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Read All Over celebrates the bookworm in all of us, showcasing readers in Vancouver and the books they love most. |
| Tom Whalen is a digital artist and musician in real life and online. He plays drums in Role Mach, N.213's Group Vision, Aaron Read, and Total Ice. His current solo projects are Space Bros, and New Vaders. He is very busy, but always still very nice. His audio and video work evokes a kind of forward-looking nostalgia that makes you feel both young and old; like you're in touch with today's youth culture, but wise about it. You can see and hear Tom's literary influences in his music and videos - the innocence of Garfield tinged with a shade of darkness à la Osamu Tezuka. Check out what Tom's reading so that you can confront him with conversation at his upcoming shows: July 6th at Pat's Pub (N.213), July 15th at the Biltmore (Role Mach), and August 16th at Pat's Pub again (Space Bros). |
Tom Whalen, photo courtesy Quinne Rodgers
What's on your nightstand right now? Are you enjoying it?
A pile of comics and publications I acquired from a trip to the east coast in April. And yes!
Are comics your preferred genre?
If we're talking actual books, filled with all those words, I tend to veer towards non-fiction. My brain is lazy; I need visual stimulation.
Do you read mostly print or online?
About a year ago I began getting interested in comics I was seeing online, and I'm using the term comics in the broadest sense possible. Most of them were very informal and fun, and had less to do with people flying around in tights. They were about everything else: expressing abstract ideas, dissecting life's minutia, dystopia, whatever you like—very free and democratic. Anyone could make them in any style they liked. So I just lurked in the periphery, finding out about more and more artists, what they were up to, who they were collaborating with, etc.
Seeing an artist's progress allows for a unique perspective into the work. You can see a work start as sketches progress to penciled drafts, then the finished product. I try to read in print, but there are some exceptions. Study Group Magazine, publishes comics online. I've enjoyed On Hiatus by Pete Toms and Mighty Star by A. Degen a great deal.
What's next on your list?
What magazines or journals can you not live without?
Dunk is locally produced by the team at Lucky's Comics: great comics, great articles, and interviews. When I was in Toronto and New York, I picked up a bunch: Happiness Comics, Smoke Signal, Free Drawings (RIP), Offerings. Every one was filled with awesome art.
Is there a particular book or story that struck you as a child?
We read the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson in Grade 10 English class. And then to further terrify us, we watched the film version from 1969. Also, Lord of the Flies. So a lot of people being beaten to death with stones. Good stories for confused teens!!
What were your favourites growing up?
All those Garfields.
Was there any individual in particular that shaped your development as a reader?
My mother would always have four or five books on loan from the library, that alone encouraged me to read more. She still lends me books; most recently All Possible Worlds, a history of communes in British Columbia, and (not kidding) The Story of Crass.
Are you a hoarder or a give-away-er with books?
Was hoarder, now trying to pawn them off on my unsuspecting friends by bringing books over and slipping them into bookcases when they're distracted.
What's the last book you purchased?
Core of Caligula by CF
Which books/authors have influenced you the most?
Osamu Tezuka, Kazuo Umezu, Moebius, Gary Panter are all fantastic.
From Osamu Tezuka's MW
What's the last book you lent/gave away?
MW by Osamu Tezuka, which I've lent so much that the binding is breaking. It's an amazing story and I really wish more of Tezuka's work was translated into English. Everyone knows him for family-friendly Astro Boy, but MW is about a homosexual Catholic priest falling in love with a sociopath. He was really trying to challenge the medium and push people's perception of comics into uncharted territory.
Where is your favourite place to crack open a book in the city?
My expansive mansion up on the hill (not haunted).
Your life story is published tomorrow; the title is...?
A Man Who Truly Did Read Many Books
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QN9wyYv15c
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