The outspoken and often confrontational frontman of the recently reformed Galway band Toasted Heretic, Julian Gough has latterly found fame and some fortune as a writer. His critically acclaimed novel, Juno And Juliet, was published worldwide a few years ago and has since been translated into five languages. He’s just finished a new novel, which he describes as “a shit-stirring masterpiece set in Nevada, London and Galway”.
Meanwhile, he is getting ready for Toasted Heretic’s upcoming performance at the Galway Arts Festival – their first gig in over a decade. A single will also be released featuring the tracks ‘LSD Isn’t What It Used To Be’ backed with ‘Drown the Browns’. Both are taken from the long awaited re-release of the albums Songs for Swinging Celibates and Charm and Arrogance.
Born in London of Tipperary parents Gough moved to Galway in the '80s and apart from short spells in London and in the US has made it his home ever since. “It’s a more cosmopolitan city than Dublin,” he says. “It’s a more tolerant place to live. Since I moved here, the city has doubled in size which is down to people moving in from outside.”
Home for Gough is a rented house in Salthill which he shares with his wife Anne-Marie, a sculptor and five-month old daughter Sophie.
“We’re more than happy to rent rather than buy,” he says. “In fact, I’ve never owned a car or a house. I don’t like certainty. I don’t like thinking, I’ll be here in 30 years time. I’m probably the opposite of most people in that regard.
“Even when I sold Juno And Juliet in America for quite a nice sum of money I traded in my second-hand bike for a nicer second-hand bike. We don’t go out that much. Myself and Anne-Marie sit at home over a coffee and talk about our work.
Which means talking about art and life and sex and music and novels. "It’s great. I’d much rather have a conversation with Anne-Marie than go out.”
In fact, the art of making ends meet and living on a shoestring seems to be something Gough has perfected over the years
“Back when we were broke, we even used to make our own furniture,” he says. “That round table in the living room I made out of a cable-drum that I found in a skip. I took it out, carried it home on my head, bust off the caked concrete, and varnished it five times. Makes a wonderful coffee table. Got stopped by the [Gardai] on my way home with it, mind you.
“And I’ve never had a television,” he adds, with more than a hint of pride. “If I did, I’d never get anything done. Have you ever watched people watching television? They look like drugged monkeys in some hideous experiment. And it’s exhausting: TV makes you feel different emotions every 30 seconds – emotions you had no intention of feeling when you sat down. Oh my God that plane’s going to crash! He hit her! They’re kissing! Phooooweer! That hyena’s eating that baby gazelle while it’s still alive! Yuk. Totally drains you. I don’t have the energy to watch television.
“At friends’ houses I’ll watch an episode or two to get the gist of a series, but that’s it. And I watch football in the pub.”
Still, it’s not all scrimping, saving and making do around at the Goughs’ and there are some luxuries to be had as he explains.
“We bought an Aerolatte frother when we got married, and it’s revolutionised our lives,” he says. “Makes the perfect cappuccino in your kitchen. No need ever to leave the house again! Do you want my recipe for the perfect homemade cappuccino? Warm the cappuccino cups. Warm a pint glass, pour in half a pint of hot milk (around 60C). Whip up the hot milk with the frother, till the froth reaches the top of the glass. Have the coffee come through the stovetop coffeepot nice and slowly. Lavazza Oro is brilliant, though Lavazza Rosso is lovely too, a little rougher, more Robusta beans and less Arabica, but sometimes you want it rough…
“Coffee in first, pour the milk in while holding the froth back with a warmed spoon, shake a little Green & Black’s organic cocoa on top. Make a perfect cappuccino once a day, and it gives you the beautiful illusion that you have some sort of control over your life."
While clearly determined to remains TV-less Gough confesses to watching DVDs on his computer.
”I let history filter out the dross, and then I buy the box-sets of the best stuff and we watch the DVDs on my iBook, with really nice Harman Kardon speakers. The Sopranos, The Simpsons, The Office...Mostly The Simpsons. “And I use the internet which I much prefer to TV. It’s so alive, and changing all the time, and has so many quirky corners. And it’s great for researching novels.
“No matter how obscure the thing you seek, someone has devoted their life to it and put it all up on the net. And reissuing the Toasted Heretic albums, the internet has been great. We can email each other artwork, and embarrassing early photos we’ve found that we want in the booklet. And it’s been nice setting up the Toasted Heretic website (www.toastedheretic.com), and putting up the most embarrassing ones".
Being a celebrated author Gough is, not surprisingly, a keen reader.
“I spend more on books than I do on rent. Mostly in Charlie Byrne’s, one of the finest bookshops on earth, and I’ve visited most of them. It’s a difficult task, building shelves fast enough to keep up with the new arrivals. I read fairly broadly. Depends on what I’m writing, too. For the new book, I read a lot about economics, Nevada, all sorts of odd things. You chase your obsessions, and see what you find. For pleasure, Flann O’Brien, PG Woodehouse, Philip Roth, or David Thompson’s new history of Hollywood, The Whole Equation. Right now I’m reading Martin Wolf’s Why Globalisation Works for pleasure. It’s a masterpiece. When I’m writing, too, it’s nice to look up and see the different editions of Juno And Juliet in Japanese, Swedish, Hebrew, German and Dutch. Reassuring, when you’re stuck.”
Photos by Jamie Howard