SCOTT BOURNE INTERVIEW / BS 9

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I met Scott Bourne down at the Carhartt store on Elm Street in Copenhagen before he did some readings and book signings for his (at that time) recently released Cheating on the Metronome. We had pre arranged an interview about the book and himself. Since I’m a fiend for creative writing and also a pretty big fan of realness, this turned into pretty much the most personally interesting interview I’ve done thus far. We locked ourselves in the store while people milled around on the street drinking the free beers and talked until both sides of the tape were full of inspirational chit chat about writing process, broken hearts, friendship and ignorance.

Interview below or in Bitchslap 9

Photos: René Johannsen

Scott Bourne rolled into Copenhagen (actually he was driven and put into a nice hotel) for just long enough to wow a small crowd of locals that were possibly equally as interested in a few free beers mid afternoon on a Saturday as they were in hearing a pro skateboarder recite poetry for them. Scott’s book ‘Cheating on the metronome’ which is a crazy and deeply personal look inside his head and heart in the form of poetry and diary entries breaks the mould of the traditional colab. As analog as you can get, the book is scans of his original A5 typed material. Not all attending could gauge the idea but being a wannabe writer I was hyped. We drank beer together with a tape recorder running after his reading. This is what was said:

Bitchslap -: I got a few questions for you, I even didn’t bring my computer cos I thought . .

Scott Hobbs Bourne (laughs): Good call

BS -: The first thing I’ve got here says ‘are you a lover or a fighter?’

SHB: (a big deep breath) Man, I think one of the things I’m going through in my life right now that I’m trying to change is I feel like my entire life has been fighting. I feel like everything I’ve accomplished in my life has been fighting and skateboarding is a good example of that. I was never gifted, I was never like the greatest skateboarder, I was just fighting and pushing it. My philosophy has always just been ok try it one more time.

BS -: Yea I saw that rail on youtube.

SHB: And that’s the point, if you quit now what if the next try was the one. So I think I’ve spent most of my life as a fighter but now I wanna get a different flow in my life. Like letting things happen naturally or being a natural component in my environment instead of trying to force my environment to be like me and I think that takes a bit of love, so I’m trying to love the world a little bit more than I have.

BS -: It’s interesting that you see yourself as something different than you’re writing about.

SHB: I think that when you love something it makes you into a fighter. I’ve always loved skateboarding and people see me in skateboarding and see me as a very controversial person, a fuck you, kinda go for it – type person which is, that’s who I am man. If I love something I go for it. It could be a woman, it could be a skateboarding trick.

BS -: And the book was something like that?

SHB: Well the book kinda happened like I was writing a lot of stuff just because I was writing, and then Lars at Carhartt really liked the stuff that I wrote for the Mongolian book (Dirt Ollies) and he was asking me about my writing and how I felt and if there was anything we could do together and I was like ‘man I’ve got all this short stuff that I’ve been writing’ and I gave him all the half pages you know and I never thought in my wildest dreams that they would publish this stuff.

BS -: But it’s far out and it’s different that what anyone else is doing in these circles right now and it’s not like your typical poet.

SHB: That’s thing things is that I don’t wanna portray myself as a poet, I wanna portray myself as someone who had things in his head that was happening so he chose to write them down and if the rest of the world wants to call it poetry then that’s fine.

BS -: OK man, so you live in Paris right now. What’s the attraction of Europe over the States?

SHB: At the time when I left the states I didn’t have to like there, I was making enough money with skateboarding, I could basically do what I wanted and I’d made this trip to Europe 3 years prior and loved it and the only reason I kept coming home was this girl that I was in love with and then when we broke up I didn’t have to be there anymore so I opted to make an attempt to come to Europe.

BS -: I have the feeling that when you’re American people wanna hear the political thing, was it a rebellion? Although it doesn’t have to be.

SHB: It wasn’t a statement , it wasn’t a rebellion but it really was in the sense that I’ve lost hope in my country: George Bush is insane. The second presidency of George Bush blew my mind, I cried, it blew my mind, I couldn’t believe the people of the United States elected him again or the powers that be put him in office and the people didn’t reject it, so for me it was a pretty big deal and it became a political… a lot of people think that I’m anti American but I’m not anti American but I am very anti patriotic to any country. For the first time in 15 years I have hope for America, and for the first time in I dunno 20 years I’m watching tv again. But what you have to understand is that 7% of Americans have an active passport. That means 7% of Americans are actually travelling and once you know that you don’t want to be treated as an American.

BS -:So I’m curious about the difference between sitting and pouring your heart out to your typewriter and basically reading your diary out loud for a bunch of strangers?

SHB: It’s different for me you know, this is the second reading for me on this tour and nights ago I was reading in London and I read some of the pieces I read tonight but I just read ‘em and tonight, I don’t know if you noticed but I got choked up, I almost lost it I almost felt like I was gonna cry when I was reading something which is really…it’s me, I mean the stuff Im reading is emotional but it’s funny to me as the writer, as the reader that last night it didn’t make me cry whereas tonight I almost lost my shit. Because every time I read something I am seeing what happens.

BS -: That’s dope man, that it’s that personal for you, but I guess that’s the point though, right?

SHB: Yea I guess, part of the message though, if there is any message at all, is ‘write your own fucking poems man, write your own fucking song, go out and dance’, fuck it you know what I mean, do your shit you know.

BS -: Analogue technology.

SHB: You’ve done your research eh?

BS -: I’ve got written here – you’re an obvious lover of analogue technology, or is it more a hater of modern technology?

SHB: It’s just that there’s a real problem that with digital we’re erasing our history. What you have to realise is that everyone’s computer crashes and if your computer crashes and you’ve got the last 3 years of your relationship or you child’s life on there then it’s gone, and that’s my problem with it. I think digital is really great for commercial use.

BS -: It made sense for me that you came out with the stuff you’ve done with ‘Eclipse’ because for most people they wouldn’t see the connection between the paper format when you just see the book alone.

SHB: Yea, you see the foundation.

BS -: How is the writing process for you? Are your fingers trying to keep up, or is it more waiting for the right words. The impression that I get is that it’s raw thought and you write as you think rather than think as you write.

SHB: Man, it’s just coming straight out. It’s not like I have 20 lines in my head and a panic to get them down. But anything in the last 18 years you’ve read from me in publications and magazines, I wrote for SLAP for 3 years, but every single solitary thing you’ve ever read from me has been written first on paper and I still write with my hand and then I type it and if it has to be in a computer to send it somewhere then I put it in a computer. And there’s a real process to this, my novel I wrote was originally 412 pages typed on paper and I wrote that novel 3 times front to back and when you write something over and over again you really turn it into what it’s going to be whereas a lot of people will just write it in a computer press spell check and it’s done. You’re editing you’re own work as you write.

BS -: Because you typed it straight out?

SHB: Everything in ‘Cheating on the metronome’ I put the paper in the typewriter and I wrote it, everything in there.

BS -: So you’re forced to get it right first time, or is it ‘right’ because it’s raw and honest?

SHB: It is ‘right’ – it’s arty right, because it came out the way it came out. I always say there are perfection’s in your imperfections. A lot of time when you rewrite things you take out shit because you’re scared about how someone else is going to feel about it.

BS -: How important is that to you, to keep it raw?

SHB: Well the thing with ‘Cheating on the metronome’ is that you’re looking at stuff that I was just writing on my own and I was also writing it as a break up you know. I had no idea anyone would have any interest in it and now actually that it’s published and it’s all over fucking Europe it’s insane cos like it’s super personal and now I have to deal with emotions of I let people that close to my life and so far it’s been super receptive.

BS -: Why do you think it’s so easy to relate to your work?

SHB: Well you know what? There was a young girl who came up to me tonight …

BS -: No shit?

SHB (laughs): The point is that what she said was so relevant to me because she said ‘I really like what you read and said because it is relevant to our time.’ You know which is cool because it’s not about some out of date poem written in 1800 which is really beautiful and we can love and we can study it but it doesn’t, we can’t relate to that shit, the world’s just different and I think that’s probably one of the greatest compliments thus far.

BS -: So I’ve written here ‘heart on your sleeve’ and that was before I’d met you and seen you tattoo. But is it just in your writing or something you live by?

SHB: I hope that heart on your sleeve is everyone’s writing, everyone’s life. But I’ve got some bullshit fucking reputation for being a tough guy and ah I mean fuck it it is bullshit but yea fuck it I am a tough guy, I been fighting my whole life you know what I mean, one way or another and I think now what I’m doing is fighting to not stop fighting.

BS -: What are some of your main influences right now?

SHB: Right now, to date my main influences are still my mother and my father. Influence is not who you choose. Influence is the people who moulded you whether you liked it or not. I’d love to say this great writer or my favourite skateboarder influenced me but the truth is they didn’t.

BS -: How much does skating influence you?

SHB: Now at this particular point in my life I don’t feel like skateboarding has any influence on me. If anything I’m trying to break away from…but it’s like, skateboarding is really great but the thing is it’s for children.

BS -: But it’s still fun though.

SHB: You know skateboarding for my development in life has been amazing but you can’t keep skateboarding in your life unless you somehow make a living from it, it might be running a magazine, it might be professional. See the thing that actually happens when you’re a professional skateboarder is one day you get out of the van and you’re 16 or 18 years old and everyone is 16 or 18 years old and then one day you get out of the van and you’re 30 and everyone is 16 or 18 years old so you get stuck in this defunct Peter Pan world, they won’t let you grow up. So for me I’m like completely anti skateboard influence. It’s ok if it carries you to a point but don’t let it stop your progression.

BS -: So about your tattoos, in the book there’s a poem or a story where you express a hatred or regret or even shame over your tattoos and you cover up and become the people you never wanted to be to avoid them judging you..

SHB: It’s called ‘My shoes’. It’s about a theory I have called social camouflage. If I show up in a nice establishment and I look like this then no one takes me seriously but if I show up with a shirt and tie on people are open to me and in essence the piece I wrote in the book is about not being scared to penetrate circles that don’t want you in em. I would like to think I’m fucking dangerous because I am in those circles. You know I have friends in veryveryveryvery fucking high circles. I also have friends in some of the lowest circles you can imagine. Circles that you can’t buy your way into and you can’t buy your way out of. The high circles, you can buy your way into. And it’s funny for me when I get into these higher society establishments and people respect me or all in love with me in the sense that they enjoy a young person wants to speak about certain things or knows about Vavaldi or knows about classical music or has read these classical novels adn then when they see me outside the place on the street and they see that psychopath, that crazy tattooed fucked up kid, it blows them away man, they don’t get it, that for me is a thrill.

BS -: But it’s still a big part of you, do you still feel like you have to cover up or what cos what ‘My shoes’ said to me was, yea I’ve been through all this stuff and this has happened to me and in a way it fucken sux.

SHB: It’s a warning poem to the youth, that I’m a part of. It’s like do what you’re gonna do but realise you will be held accountable.

The tape runs out while Scott is explaining that ‘friendship is the greatest love because you don’t even know why you love those fucked up motherfuckers’ and we bang on for another 10 minutes until both our bladders are about to burst so we cruise back out onto the street where sushi has been bought in major quantities and I leave the crew to their beers and fish to go watch cartoons and eat ice cream with some buddies.

Thanks to Carhartt (INTL and DK) for setting it all up and Scott for your time.
Buy the book here.