Creamers, David Candy, Weird War, Chain and the Gang also. Here he is in full interview, video, picturesque glory.
"…it's like a blueprint for the destruction of the Parent Culture. It's like a zip gun ... It's an instruction pamphlet for kids on how to destroy their home life, you know, their domestic state." – taken from wikipedia.org, Ian speaking on the album ‘Plays Pretty For Baby’
“The thing about the FBI is that in the last 20 years their funding has dramatically increased at a time when there's no real subversion going on in America. So who do they have to monitor? It's people like (Royal Trux's) Neil Hagerty and myself and this waiter over here (points to man serving coffee). Do you know what I mean?" -- nme.com, November 6, 1999
“See I have a little movement, it's called RPM--Reconsider Paul McCartney. And it's all about how there's all these delineations in rock n roll, and particular affiliations make you more macho, like for example there's the Stones-Beatles dialectic. Then there's the Paul-John one. I'm a huge champion of Paul. Number one, he's the conceptual Beatle. He was the one who thought of all the movie ideas, the Let It Be cinema verite idea, and the Magical Mystery Tour idea which was based on the Merry Pranksters. You know, all that kind of arty stuff. And he also did all the orchestration work, or he was a big part of that. For example, Eleanor Rigby -- that song only had a string quartet, that was Paul. All these sonic innovations, it was always Paul. So even though he's not as good a singer and he's a little more bathos, he's ultimately the really important Beatle that raised them above their peers.” -- Mean Magazine #7, Feb-Mar 2000
“There are not just a collection of songs. Every album is responding to the stimuli of the context essentially. We are blessed. There is no longer an orthodoxy about a way a band has to sound. There are sectarian belief systems in the so-called underground music scene. But everything is open to us and it’s all acceptable. You can take that as a curse or a blessing.” -- The Portable Infinite, July 2005
“I’m dubious about free will. Liberty is one of those things that everybody thinks is good, but I’m not so sure. Free will is a relatively recent, Enlightenment-era idea. Why are we so eager to believe in such a new concept? I’d rather go with an old concept like astrology.” -- onionavclub.com, 2009
"Kanye West hasn't really done anything worthwhile-- except maybe musically, I haven't heard him. But he hasn't overthrown the government." via pitchfork.com via villagevoice.com, 2009
“Mel Gibson recently said that the War in Iraq is a form of human sacrifice. The ruling class is obvious occult but do you think that foreign policy is part of the occult?” asking Genesis P. Orridge on Soft Focus.
Recommendations: “Blue is Beautiful” is a great authorized documentary about the Make Up. “Destination Love” a great record. ‘Plays Pretty For Baby’ is a wonderfully beautiful NOU record. “Illuminated by the Light” is good by Weird War. I hear “The Psychic Soviet” is a good book he wrote.
Here are some people in three diff. message boards talking about Ian and his bands. I mixed and cut it up for a better conversation. Most were only like 6 posts long. Names changed to Person # to protect the innocent.
“I don't have anything other than his Nation Of Ulysses music, perhaps I should check out those other bands.” Person 1.
“ANYTIME DUDE.” Person 2.
“How strange you should post this topic, I was just listening to Weird War's 'Baby It's the Best' and wondering why no-one talks about Weird War.” Person 3.
“Too bad no one posted in your thread.” Person 1.
“Fact.” Person 2.
“…since this is tangentially related, who likes Neil Hagerty?” Person 4.
“Why wasn't that hailed as a modern day classic by all today's cool kids who claim they were born in the wrong era (…?)” Person 3.
“I was born on the floor.” Person 1.
“I don't remember it in Burn After Reading at all should watch it again.” Person 5.
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p.s. Hey. There are few more interesting characters in music than Ian Svenonious, a fact made completely and kind of masterfully clear today by your killer guest host and d.l. Syreearmwellion. Please reap the spoils in your inimitable fashions and then spill the beans of your discoveries to the man in charge, and thank you for your attentiveness, and thanks most especially to Syreearmwellion for choosing this humble venue. ** Shane Le Vein, Wise words re: influence and showdown, my friend. I usually think it's the fear of defeat that does the crushing since, especially when you're still finding your way as a writer, it's very difficult to see the shape of your own inherent if developing voice and, thus, the sight of your influences ends up being more glaring to your eyes than it truly is. The more you write and the less you worry about sounding like other writers, the more your influences are digested in a natural way. Or that's how it worked for me. Yeah, weird email, and, yeah, hardly the first, although it's been a while. This one seems a little too calculated to upset to actually be upsetting. I've been called sick and told I should be wiped off the earth all that kind of stuff so many times, and it always just bewilders me. And even though it seems quite odd that an accusation like that would come from a self-styled edgy, bad boy type like Ramsden, that's actually kind of typical, and it mostly just seems like a self-incriminating opinion to me, I guess. Anyway, thanks, Shane, old buddy. ** Bill, The name vaguely rang a bell, but that's about it. Man, crazy that you got bumped, but very cool that you got to see the Peyre, and thanks for tip. We'll try to show up as early as possible and grab close seats. So, I assume you're finally airborne now and are reading this in your own hood? ** Renaud Cerqueux, Well, hey there, Renaud. Always a pleasure. 'The Boogeyman', wow, yes, but a long time ago. I did like it very much. Koertge's an amazing writer, and he was my teacher in college and had a very big influence on me. He's best known these days as the author of unusually smart, clever 'young adult' fiction. Of the ones of those that I've read, 'Stoner and Spaz' is particularly good. Anyway, hey, thanks, and great to see you. ** Bernard Welt, Oh, gee, well, thanks for the thanks. Bliss city, right? Well, as of last night, I'm thinking I might jumped the gun on the impetigo thing. I'm thinking a weirdly nasty spider or something's bite at the moment. I'll keep my eye on it. Thanks, B. ** David Ehrenstein, I would put 'This Dark Apartment' in my top five favorite all time poems. I probably mentioned this before, but I only met James Schuyler once when I had a dinner with him, James McCourt (whom I met for the first time that night), Kevin Killian, Dodie Bellamy, David Trinidad, Ira Silverberg, and my ex-boyfriend Mark Ewert at a cafe in the East Village. Schuyler was very grumpy and shy, so I only got to express my awe and respect basically, but to meet him was a major moment for me. Very good news that Shirley Sherrod is suing Breitbart. I hope she really does for so many reasons. It could be a landmark case too. ** Nb, Yes, indeed, and, gosh, thanks, man. (I accidentally wrote to you twice. Part 2 is below). ** Paul Curran, How sweet the birthday week sounds. If a stranger's happy birthday would mean squat to Len, please add mine to the pile. The novel lethargy has been misery, but I'm just gradually trying to force my way through it, and the tactic might be starting to work. Enjoy the fest. ** Dogboy, Hey! Good to see you. I've been looking for you and wondering. No, I didn't take the email as a compliment really. Maybe the first time I got one of those. Now it's just weird to realize I'm hated. Anyway, wow, the diagnosis or sort of diagnosis and all that ... I totally get your total frustration with the neurologist. Second opinion? I used to do Xanax recreationally for a while years ago. I don't usually go for downers, but I found it pretty sweet. It just kind of zoned me pleasantly. It is really addictive though, and, like others said, it's not to be blended with other drugs 'cos it can be a much more violent drug than it feels. Hm, no, I don't know any online creative writing college programs, but I'm sure they exist. Everyone, Dogboy is interested in taking an online creative writing college program. Do any of you have any tips or suggestions for him? That would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! Dude, you utterly and unquestionably have what it takes to be a writer. You're already a very, very good writer. If you want to learn some tricks and get support for your talent and give your writing a bigger stage and all that, the writing program can be good, but you're already a very gifted writer. ** Pilgarlic, Hey, man. Yeah, that was kind of my first thought: did I do something sick in public recently? I couldn't think of anything. Who knows? Those figs do sound scrumptious, both the raw ones and the stuffed ones. I even love Fig Newtons. Peaches too. I'm kind of all about pears, though. I love pears. ** Syreearmwellion, Hey! Glad you stopped in so I can thank you in person for your glorious takeover today. Really, thank you. Great post. I hope Mr. S gets his eyes on it. Yeah, I always try to think of my paragraphs as stanzas when I'm writing them. Paragraphs are too slave-like in my head. What are you writing, if you don't mind saying? Well, man, don't hesitate to be here if it holds any interest at all. I assure you that you're always interesting. ** Sypha, Yeah, I think I was kind of born to play Gandalf. I'd like July to shuffle off too. It's ending very draggily for me. ** William Keckler, Hey! Thanks a lot for posting. It's a total honor. Hold on. Everyone, if you don't ready know the sublime piece of the internet that is Mr. William Keckler's Joe Brainard's Pajamas, I hereby summon you to get on board. In fact, he makes no end of amazing blogs, and you can find the menu here. The guy's a total wonder. Anyway, of course I'm pleased you liked the post. Koertge is one of most overlooked great American poets. The Oprah 'poem' is a beauty, of course, and thank you for it. Hope your summer cools quickly, and much respect to you, sir. ** Changeling, Hey. Oh, yeah, the Siken book. I like it, as you see. Ephredrine is kind of too clean, but, for doing the grunt work part of writing, and especially for editing, it hits kind of a nice balance. Ramsden's a therapist? Ha ha, wow. Huh. Weird. I'm feeling a little better today, I think. How about you? ** Steevee, Hey. No, I don't remember the interview. It must have been fifteen years ago or something. Last night I decided that what I've got might be not impetigo but some nasty bites maybe from a spider or something, but I'm not sure. I'm trying to stay away from the doctor due to, yes, money problems, but I will go if the wounds or whatever don't vanish by, oh, Monday. I'm with DE on Anne Rice. The fact that the church's crap was okay with her for years trumps her current Facebook anti-church trumpeting for me. ** Kier, Ah, I see. I hadn't actually seen that Ramsey guy's books in detail until your like. Yikes, lame. ** JW Veldhoen, Aw, you old softie, you. Ha ha, nah, it's love, dude. I can't hide it. ** Christopher/ Mark, So true about the Schuyler poem. Devastating. Jonathan Thomas ... yes, maybe that's him. I'm so sorry to hear that he's not around. Well, I was hoping against hope that you'd get called into duty for the Paris shows. That sucks. For me, not for you, since you'd probably be stuck in the theater most of the time. At least I can see 'ROARATORIO', which I'm very excited about. ** Little foal, Hey, D. Thanks for volunteering for my protection squad. I'm guessing it was mostly a 'look at me!' kind of gesture. So sorry about the throat ulcer. It's weird how the body sort of chooses one location and then always roughs it up the most whenever illness shows. I think my back or spine is my weak spot. I love that story of the guy in your English class. There was a boy like that in my school when I was in about 9th grade. Scott Stansbury. Kind of did the same sort of stuff with me and had the same kind of nervous/ embarrassed reaction whenever he was called on it. Obviously gay but not ready to say so. It sucked because he was cute, and I was into him, and I could see in his eyes that he registered my agreeableness, but he just couldn't relax enough. I'm hoping to read your poems today. I feel like my malaise is starting to ease off enough to absorb beauty again. ** Killer Luka, That was intense, Luka, yeah. I feel like I can see that. Shudder. I'm going to go smoke a cigarette right now. ** Scunnard, Obviously, Parc Asterix wishes for the same thing since it uses about ten different variations on that promo photo even though their Zeus couldn't see the roller coaster's top rung if it were standing on its tiptoes. ** Chris Goode, Hey, Chris! Glad you liked the poems, natch. I think Schuyler's influence on my poetry is pretty intense and probably more obvious than, oh, Ashbery's. Yeah, Keston Sutherland's comment definitely rings my bell. Yours too, I'm sure. Yeah, that was a very astute thought. That sax player in the video doesn't flash a memory before my eyes. Could be him, though. Wow, super interesting gig at Edinburgh. Have you done that before: perform other artists' work? I mean word for word? Well, I guess there's no reason to think you'll be a word for word portrayal in this show either. Anyway, I sure wish I could see that, damn, and happy to help anyone who can see, well, see. Everyone, you all know that Chris Goode is a total genius, and it turns out he's coming to one your lucky towns. Here's Mr. Goode to tell you all about it: 'if anyone's in Edinburgh for the festival next month, or in Edinburgh not for the festival but looking for something to do nonetheless, I'm performing in The Author by Tim Crouch at the Traverse, all through August. Look! It's here! I think I can legitimately say, given that I didn't write it, that it's a fucking awesome play, & a very exciting and enlarging experience for me.' Folks, do not miss this opportunity if it is even a remote possibility. Hm, I see Martin Creed is doing a ballet (?) there too. Weird. Anyway, knock every single person there dead, man, and take some of my sick love along with you. ** _Black_Acrylic, Whatever is going on with my hand is holding unpleasantly steady so far. Thanks for the verbal salve. Awesome that the Karaoke project is building and working its way to the finish line. ** Jax, Wish I'd been provocative enough to think to take a photo of the Avignon boy, although you know me well enough to be able to sketch him. 'There Will Be Blood' oh, yeah, I remember really liking that film. Long? Yeah, I guess it was, but I don't think the length bothered me. I saw it in a movie theater, and I always feel more patient there than at home, assuming you did a DVD. ** Misanthrope, Glad your mom made it through the test. Yeah, call the doctor(s). Leaky valves sounds like a sooner than later thing to me, but what I know about the medical profession could be easily transcribed onto an Etch-a-Sketch. I always think if someone feels the need to hype their genital piercings in their author bios, the only person they're scary to is themselves. ** Statictick, Hey. That documentary sounds super interesting. I need to see that. It's new, I'm guessing? Like pre-DVD availability? Thanks for the loan of your heart. My Dad's holding on at the moment, and the novel is beginning to surrender to me maybe. ** Todd Colby, Hi, Todd! It's awesome to see you, sir. Thank you so much, man. I bow to you. I actually am bowing and typing simultaneously. If I had a webcam, you'd blush. ** Creative Massacre, Hey, pal. No, I'm totally out of the loop on wrestling these days. It's hard to keep up over here when you don't have cable TV. Bret Hart?! Jesus. But at least the Hulkster has finally given up. That was just depressing. Anyway, I'm going to go see what newish WWE stuff has been loaded on to youtube and try to start catching up. Thanks a lot, and ongoing cheering from me for your steadily better feelings. ** Nb (again), The first of those poems that I read? Wow, hm. Probably the Ted Berrigan poems. I found them and eventually the others because there was and still is this very cool bookstore in Pasadena near where I grew up called Vromans, and, in the early 70s, whoever chose the store's stock was a very hip poetry reading person into the second generation New York School poets like Berrigan, Brainard, Padgett, Tom Clark, etc., who were kind of the hot thing in poetry at that time, and so I just found and bought all their books one by one, and then, being into the New York School, I traced its trajectory back to Ashbery and O'Hara and the rest. So, really, it was totally luck that I was so near such a great bookstore. You good? Easing back into a New York state of mind or whatever Billy What's-his-butt sings about? ** JoeM, Hey, Joe. Happy to be sideswiped by you. You good? ** Inthemostpeculiarway, Hi. Glad you liked the poems. Very cool. The novel's getting a little easier, so fingers crossed. Yeah, I so have no interest in celebrity, but being worthy of flashbulbs for one evening in France no less sounds cool. That's why threatening emails like that are so weird, especially now that I do this blog and everybody who cares can easily find out how non-sick I am. Or sick in unexpected ways, at least. I don't even think my books are sick, not in the slightest. I think people who think so are just weirdos. Sick is just a gross, stupid interpretation. I can't afford to blow the money, no, although I'll probably reserve a bit of it for the trip to Amsterdam that we're hoping to take soon. Wow, great if you can quit smoking, obviously. I hope you can. 'Edie', you mean the oral biography book? That's great, if so. I love oral biographies. It's an excellent form. Thanks for the movie news. Another Del Toro movie? 'Cos he's also doing the 'Haunted Mansion' movie for Disney, I think. I saw something about 'World War Z'. Most of the movie news I seem to come across is always about comic book blockbusters: Thor, The Green Hornet, The Avengers, blah blah blah. Oh, write a review, yes, please. My day: Not much. My hand itched and my glands were swollen, so I didn't feel very peppy or do that much at all. Like I said above, now I'm guessing my hand got bitten by something poisonous or something, but I don't know. Uh, what else ... I talked to my buddy Joel, and he's coming to Paris from August 16th to the 31st. A nice long visit. Worked sort of a bit vaguely on the dreaded novel. Oh, I got an advance copy/ galley in the mail of Tony Duvert's 'Diary of an Innocent' that Semiotext(e) is putting out, and that was very exciting. (Thanks, Hedi!) When I was buying food at the local Monop mini-supermarket, a guy asked me if I was Dennis Cooper, and I said yes, and he pulled out a rolled up copy of this magazine 'Matricule des Anges' that has a moody picture of me on the cover, and I nodded, and he kissed my cheeks, and went on his way. Gosh, that was really about it for my day, I think. I watched this documentary on TV about French rock 'n' roll in the early 60s too, I guess. Mostly, I itched and felt my throat glands. Today I'm seeing a theater piece that could be really good, so at least I can tell you about that. So, later, man, and greet me tomorrow with your day's goings on, please. ** L@rstonovich, Is that 'Wowie Zowee' book worth reading? Well, you're reading it, so obviously it is. I need to get my LA GbV '95 tickets pronto, shit! Banjo, cool, although not cool about the hives. Are there, lie, banjo player gloves? Much love bouncing back to you, kiddo. ** Alan, I was so impressed when you had Ron Koertge's poems on your blog. True, it seems that October will be when I'm in NYC. Ideally, for the first two or so weeks, although I think, money-wise, it'll probably be more like a week around the reading that I'm giving at the New Museum and the first or couple 'Them' shows at PS122. ** Bollo, Did anybody take pix of the opening and post them anywhere like on Facebook at least? I hope your friend gets that Holmes gig. Maybe she should apply to the London Dungeon. The London Dungeon is a spooky house attraction of the highest order, and some of the actors' roles are even kind of juicy. ** Math, Dude, so awesome about the third Apple interview. I knew it! How narrowed down is the prospective field of applicants now? I so hope you get that gig. Fucking cool! I'm tired out from July too. I should sleep too. I wish I could. Anyway, mega-sweet dreams and a ton and a half of love to you, Mathster! ** Jeff, Thanks for that, Jeff. I love you too, and I've got your back should any shitheads take a swipe at you. ** Oscar B, I'll call you, or call me. It starts at 8 pm, but we should go early to get close seats if we can, assuming Yury gets back from work on time. Anyway, blah blah, we'll talk. ** I'll turn you over to the team of Syreearmwellion and Svenonious now and make my way into what passes for my three-dimensional life. See ya.
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