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Fahrenheit V13

Fahrenheit V13: Jeremy Wagner Discusses the Books that Have Made a Difference in His Life

Known for his work with Broken Hope and now Earthburner, Jeremy Wagner joins us for a Fahrenheit V13 interview to discuss reading.

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Jeremy Wagner with his book “Rabid Heart”
Jeremy Wagner with his book “Rabid Heart”

Whether it’s with Broken Hope or Earthburner, Jeremy Wagner has managed to remain creative and productive for 35 years now. While Broken Hope was on hiatus in the early 2000s, Wagner formed Earthburner, named after the Broken Hope song of the same name. The original intention was to create grind songs with a tinge of horror to them. For 20 years now, it has remained Wagner’s priority, even when Broken Hope reformed in 2011.

By the beginning of last year, Wagner had become extremely focused on Earthburner and set out to expand the band and record new music. He and close collaborator Mike Miczek enlisted Wagner’s stepson Tyler Affinito from Gloryhole Guillotine to play bass. Devin Swank joined to assume vocalist duties, and within a month of this new lineup coming together, they were already recording. Napalm Death guitarist and singer Mitch Harris also became an “honourary member,” contributing side vocals. Wagner had a lot of songs already written, and by April of 2023, they were recording their debut album, Permanent Dawn.

We changed the subject from music to reading with Wagner as he joins us for Fahrenheit V13 to discuss his favourite books and his reading habits.

What is the book that has made the most impact on you as a person?

Jeremy Wagner: “I’d say that it’s Mario Puzo’s The Godfather because that’s a masterpiece that’s untouchable. I’ve read it about ten times over now. That said, close follow-ups on impact are every book by Cormac McCarthy and early Stephen King novels.”

Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction? What’s your preferred genre?

“It depends on the book for me. Mostly, fiction has been my favourite genre since childhood, but in the last decade between me writing a memoir for others, like a famous chef (Curtis Duffy), and research I’m doing for a new novel I’m writing, I’m reading more and more non-fiction and loving it. But really, it’s about the journey and how it impacts me. It’s worth noting that I prefer to write fiction over non-fiction.”

Who are your favourite writers?

“This is always tough, I like so many… I love Peter Blauner, Peter Straub, Colin Harrison, Thomas Harris, Mario Puzo, Stephen King, Cormac McCarthy, Joe Lansdale, Jack Ketchum, Dan Simmons, Nic Pizzolatto, Peter Benchley… I’m sure I’m forgetting others, but those are all authors who just blew me away and had a profound influence on me.”

Jeremy Wagner with his library, photo by Stephanie Cabral

Jeremy Wagner with his library, photo by Stephanie Cabral

Which book series do you think deserves a proper screen adaptation? Who would you want to play the main characters? Which artists would do the soundtracks?

“I’d say The Border Trilogy of novels by Cormac McCarthy: All the Pretty Horses, The Crossing, and Cities of the Plain.

“As for main characters and depending on where they’d fit in the script, I’d choose:

“Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem (even though they’d been in the adaptation of McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men) along with Natalie Martinez, Aubrey Plaza, Rita Moreno, Pedro Pascal, Timothee Chalamet, Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaac, Anya Taylor-Joy, and throw in Sylvester Stallone. I wish Dennis Hopper was alive because I’d want him in there.

“Last, as for scoring… my go-to is John Williams or Julia Newman. But I have been making films now and scoring stuff, so I’d like to give that a try and do it with my good friend Charlie Benante (Anthrax/Pantera) because he loves soundtracks and scoring as much as me…”

Graphic novels and comics have enjoyed mainstream crossover thanks in no small part to the cinematic universes of Marvel and DC. Do you enjoy graphic novels or comics? Any particular titles that stand out as favourites?

“My company, Dead Sky Publishing, publishes tons of comics and graphic novels, so you’re speaking my language here. That aside, I’d say that my all-time favourite graphic novel is Panorama of Hell by Hideshi Hino. Then I also loved Road to Perdition by Max Allen Collins and Uzumaki by Junji Ito.”

Have you read any musical biographies? If so, any favourites?

“Right off, anything written by Joel McIver! Joel really writes the best music biographies/memoirs I’ve ever read.

Earthburner, photo by Corey Soria

Earthburner, photo by Corey Soria

“Aside from that, I enjoyed Gregg Allman’s My Cross to Bear and Motley Crue’s The Dirt, David Lee Roth’s Crazy From the Heat and Mick Wall’s Enter Night: A Biography of Metallica comes to mind. I’ve found many others underwhelming, unfortunately… If you’re going to do a music memoir/autobiography, be brutally honest and don’t walk on eggshells.

“I hear that Neal Peart’s Ghost Rider is great, as is the Pete Way autobiography, A Fast Ride Out of Here: Confessions of Rock’s Most Dangerous Man.”

Are there any particular editions or collections of books you’d be excited to collect and own?

“I’m fortunate enough to say I have the ultimate editions of books I could dream of collection: everything from signed first editions by Mario Puzo, Stephen King, Peter Straub, Jack Ketchum, Thomas Harris… I have a hell of a library here!”

Jeremy Wagner and Jack Ketchum, photo by Stephanie Cabral

Jeremy Wagner and Jack Ketchum, photo by Stephanie Cabral

What’s a book that you think everyone should be required to read from cover to cover throughout their time in school?

“I would suggest Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, and for teen to young adult readers, read Skeleton Crew by Stephen King, or try and tackle Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy or The Godfather by Mario Puzo. All those are books that are lessons in brilliant writing and brilliant voices and journeys.”

What was the best reading- or book-related present you ever received?

“The best book presents I ever got were every Stephen King book my mother ever bought me since I was a kid and also my beautiful aunt Mary got me The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy, and that one is significant not only because my aunt Mary has passed, but it’s the very first Cormac McCarthy novel I ever got, and he became one of my favourite authors.”

What’s the scariest book you’ve ever read?

Ghost Story by Peter Straub and Stephen King’s IT. IT is also the scariest novel my mother has read.”

Jeremy Wagner, Peter Straub, and Joe Hill, couretsy of Jeremy Wagner

Jeremy Wagner, Peter Straub, and Joe Hill, couretsy of Jeremy Wagner

Born in 2003, V13 was a socio-political website that morphed into PureGrainAudio in 2005 and spent 15 years developing into one of Canada's (and the world’s) leading music sites. On the eve of the site’s 15th anniversary, a full relaunch and rebrand took us back to our roots and opened the door to a full suite of Music, Entertainment, and cultural content.

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