Marcel Anderson recently interviewed former Hole guitarist Eric Erlandson. Keep in mind these excerpts are translated so the verbiage isn’t exactly right. Erlandson discussed why he never started a solo career or formed another band after Hole.
“I had lots of offers from people who wanted to start some super groups with me. And many thought: He will become a second Dave Grohl and who knows what. But my reaction was: I do not want to be like Dave. Instead, I drove around the area one night with a friend and told her all those stories I experienced. What she meant: You should write a book. That was in 2000. And it took me a long time to get it done.
Although: If you look at a great author like Patti Smith, then she was already a good writer before she even started a band. And she also needed time to write ‘kids’. Before, she had written a book of poetry, a homage to Robert Mapplethorpe. That was in the 90s. In that sense, it took her 15 years of preparation before she tackled ‘kids.’
She started it, then put it aside and eventually finished it. Which is why I said it: I do it like her and put together snapshots of that time, just to get the ball rolling. For prose poems are a great way to develop as a writer and at the same time to hide behind it.”
