Wednesday 27 January 2010
Hound Dawg Magazine: New Author Gets Skin Deep With The Meninblack
With both Hugh Cornwell and The Stranglers set to visit Brighton this Spring, it seems a fitting time for the Brighton Magazine to feature an author who recently turned up on our radar when he issued not only the Hooverdam Companion, an excellent tome devoted to Mr Cornwell"s recent and most talked about album, but also an issue of Hound Dawg Magazine devoted in its entirety to the Stranglers.
Chris Wade is the author's name, and though only in his mid-twenties he's already authored a couple of very fine books, including Malcolm McDowell : On Screen, a biography of a man who "has proved to be one of the most daring, dynamic, controversial and powerful film actors of all time."
Chris also conceived and runs Wisdom Twins Books.. a small publishing company he has very high hopes for. With all that going on we were grateful that he took time out to answer a few of our questions:
The Brighton Magazine (TBM): The Brighton Magazine was suitably chuffed by the quality and depth of information emanating from your book, The Hooverdam Companion. How did you come to write a book dedicated to Hugh Cornwell's recent album?
Chris Wade (CW): Well being too young to have seen the release of all the classic Stranglers albums in the 70s and 80s, Hooverdam felt to me like what Rattus (Stranglers first album) may have felt like to people in '77, if that makes sense.
I think it's a very special record and the reasons are simple; the songs are great, the release tactic (free download, then with the free dvd as a physical product) was imaginative and fresh and lastly, here was a man approaching sixty and he was/is rocking better than he has in years. I thought the book would cement this time and show it for what a special era it is.
I had a lot of fun doing it and consider it to be one of my proudest achievements to date. A few people have been a little hostile towards the project but as Hugh told me, that shows you"re doing something right if people object to it. He was right.
TBM: Did you get access to any of the players or makers of Hooverdam? Have you had any feedback from the Cornwell camp?
CW: Well I got to interview Hugh's bassist Caz Campbell, also in the book there is a very long and informative chat with Charles Kennedy, head of Hugh's label, where he goes into all the release tactics and basically the sad demise of the record business.
I also chatted to (Hooverdam) producer Liam Watson, a very intense man but a very talented one too. The list of albums he has done is incredible; White Stripes, Razorlight and lots of obscure stuff he tells of in the book too.
I got the chance to hang out with Hugh and he's a really nice guy, true gent and he genuinely likes the book. I think he and all the people involved with the album see it as a compliment. Whereas I see it as an honour that they even let me do it and embraced it so much. He even suggested updating it over time to be sold on future tours. I was overwhelmed with the positive feedback from the great man and I can"t explain how happy I am with it all, without getting the violins out and sobbing uncontrollably like I'm on Oprah Winfrey's show.
TBM: Note that The Hooverdam Companion is published via your very own Wisdom Twins Books. Was the Cornwell book your first foray into writing and publishing?
CW: Well The Hooverdam Companion was my first experiment in distributing it all myself and printing it all etc. I had written a couple of other titles but fully wasn't happy with the way they were released by the publisher, so I wanted to keep full control of the Hooverdam book and make sure it went the way I wanted it to go. The last thing I wanted was for angry disappointed Stranglers fans tracking me down to bite my nose off.
TBM: Malcolm McDowell: On Screen has had some great reviews. What was your interest in the actor and his life prior to writing the book?
CW: Malcolm is my favourite actor, and he has been for some years now. His films mean a lot to me; If, A Clockwork Orange, O Lucky Man!, all that stuff. The book aimed to highlight all the areas of his career, also the 80s and 90s when he became a kind of obscure B-movie actor.
There were a lot of shit films, a lot of interesting ones, but in the end Malcolm stands as one of film's true mavericks; fearless, powerful and a real one off. The book looks at his whole career, and at the reasons why he is so overlooked and forgotten, save for A Clockwork Orange. Maybe it's justified, I dunno, but I do love his work all the same.
TBM: How was the book received by his fans and the general public alike?
CW: Fans seem to like it. A lot of people see it as a film guide to Malcolm's long, varied career. A lot of his work is hard to track down, so the book reviews all his movies and is basically a film by film guide; what to see, what to avoid etc.
It has had some nice reviews, and all reviews seem to reflect my original aims. I did it as a personal thing, not for any other reason than I wanted to do it. I never write anything I am not interested in, otherwise what"s the point. The book was a personal homage to McDowell. Malcolm likes it and so does his son, who is featured in the book, and both have copies of it. That's nice to know.
TBM: Hound Dawg Magazine is a well thought out and stylish production. How did it come together?
CW: When I was a kid I used to make little magazines and newspapers full of made up news, and always wanted to do it for real. It was the writing I enjoyed, so I thought with the way the internet has made these things so easy and simple nowadays, I would give it a go.
People seem to like it, the mag has had loads of good feedback so I"m pleased about it. No negativity yet, which is good. It's just a bit of light fun really. I love magazines like Word, Uncut and Mojo. So I wanted to do something similar.
I wanted to get a stylised feel to it as well; while exploring films, music, poetry, photography and the arts. A lot of it is aiming to look at areas other magazines don't. I enjoy the interviews mostly, they are great fun to do.
TBM: Brighton's very own Chris Difford (Squeeze) appears in the latest edition of Hound Dawg, how did you get such a 'name' to agree to an interview?
CW: I just asked him and he said yes. I am finding that all you have to do is ask someone. They either say yes or no, it's that simple. You never know till you try. Thankfully, most people have the time to do it. It"s great to find out people you admire are cool and easy going. That makes it all worthwhile.
TBM: What does the future hold for yourself and Wisdom Twin Books?
CW: Well I"m gonna keep doing Hound Dawg cos it's so much fun. My first novel Cutey And The Sofaguard is coming out this year as an audio book released by Wisdom Twins Books and is having a big name reading it. I am really excited about it, possibly the most excited about any project yet. I can't say too much yet but it"s gonna be so much fun to do. And no, it's not gonna be Lionel Blair reading it; although that would be quite good, as long as he tap danced a bit for me.
Find out more about Chris Wade & Wisdom Twins Books @ wisdomtwinsbooks.weebly.com. Read a review of The Hooverdam Companion by CLICKING HERE
by: Mike Cobley
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Hugh Cornwell Gets The Wadey Treatment
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