Barnes & Noble.com: First, the obvious: Why did you select Damon Gough/Badly Drawn Boy to write the music for About a Boy?

Nick Hornby: I shouldn't claim too much credit here, because primarily it was [directors] Chris and Paul Weitz's idea.... But weirdly, I'd had the idea simultaneously, so I was thrilled when they mentioned it. The idea came to all of us because we'd been listening to the first album [The Hour of Bewilderbeast] a lot, and it sounds very like a soundtrack album -- lots of little interludes, varieties of mood, an interest in different instrumentation, very musical....

B&N.com: Why go for a single artist rather than another compilation, as with High Fidelity?

NH: The point about High Fidelity, at least in terms of the soundtrack, was old, cool records, and it would have been wrong not to cram as many of them as possible into the film, and onto the soundtrack. But with About a Boy, everyone was looking for something different. The reference point was The Graduate, where using the work of a single artist [Simon & Garfunkel] created a memorable mood, an extra flavor that the film wouldn't have had otherwise. And for us the point wasn't that Damon was "underground" or "alternative," simply that he is a great musician and composer capable of doing that. The film is very contemporary. So it made sense to use a contemporary artist, and I think having songs rather than a score helps bring out some of the soul of the film.

B&N.com: Did Damon look to you for feedback at all?

NH: I wasn't involved in the process at all -- I just got sent tracks every now and again. The morning post will never be the same....

B&N.com: Were you pleased with what he did?

NH: I absolutely love what Damon did, and the soundtrack is my favorite album of the year so far.

B&N.com: What's your favorite song on the album?

NH:My favorite track is "A Minor Incident," the Dylan-y song that is used when Fiona returns from hospital after her suicide attempt; I find the lyrics unbearably poignant, and it's an example of how everyone's work -- mine, the Weitzes', Damon's, [actors] Toni Collette's and Nicholas [Hoult]'s -- comes together in a way that can only happen in film.

B&N.com: I just watched Harold & Maude again recently and was reminded how well that film uses the music of Cat Stevens. What are some of your favorite movie soundtracks, or movies where music was a crucial element?

NH: The Graduate, One from the Heart, Magnolia. I think Tarantino always uses inspired choices for his films.

B&N.com: Do you listen to music while you work on your fiction writing?

NH: The Philip Glass soundtrack for Mishima is one of the things I like to listen to while I'm working. I get distracted by anything with words, so I tend to listen to contemporary classical, something repetitive and concentration-inducing.

B&N.com: What are you working on these days?

NH: I've been working on a couple of screenplays, and a little book about music, favorite songs, that I may or may not get to the end of. I won't start a novel until the autumn, when all promotion for films and paperbacks and so on is finally out of the way.

B&N.com: What's your take on the so-called "Return of Rock" bands, such as the Strokes, the Hives, and White Stripes?

NH: I love the Strokes -- I think the songs are great. I don't really get the Hives or the White Stripes, at least on CD, but everyone tells me they're fantastic live acts. It's a problem when you're old and you remember and maybe even still listen to the bands that have inspired a new movement. It's always hard to see what the young ones are bringing to the party!

B&N.com: What are some of your recent favorite albums?

NH: I like the Remy Shand album [The Way I Feel] a lot, because trying to be Marvin Gaye is a laudable ambition. And the Steve Earle Sidetracks collection is great, not like a bits-and-pieces album at all. There's a band called Marah who are a fantastic live act and whose first two albums are wonderful. My favorite album of last year was Blue Horse by the Be Good Tanyas. This year I haven't found so much, apart from the AAB soundtrack!

B&N.com: Any new discoveries of older bands or albums?

NH: I never really listened to Jackson Browne until relatively recently, and now I play him all the time.

B&N.com: What did you grow up listening to?

NH: When I was in my teens: Rod Stewart, Led Zeppelin, Rory Gallagher, the Stones, the Who.... I was never a prog rock fan. And then a lot of soul and blues, discovered through Rod Stewart and Zeppelin, and then punk.

B&N.com: How do you find out about new bands these days?

NH: Mostly through my local record store. They tell me what to buy and what not to bother with!

B&N.com: Thanks, Nick!

May 21, 2002
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