An illustrated interview with author, comedian, and poet Bucky Sinister about his new book, Time Bomb Snooze Alarm.
The Rumpus: What are some things you do?
Sinister: I’m a self-help author, a standup comedian, and a poet. Those are the three main hats I wear.
Rumpus: Well, I noticed that D. Randall Blythe from [the band] Lamb of God did the foreword on your newest poetry book, so maybe you should add Viking metal god hat to the list.
Sinister: My poetry hat is mighty and fearsome.
Rumpus: How did it come to be that you are a guru of metal?
Sinister: Mr. Blythe found me somehow. He reads a lot. There are a lot of band guys out there who get a lot of reading done on tour. In bands like his, they can be on the road for over a year at a time. Most of that time is spent waiting. One can burn through a lot of books that way. Since then, I’ve gotten emails from guys in other bands who were turned on to my work through him:
Buzzoven, Devil Driver, Coal Chamber, Bison DC, and Stephen Gibb.
Rumpus: What can fans of your poetry expect from the new book?
Sinister: The poems are getting longer, for one thing. There are a lot of poems about the Mission in the 90’s. More of the poems are about other people, rather than being all about me. This book contains the first poems I’ve written since I started doing standup five years ago, which affected my word choice and rhythm.
Rumpus: How is your weekly comedy show going? [Bucky is a founding performer of the comedy group The Business at The Dark Room in San Francisco every Wednesday.]
Sinister: It’s going really well. Most weeks, we have a full house. We recently added Caitlin Gill and Chris Thayer to the regular crew, and they’re doing some amazing work in there.
Sinister: I also watch more movies than anyone I know. I watch everything from pretentious foreign films and arthouse fare to the latest big budget Hollywood disasters.
Rumpus: That’s impressive. I hear you have a projector in your house.
Sinister: Yes, I do. When I was a kid, there was an old one-screen movie theater in my hometown. The owner was also the projectionist. I thought that would be a great place to live. When I was older, I saw Sunset Boulevard. The lead character had a movie projector in her house. I was fascinated. I’ve always loved movies and I thought someday I could have that setup.
Rumpus: Is there anything else you’d like to tell the world? Any life lessons to impart on impressionable youngsters?
Sinister: Do the kind of art you want to see but doesn’t exist yet.
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Bucky’s newest book, Time Bomb Snooze Alarm, is available through Write Bloody Publishing wherever good books are sold.
