Irvine Welsh is one hell of a prolific writer. He literally doesnt know what writers block is. In an era where the printed word is in question this man still churns out sweet decadent filth with no signs of stopping. His newest work Skagboys is the prequel to Trainspotting, which also has a sequel called Porno.
Irvines definitely got a unique writing style which may be a bit much for some to digest, but its still highly entertaining and almost other worldly. This is Irvines third SG interview, the first one done by the late great Daniel Robert Epstein and the second on by me. Irvine is definitely a writers writer; Im still waiting for him to write a couple issues of Hellblazer.
Garrett Faber: What can you tell me about Skag Boys?
Irvine Welsh: It's possibly my best novel, and the one I've always wanted to write. It's Trainspotting but a bit better done.
GF: What made you want to write a prequel to Trainspotting?
IW: I had a lot of the material from that period that I didn't use. I got back into it, and it became a book.
GF: Skag Boys is the Prequel to Trainspotting, Porno is the sequel, what happens after Porno?
IW: I'll write about it some day.
GF: How many books, short stories and articles have you written by now? How do you top yourself?
IW: I've lost count. I never look back, just forward. You're only as good as your next project. You start of with a clean slate and you're nothing, you have to prove yourself all over again, every time.
GF: Out of all the characters you've created, which ones are your favorite? Is Frances Begby a real person?
IW: Juice Terry from Glue. FB is based on a few different people.
GF: Do you ever read comic books? I'd love to see you write a comic series like Hellblazer, or a graphic novel. How do you like that medium?
IW: Yes, but not indiscriminately. They have to be recommended to me. I would have to be able to illustrate as well as story tell. Having said that, Filth is being made into a graphic novel.
GF: What do you think of writers like Alan Moore, Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman? You should check out Transmetropolitan or The Sandman.
IW: I've read a couple of Neil Gaiman books, the wife is crazy about his stuff. Alan Moore and Grant Morrison, yes. They are obviously all very talented, cool guys.
GF: How do you stay inspired after all these years? What drives you?
IW: I can't do anything else but tell stories. It's what I do. I've had to accept that its my place in life. I'd like to become a vampire so that I could long enough to write. When I got hungry I'd feed on politicians and monarchs and military leaders, then head back to my castle, bloated like a big fat tartan Transalvanyan mosquito and type like a bastard.
GF: Whats your writing process like? Do you set a schedule out and write every day?
IW: It depends the mood I'm in. Usually just chip away till I get obsessed then lock myself away till its done.
GF: Have you ever delt with writers block? How do you break it?
IW: Never had it, don't know what it is.
GF: Can you show me the last thing you've written again -- minutes ago, hours ago, doesn't matter when -- just the last thing you've written, an excerpt?
IW: When I get home I take another shower, and change into a short leather skirt, red tank top, tying my hair back in a ponytail and sticking a rose clip in it. Quists on the box again. Now eight points ahead. My anger rattles my frame: some motherfucker is going to suffer. I take my cock in my handbag, opting not to pack plastic, which would be too visible in this short skirt. Let those butch-bitches think Im a meat-magnet before I whip my American Excess on their stiff, bossy cunts.
GF: Would you ever revisit the world of Maribou Stork Nightmares?
IW: I'm not sure about that. That book felt much more like a one-off discreet piece of work to me.
GF: Is there any chance Maribou Stork Nightmares would be made into a movie?
IW: I would doubt it. I could see it as a graphic novel or an animation.
GF: Which of your movies would make the best film?
IW: Filth is the best to film and will be the best film when it comes out next year.
GF: Who are some good new authors you can recommend? What have you been reading lately?
IW: I'm reading a lot of emerging Scottish writers, now that I'm based in America; Alan Bissett, Dougie Johnstone, Euan Morison, Louise Welsh, Jenni Fagan.
GF: Your writing style is incredibly unique, how does that come to you? Do you ever get lost in the language?
IW: I don't like writing in standard English so much, it seems a bit flat. I love the performative aspect of Scottish street slang.
GF: Whats the best party you've been to lately?
IW: I had a couple of good ones in Edinburgh and London at the Skagboy's launches. It was great to see old my old buddies again.
GF: While writing Porno how much porn did you actually watch?
IW: Not as much as you might expect. I have to confess that I find pornography a bit dull. I always feel that I should be a participant rather than an outsider looking in. I tend to have very vivid sexual dreams, and these interest me far more than somebody else's staged fantasies.
GF: What are your dreams like? Do you keep a dream journal?
IW: My dreams are crazy, fucking mental shit. I don't keep a dream journal as it would scared myself shitless and be locked up if anybody saw it.
GF: Whats next for you now? Do you still not want kids?
IW: New novel. No children or pets, I can't even look after plants - they just die on me.
GF: How do you go about getting a book published?
IW: Write it, make sure its good, and send it to a publisher. The only way.
GF: Do you think the internet and things like the Kindle are killing books?
IW: It's very difficult to say. All traditional medium have been changed by the new technology, both reduced and enhanced.
GF: Whats the strangest porno you've ever seen?
IW: I once watched a pornographic film called The Office Party in an all-night London cinema, as I was sleeping rough on the streets and it was raining. I was surprised to see Johnny Briggs, who plays Mike Baldwin in popular British soap opera Coronation Street involved.
GF: Where have your travels taken you so far? Where would you still like to go?
IW: I've been just about everywhere in the world I'd like to go except China and Argentina.
GF: How do you feel about My Chemical Romance naming their band after your work?
IW:Flattered. I like them very much. There's also a great young Scottish band called The Begbies.
GF: Have you ever done acid or shrooms? Did you ever meet God through psychedelics?
IW: Yes, loads of times. Its a young persons game, 28 and under. Any time past that you are too worried about your own mortality on acid to let go and enjoy the trip. Never met god, just some lads from Manchester, who might have been his disciples.
GF: Have you ever done DMT?
IW: Yes. It's a very powerful drug, like a fusion of acid and ketamine. I was transported to an Arabian desert for a bit, then snapped back onto my couch. I think it's something you only want to do once. I could see how you would go insane on that shit.
GF: What are you gonna call your newest novel?
IW: Probably The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins or Transplants.
GF: Are you finally at peace with the world?
IW: No. You can't be. You can only be at peace with yourself and then only for a few moments. Conflict is endemic - its what sustains us, its why we get out of bed.
GF: How do you know when you've crossed the line?
IW: There is no line.
Irvines definitely got a unique writing style which may be a bit much for some to digest, but its still highly entertaining and almost other worldly. This is Irvines third SG interview, the first one done by the late great Daniel Robert Epstein and the second on by me. Irvine is definitely a writers writer; Im still waiting for him to write a couple issues of Hellblazer.
Garrett Faber: What can you tell me about Skag Boys?
Irvine Welsh: It's possibly my best novel, and the one I've always wanted to write. It's Trainspotting but a bit better done.
GF: What made you want to write a prequel to Trainspotting?
IW: I had a lot of the material from that period that I didn't use. I got back into it, and it became a book.
GF: Skag Boys is the Prequel to Trainspotting, Porno is the sequel, what happens after Porno?
IW: I'll write about it some day.
GF: How many books, short stories and articles have you written by now? How do you top yourself?
IW: I've lost count. I never look back, just forward. You're only as good as your next project. You start of with a clean slate and you're nothing, you have to prove yourself all over again, every time.
GF: Out of all the characters you've created, which ones are your favorite? Is Frances Begby a real person?
IW: Juice Terry from Glue. FB is based on a few different people.
GF: Do you ever read comic books? I'd love to see you write a comic series like Hellblazer, or a graphic novel. How do you like that medium?
IW: Yes, but not indiscriminately. They have to be recommended to me. I would have to be able to illustrate as well as story tell. Having said that, Filth is being made into a graphic novel.
GF: What do you think of writers like Alan Moore, Grant Morrison and Neil Gaiman? You should check out Transmetropolitan or The Sandman.
IW: I've read a couple of Neil Gaiman books, the wife is crazy about his stuff. Alan Moore and Grant Morrison, yes. They are obviously all very talented, cool guys.
GF: How do you stay inspired after all these years? What drives you?
IW: I can't do anything else but tell stories. It's what I do. I've had to accept that its my place in life. I'd like to become a vampire so that I could long enough to write. When I got hungry I'd feed on politicians and monarchs and military leaders, then head back to my castle, bloated like a big fat tartan Transalvanyan mosquito and type like a bastard.
GF: Whats your writing process like? Do you set a schedule out and write every day?
IW: It depends the mood I'm in. Usually just chip away till I get obsessed then lock myself away till its done.
GF: Have you ever delt with writers block? How do you break it?
IW: Never had it, don't know what it is.
GF: Can you show me the last thing you've written again -- minutes ago, hours ago, doesn't matter when -- just the last thing you've written, an excerpt?
IW: When I get home I take another shower, and change into a short leather skirt, red tank top, tying my hair back in a ponytail and sticking a rose clip in it. Quists on the box again. Now eight points ahead. My anger rattles my frame: some motherfucker is going to suffer. I take my cock in my handbag, opting not to pack plastic, which would be too visible in this short skirt. Let those butch-bitches think Im a meat-magnet before I whip my American Excess on their stiff, bossy cunts.
GF: Would you ever revisit the world of Maribou Stork Nightmares?
IW: I'm not sure about that. That book felt much more like a one-off discreet piece of work to me.
GF: Is there any chance Maribou Stork Nightmares would be made into a movie?
IW: I would doubt it. I could see it as a graphic novel or an animation.
GF: Which of your movies would make the best film?
IW: Filth is the best to film and will be the best film when it comes out next year.
GF: Who are some good new authors you can recommend? What have you been reading lately?
IW: I'm reading a lot of emerging Scottish writers, now that I'm based in America; Alan Bissett, Dougie Johnstone, Euan Morison, Louise Welsh, Jenni Fagan.
GF: Your writing style is incredibly unique, how does that come to you? Do you ever get lost in the language?
IW: I don't like writing in standard English so much, it seems a bit flat. I love the performative aspect of Scottish street slang.
GF: Whats the best party you've been to lately?
IW: I had a couple of good ones in Edinburgh and London at the Skagboy's launches. It was great to see old my old buddies again.
GF: While writing Porno how much porn did you actually watch?
IW: Not as much as you might expect. I have to confess that I find pornography a bit dull. I always feel that I should be a participant rather than an outsider looking in. I tend to have very vivid sexual dreams, and these interest me far more than somebody else's staged fantasies.
GF: What are your dreams like? Do you keep a dream journal?
IW: My dreams are crazy, fucking mental shit. I don't keep a dream journal as it would scared myself shitless and be locked up if anybody saw it.
GF: Whats next for you now? Do you still not want kids?
IW: New novel. No children or pets, I can't even look after plants - they just die on me.
GF: How do you go about getting a book published?
IW: Write it, make sure its good, and send it to a publisher. The only way.
GF: Do you think the internet and things like the Kindle are killing books?
IW: It's very difficult to say. All traditional medium have been changed by the new technology, both reduced and enhanced.
GF: Whats the strangest porno you've ever seen?
IW: I once watched a pornographic film called The Office Party in an all-night London cinema, as I was sleeping rough on the streets and it was raining. I was surprised to see Johnny Briggs, who plays Mike Baldwin in popular British soap opera Coronation Street involved.
GF: Where have your travels taken you so far? Where would you still like to go?
IW: I've been just about everywhere in the world I'd like to go except China and Argentina.
GF: How do you feel about My Chemical Romance naming their band after your work?
IW:Flattered. I like them very much. There's also a great young Scottish band called The Begbies.
GF: Have you ever done acid or shrooms? Did you ever meet God through psychedelics?
IW: Yes, loads of times. Its a young persons game, 28 and under. Any time past that you are too worried about your own mortality on acid to let go and enjoy the trip. Never met god, just some lads from Manchester, who might have been his disciples.
GF: Have you ever done DMT?
IW: Yes. It's a very powerful drug, like a fusion of acid and ketamine. I was transported to an Arabian desert for a bit, then snapped back onto my couch. I think it's something you only want to do once. I could see how you would go insane on that shit.
GF: What are you gonna call your newest novel?
IW: Probably The Sex Lives of Siamese Twins or Transplants.
GF: Are you finally at peace with the world?
IW: No. You can't be. You can only be at peace with yourself and then only for a few moments. Conflict is endemic - its what sustains us, its why we get out of bed.
GF: How do you know when you've crossed the line?
IW: There is no line.