Dave Thompson – The Storyteller of Rock ‘n’ Roll! 

1. How do you feel about the passing of Nik Turner?

Very sad. I’ve known Nik on and off since the late 70s, when he was touring with Sphynx, and always enjoyed his company. Working with him on his book The Spirit of Hawkwind was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my entire career.

2. According to your research for your book “Encyclopaedia Hawkwindia,” what was his contribution to the band Hawkwind?

Without Nik, there would have been no Hawkwind – at least in any form we’d recognise today. It was Nik who hustled for gigs in the early days, and who had the contacts in the both the industry and the underground to build their momentum; it was Nik who insisted on playing every benefit they could; it was Nik whop introduced Robert Calvert to the band; and, of course, it was Nik who wrote the best of their early material. 

3. How long did it take you to write the book Encyclopædia Hawkwindia and how did you proceed with the organization of your research?

The encyclopaedia was one of those projects I’d been thinking about, and collecting material for, for years. But I really started work on it at the beginning of lock-down. I was between books, and wanted to find something that would keep me occupied. It certainly did that!

All told, I think it took about six months to fully research and write, including around 50 interviews and diving down some very unexpected rabbit holes.  Plus, I was also rediscovering related bands that I’d loved “back in the day,” but hadn’t thought of in years.  How could I ever have forgotten the Hippy Slags?

Funnily enough, the organization was the easiest part, simply because I knew everything was going to be listed alphabetically, so that’s how I kept all my notes.

4. What were your findings from your research while writing the book?

A lot of the things I thought I knew were wrong, and a lot of the things I didn’t know were really exciting to discover. It also reminded me how much time I spent going to see Inner City Unit.

5. What are the obstacles and the chances of writing a new book?

Not sure what the obstacles are, but the chances are very good indeed… in fact, I’m just starting on one now.

6. The print-on-demand book platforms have changed the business of book publishing; how do you feel about it?

I love print on demand. I’ve been writing for over 40 years, and built up a huge pile of books that I wanted to do, but could never find a publisher for. All of a sudden, I could do it myself… so I did.

7. Self Publishing Vs collaborating with a publisher, advantages and disadvantages?

Advantages – see above for the biggest.  The others are, you can publish a book as soon as it’s finished, as opposed to being tied to the publisher’s schedule. You start earning money from sales a lot faster as well.  And you control every aspect of the production from start to finish. 

Disadvantages – well, there’s no advance, for a start.  Also, you’re not going to see the book in the shops (unless you put it there), and you have to make all your own publicity.  

Also, there is still the problem of public perception, in that many people feel a book is less “real,” if it’s self-published, and in some ways they are correct. The biggest drawback with self-published titles is probably that you have less eyes looking at the manuscript, reading it for context and content, checking spelling and punctuation, making sure the pictures are in the right place, etc etc.  I don’t know why, but people seem to notice, and comment, on that more with self-published books than others, yet I’ve read plenty of books from some very major publishers that are riddled with similar errors.. 

8. How do you see the book market in the next 5 years?

The pessimist in me reckons that all the bad trends that are currently underway (smaller advances, shorter print runs, less new books being bought) will continue. The optimist keeps his mouth shut.

9. Which is the story behind your latest book, “The Hot, Sweet, Smokey, Muddy Sound of Chinnichap and Mickie Most – The Greatest Glam Show in the World”?

That’s one of those I mentioned earlier – a book I’d always thought of writing, but had never really got around to, although I’ve certainly written a lot about Chinnichap and their bands for other projects. So I pulled together everything I’d written in the past, and then wove in the rest of the story.  

Oh, and by the way – that’s not my latest. I had a Roxy Music book (Roxy Music in the Seventies) published by Sonicbond in the UK this past summer. 

10. Do you have any plans to re-issue your older books?

I’ve already done that with everything that I own the rights to. All the other titles are either tied up with their original publishers, or there’s really no need for them to reappear.

11. What are your plans for your next book?

My next book, out in July 2023, is called An Evolving Tradition, and tells the story of the Child Ballads, which is a collection of 305 traditional ballads, compiled into a five volume book by a Harvard Professor, FJ Child, in the late 19th century. 

It’s the bedrock upon which a lot of modern folk is based, and I wanted to tell the story of how those ballads have been treated by different performers in the years since Child’s collection was published.  So it goes back to the first ever recordings, which date from the 1900s, and forward to the present day.  

I like to think it’s one of the very few books about “folk music” that talks about Led Zeppelin, the Stone Roses, Queensryche, the London Experimental Ensemble and Benjamin Zephaniah.  To name but a tiny handful.

Imagees’s source & information about the books: https://davethompsonbooks.wordpress.com/

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