Leatherbag - Photo: Jessica Attie

The good folks over at Austin Sound brought us something special today in the form of an interview with one my favorite local artists, Leatherbag, a moniker for Randy Reynolds. He talks about everything from the new album, Love and Harm, to the books he’s been reading…which brings me to my favorite part of the interview:

Austin Sound: You mentioned earlier that you have an odd work schedule. How do you fit in practicing or composing music?

Leatherbag: Well, I have a lot of time on my own in between programs; I work on the top floor. That’s where my writing really helps. I’ve been reading a lot of short stories and fiction; I steal a lot of lines from short stories.

AS: Any books or authors in particular?

L: Yeah. Russell Banks is a huge influence. Raymond Carver is probably the largest influence. Joyce Carol Oates. Flannery O’Conner. There’s a new writer I like a lot named Michael Chabon; he wrote The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. He uses words that are totally modern, and you don’t know what they mean. He’s a great writer.

I’ve stopped reading novels, so I do a lot short fiction up there. The main thing I do at work is I usually write a bunch of nonsense ideas I have, but then I edit them for months. Raymond Carver said, “You write like the chair’s about to be pulled out from under you.” That’s the way I do it. You have a window of opportunity, and just run with it. A lot of it is garbage, but over time you can develop it. And there’s a guitar up there. I really take a lot of time with words because words are really central to what we do. I work really hard on it.

I also play Castlevania 2 and Super Mario 3.

You really can’t go wrong with Raymond Carver.

Read the full interview, by Abhinav Kumar, here.

Leatherbag joins Abhinav on his radio show Tons of Fun (on KVRX 91.7FM) this Thursday, the 10th, at 8pm.