Iain Banks Downloads His Life
- from the column in the Mail On Sunday Magazine,
4th March 2007.
Alternating between novels and science fiction blockbusters, Iain Banks, 53, has become one of this country's most popular and prolific authors since his stunning debut The Wasp Factory. His latest book, The Steep Approach To Garbadale, features one of his trademarks: characters plugging his favourite music.
'What I'm currently listening to usually feeds into my books,' he says. 'Thsi namechecks Bach, White Stripes, Primal Scream and Led Zeppelin. All provided my work soundtrack'.
'I have two 60GB iPods', he says. 'I currently have 26,125 songs, taking up 102.29 GB - a total of 27-and-a-half days ' listening'. It's a wonder he ever finds the time to write.
The song I had my first kiss to...
Bridge Over Troubled Water by
Simon & Garfunkel (1970).
It wasn't exactly my first kiss but it was one of the more memorable...
The record that reminds me of going to university...
Sticky Fingers by the Rolling
Stones (1971)
I go hill-walking, I read, I take my smashing girlfriend
for curries and I go and annoy my friends.
The first record I ever bought...
Led Zeppelin I and
II by Led Zeppelin (1969)
I was 16 when I persuaded by parents to buy a decent hi-fi system - it cost
£100 even then. I had to have something to play on it, so I went and spent
my saved pocket money on the first two Led Zep albums. I've been a Zep nut ever
since.
The song I want played at my funeral...
For A Dancer by Jackson Browne
(1974)
I decided 25 years ago this would be my goodbye. It's a fantastic West Coast
song with the lines, 'Somewhere between the time you arrive / And the time you
go / May lie a reason you were alive / But you'll never know'. I love their
bleakness.
The record that inspired The Wasp Factory...
Life in a Scotch Sitting Room, Volume 2
by Ivor Cutler (1978)
John Peel was a huge influence. He regularly played these surreal short stories
and they provided the inspiration for the tome of that book.
My favourite driving music...
This Is The Sea by The Waterboys
(1985)
I'd just been published, and it was the soundtrack to
many a drive from London to Scotland.
The soundtrack to my new book...
Brandenburg Concertos, J.S.
Bach, English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Benjamin Britten
This is incredibly dense orchestral music but I find it easy to write to
The most treasured record in my collection...
Will Power by Joe Jackson
(1987)
This is stored over at my parent's house with a lot of my old vinyl. I can't
find it anywhere on CD. He's a really clever songwriter and this is a great
combination of pop and orchestral music.
The record that got me through a lousy time...
Season of Hollow Soul
by kd lang (1992).
I'd foolishly taken a little boat out on Loch Shiel when the weather broke and
I was caught up in the teeth of a gale. As I battled my way back to shore, I
found myself singing this song at full balst to keep up my spirits.