Chapter 1: What inspired Nick Thorburn to pursue a career in music and comics?
But I still had David Geffens, Jackson, Holly.
Welcome to our studio.
Great place.
Now we're just talking off mic that you are not an American. You are a gasp Canadian.
It's true. I'm secretly Canadian. I try to slip through under...
uh detection but how long have you been here for now next year would be year 20 yeah you've adapted is that longer than you've spent in canada i would need five more years to i think make it even it's scary when you hit those points we realize like there's more time like behind a thing than in front of it yes yeah i'm constantly i'm constantly doing those equations in my head yeah um because you think about like yeah when you were a kid in the
band you liked or the music you met a guy you know who made a record in You know, let's say it's 99 and you meet a guy who put out a record in 84. You're like, oh, this guy's a dinosaur. But then now you think that's 15 years. That's yeah, that's nothing. Yeah.
Yeah. That's 2010.
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Chapter 2: How does Nick reflect on his Canadian roots and experiences in the US?
Yeah. I don't like doing that.
Which speaking of you, can you introduce yourself? Yes.
Speaking of old dinosaur. Yeah. My name is Nick Thorburn. I make music. I draw. And I write other little secret expressions of the self. But the primary one is music. I've had many bands over the years and records released.
Is that what brought you to the States originally, the music side? It was for love.
I came for love. I stayed there. lord knows why i stayed when the love ran dry i moved west yeah kind of a familiar tale i think yeah you go as far west as you can and then and then you remain then you remain yeah right i'm like wedged against the pacific ocean i got nowhere to go
America kind of does that, though. It gets its hooks in. There's so many, amongst the chaos, there's so many good things here, I think. And so many, sounds cheesy, but opportunities and people that are all fucking fascinating. And you stay.
Yes. For all my misgivings, the questionable history of the country, the people, there are some really special people here that I think have persuaded me to stay, I think.
Does that opportunity not feel like it's there in New Zealand or Montreal? That's a good question.
I'll let you go first. Well, I think we have a similar expression in both regions. The tall poppy syndrome is what we call it in Canada. Absolutely. Yeah, same thing. I think it's called something else. Yeah, no, same thing. Same, yeah.
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Chapter 3: What are the defining characteristics of underground comics?
No, a little bit dog toothy. I love that you know that film. So good. But yeah, occasionally I'll learn that my, surprisingly, my upbringing was not the same as everybody's. Got it.
That's funny. That's a funny way to realize. Well, similarly, when I came to New York in 07, I started, how I adapted, I think so quickly is that I was constantly being, it was being highlighted how I was saying words differently. You know, I would talk about my runners instead of my sneakers. I would talk about the expiry date instead of the expiration date.
Anytime I said a thing that people, it would flag people, people would, it would hit their ear funny and they would, um, tease me for it. And I just wanted to fit in and not be teased. So I, I just adapted and I stopped, you know, I stopped saying sorry. And I stopped, I stopped saying all of these things that would kind of get a, get a laugh. Yeah.
And I know it's a good natured thing when it would be brought up, but I just, I just want to like, fit in and be left alone.
The sorry thing, always apologizing is a very Kiwi thing as well.
And the way, and the accent, like that long vowels way.
You get it. Yeah. The thing that I always find about New Zealand that we do, we're so worried about saying no to something. We say yeah, nah. So if you say like, do you want to go to dinner tonight? Be like, yeah, nah. But Americans will hear the yeah and go, that's a yes. But we're too worried to give you a no. So we give you a little yeah in front of it.
Well, there's a passive aggressiveness to that too, right? And a non-confrontational thing that Canada definitely suffers from collectively. I think this idea of like, if I stepped on your shoe and you apologized for me stepping on your shoe, that feels very Canadian to me. That's Kiwi and it's really fucked up. Yeah. It's good to feel seen finally. We should bond, yeah.
It is very similar. I was saying as well before we started rolling, Canada was the only family trip my family's taken. When I was like seven, all the farriers went to Toronto and Vancouver.
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Chapter 4: How did Nick's childhood experiences shape his artistic expression?
Electricity.
Electricity.
Niagara Falls. That blew my mind. That place. Oh my God. anyway yeah this isn't a show about canada no it's it's about america that's right in this particular show we do like to sort of be schooled on something we don't know about and i understand you have a particular passion for a certain type of comic yeah comics in general or just specifically vintage not so much a vintage or a
a style, but kind of a philosophy.
Okay.
You know, I think when most people think of comics, they think of obviously superheroes. Yeah. X-Men, Superman. Yeah. We've gotten to a point where I think people can also think of like, um, Art Spiegelman and, and Dan Klaus and, and, and like,
You know, a lot of stuff that's been even been made into movies and kind of crossed over into the mainstream, like Ghost World, the Dan Clowes comic that became a movie and all that. So, yeah, so underground comics is kind of the thing that has a very American...
It's rooted very much in, really, like a lot of it in San Francisco in the 60s, like R. Crumb and Freak Brothers and that sort of stuff. That's kind of where I... Yeah, that was like a big opening. Obviously, my entry to comics was the superhero stuff. But as a kid, you were into comics? Yeah, big time into comics. And an illustrator. Well, I was drawing as a kid.
Imagine if I was 11 and called myself an illustrator.
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Chapter 5: What is the significance of Fantagraphics in Nick's comic journey?
It kind of tied into that because the whale was still alive when we made that.
um record yeah right and then imagery is occasionally popping up in your comics as well with penguins i guess so penguins to me is i don't even think that think of them as aquatic i think of them as just a sad i think the fun way in for that was it's just a bird that can't fly i mean it just feels like a curse you know it feels like a cruel cruel nature bird
Yeah, pathetic. It's so sad. Oh, weird.
Yeah, that's good that I brought.
No, it's literally the title of the show. Okay. Credits. We're out. No, but it is. It's sad that these birds can't fly. It is. It's something a bit like, God, I wish you guys could fly. It's their one thing. Yeah, don't have it. Another thing we like to do in this show is I want to be educated about sort of American drinks and snacks.
Oh, yeah.
I understand you're bought in something very important to you.
Well, it is important to me, but it is very niche. These are homemade. I don't know if that freaks you guys out. It does.
There's a level of trust here.
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Chapter 6: What themes are explored in Nick's upcoming comic 'Pear Shape'?
It's like, oh, I'm actually...
actually in the club here but i feel like uh still like just such an outsider who just loves the the work that they do so yeah it's a huge um huge privilege and honor to be in the in the fold awesome yeah thank you thank you guys so much for having me that was really thanks for coming in i mean it's like amazing to be able to do this because you can just like listen to you play music it's like great you're gonna eat popcorn right you have something to snack on while i play
All right, this song's called David Geffen's Jackson Pollock from the Last Islands album, What Occurs.
I found David Geffen's Jackson Pollock He fell off truck near the beach at least that's where I got it tried to move it for a record 200 million dollars But these jackals, these vampires They offered me something much smaller It was a notice, information leading to the return of this abstract impressionist work. Or whatever you call it. It was David Geffen's Jackson Pollock.
It's when I showed up, lifted my coat up. Afraid that this might happen Took out my box cutter Their faces slackened As it pushed against the canvas I knelt down As I climbed back in what might have been the world's slowest getaway. But I still had David Geffens, Jackson Pollock. I still had David Geffens, Jackson Pollock. But I still had David Geffens, Jackson, Hawley.
Okay, this song is called Ready to Die off the Unicorns album from 2003.
I woke up thirsty on an island in the sea I woke up hungry with hungry cookers surrounding me I hit the soft spot in the soft spot of my head It made me tired, so I sung from my bed I'm ready to die I'm ready to die I'm ready to die A sword or switchblade, any way you cut it I'm not afraid, I know I'm gonna get Oh, maker of such fine products as palm trees and the Dead Sea.
Don't pardon me, there's nothing rude. Things conclude, things conclude. As I slurred that chorus, the ghost got biggie, small sounds like a drill. The death sweat suits me, a death threat provides a thrill. I've seen the world, kissed all the pretty girls and I said my goodbyes and now I'm ready to die. Look what they've done to my song. Look what they've done to my song.
Well, it's the only thing that I could do half right, and it's turning out all wrong. Look what they've done to my song. Look what they've done to my brain, Ma. Look what they've done to my brain. Well, they picked it like a chicken bone and I think I'm half insane, Ma. Wish I could find a good book to live in. Wish I could find a good book.
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