Virtual Memories Show 649:
David Levithan and Jens Lekman
“Collaborating can bring out new things in your own writing, but also structurally gives you the chance to do something different: combining songs and story is something I could never do on my own.”
“I hate how music has been turned into content, like it’s a scented candle.”
With SONGS FOR OTHER PEOPLE’S WEDDINGS (Abrams Press), writer David Levithan and singer-songwriter Jens Lekman bring the collaborative alchemy, as 20 years of fandom/friendship lead to this wonderful novel about a Swedish singer-songwriter — J — who finds a side-career playing original songs at people’s weddings. We talk about the power of a great song, how David & Jens traded writing prompts with each other — a wedding song leading to a chapter, a chapter leading to a wedding song —, discovered how differently they each look at love, and managed to fuse that tension into a story of how love changes over time. We get into the differences between stories and songs, how Jens had fallen out of love with music (blame Spotify) and how this book helped him fall back in love with it, whether they’ll write a sequel about funerals, and how Jens’ song, “If you ever need a stranger (to sing at your wedding),” led to his side-career as a wedding singer. We also discuss Jens’ new album inspired by the book, David’s upcoming history of the AIDS era, the ways collaboration helps create new structures, what it means to be alone, how our private lives can get drowned by our public ones, their book/music tour and the importance of face-to-face interaction, the value of emotionally honest fiction, and more, including numerous Nick Cave references. Give it a listen! And go read SONGS FOR OTHER PEOPLE’S WEDDINGS!
“I felt like I was writing someone else’s autofiction.”
“The novel is about what happens when you’re right for each other but there are other things going on.”
“To me, the book is also a meditation on what it means to be alone.”
“I would love one of my novels to have the force of New Order’s Bizarre Love Triangle.”
Enjoy the conversation! Then check out the archives for more great episodes!
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David Levithan is the author of numerous acclaimed novels, including The Lover’s Dictionary, Every Day, Boy Meets Boy, and Two Boys Kissing. His other collaborations include Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist with Rachel Cohn, and Will Grayson, Will Grayson with John Green. He can often be found with headphones on, a devoted music listener . . . but it’s safe to say that nobody will ever ask him to sing at a wedding.
Check out David’s FAQs and IAQs.
Jens Lekman is a singer and songwriter from Sweden with several beloved albums such as Life Will See You Now, Night Falls Over Kortedala, and Oh You’re So Silent Jens. He was once voted the fifteenth-sexiest man in Sweden by ELLE. Then he dropped down to number thirty-three, and since then he hasn’t been included in their list. He works part-time as a wedding singer.
Follow Jens on Bandcamp, Facebook and Instagram.
Credits: This episode’s music is Fella by Hal Mayforth, used with permission from the artist. The conversation was recorded remotely via Zencastr. I used a Heil PR-40 Dynamic Studio Recording Microphone feeding into a Zoom PodTrak P4. All processing and editing done in Adobe Audition CC. Photo of David by Ryan Joch; photo of Jens by Ellika Henrikson. It’s on my instagram.
