Interview With Bryan Metro
On May 15th, The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre will be holding a listening / reading preview party at the Ferndale Public Library for their upcoming The Invisible People novel and soundtrack. We talked to Bryan Metro to find out more about his foray into the world of making the things you fill your Kindle* with. I believe they were once called “books”.
MCR So, what inspired you to start writing The Invisible People?
M I have always been intrigued by the superficial nature of society. I joined the JCM in the fall of 2007 and, after being exposed to the music scene for a year, I decided in spring of 2009 to lay the groundwork for this thoroughly obnoxious, vapid, yet witty, parasite called Bryan Metro (the name taken from a Bret Easton Ellis short story). This character would serve as the narrator/observer for the events that take place in the book, which I stress, is NOT autobiographical. I liked the challenge of taking these totally uninteresting, shallow people and making them interesting, starting with myself.
MCR Can you explain the structure of the book?
M The book consists of three parts. Part One takes place in Los Angeles and is a very linear satire of young adults and their messed up priorities. Part Two is set in New York and is more dream-like, with the main theme being hiding oneself and…er…vigilante justice. The third part is the most personal, dealing with healing, love, and maximizing your life experience. I haven’t written Part Three yet.
MCR Are the personalities of the characters in the book similar to the personalities you and –jr adopt on stage at JCM shows?
M The crap that I do at shows is basically independent of the book. It’s Metro dress up time, or “this is what’s been bugging me this week.” Various real people show up in the book, but I try to make them so over the top that the reader can differentiate between the two: -jr, the totalitarian leader, Elizabeth First, the model daredevil, etc.
MCR Do the secondary characters in the book also correspond to people you know in real life?
M The secondary characters in the book are all minor characters from other books and movies. This kind of plays into the end of the book. Some of their personalities are taken from people I know. It’s very Keyser Soze-esque. I also pull names from a hat.
MCR Have you been to many of the locations you describe in the book?
M I’ve been to Michigan (the setting for Part Three) and New York is like my second home. I have never been to L.A. which is ironic because those chapters flowed the easiest. I should give a co-writing credit to Rand McNally.
MCR What are your plans for after the book?
M Right now, our focus is on the reading/soundtrack preview Saturday, May 15th at the Ferndale Public Library. The tracks that –jr has recorded thus far are great and they are reflective of the tone of each chapter. A book reading/live soundtrack performance is a pretty unique event. I plan on going to New York in June to finish writing the book and sleep with some models and the release (of the book) should be this fall. We will have a mailing list at the reading for those who wish to pre-order and stay updated. After the book/cd comes out, well, that’s pretty much it for Bryan Metro. The JCM should have one more full length release and then I’ll probably have enough money to move to L.A. and start work on my follow up novel, The Kids Will Inherit the Earth, about a bunch of trust fund college students trapped in the funhouse of the Deep South.
You can download the first four chapters of The Invisible People and the portion of the soundtrack that complements the chapters here: DOWNLOAD
*The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre in no way endorses or supports the Amazon Kindle or the Amazon Kindle Portable Online Marketplace Network. Their novel will be printed on real paper.
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