Everybody's been asking me about the Under The Radar/Isaac Brock/Alan Goldsher mess, so here's the straight poop:
In the current issue of Under the Radar magazine, Modest Mouse's leader Isaac Brock was quoted as saying about my book "Modest Mouse: A Pretty Good Read," "It seems really weird to me that someone would write a biography of a band without talking to anyone and base it off hearsay and articles that through editing and shit like that where the true gist of something can get watered down pretty quick. I haven't read the book. I did hear that it slandered my mother, which doesn't fucking fly with me. I think if the dude had spent even a second, even tried to get a hold of me, to ask me what the scenarios were, and said, 'Hey, this book is coming out whether you give me the answers or not, I would have given him the fucking right answers. I can say this in print, and I'm willing to do the jail time -- if I ever see that guy, I'm going to beat his ass into a bloody pulp. I will do everything short of killing him. My ears are burning. I'm going to fuck that guy up."
1) Despite Mr. Brock's claim, I attempted numerous times to contact him via his manager, Juan Carrera, and via Mr. Carrera's associates at Thrill Jockey Records, and also via his record label, Epic. In each communique, I noted that I had been contracted by St. Martin's Press to write the book, and in some cases, I even offered up a tentative release date. I received no response from Mr. Carrera. The Epic publicity department said they couldn't put me in touch with the band without approval of the management. All of this is documented in my book. I should also note that in autumn of 2005, I exchanged Myspace emails with Modest Mouse bassist Eric Judy, who, after expressing mild interest in speaking with me, suddenly stopped returning my notes. Also, on January 7, 2007, I received an email from a relative of a Modest Mouse member, who, after telling me how much they enjoyed A Pretty Good Read, noted, "I think [the band] were all sort of told in not so many words not to talk to anyone when the book was being done. But who knows."
2) None of the factual information whatsoever in the book is based on hearsay. Everything was culled from previously published material.
3) Nobody was slandered in the book, most especially Mr. Brock's mother, Ms. Kris Adair. I have nothing but the utmost respect for the entire band, Mr. Brock included. I believe -- as do many of my readers and critics -- that taking everything into consideration, Mr. Brock comes off quite well throughout A Pretty Good Read.
4) I feel if Mr. Brock does in fact read the book, he would at the very least respect the majority of it. On a certain level, it was a labor of love. As noted in the book, I'm not a tabloid journalist -- I simply wanted to tell the story of a band that I have much affection for, and tell it as best I could.
5) I haven't been in a fist fight since second grade. I'm just saying.
In the current issue of Under the Radar magazine, Modest Mouse's leader Isaac Brock was quoted as saying about my book "Modest Mouse: A Pretty Good Read," "It seems really weird to me that someone would write a biography of a band without talking to anyone and base it off hearsay and articles that through editing and shit like that where the true gist of something can get watered down pretty quick. I haven't read the book. I did hear that it slandered my mother, which doesn't fucking fly with me. I think if the dude had spent even a second, even tried to get a hold of me, to ask me what the scenarios were, and said, 'Hey, this book is coming out whether you give me the answers or not, I would have given him the fucking right answers. I can say this in print, and I'm willing to do the jail time -- if I ever see that guy, I'm going to beat his ass into a bloody pulp. I will do everything short of killing him. My ears are burning. I'm going to fuck that guy up."
1) Despite Mr. Brock's claim, I attempted numerous times to contact him via his manager, Juan Carrera, and via Mr. Carrera's associates at Thrill Jockey Records, and also via his record label, Epic. In each communique, I noted that I had been contracted by St. Martin's Press to write the book, and in some cases, I even offered up a tentative release date. I received no response from Mr. Carrera. The Epic publicity department said they couldn't put me in touch with the band without approval of the management. All of this is documented in my book. I should also note that in autumn of 2005, I exchanged Myspace emails with Modest Mouse bassist Eric Judy, who, after expressing mild interest in speaking with me, suddenly stopped returning my notes. Also, on January 7, 2007, I received an email from a relative of a Modest Mouse member, who, after telling me how much they enjoyed A Pretty Good Read, noted, "I think [the band] were all sort of told in not so many words not to talk to anyone when the book was being done. But who knows."
2) None of the factual information whatsoever in the book is based on hearsay. Everything was culled from previously published material.
3) Nobody was slandered in the book, most especially Mr. Brock's mother, Ms. Kris Adair. I have nothing but the utmost respect for the entire band, Mr. Brock included. I believe -- as do many of my readers and critics -- that taking everything into consideration, Mr. Brock comes off quite well throughout A Pretty Good Read.
4) I feel if Mr. Brock does in fact read the book, he would at the very least respect the majority of it. On a certain level, it was a labor of love. As noted in the book, I'm not a tabloid journalist -- I simply wanted to tell the story of a band that I have much affection for, and tell it as best I could.
5) I haven't been in a fist fight since second grade. I'm just saying.