Author: Barnaby Hazen
Release Date: April 1, 2017
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Source: Received a copy in exchange for an honest review
Synopsis
An
ensemble sets off on a dark comedy of errors and uncertain conclusions,
featuring original music throughout the story.
Theo and Judah, two childhood friends, are
trying desperately to find an audience for their hard-edged, “grunge” music as
they move past their twenties and feel the need to establish careers. Together,
they enroll in an unusual college, called The University of Jazz and Music
Technology.
Attracted at first by the means within the
school to professionally record their own original music, the two friends
embark on what could be a lifelong journey.
But the endeavor has an alternate effect, as Theo begins to question his
musical efforts with Judah.
Entanglements with co-eds quickly complicate matters. Theo and Judah hit as many rough spots as any amateur band may find along the way, including a disastrous mini-tour of the northwest during spring break. Little do they know; the misfortunes have just begun…
My Review:
My favorite part about Hazen’s “Misfortunes
of T-Funk” was the built in music. This was definitely a first for me as I’d
never had a book with music made specifically for it. I felt that each of the
four recordings was made specifically for this book by the author. It made it
feel more personal which I really liked. The storyline was great and the music
was well placed and it seemed to flow well. I thoroughly enjoyed “Misfortunes
of T-Funk” and highly recommend it to anyone, especially those who love music.
Q&A with
Barnaby Hazen
What inspired you to write your first book?
My first book is
actually unpublished, and it took me several years to write. I don’t plan on
trying to publish it—it’s quite raw, and rabid, if carefully crafted and I just
don’t want to put that out into the world right this second. What inspired it
was a long running case of existential desperation and borderline clinical
depression—along with a reckless dose of various substances.
My first published
book is Seven Eleven Forgotten and Other
Stories, and what inspired it was convenience stores—convenience stores I
have been to, heard about, looked in on from the outside, or imagined.
Do you have a specific writing style?
I actually read
Mark Twain before I started writing Misfortunes
of T-Funk. There was something on my shelf of his I had been meaning to
read—Pudd’nhead Wilson and Those
Extraordinary Twins.
Who knows if that
reading had any impact on the matter but for Misfortunes I think the voice is sometimes very formal and
sometimes very pithy. My style involves some complex sentences that don’t read
that way—long sentences, sometimes entire paragraphs long—but these act on
behalf of a stream of consciousness inside the mind of a character or as a
side-trail offered by the narrator.
How did you come up with the title?
One of the main
characters will acquire the nickname “T-Funk” sometime in the next two books of
the series. Misfortunes are an ongoing theme throughout this three-book trilogy—in
some cases we see misfortunes particular to musicians, in others those more
general to humankind.
Is there a message in your novel that you
want readers to grasp?
As a musician,
there are hurdles, and rewards for that matter, that I don’t think most people
think of when they think of bands on the road or recording or doing what we do.
It’s a way to try to bridge what I see as a gap between the profession of
musicianship and the audience or critics.
I became most
aware of this through teaching music, I think. It seems to me people look at
musicianship as a combination of fun, built in talent and honestly…magic. It
may very well become those things, but there is so much work on the way there
for the vast, vast majority of people who take it further than a weekend blues
jam or like that—and so I hope this book and the two following help to bridge
that gap in understanding for some readers, while also taking the same readers on
a roller coaster ride with laughs and dips and so forth.
How much of the book is realistic?
It’s set in the
near future. That really doesn’t show itself much in Book 1, so I think it will
read pretty true to the times, as far as what it’s like to attend an
alternative music program, put a band together and make a go of it.
Are experiences based on someone you know,
or events in your own life?
Some of both—very
much so. Friends’ stories were just as influential on this as were my own.
What books have most influenced your life?
Influenced my
life—as separate from my authorship and craft. I would have to say…that’s a
tough question. Whatever I’m reading at any time probably has more influence on
me than what I read five years ago, as far as my day to day perspective—so at
the moment, Fyodor Dostoyevsky. I just read The
Brothers Karamozov for the first time since high school and it gave me much
to think about. I related more to the religious and philosophical aspects of
the book, rather than just the relationships and the deeds of these people as
was the case in high school. Very different experience reading it at this point
in my life than high school, but still, a lot of it stayed with me since that
first read which says a lot.
If you had to choose, which writer would
you consider a mentor?
Probably Franz
Kafka. He wouldn’t have taken me as a student, though—that’s my guess.
What book are you reading now?
I’m reading a very
rare and strange book called The End of
the World. I could write quite a bit about this—it was sent to me by the
same friend who introduced me to Baudelaire and some other influences back when
I was writing mostly poetry and song lyrics. This book is about just what the
title implies—possible ways, times, and different ideas people have had about the
end of the world, which the author refers to as inevitable—eventually. The
author was Geoffrey Dennis—a salty bastard for my heart, by my best reckoning
from this work. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the friend that sent it
to me. He says that he is collecting the remaining copies he can find and
sending them to certain people. I’m honored he decided to put me on that list,
and enjoying the book tremendously.
Are there any new authors that have grasped
your interest?
Someone compared Seven Eleven Forgotten to Margaret Atwood,
so naturally I was curious. I read The
Handmaid’s Tale, enjoyed it but I wasn’t sure I saw the comparison. So far
what I’ve read on Dostoyevsky
Wannabe has been right up my alley—Timmy Reed, Richard Brammer.
What are your current projects?
Just this series
for now. I’m about half way through book two, it’s all mapped out and I
probably will be pretty much caught up in it until Book 3 is published.
If you had to do it all over again, would
you change anything in your latest book?
You know every
once in a while I think of a detail I might have added, but no—I don’t cringe
in regret or anything.
Do you recall how your interest in writing
originated?
Grade school—and
then especially a couple of assignments in Jr. High. Then I remember in high
school, I wrote a story that was deliberately experimental in that I changed
the POV about half way through. I did this very much on purpose and that was
the point of the thing. The only note that teacher wrote was, “The POV is not
consistent.” The reason I mention this is that set precedent for my life as an
artist in general—in writing, in music—I do things a little differently on
purpose, and then the first feedback from some reviewer tends to be just a note
of that with the implication of disapproval.
Can you share a little of your current work
with us?
Book 2 will
present some of the near future elements of the story. We’ll get a closer look
at the latest technology in this depiction of the near future, and the times
and especially how these things may impact working and struggling musicians. So
there’s a dystopian taint coming into play—I’m having a lot of fun with it.
Is there anything you find particularly
challenging in your writing?
Sometimes I actually
do dread putting my characters through hardship, and I have to push myself a
little to begin writing a scene for that reason
Who is your favorite author and what is it
that really strikes you about their work?
Back to Franz
Kafka. As soon as I picked up The Castle I
felt a kinship. Without having ever read him in the language of his original
text, I am just so struck by how directly that book and everything else of his
speaks to me.
Do you travel much concerning your book(s)?
Yes. For Book 1 my
wife and I went to Ashland, OR just briefly to have a look around. I did this
knowing that in my depiction of it, there would be many and considerable
changes, but I wanted a place to start in my mind’s eye. Other travel plans
directly to do with this series will include northern and southern California—even
though I’ve spent much of my life in those two places—and also Cuba. If all
goes well.
Who designed the covers?
My wife, Sarah,
provided the drawing of the two main characters, Theo and Judah. Naomi Bigbee—my
step-daughter, did the design. I couldn’t be happier with the whole thing. Here
is Naomi’s link: http://www.naomibigbeedesign.com
What was the hardest part of writing your
book?
Rewrites are
always the most work for me. I go through and think how to sharpen it up, and
it can be a little dizzying sometimes, but I am very scrupulous about refining
at the latter stages of a project.
Did you learn anything from writing your
book and what was it?
I felt like this
was a lesson for me in creating accessibility to the reader. I was tempted to
go off on some tangents that would have been fun, but weren’t really what I was
after for the reader as far as presenting this trilogy. There will be plenty of
time for tangents in the next two books, but in this case it was about getting
straight to the characters and their stories, since this is the first of three
and like I said, I wanted to offer some accessibility above that of my first
book.
Do you have any advice for other writers?
Just take your
time, and keep at it. Don’t hurry anything, as it won’t do you any good.
Do you have anything specific that you want
to say to your readers?
Thanks for
reading, and please consider putting a review up.
What were the challenges (research,
literary, psychological, and logistical) in bringing it to life?
I always knew I’d
write a book covering musicians’ lives, and I figured it would come pretty
naturally. While that turned out to be true, I’ve also had to dig deep in order
to live inside these characters and experience this whole thing with them.
Really the challenge was just to keep digging until it was fully told.
Meet Barnaby
Hazen
Barnaby Hazen is an author, editor and
musician. Driven strongly by collaboration, it seems natural his first venture
into writing began with a friend. Seven
Eleven Stories periodical took shape in 2014 and just one year later, Seven Eleven Forgotten and
Other Stories debuted with a full-length collection
featuring nine strange tales on convenience store fiction.
In 2017, Misfortunes
of T-Funk, the first in a series, pulls directly from Hazen’s own life in
music. Having been a lifelong, dedicated listener, teacher and performer, his
latest novel incorporates his self-recorded and produced musical tracks
directly into the chapters of his new novel. Hazen’s music illuminates his main
characters and further elaborates on the story, creating a unique and personal
soundtrack for readers of the book.
Having spent years as an educator, Barnaby’s
time as an elementary school music teacher particularly inspired him to become
involved with The Bud Hawthorne
Revue. He writes and edits the publication, along with Mr. Hawthorne
himself, and is eager to continue offering contributions to literary culture
given his unique perspective on writing.
Hazen lives in Taos, New Mexico with his wife Sarah and their adorably troublesome pets.
Thanks again, Brianna. I really appreciate this. --Barnaby
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