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Rogan, the new incarnation of the former "Roganize", is a long time member of lit.org, and one of its most respected and talented writers. Old-timers already know this, but newer members may not, so don’t miss his writings under both names. I enjoy all my interviews, and all the interviewees have opened up and shared their hearts and writing with us. This one is no exception, and as a matter of fact, was having a hard time formatting for reading so voraciously! :) I give you Rogan the writer, and Rogan the Glenfiddich loving, body-pierced, witty, chopper loving man with an incredible mind, and some unique thoughts about life.
Q: In your bio you state that if you live to the age of 40, it will be a bona fide miracle...why is that?
A: My motto is "Live Fast, Die Young, And Leave A Big Crater." I am not interested in the North American pursuit of happiness. To wit - I do not want to get married, buy a house and have children, get old and die in a retirement home, alone with my thoughts. I have happily engaged in risky behavior my whole life. Someday soon the other shoe is going to drop, and off to the Great Symposium in the Sky I shall go. If there actually IS a Divine Presence that loves me and wants me to stick around, nothing short of direct intervention is going to stop me from self-destructing. So yeah, I'm just paraphrasing my disregard for the value of my own life. Sounds harsh, but it's true.
Q: Quote from your bio "When the end is right, only the beginning is left" Alpha and Omega....question...if the end is right, does the beginning matter?
A: I believe what you're getting at is whether motives really matter, provided the end result is satisfactory. In a word .. No. That old saying 'the road to Hell is paved with good intentions' comes to mind. Actions speak. Period. If the result of your actions is in sync with your motivation, good for you! If not, you're a failure and need to drown yours... No! Shoot yourself!! Yes! Bullets all around! Seriously, though .. Adam and Eve don't matter anymore. We're living and breathing in the 21st Century, and there are no Fig leaves in sight.
Q: You have something in common with many artists I know...wee hour of the morning creating...why is it that inspiration comes then? A matter of convenience, quiet, spirits (ethereal and ethanol), stars....your thoughts?
A: Quiet? Calgary? ...... Not during the playoffs, anyhow. I live on the Red Mile! Didn't get a lick of sleep. After the sun goes down, I get a sudden jolt of energy. I used to work a lot of graveyard shifts, so I was used to staying up really late on my nights off. That precious second wind is what allows me to slip into the creative stream and cruise it at top form. I am a creature of the night. I don't believe that my nocturnal forays are fueled by a colorless, volatile, water-soluble liquid which causes irritation to mucous membranes. I could be wrong, however. I write well when I'm pissed off.
Q: You are relatively young (22, I believe), but your poetry reads like a much more mature writer. Were you a poet in another life and it carried over?
A: Actually, I belonged to the Red Branch. I feasted upon the fruits of the Emerald Isle alongside Cuchulain and the citizens of Ulster. I probably did a stint as a bard somewhere in there... I identify more with my Scottish lineage, but I can't ignore the Irish side of my family. I love to drink, but I hate to pay for it! Many people (including my mother!) have called me a warrior-poet. I think my writing reeks of maturity because I am an accomplished traveller and a critical thinker. By age 7, I'd seen all of Europe, most of Asia and a good chunk of India. Culture overload forced me to grow up frighteningly fast. I've studied Eastern religions and reincarnation has always interested me. It just makes sense... The Earth is constantly recycling everything on its surface, so why not life itself!
Q: I thought the last stanza in your poem Tortiloquy (excellent title by the way, very descriptive of the piece), about "pretty on the inside"...was very beautiful. Are we judgmental and do we form instant opinions based on what we see rather than what we know?
A: Thank you, Claire! I've lived with my heart on my sleeve for a long time. There's still a lot of things that I keep inside, and that is what I feel makes me unique. If you've got to interact with others, you're almost forced to put on a persona. Sometimes it is comfortable and fits you like a well-tailored outfit, but it can also chafe. Humankind has proven itself to be extremely judgmental. I like to think that's because we are capable of creating fiction. In order to protect ourselves from overdoses of untruth, we have to actively sift what we see and experience. Keeping up the filter takes courage and conviction. We've all seen an entire nation fall prey to fiction, so on the individual level it seems like a horrendous price. Knee jerk opinions seem to be based on what we think we know. I've been a proponent of body modification for many years. I have a few holes I wasn't born with, and I get a lot of questions about them. It's when people don't ask me that I get worried. I can feel those hard stares. I am judged by my appearance more so than my neighbor, who has no visible modifications. It's a sad thing that people refuse to go past the outer layer and see what's inside. I don't apologize for being exactly who I am. Come what may, I am still Rogan.
Q: Several of your poems, although perhaps rated PG-13 (I love your rating system...LOL), have sensual or sexual undertones (sometimes overtones)...is it a subject you enjoy writing about, or is it a vehicle to express other emotions?
A: W00F! This is a tough one. I was sexually abused by a female babysitter when I was about 3-1/2 years old. My parents didn't really do anything other than get a new babysitter and avoid my questions for a few years. I didn't discuss sex with them until I was almost 16. In the years intervening, I discovered a lot of things about sexuality and sensuality - the latter being the more difficult of the pair to understand. When I'm trying to understand something, I like to write about it. See how it makes me feel. Read it aloud, get as many angles on it as I can before arriving at a conclusion. I savor the feelings. So in a big way, my experiences in that realm have lead me to write about it. Being abused didn't mess me up as badly as it could have. I've come to terms with it, even though it took me a long time and a lot of ink. The stigma still hovers, however. A good portion of my work relies on feelings and emotions. Sex is one of my sources, even though I don't get laid often. I like flirting with the ideas of love and attraction, their counterparts too .. I court readers' affection. I'm just doing what I can with what I've got.
Q: I really like Wiring Diagram...it contains tidbits of excellent advice to writers young and old...a roadmap of sorts...Is that what you intended, or were you talking to your writer self?
A: I wasn't exactly scribing a map - but I'll run with this.. Writers tend to be infected with a creative urge. In order to put the most into your craft, you have to look for secrets. Anything that will give you an edge! Being in tune with some manner of source is important if you're serious about writing and appealing to a crowd. Anybody literate can put words together to form sentences, but without a driving force there's nothing for readers to connect with. When I say 'No remorse;', I'm referring to journalists who publish colorful stories to get people's attention and sell copy. Anyone employed by media at large has a responsibility to leave sensationalism at the door. They don't, and this is how wars get started. Too many people refuse to question what they see reported in the media: You must bludgeon the public to get their eyes open to what is really happening. Given the breadth and scope of just the English language, there are billions of stories waiting to be written. Feeding on the corpse is a reference to rehashing old plots and ideas, putting a different spin on them. Armageddon and Deep Impact are essentially the same movie, just filmed from different perspectives. Morgan Freeman plays a fantastic President, IMHO. Bruce Willis is just a bad ass who keeps saving the world. Ho-ho-ho-huuuum. I admit to really enjoying tidbits (also timbits - mini doughnuts). I always look for them when I read posts on LitOrg. If a reader can take something away with them when they leave the page, I've not only done my job as a writer, I've helped someone else. Always a good feeling!
Q: You are very much a wordsmith, why don't you write more prose? (ed/n: I have since found prose under “Roganize” for the readers information)
A: All the grand ideas I have stored up in the attic are difficult to express. I'm never sure if they come out the way I imagined them. I realize that I have a talent, and I do not like to take it for granted. Besides that, I don't have enough time to write. My job takes up a large portion of my life, and whatever is left gets divided among my girlfriend, my rabbit, and reading great books. When I do sit down (in the wee hours) and begin to create, I feel like the ideas are stale. I've been keeping a notebook lately, so hopefully that'll help. I'm utterly disorganized! Excuses about having a complicated life aside, I enjoy the condensed nature of poetry. More with less - it just appeals to me. I like rhyming and scheming and finding a subtle rhythm that will carry a reader through difficult passages.
Q: In The last poem I will ever write (ahem!), what a stunning poem. "God is screaming back at the abyss"...what wonderful imagery. Do you believe that a poet can actually just stop writing poetry? Isn't it more like a compulsion than a choice?
A: Flattery will get you everywhere, my dear. *wink* I figure it's a choice. At least as it comes to the physical act of writing something down. I am certainly compelled to write, but if I cannot give it 110%, I choose not to. Poets are constantly writing, using their noodles, examining the world, trying to get to the deeper meaning. Poetry is as much a way of being as an artform. You can't just switch it off! To clarify, when I wrote that poem, I needed to take a break from writing. I was beginning to lose faith in myself, and I didn't want to spiral into a bunch of self-flagellating stanzas. I just stepped back and worked out the wrinkles. Now I'm back and bitter as ever.
Q: You embrace the universe in much of your poetry...almost like a pondering. And you seem to have a real love for history and philosophy. You often meld them in your poetry...because they are your loves or because they make good poetry?
A: A whole lot of both. I've never been a big fan of truly topical poetry. You can spruce up a tree with poetry: a haiku like "quivering branches / telltale signs of the Budworm / hibernacula all over". I'm enamored with history and philosophy because they encapsulate so much of Human endeavor. They're bigger playgrounds than the local park.
Q: Do you have a favorite poem or prose piece written in your pre or post incarnations (Roganize or Rogan)? Why is it your favorite? You have so many, and I have so many favorites now that I've read them, I rely on you to select.
A: Ok, let me lay this on you. It relates to your previous question, too! My favorite poem is 'The last poem I will ever write'. I basically laid it all on the line there. Here's a breakdown of the last stanza, and why I like it so much. A back full of scars that let you know who I am, (I have a full back scarification piece. "http://www.bmezine.com/scar/A10303/scrhowth.html" for details) A caged force of nature, just a league under the pin. (I really felt imprisoned when I was living on the East Coast. The constant beat down I got from my so-called peers gave me incredible tolerance for a lot of things.) I've got so many faces! And of all of them, I like this one the best. (I'd just grown a goatee and I was freakin' proud of it!) When your anger rises up and splashes, Rolls over, sings with tension, Don't forget the rings. (When I was hired at McDonalds, I had to remove my 8 gauge earrings. Now, a conch/lobe orbital piercing is damn difficult to remove without proper tools. 8ga steel is not easy to bend. I had to wedge them open with a butterknife. I was so tanked at these intolerant asses, I didn't even feel it when I sliced my earlobe open.) Soft kiss of steel, binding the soul to the flesh, And after it's healed -- can you see what's left? Invisible, but not individual! Tangible, but not in the manual? (The sense of belonging you get when you join the modified community isn't something you see - the piercings and tattoos ARE. Permanent alterations to the temple of your body make you an outsider, according to most of society. There is no roadmap for life, so everybody is really just stumbling along blindly.)
Q: In Peace Down a Pipeline, several people commented, inquiring if the poem was about drugs and you neglected to respond.....I didn't get that out of it, but hey, my rose colored glasses sometimes prevent me from seeing certain things and I might have had them on. I got something different from it. What IS Peace Down the Pipeline about? I think the reason it is so good is that it could be about many things, but I want to know what was in your mind!
A: The poem is about flying Air Canada ;). As the poem begins, the protagonist (an airline attendant, or steward(ess) if you prefer) is lying in the flaming wreckage of the plane. Banged up and hallucinating, they remember snatches of the flight - being sick, serving meals, breathing oxygen from the mask. The quoted portion is a bit of a jibe. I never did like the pamphlets they stuff in the seat pocket. The closing stanza is a bit more venom, going against the monopoly Airlines have on international transportation - especially of living, breathing, people. "Here Lie Our Children" is a reference to the Peggy's Cove memorials. On the rocks facing the sea, next to the Lighthouse, there are carved the names of the 229 passengers and crew of Swissair flight 111. I totally dig the fact that people cast it in a drug use sorta light. It does work that way, too - A totally different dynamic.
Q: You wrote some wonderful Write-Off Entries: No Pane, Kings.exe, Threshed in Red Light....may we expect more in both the short story and poetry category? Do you find you write better or worse under the pressure of a deadline?
A: I'll write y'all a fantastic short story if Spudley shaves his head. He has to mail me the locks, and a picture of before/after. I wanna make a toupee out of Spudley's hair. Heh heh heh! OK, for real? You think I'm just gonna bugger off after the interview? Nawwwh. I'll be posting to LitOrg until they drag me, kicking and gibbering, from the keyboard. I'm obviously partial to poetry, but if my fellow writers want to see prose, I'll give you all some mighty prose! All I ask is for Spudley to sacrifice his hair ;)
Q: I always ask my interviewees to share a story, anecdote, or experience which generated the writing of one of their pieces published at lit.org...Do you mind? We like details!
A: I mind people who crowd the doorways on public transit, especially when you're trying to get home after the Stampede and the platform is packed like a sardine can. But that's neither here 'nor there... My father had a heart attack in 2001. I was just getting home from work when my mother called to tell me about it. I swear my blood pressure dropped a mile. It was the first time I'd felt any true fear. I sat down and pounded at the keys, trying to say to the Internet what I could not say to my father. I guess the digital world is my confessor. Anyhow, the piece is called Take a look at yourself..., for all you curious apes.
Q: You use many different forms in your poetry...a tribute to your flexibility and literary prowess...is there a form you particularly enjoy over others, or does the piece dictate the form for you?
A: I like to think my style is fairly consistent. It's changed over the years .. Right now I'm pretty terse. Compare pieces like 'The last poem', 'kings.exe', and 'Perfect Moment' to my recent works. The difference is real obvious - I'm rhyming more, I'm a little more focused. I really like Haiku; it was my first love as a writer. I don't write very much Haiku, but there's a thread on the Writingforums called '{un}holy?! haiku challenge'. LOTS of great stuff there. So to really answer your question, the piece dictates the format. I put the words where they fit comfortably, and let the ideas shape the meter & rhyme.
Q: Do you write for pleasure, for release, for anticipated publication...please elaborate...
A: When I'm at the keyboard, I write about 50% for pleasure & 50% for publication. Since coming to LitOrg in the 90's, I've grown and experienced so much that I wish to share with the community. Not many authors on the site know me very well, but we're aiming to change that, right? I'm digging these questions, Claire :) If I'm using graphite to make crude scratches on processed paper, I'm almost exclusively writing for pleasure. A few pieces I've penned (or penciled?) have wound up online.. Stuff like Incendiary Soul and The Hand of Wisdom still exist in my paper archives.
Q: I realize you are young, but what is the biggest, single, life-changing event you have experienced, and how did it impact your writing?
A: At work, I had a little run-in with a bright yellow, concrete-filled steel post. The damn things weigh about 400lbs and are approximately 4 feet tall. I had to remove this post by grinding off the anchor bolts and moving it to another part of the warehouse. I had just finished removing 4 of these gargantuan floorguards - I was working on the last one. The bottom plate, where the anchorbolts go into the concrete, was stuck underneath part of the racking where the product is kept. I had flagged down a forklift operator and asked him to stick the tip of one fork underneath the floorplate. As he was lifting it with the machine, I was standing almost directly in front of it. The leverage ended up tilting this yellow monster towards me. When it came clear of the racking, it flew up and smacked me in the kisser. Threw me about six feet backwards. My nose was crushed, and I bled like crazy until the EMTs arrived and got me in the ambulance. Because of this injury, I realized that my life isn't worth a spit - yet people still care about me. I want to reward them by providing entertainment and sharing my enthusiasm. I started writing not too long after my face had healed (I only have a small scar on my upper lip, and my nose isn't crooked!) and I wasn't feeling like two-hundred ten pounds of raw dough.
Rapid-Fire Want to Knows.......
Q: Your favorite poet/poem of all time?
A: Poet would have to be E.A. Poe .. Poem? Hmmm .. I hear that Si02 by verve is some good mojo.
Q: Your favorite non-fiction author/work?
A: Vincent Bugliosi's Helter Skelter.
Q: Your favorite fiction work/author?
A: A complete tie between David Brin's Earth and Carl Sagan's Cosmos.
Q: Your biggest goal...something you would like to accomplish in your life.
A: I want to rail a pound of crack before I die. Preferably RIGHT before I die, so I don't die from the overdose. Ok, ok .. I'm pulling your leg. No, I want most to go into space. Luckily, that isn't too far-out anymore what with Scaled Composites and the X Prize.
Q: Most recent playlist, assuming you like music...give us the skinny on the music that makes rogan tick.
A: Dead Jesus' latest album "...let them suffer" lives in my discman right now, but I rotate between Frank Zappa, Sevendust, Red Tide, Megadeth, Enya, Cradle of Filth, Tori Amos, Louis Armstrong, the Lost Highway soundtrack, a few goa/trance and industrial mix CD's, Omega Crom, Silverchair, Tool and Deftones. Tons of other bands I could name, but those sum up my current taste in music. I have listened to enough Classical music and Oldies to know that I like 'em, but that's mood music for me. I get by on a steady diet of heavy metal, jazz and electronic music.
Q: Three things you are passionate about and why? (I really like this question :))
A: I have a great love for death, because it's where we all end up eventually. I am really into body modification, having seen so many cultures that practice it and coming back to North America where it's becoming more accepted. I try to keep up with all the latest developments, and I keep an eye on the boldest of modded people (I've actually shared the stage with The Enigma and Katzen, also Lucky, the most tattooed man in the world. I've recently met Erik "The Lizardman" Sprague, too). I really love Scotch (more than Ron Burgundy does!) - a good bottle of firewater will keep me company and the company I keep gets all fired up when I start going on about all sorts of weird shit (I'm a talky drunk).
Q: If you could go anywhere in the world with six people (living or dead) and stay for a week...where would you go, and who would you take?
A: That's easy! I'd go skiing in the Rockies with Janet Jackson, William Burroughs, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, Che Guevera, Maynard Keenan and last of all - Stanley Kubrick. A fun-filled week of chilling humor and strange vibes, for sure.
Q: Favorite pastime other than writing?
A: Cycling! I go up hills and down hills (sometimes the hard way!) and around hills. I love it.
Q: Your bio says you are a mechanic by day...is there a dream vehicle that Rogan would like to own (or does)?
A: I want a chopper! A hog with tall suicide bars and superlong front forks. I don't even have a driver's license, so that's still down the road (ok, bad pun, bad pun. I'll stop!). I'd like to put it together myself from the frame on out.
Q: Pet peeves about others writing?
A: Insincerity is my number one. You have to believe what you're writing. I'm actually really easygoing besides that. I've read some really low-grade stuff and I've read the best there is. Across all of it, I've noticed that people who don't use metaphor effectively often die out real quick. Gotta be snappy, and keep the audience hooked and understanding.
Q: What would be your perfect life five years from now?
A: Living in an underwater city-bubble, surrounded by tons of salt water and no manmade lights to ruin the view. I'd like to be part of a thinktank, coming up with ways of saving the planet from these rapacious Humans. Sequestered beneath the waves and safe from any nuclear threat, I would expound upon many topics. For fun, and for profit. ---
As always, I want to thank Rogan for taking considerable time to sit down with me for EXPOSED! He can also be found in the EXPOSED! Album (See announcement Hey, Interviewees! for the link because I don’t know how to make it....LOL) Submit pictures, please! Until next time, Claire Postscript: I accidently deleted Ark's interview last night while making a couple of formatting corrections, but since Rogan's interview was to be posted today, Ark's will be replaced in the EXPOSED! archives, and I profusely apologize to her for my technical ineptness :)
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EXPOSED! at lit.org (williamhill)
