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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 16, 1998)
u JllF fjxj ‘ J<s ^X%T W t j y dominated culture By Jason Hardy Senior staff writer On Monday, a 24-year-old girl from Connecticut saw her dream become a reality. Robin Troy was chosen from 500 entries to become die “fresh, original voice” to represent die newest stone in their proud Gen-X crown: MTV Books. The first novel Troy had ever writ ten, “Floating,” arrived at bookstores all across the country this week, marking the beginning of a new era for Troy, MTV and, possibly, young writers everywhere. For Troy, it was one of the most exhilarating moments of her life - her first submission to a publication compa ny was chosen among hundreds of entries, stocked on shelves and heralded by critics around the country. Now, it waits to be devoured by masses of fiction-hungry Americans. But will they come? Do those mass es of fiction-hungry Americans still read? Of course they do, but who’s to say they aren’t surfing the Net, sending e-mail or watching CNN while Troy lives out her dream. Ith obvious that there are people out there who still love to read. Barnes & Noble Booksellers wouldn’t sprawl across the country if no one bought bodes. But in light of the technological boom of the past few decades, it begs die question: Has creative writing taken a back seat to die consumer-friendly media of television, film and tabloid journalism? Young writers today face a global market of entertainment competition. Through technol- j ogy, information is being / slung across the planet at / incomprehensible speeds. I Our excited society seems to v| ' be bubbling over with a now, j ^ ; now, now attitude that creates 1 W a growing hunger to be enter- \ J||l£ tained while simultaneously 1jj|& fostering smaller and smaller \ attention spans. yip But there are still those who \ ? choose to exercise their senses at a slower, more detailed pace. They’re people like you and me who V like to read; luckily for us, there are ' still people who like to write. A lost generation Robert Riley is a junior anthropoid. gy major. He also loves to write and will be published in the upcoming issue of Laurus, the University of Nebraska Lincoln’s literary magazine. Riley acknowledges that the media access at the touch of a button has a great impact on him as a writer, in both negative and positive aspects. “It provides access to information that I wouldn’t otherwise have,” Riley said. “But sometimes people get caught up in the flashiness of the multimedia. I love my computer as much as anybody, but I understand it can hurt you.” Sophomore English major Adryan Mallorey also will be published-in this season’s issue of Laurus. He believes soci ety's hunger for quick entertainment is causing some people to regard literature as obsolete. “I think it’s damaging to literature, because film seems to absorb people’s literary craving,” Mallorey said. What’s left is a market that doesn’t creating. That, in turn, leaves a growing number of people who fed out of place and are afraid to claim who they are - writers. “I think there’s a social challenge in figuring out or establishing a role for yourself in society, so you feel entitled to say ‘I’m a writer,’just like people say ‘I’m a businessman,’” Mallorey said “I haven’t even ever submitted any thing. I guess I just don’t feel like I’m ready. Also, I think I’m pretty out of touch with the market, and I don’t think that a lot of what I do is really mar ketable.” I Ghostwriters Those feelings are not unnatural according to Greg Kuzma, UNL English professor and adviser for Laurus. He said the editors who put .« together Laurus are looking to publish work by students outside the English department. It is those people Whom Kuzma has been seeking. “We’ve been trying to get out of Andrews Hall for years, but it doesn’t seem like anyone will let us,” Kuzma said “We try really hard to get people in other departments to contribute.” And that’s not all. Kuzma said the participation by English students is fair ly sparse, considering the number who claim to be pursuing a career in creative writing. “We need more (for Laurus). A lot of the teachers I talk to claim that their students don’t feel confident enough,” Kuzma said “I have a hard time getting my own students, and I don’t know if there’s just not a lot of interest in pub lishing or what. We probably haven’t established hoe that writing poetry and stories can get you out of Lincoln.” Before Robin Troy saw her ship come in by winning “MTV’s The Write Stuff” contest, she to was skeptical Please see WRITE on 13 Incubus tests S.C.I.E.N.C.E’ By Patrick Miner Staff writer Incubus continues to drop sci ence. The band is touring hard in sup port of its latest release, “S.C.I.E.N.C.E,” and it is set to return to Lincoln's Knickerbockers, 901 0 St., where they will play an early all-ages show today at 6 p.m. Before its performance with 311 and Sugar Ray at Pershing Auditorium, 226 Centennial Mall, Incubus was eager to talk about its tour and the new album. At the time, 311 had decided to extend Incubus as an opening act for the tour from two to six weeks, which brought all three bands to Lincoln. “We and 311 are both filled with good energy, and we both encour aged people to dance and have fun,” guitarist Mike Einziger said. “The crowd 311 brought was very recep tive to our music.” With high-profile tours in the past year, such as 311 and Ozzfest '98, Incubus has been able to devel op a bigger audience for their heavy mixture of funk, rock and hip-hop. Between these tours, the band head lined its own, which included shows at Omaha's Ranch Bowl, 1600 S. 72*1 St., and Lincoln’s Knickerbockers earlier this year. The Omaha Ranch Bowl show was poorly advertised by the venue, and only a handful of walk-up fans attended. Still, Incubus, which was an awkward fit on die bill, managed tP.P<u;/>P,a^e^rlf*i;9jP.gs,how , V. y . • . / f - y: despite the unhappy situa tion. “It’s tough not sleep ing and driving eight hours to a show when it’s not advertised well,” Einziger said. “All they need to do is promote the show, and kids will show up.” On what has otherwise been a very successful tour, Incubus has been evolving. It changed DJs in February and acquired DJ Kilmore because, accord ing to Einziger, that area of the band was kicking. „ _ This change has inspired the band to do a lot of writing on the road. However, fans should not expect a new album until the end of 1999. The band hopes “S.C.I.E.N.C.E” will receive considerable air play with the release of its single “New Skin” Sept. 22. While the band has released “Re-define” and “A Certain Shade of Green” as singles, “New ci~:_99 r. aln_a r..u umu 10 iuvu 11101 m. uii — scale marketed attempt to get video and radio play. If fans are still hungry for new Incubus sounds, they can pick up Unwritten Law’s self-titled album released last summer. Both Einziger and lead vocalist Brandon Boyd appear on the song “418.” Tonight, Einziger said the band will play around IS songs from “S.C.I.E.N.C.E.” and the band’s first release, “Enjoy Incubus.” “This tour is about playing the songs the kids really want to hear that we haven’t played in a while,” Einziger said. The kiddies should be restless tonight at Knickerbockers when Incubus performs. The show begins with opening acts Ultraspank and System of a Down. Tickets are $10. v. ,.v,y,v ’ I ‘Up up’ Bomboras ride ‘Surfin’ Safari’ to town By Jason Hardy Senior staff writer Though Nebraskans are more accustomed to waxing down Chevys than surfboards, once in a while a group of brave rockers bring the beach to Huskerville. Tonight, the Bomboras, a neo surf group out of Southern California, invite all who dare to take a trip inside their spooky hut of surf chaos for a go-go spectacular perfor mance at Knickerbockers, 9010 St The So-Cal surf outfit is known for hitting fans with an explosion of old surf style comprising low-fi fuzzed-out riffs, reverb up the wazoo and a stage presence that even the gnarliestTiki god would envy. Reminiscent of surfing garage rockers like The Ventures and The Kingsmen, the Bomboras up the ante on, well, everything for a style they’ve appropriately duhbed the “up up” sound. Lead guitarist Gregg Hunt, said the “up up” sound has a style differ ent from past surf greats like the Sonics and early Dick Dale. “We fyave all of those influ ences, but we’re at a point now that we can write songs ourselves, and we’re not looking to sound just like this or that,” Hunt said in a phone interview from Dallas. “We’re very comfortable with our own sound that we’ve developed over the years.” The up-front style of the groups y *» Vt, *.*.<*.«, *. t, l e. r.m, ^ i . ? < . 1 < ■ organ player plus a number of aggressive guitar leads help the Bomboras take listeners on a canoe ride down a rockin’ river to a place no original surf master would dare go The group’s stage antics also set the surfgroup apart Their shows can only be compared to a Kahlua induced episode of the Flintstones. “When we’re playing, it’s pretty hard to look the other way,” Hunt said. “We try to make it a visual as well as an auditory experience.” Some of the group’s past “visual experiences” have includ ed nights where the band dressed up as Borneo headhunters, glow ing skeletons or undead Mexican monsters. Also notable are the freaked out go-go dancers who are almost as hot as the group’s many fourth-grade-style pyrotechnic shows, which usually just leave the band with a bunch of burned-up equipment The Bomboras recently released their latest collection of voodoo surf on Zombie A Go-Go Records, owned by Rob Zombie. Hunt said that despite Nebraska’s land-locked geographi cal position, Lincoln residents should be ready for a tidal wave - and the wipeout that is sure to follow. . The show starts at 10 p.m. and costs $5.
