An exceptional procrastination
My zine, The extraordinary life of Michael Lee Aday, came about through procrastination.
In January, I had unwillingly taken on a travel writing project, even though I had promised I would never accept anything as tedious as updating a travel guide. But I accepted it because it was a good project to keep me active after a couple of years of not doing much writing-wise. I didn't mind visiting the locations, but once that part of the job was finished, I had to enter all of the data onto my employer's database, which was mind-numbingly tedious.
So after doing some intense work every day, my reward was listening to music. Every hour I gave myself a break of five to ten minutes of music to get away from the computer screen.
After hearing of Meat Loaf's death, I decided to listen to his first album, Bat Out of Hell, which I'm ashamed to admit I never knew about. Soon it became an obsession. Meat Loaf fans posted old interviews, videos and documentaries about his career, so I began watching and listening to everything possible. I discovered his impressive lifetime work.
So as I was working on my day job, I had work breaks and weekends listening, understanding and reading everything I could find about this fascinating artist. I took copious notes and compiled the ultimate Meat Loaf listening list, which I played as I typed in my data.
I discovered elements of Meat Loaf's difficult childhood, how he lost his mother when he was 19, and a violent and alcoholic father who tried to kill him. His remarkable talents as an actor and singer. His incredible force of will to follow his creative skills.
Meat Loaf said yes to everything from singing in rock bands in the early 70s to singing musicals and roles in movies and on the stage. He did everything from Shakespeare to the Rocky Horror Show. How he randomly met and befriended talented musician and songwriter Jim Steinman. And how the two went on to write one of the most popular and highest-selling albums of all time.
Then came the stream of endless rejection to get the album recorded, how nobody believed in Jim Steinman or Meat Loaf's music, which was completely different from any music of the time. It took Steinman and ML two years to write the album and another two to find a record company that was able to sign them. Then it took them months of performing to build their audience after their record company refused to publicise the album.
My Meat Loaf procrastination became a welcomed distraction and obsession. Before I knew it, I had written pages of notes, and all of the fans' old photos became the inspiration for some sketches. Then I began thinking, " Hey, maybe I can make a little zine with all this research. So I started writing a tribute to ML's extraordinary life and my reflections as a new fan.
Before I realised it, I had written 10,000 words and had made dozens of sketches inspired by Meat Loaf.
After sending in my travel guide, I began editing and compiling my tribute to Meat Loaf.
The result is this little book about this enigmatic performer, his unlikely career path and possibly the most epic journey any album has had to take to be recorded and published.
If you want to read my little zine its available on Amazon.
Keep an eye out for a give away in a few weeks time and more zines further down the track.
Searching my full name on Amazon (Rochelle Del Borrello) will give you all of my zine publications so far.
After discovering Meat Loaf I have been well and truly stuck back in the 1970s.
What are you currently obsessed with?
The power of using your own life as inspiration
I've recently watched two fascinating programs inspired by the lives of two well-known comedians in a fascinating blend of semi-autobiographical drams, which were both great viewing experiences.
The first was Pete Davidson's stand-alone feature film, the King of Stanton Island. I've been a fan of Davidson after following his stand up routines and characters on SNL. He has always used his life in his comedy, including his struggle with mental health, Crohn's disease, drug use and losing his father in the September 11 World Trade Centre terrorist attack in 2001.
Director Judd Apatow, SNL writer David Sirus and Pete Davidson came together to pen the King of Staten Island script, which to some elements of Davidson's private life, to create a wonderfully complex mixture of comedy and drama, which is both entertaining and poignant.
The plot focuses on the life of Scott Carlin, a twenty-four-year-old high school dropout who lives with his mother and sister on Staten Island. Scott has never really gotten over the trauma of the death of his firefighter father in a hotel fire when he was seven. Scott also deals with ADHD and Chrones. He deals with his traumas by smoking marijuana and hanging out with his friends. Scott dreams of being a tattoo artist and practices his designs on his friends, but he never really works seriously on anything.
Through a series of coincidences, Scott introduces his mother, Margie, to Ray, a firefighter who starts a relationship with her. As the two begin seeing one another, Scott's comfortable existence is disturbed, and he is forced to address the problems in his life.
Without revealing too much of the complex plot, Scott gradually comes to terms with the trauma holding him back, and the movie ends on an encouraging and hopeful note. Even though Scott is flawed, his complex and realistic journey makes his character feel like a natural person. Davidson is a likeable and endearing character actor who has created a stunning performance.
The King of Staten Island is an incredibly unique and individual story to which Davidson lent many personal elements. This balance between autobiography and fiction has created something genuine yet dramatic, which reflects all of the complexities of an authentic life.
The second semi-autobiographical creation is Amy Schumer's comedy-drama series Life & Beth, whose first season is available on Disney plus. While being a little less dramatic than the King of Staten Island, Life & Beth doesn't shy away from sharing personal elements from Schumer's childhood.
The first two episodes were a little slow, a bit stilted and contrived, but as you get to know the main character of Beth and the vivid personalities of those around her, you are slowly drawn into the story.
Schumer's series is very character-driven and structured like Schumer's standup comedy narrative, filled with well-defined punchlines and character projection. Schumer herself says she drew inspiration from her childhood and took liberties with her characters.
Amy Schumer developed the show while pregnant with her son, after skimming through her old journals and revisiting some childhood memories. The main character Beth is forced to re-examine her life and address some deep childhood trauma after the sudden death of her mother.
Even though Schumer's mother is still very much alive, she was able to address more significant issues like sexuality, bullying, divorce, adolescence, family and personal relationships and trauma through the character journey of Beth.
Life & Beth is set to return for a second season, and it's going to be fascinating to see which direction Schumer will take Beth in.
