Peter McDade, Author of the Rock Novel ‘The Weight of Sound’ and Drummer of the Indie Band Uncle Green, On the ‘90s Music Biz, What Makes a Great Drummer, and Lovin’ John Bonham and Ringo Starr

Hello, Lit listeners. In this episode, Peter McDade is here to talk about his novel ‘The Weight of Sound’, about aspiring rock musician Spider Webb, who at 18 announces to his parents that he will skip high school graduation and move to Athens, Georgia, to launch his career in the birthplace of R.E.M. and the B-52s. Through rotating points of view and covering a span of over twenty years, the book traces the ways Spider and his music affect the people in his life: family, fellow musicians, girlfriends, fans, roadies, and music industry lackeys.

As drummer for the rock band Uncle Green, Peter McDade spent fifteen years traveling the highways of America in a series of Ford vans. While the band searched for fame and a safe place to eat before a gig, he began writing short stories and novels. Uncle Green went into semi-retirement after four labels, seven records, and one name change; Peter went to Georgia State University and majored in History and English, eventually earning an MA in History. His first novel, ‘The Weight of Sound’, was published by Wampus Multimedia in 2017 and won the Georgia Author of the Year Award for best debut. ‘Songs By Honeybird’, also published by Wampus Multimedia, was released in 2022. Both books have soundtracks of original songs.

Given Peter’s cred as both writer and musician, he’s doing double duty as both author and music guru in this episode.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS:

• What Peter would ask Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham if he could
• Peter’s Jimmy Page encounter
• Seeing Prince in concert and Peter’s blog on Prince
• The origin of what became the novel ‘The Weight of Sound’ and the soundtrack that accompanies it
• The time one of Peter’s students outted him in class as a former member of Uncle Green
• The appeal of discovering lost or forgotten albums
• Poking fun at drummers in the novel while also emphasizing the importance of the drummer in a band
• What makes a drummer great and why John Bonham, Ringo Starr, and Charlie Watts are examples of great drummers
• Words of wisdom about being in a band from Spider (character from ‘The Weight of Sound’)
• And words of wisdom about being a band’s road manager from another character in ‘The Weight of Sound’
• Life on the road for an up-and-coming band like Monkeyhole in ‘The Weight of Sound’ but also Peter’s band in the 1990s, Uncle Green
• Peter and I play a game of “Only Pick One,” a road game Monkeyhole plays in the novel
• Why Freddie Mercury is a god
• What I learned about the music business from ‘The Weight of Sound’ and Peter’s experience as part of Uncle Green and how the business is different now
• Peter on making the books he wanted to make and his idea of success

MUSIC IN THE EPISODE IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE:

1. No copyright indie rock background music
2. “Over and Over” by Fleetwood Mac
3. “My Name is Prince” by Prince & The New Power Generation
4. “I Don’t Wanna Know About It” by Uncle Green
5. “Guilty Party” by Uncle Green
6. “See No Evil” by Television
7. “Gardenia” from ‘The Weight of Sound’ soundtrack
8. “Pay Me Now” from ‘The Weight of Sound’ soundtrack
9. “She Said She Said” by The Beatles
10. “Drive Into the Sky” from ‘The Weight of Sound’ soundtrack
11. “Change Myself” from ‘The Weight of Sound’ soundtrack
12. “Doin’ Fine” from ‘The Weight of Sound’ soundtrack

LINKS: 

Peter McDade’s website: www.peterjmcdade.com

Peter’s blog on Prince: www.peterjmcdade.com/?page_id=52

Peter on Twitter, @PeterJMcDade

‘The Weight of Sound’ soundtrack on Bandcamp: https://wampusretrospectives.bandcamp.com/album/the-weight-of-sound-original-soundtrack

Christy Alexander Hallberg’s website: https://www.christyalexanderhallberg.com/

Christy Alexander Hallberg on Twitter, @ChristyHallberg

Christy Alexander Hallberg on Instagram, @christyhallberg

Christy Alexander Hallberg’s YouTube channel, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfSnRmlL5moSQYi6EjSvqag

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices