There’s a little Sydney band that I love, who aren’t so little. In fact, there are a seven of them, sometimes more. They’re called Cuthbert and the Nightwalkers and they’re one of my favourite live acts.

Anyway, one of their members, bassist Brendan Walsh, was kind enough to sit down and tell us about his childhood books, obsession with Nabokov, and what the band likes to get up to on tour…

So you studied English at uni. Was this just for fun or were you hoping for a career out of it?

This was just for pure enjoyment… and fun was had by all. I especially enjoyed post-modern literature such as DeLillo and JG Ballard. Although since then I have followed on from that and finished a teaching degree. Which I couldn’t have done that without my trusty arts degree.

What kind books did you grow up reading, and do you think they had an impact on who you are today? (I grew up reading Enid Blyton and Lewis Carroll and as a result, still can’t tell the difference between reality and fantasy)

Besides the obvious Morris Gleitzman & Paul Jennings, I read alot of 2000AD comics my older brother gave me. I think this gave me my tolerance/love for blood and gore in fiction. :)

What kind of impact has your booknerdery had on your music?

Well in Shakin’ Howls it’s definitely made it a lot easier for me to write lyrics. The kind of music where (garage/punk rock) the lyrics don’t have to be too serious, but they can be. I like to concentrate on serious topics but write about them in a irreverent and silly way. Being into books and poetry has made this process a lot easier.

And in Cuthbert and the Night Walkers I know that book-nerdery has definitely influenced Richie’s writing. Specifically I remember he wrote the first song on Love Needs Us after reading “The Picture of Dorian Gray”. And you can really tell the influence in the writing of this song, as the lyrics are very wordy and flowery. And also in the way the song, “Sex is Not Everything”, questions hedonistic life styles and the search for true meaning in life. (pretty deep Richie)

If you could have dinner with any author living or dead, who would it be? and what kind of food would you serve?

I’d love to have dinner with Hunter S Thompson. I reckon I’d like to drive him to Dino’s Diner and get a good old school American hot dog. Followed by a drug cocktail desert involving hallucinogens and amphetamines. And then go for a drive down the Prince’s Highway and just take the night from there.

What’s the best book to movie adaptation?

Surely it would have to be Clockwork Orange. It’s amazing as a book and a movie. I think Kubrick’s surreal and violent adaption complements the book perfect.

What, in your opinion, is the worst book to movie adaptation?

Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I fell in love Capote’s short stories and novellas a few years ago. He has a beautiful eye for intriguing and magical detail. His short stories can also be incredibly cute and funny or heart wrenchingly emotional. Breakfast at Tiffany’s seemed to have elements of both of these extremes, while the movie’s ‘happy ending’ changed the whole tone of the story and just felt like such a cop-out. But Hepburn was still magic.

Best book you’ve read in 2009?

Definitely would have to be Lolita. Which has spurred a Nabokov obsession. It is such a beautifully written book. Which is extra impressive because English is not Nabokov’s first language. This book was also interesting because I’ve never been involved and sympathetic with a main character while at the same time finding him so absolutely despicable.

Worst book you’ve read in 2009?

Catcher in the Rye. I know this is a little controversial (what with JD dying recently) but I think I just read it at the wrong age. It was over hyped to me by my friends and I found the story a little pointless and the main character quite hard to relate to. Though in saying that, if I read it when I was 16 I think I would have loved it. And I did find the main character quite funny and enjoyable at times.

Do you get time to read when you go on tour? And if so, do you have a particular author/genre of choice?

Actually on our last trip to Melbourne, Nat from the band brought along the Motley Crue confessional “The Dirt”. We ended up taking turns reading out the chapters to the rest of the band on the drive down. It was like listening to an audio book and was way more enjoyable than playing eye spy. Also that book is the be all and end all of the rock band confession genre. It follows them from being wild and out kids with no money to being the biggest and most hedonistic band in the world. And then the eventual self-destruction of the band. It includes a death, gaol time, the singer being replaced and the marriages of Tommy Lee to Heather Graham & Pamela Anderson. What more could you want!

But the true reason this is better than its counterparts is that it is a joint effort between all band members and their managers etc. Each will only write for one chapter at a time. This stops it from becoming too self-obsessed and boring. Which most other autobiographical music confessional books do.

In your photo, you look quite absorbed in Lolita, can I ask what part you were up to?

(I’m sorry I can’t actually remember. But I think it was towards the end when they were living together in a house and she was going to that private school.)

And just because I love to be a linkyslut, you can see one of Cuthbert and the Nighwalkers’ supercute videos here.