Drew Burk teaches bookbinding and is the fiction editor and lead bookbinder for Spork Press (sporkpress.com). A novel he wrote features Tiger from the Tap Room (at Hotel Congress) as a downloaded consciousness that is mapped onto the various bodies that work the bar—so that Tiger's always the bartender.
What was the first concert you ever saw?
I met Poison at the Green Door in Montclair, Calif., when I was in the eighth grade. I thought they were the hottest rocker chicks I'd ever seen.
What are you listening to these days?
I'm on an everything-Jerry-Fuchs-was-involved-in-within-the-last-couple-of-years kick. That and a seemingly unending stream of Xymox, the Blade Runner soundtrack and Carter Burwell's scores for Coen brothers films (Fargo and Barton Fink especially).
What was the first album you owned?
Ozzy Osbourne, Diary of a Madman, and Dokken, Tooth and Nail.
What artist, genre or musical trend does everyone seem to love, but you just don't get?
(Local indie-popsters/DJ-fetishists) RCougar. I like them a lot, but I don't understand the impetus behind it—why so many folks are calming down. I still scream a bunch; I like to set things on fire. I mean that in an actual fire kind of way.
What musical act, current or defunct, would you most like to see perform live?
I want Morrissey to open up for William Shatner. That's all I want. Ever.
Musically speaking, what is your favorite guilty pleasure?
It's not a guilty thing, but I seem to disagree with everyone about the Stone Roses' Second Coming. It's one of my favorites. Except for "Tightrope." That song's awful.
What song would you like to have played at your funeral?
I want "A Glorious Dawn," the Carl Sagan song featuring Stephen Hawking.
What band or artist changed your life, and how?
It was 1985 that did it: The Head on the Door, Meat Is Murder, Tinderbox, Tones on Tail, Low Life. I'd grown up in private religious school; 1985 was my first year in the world.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
It's a tossup between Jesus Christ Superstar (movie soundtrack) and Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Flaunt It.
