TLO Member Interview: vegetable theories

TLO Member Interview: vegetable theories
Conducted by Phillip Stecco


1) How did you first encounter the work of Thomas Ligotti?

That would be in The Nightmare Factory. I'd never heard of him before that. He certainly blew my socks off!

The first thing that struck me, apart from the power of the prose, was how completely different he was to anything else that I'd experienced in the horror genre.


2) What are some of your favorite works by Mr. Ligotti?

I'm not trying to be controversial when I say that I prefer the non-fiction at the moment. That's not to say that I don't still get a great deal of pleasure from the stories.

I love The Conspiracy Against the Human Race, and the interviews mean a great deal to me. They are genuinely illuminating, not just about his work, but about the world.


3) What other writers do you enjoy reading?

At the moment I'm re-reading Joel Lane's last short story collection. I'm also reading the meditations of Marcus Aurelius and Ted Hughes' collected letters.


4) Do you have any favorite singers or musicians?

I love anything by Zali Krishna or Billy Childish.

I love people like that who are unstoppable powerhouses of creativity. They produce 10 times as much stuff as the rest of us and it seems so effortless. They're like forces of nature. They're like artists who have been pumped full of super-producing growth hormones.

Des Lewis is a similar phenomenon in the world of literature. The great thing about these people is that they often provide a platform and encouragement and inspiration for other artists.

My favourite album of all time is Sad Days, Lonely Nights by Junior Kimborough. Closely followed by The White Birch by Codeine.

I'm very into Bartok's string quartets at the moment.

I also have fantasies about being Mark Eitzel's housemaid.


5) Do you have any favorite artists in the visual media?

I'm a painter, although for how much longer in this recession/depression, I'm not sure.

The painters I look at the most are Goya, Rembrandt, Titian and Bellini.

6) What are some of your favorite movies?

I'm afraid I'm not a massive movie fan.

My favourite film would be Charles Laughton's Night of the Hunter. Followed by Broadway Danny Rose. Interestingly Woody Allen said in an interview that he wishes he hadn't given that film a happy ending and I agree.


7) Do you watch television?

In the UK we have a soap called Coronation Street which I never miss. Apart from that I don't think I watch much TV except for the odd episode of Frasier.


8) What foods do you enjoy eating?

I'm a vegetarian so anything without meat.

I enjoy baking. I made some delicious Chelsea Buns yesterday!


9) Do you have any odd hobbies or collecting fetishes?

I'm starting to get a collection of stuffed birds which I hope to use in my painting. I'm probably too lazy and poor to make a great collector.

Odd hobbies? I don't think so. If I have to get full-time work my painting will become a hobby I guess. In which case I hope my paintings would become increasingly odd. And increasingly bitter.


10) What recreational activities do you enjoy?

I like to go on long walks. I like playing with my Chessmaster 9000. I like drinking wine, listening to music, baking, reading slowly, holding books.


11) So many of our lives are filled with the day-to-day anxiety of existence. Have you personally discovered any ways to relieve stress?

The first part of this question relieves stress for me.

To know that other people find even the easy things difficult is, weirdly, empowering or strengthening.

That's one of the reasons Mr. Ligotti's interviews mean so much to me.

For relieving stress in the short-term I find a glass of red wine and a Schubert string quartet always works.

For relieving stress or depression in the long-term I think it's important to stay physically as healthy as possible, it's important not to become isolated and introverted, and it's important to be involved in a meaningful, ambitious, long-term project.

At least these things are important for me.


12) Life?

Whether it's a nightmare or a miracle, it's over in the blink of an eye.

Although I can understand those people who wish the eye would blink faster.


13) Death?

Impossible to conceptualize. We can only see it in terms of things which it isn't. Metaphors. Sleep, darkness, etc.

I don't believe in an afterlife so I find the thought of death reassuring.


14) Work?

I make a meagre living as a painter, but supplement my income by teaching.


15) Do you have any interesting work anecdotes to relate?

Not really. Certainly nothing interesting. I remember a long time ago I had a summer job in McDonald's. They had a cupboard that was at the end of a small peculiar corridor.

It was peculiar because it was badly planned.

It was almost designed to make it as difficult as possible to access the cupboard.

Anyway, in this cupboard they kept mops and buckets. There was also a sink which was very low down, about the level of your knees. The taps were always dripping and for some reason it was very warm in this cupboard.

It was very warm and very very small. The door had some kind of mechanism on its hinges so it always wanted to shut, very slowly and very insistently. You'd be filling up your metal bucket with hot water and this door would be gently pushing you into the cupboard.

When it closed it completely cut out all noise and all light. It was incredible. All the noise of a busy McDonald's would suddenly be completely obliterated.

Anyway, I hope you don't think I'm a complete nut, but I used to love this cupboard.

The door would shut and I'd be suddenly in this small, dark, warm, silent (except for the soporific dripping taps) womb-like space. I would feel a strong sense of peace and calm and when I came out of the cupboard I was quite refreshed and able to face the insanity of McDonald's.

I used to sneak into the cupboard whenever possible and often my fellow workers would open the cupboard to get a mop and bucket and find me staring blissfully back at them.

Hey, I told you it wasn't interesting!


16) What is your earliest childhood memory?

Touching my mad dad's bestubbled face.


17) What is your fondest childhood memory?

Staying up very late to watch the Quatermass Experiment with my mum.


18) Who has been the most influential person in your life?

Apart from the real people, family friends, loved ones, D H Lawrence had a massive effect on me in my teens. When I get cynical I return to him.


19) Do you have a special plan for this world?

As Jason Molina said on "Ghost Tropic," "Simply to live, that is my plan."


20) What else should we know about you?

I'm 40, not 63. I put the wrong birthdate down when I signed up. I've got no idea how to change it.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to apologize for anything I've ever said here which is excessively stupid or annoying.

And I'd like to say thanks, Phil, for letting me do this.