Technically speaking, Stephen King isn't Canadian. The American-born author is a literary icon more broadly, sure, but he feels like a distinctly CanCon figure looming in the cultural imagination. Is it just me? He lived in Scarborough for a bit in his childhood apparently? Anyway.
King is also pretty rock and roll, having recently been interviewed by none other than Rolling Stone about his umpteenth new book, Holly, which was released yesterday (September 5).
Journalist Brenna Ehrlich went beyond asking him about the novel — which follows detective Holly Gibney, who first appeared in the King universe in 2014's Mr. Mercedes, as she tries to solve the "gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a Midwestern town" — and brought music into the conversation, uncovering the equally gruesome truth of how a Lou Bega classic almost ruined the author's marriage.
Ehrlich had heard King was a big fan of "Mambo No. 5," which he corroborated — and the evidence is damning.
"Oh, yeah. Big time. My wife threatened to divorce me," the writer revealed. "I played that a lot. I had the dance mix. I loved those extended play things, and I played both sides of it. And one of them was just total instrumental. And I played that thing until my wife just said, 'One more time, and I'm going to fucking leave you.'"
He went on to say that he was probably writing 2011's 11/22/63 at the time, but he tends to listen to a lot of "techno or disco stuff" while writing, citing LCD Soundsystem and Fat Boy Slim. "If you tried to write and listen to Leonard Cohen, how the fuck would you do that?" King asked. "Because you'd have to listen to the words and you'd have to listen to what he's saying."
And that's if the author is listening to music at all while he's writing: "I think it's because I've slowed down a little bit, or the thought process is not as limber as it was when I was say 30, 35, that sort of thing," he admitted. "But I still do listen to it when I polish, when I rewrite, and I listen to a lot of loud rock and roll."
Lately, King has been digging Foghat and Bob Seger, as well as Travis Tritt and Alan Jackson. He hasn't heard Oliver Anthony's viral hit, "Rich Men North of Richmond," but said that he's seen pictures of the bearded musician. "He's got a cool guitar," the writer said.
King is also pretty rock and roll, having recently been interviewed by none other than Rolling Stone about his umpteenth new book, Holly, which was released yesterday (September 5).
Journalist Brenna Ehrlich went beyond asking him about the novel — which follows detective Holly Gibney, who first appeared in the King universe in 2014's Mr. Mercedes, as she tries to solve the "gruesome truth behind multiple disappearances in a Midwestern town" — and brought music into the conversation, uncovering the equally gruesome truth of how a Lou Bega classic almost ruined the author's marriage.
Ehrlich had heard King was a big fan of "Mambo No. 5," which he corroborated — and the evidence is damning.
"Oh, yeah. Big time. My wife threatened to divorce me," the writer revealed. "I played that a lot. I had the dance mix. I loved those extended play things, and I played both sides of it. And one of them was just total instrumental. And I played that thing until my wife just said, 'One more time, and I'm going to fucking leave you.'"
He went on to say that he was probably writing 2011's 11/22/63 at the time, but he tends to listen to a lot of "techno or disco stuff" while writing, citing LCD Soundsystem and Fat Boy Slim. "If you tried to write and listen to Leonard Cohen, how the fuck would you do that?" King asked. "Because you'd have to listen to the words and you'd have to listen to what he's saying."
And that's if the author is listening to music at all while he's writing: "I think it's because I've slowed down a little bit, or the thought process is not as limber as it was when I was say 30, 35, that sort of thing," he admitted. "But I still do listen to it when I polish, when I rewrite, and I listen to a lot of loud rock and roll."
Lately, King has been digging Foghat and Bob Seger, as well as Travis Tritt and Alan Jackson. He hasn't heard Oliver Anthony's viral hit, "Rich Men North of Richmond," but said that he's seen pictures of the bearded musician. "He's got a cool guitar," the writer said.
