COMPLETELY HIP INSPIRED
Author’s fiction draws on songs
Chelsea writer David Sachs has published a new book of short stories inspired by Tragically Hip songs. Twisted: Illustrated Stories Inspired by Hip Songs will be available at Chapters locations in Ontario, and select flagship stores across the country. A portion of proceeds are to be donated to the Gord Downie Fund for Brain Cancer Research. Sachs, a 43-year-old husband and father of two, spoke to Lynn Saxberg about the project.
Q Why did you start writing fiction inspired by Hip songs?
A It was really an accidental idea I had 15 years ago. I was driving around and heard Locked in the Trunk of A Car on the radio, and this story came to me while I was listening so I went home and wrote it. Then I started think to think, you know, a lot of the Tragically Hip’s songs evoke stories to me. Not the songs that tell a story explicitly but the ones that hint at stories. So it became a small hobby I had. Over the course of 15 years I wrote about nine stories.
Q What made you decide to self-publish a book?
A Last summer, when they had their last tour, I thought it would be a nice tribute and hit upon the idea of making it a gift book. The stories are very Canadian, and of course, there’s that feeling in the Hip’s songs, so I added some photos of Canada. It’s a mix of short stories, Hip photos and Canadiana photos.
Q Is this the sort of writing you
usually do?
A I’ve done a lot of different things. My first novel came out a couple of years ago, and I’ve done freelance writing on and off. I spent about eight years as a communications consultant and then I got into commercial real estate so I’m able to write what I want to write without having to worry about making money from it. I was able to devote the time, and invest some money in it. As hobbies go, it’s cheaper than skiing (laughs).
Q You’re a fan of the band?
A I’ve been a Hip fan since they first broke out, around ‘88 or ‘89. I had a summer job one year where we listened to Fully Completely all the time. It’s still my favourite album. Four of the stories are from Fully Completely.
Q When did you last see the band perform?
A I saw them the summer before last at Bluesfest, and I was blown away at how theatrical Gord (Downie) still was. I remembered that from when he was young but I hadn’t seen them in some years at that point. I was mesmerized watching him.
Q What speaks to you about their music?
A I have a theory about it now, after having written this and thinking a lot about why the Tragically Hip. Why are they telling me stories, not the Beatles or other bands? I think it has to do with how they have this kind of expressionistic quality in their lyrics where they give little snippets of things to make you feel something. They have this emotional nuance that other bands don’t have. Bob Dylan, maybe, has similarly abstract lyrics. The difference is, with the Hip, it’s more like scenes cut from something and you can’t quite figure out what they’re cut from, but there’s a story there that you can interpret in different ways. You can actually come up with an infinite number of stories from one song.
Q So you’re filling in the holes?
A Exactly. And that’s why I think Gord is able to do his interpretation. He’s doing performance art while listening to the song. He’s interpreting it in different ways. I think there is something about their music that lends itself to interpretation.
Q Did you try to find out what inspired the songs? A
No, I didn’t want to know what they’re about. I didn’t do any research into any of the songs. I just wanted to write what I felt it was about. I listened to the songs on repeat while I was writing so that it would carry some of the emotional feeling of the song, and the lyrics would find their way into the story. A word here, a phrase there.
Q How do you describe your stories?
A It’s a wide range. Some are nostalgic, some comic, some sad. There’s one historic adventure about Étienne Brûlé just before he was killed. Another one takes place at a high school cottage party outside Winnipeg. One is a scary thriller, a two-man psychodrama. That’s inspired by Scared, one of my favourite songs. I have no idea what Gord meant with that song so I made it about a fear consultant.
Q What’s the most recent? A
Put it Off, from Trouble at the Henhouse. It was really the emotional tone of the music, more than the lyrics, that came out. I listened to it and listened to it until the story came, and it’s about the regret of putting things off in life.