Rock Is Lit Franz Nicolay On His Novel ‘Someone Should Pay For Your Pain’, His Bands The Hold Steady & World Inferno Friendship Society, & More
Well, this is it: the Season 2 finale! What could be better than having a great novelist AND musician as my last guest for the summer. Enter Franz Nicolay.
Franz is here to talk about his rock novel ‘Someone Should Pay For Your Pain’, a story that follows singer-songwriter Rudy, his conflicted relationship with a successful former protégé named Ryan, and Rudy’s young niece, Lily, who wants to travel with him and whose surprise appearance forces a reckoning with himself and his past.
‘Buzzfeed’ named it one of its “42 Great Books To Read” for spring 2021, stating, “Starting at the midlife crisis of an early-aughts indie rock never-was, Franz Nicolay delivers a tight-fisted gut punch of a novel, weaving a road-weary world with a lyricist's skill for evocation, emotion, and economy. . . . A knockout fiction debut from a longtime troubadour.”
In addition to records under his own name, Franz Nicolay was a member of cabaret-punk orchestra World Inferno Friendship Society and is still a member of The Hold Steady, which ‘Rolling Stone’ magazine called “one of the all-time great New York bands.” Franz has also recorded or performed with dozens of other acts.
His first book, the nonfiction ‘The Humorless Ladies of Border Control’, was named a “Season’s Best Travel Book” by ‘The New York Times’. His second book, the novel ‘Someone Should Pay For Your Pain’, was named one of ‘Rolling Stone’s “Best Music Books of 2021.”
His writing has appeared in ‘The New York Times’, ‘Slate’, ‘The Paris Review Daily’, ‘The Kenyon Review Online’, ‘Ploughshares’, the ‘Los Angeles Review of Books’, ‘Threepenny Review’, and elsewhere. He has taught at UC–Berkeley and is currently a faculty member in music and written arts at Bard College and in Columbia University’s MFA fiction program.
MUSIC IN THE EPISODE IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:
- Punk Rock Instrumental No Copyright
- “Always Something In My Blindspot Waiting” by Vic Ruggiero
- “Sideways Skull” by The Hold Steady
- “Perdido” by The Hold Steady
- Clip from the beginning of documentary on World Inferno Friendship Society
- “This Is Not a Pipe” by Franz Nicolay
- “So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star” by Patti Smith
- “Gainesville Rock City” by Less than Jake
- “Someone Will Pay” by Justin Townes Earle
- “I Was a Teenage Anarchist” by Against Me!
- “Good Day” by The Dresden Dolls
- “When You Get to Asheville” by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell
- “New River, Spring For Me” by Franz Nicolay
LINKS:
Leave a rating and comment for Rock is Lit on Goodpods: https://goodpods.com/podcasts/rock-is-lit-212451
Leave a rating and comment for Rock is Lit on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rock-is-lit/id1642987350
Franz Nicolay’s website: https://franznicolay.com/
Franz Nicolay on Twitter, Instagram: @FranzNicolay
The Hold Steady’s website: https://theholdsteady.net/
The World Inferno Friendship Society’s website: https://www.worldinferno.com/
Documentary on World Inferno Friendship Society (Infernite version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iADNLE7H5qE
Book trailer for Salman Rushdie’s novel ‘Luka and the Fire of Life’ (Franz is in the trailer): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1IpnC4bImo
Christy Alexander Hallberg’s website: https://www.christyalexanderhallberg.com/
Christy Alexander Hallberg on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube: @ChristyHallberg
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