Communing with Kerouac: Ben Gibbard in Big Sur
Travel Blog • Michael Yessis • 04.16.08 | 10:19 AM ET
The singer and songwriter for Death Cab For Cutie wrote songs for the band’s upcoming album, Narrow Stairs, at a cabin in Big Sur—the same spot Jack Kerouac wrote his book “Big Sur.” For its most recent issue, Paste magazine sent Gibbard back to the cabin, where he filed a cover story about his love for Kerouac and the impact of the writer on his life, particularly his book “On the Road.”
I read On The Road in college. I was 18 or 19, and I had a particular quarter where I was taking biology, calculus and physics. Those were my three classes. It wasn’t a well-rounded schedule at all. It was hard, hard work, all the time-—hours and hours and hours of homework. My brain was just full of all these specific equations; there was no fun whatsoever. But I pulled On The Road off the shelf and found myself reading it between classes, and at that time in my life it was exactly what I craved, exactly what I needed to hear. I thought, “That’s the way, that’s the ideal life, that’s great. You get in a car and you drive and you see your friends and you end up in a city for a night and you go out drinking and you catch up and you share these really intense experiences. And then you’re on the road and you’re doing it again.” The romance of the road, particularly from Kerouac’s work, encapsulated how I wanted to live. I found a way to do it by being a musician, which is what I always wanted to be. The traveling and the being on tour and being away from home set a precedent for me where I thought, “Oh yeah, this is how it works.”
But then in reading Big Sur, it’s the end of the road. You end up with a series of failed relationships and you end up being an alcoholic and in your late 30s, and not having any kind of real grip on the lives of the people around you. That’s the potential other end of the spectrum when you’re never tied to anybody or anything. I run the risk of losing touch with the people in my life that mean the most to me because I have made the decision to live like this.
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Michael Yessis is the cofounder and coeditor-in-chief of World Hum.
thebeatone 04.17.08 | 1:10 AM ET
Just a note of clarification (I like DCFC—so do my daughters): K did not writethe novel Big Sur at Ferlinghetti’s cabin at Big Sur. He constructed a fictional account (with much truth) around a VISIT to the cabin. He wasn’t there long enough to writea novel. He did writea poem (at the end of the novel) called “Sea” while on the short trip. The book is sad, akin to Fitzgerald’s “The Crack-Up” and certainly shows the downside of fame and fueling your fun with alcohol solely. Stay healthy rocker—peace. H-Mac
Eliza Amos 04.17.08 | 2:17 AM ET
Content-wise, this is far superior in content to Paste’s typical travel fare, which actually offends me it’s so bad. The factual errors noted above, however, make me think what I’ve always thought—that the mag should stick to straight music writing.
Me-ow.;)