May 14, 2025 • 30 mins
In our latest episode, hosts Simone, Tanya and Deb discuss “The Lightning Bottles” from Marissa Stapley. It’s all about love, drugs and rock & roll!
Jane was once half of a famous duo from the Seattle Grunge Era of the 90s.Years later, she became perhaps the most hated, and least understood, woman in music. She was never as popular with fans as her bandmate (and soulmate), Elijah.
They were on a high - at the top of their game, and then that rise to fame came crashing down.
Her husband and partner in music, abruptly disappeared...and through the public hatred, all Jane wants to do is retreat. What she doesn’t anticipate is the bombshell that awaits her at her new home in the German countryside..There’s a superfan, secret messages for Jane and so much in-between!!
A cross-continent road trip about two misunderstood outsiders brought together by their shared love of music!
Jane was once half of a famous duo from the Seattle Grunge Era of the 90s.Years later, she became perhaps the most hated, and least understood, woman in music. She was never as popular with fans as her bandmate (and soulmate), Elijah.
They were on a high - at the top of their game, and then that rise to fame came crashing down.
Her husband and partner in music, abruptly disappeared...and through the public hatred, all Jane wants to do is retreat. What she doesn’t anticipate is the bombshell that awaits her at her new home in the German countryside..There’s a superfan, secret messages for Jane and so much in-between!!
A cross-continent road trip about two misunderstood outsiders brought together by their shared love of music!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Join us and unwined with a good book. Welcome to
relaxing reads.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Hi, it's Devin, Halifax Heights a Mountain, Vancouver.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey, it's Tanya and Edmonton.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (00:11):
Our latest read, The Lightning Bottles, comes from Marissa Stapley,
and it's all about love, drugs, and rock and roll.
Jane was once half of a famous duo from the
Seattle grunge era of the nineties. Years later, she became
perhaps the most hated and least understood.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Woman in music.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
She was never as popular with fans as her bandmate
and soulmate Elijah. They were on a high, at the
top of their game, and then that rise to fame
came crashing down. Her husband and partner in music abruptly disappeared,
and through the public hatred, all Jane really wanted was
to retreat. What she doesn't anticipate is the bombshell that
(00:49):
awaits her at her new home in the German countryside.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
There's a super fan.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Secret messages for Jane, and so much in between. A
cross continent road trip about two misunder stood outsiders brought
together by their shared love of music. It was something else,
wasn't it. It certainly was it was you know, page
turning mystery and a love letter to the grunge era.
(01:15):
I don't know about you too, but I was feeling
some and experiencing some flashbacks.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Yeah, especially being so close to Seattle, Like growing up
there was a lot of that influence in Vancouver when
it came to that music. So for sure, that definitely
took me back as well.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yeah, absolutely, And I was really you know, and that
whole Seattle sound scene came out in the nineties, it
was just like it was, you know, something we had
never really heard before and certainly never seen before. I
mean she, you know, Marissa goes into great detail about
how everybody looked from that time, right, It's like the
you know, the plaid shirts and the long johns and
(01:54):
like multiple layers of clothing.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Yeah, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
So it's like I could definitely I could relate to, like,
you know how she was sort of describing the whole thing,
because we all lived through that too, you know, we did.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Yeah, I Halifax was known as Seattle North and so
the music scene here was very similar.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
To what was going on in Seattle.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
So, you know, going downtown and listening to that music
in some bars and then you know, seeing some live
performances with some bands with a similar track, a soundtrack
was it was a whole lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I never heard of that. That's so interesting.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Yeah, it was a fun time. And and you know
some of the rock influence during that time. My brother
was all for it, and I was more poppy you
know in high school and coming out. I mean I
always enjoyed some aspect of rock, and then when that happened,
I was, you know, going to university in college and
(02:57):
different groups of friends.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Who were really in that scene.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
So it was a neat introduction to what that era
was all about.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, it's sort of like what Marissa was saying in
her book and how she described the scene. It was
sort of like the anti music you know, the anti
famous music stars, right, like they were they're all trying
to do this thing. But they but they but they're like, no,
we don't want to sell out, man, we don't want
to you know, we don't want a record deal. But
it's like, of course they want a record deal. It's
(03:26):
just that they they come across as just being so
angry and kind of anti establishment. You definitely got that
from you know, a lot of the artists that were
described in this book, and certainly with Elijah growing up
in Seattle and and his friends and them jamming in
the basement and you know how that story progresses. So
I thought it was it was kind of interesting about
(03:48):
you know, where this whole thing is set and uh,
and really sort of Marissa's comment as we sort of
find out throughout the rest of the novel on celebrity ism,
you know, like what that actually means, what it means
to be famous, what it means to be like an
artist who just wants to get their music out there
and then and then they become famous, and then that
(04:10):
sort of just turns everything, like three p. Sixty for
all of these characters.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, And it's interesting you say that, because I think
a lot of it is about the creative control. They
don't want to give up that creative control when it
comes to their music. And so many artists who were younger,
they got signed on to these big labels and later
had to go back and realize, you know, they gave
up a lot of their creative freedom to get to
where they were. And then once you're established, you can
kind of say, no, this is how I do things.
(04:36):
I'm going to tour if I want to. If I
don't want to do something, I'm not going to do it.
So it's definitely interesting and it's so true because I
think you have this idea of people listening to your
music or whatever it is you do, and then once
you get there, maybe it's not all that it was
that you thought it.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Was going to be.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
And I think that was the case, is they had
such a beautiful beginning and love story and the way
they connected, and once they got to that level where
they finally were living out their dreams, they were doing
that in response to losing some of their dreams.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Yeah, and I think you know, you know, fashion or
the lack of fashion during that time was maybe part
of it. You know, coming out of high school into
university in college years, for a lot of kids, whether
they were in a band or they had friends in
a band, it was you know what, don't tell me
how to dress. I'm just casual, very casual. I don't
(05:32):
care about my appearance. Although you know, then everybody got
into it and it's just, for lack of a better term,
a sloppy kind of look.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
Yeah, and yeah, and then it went beyond the oh,
my gosh, you're right, Like, you know, people are looking
at us, professionals in the industry want to have a
part of us.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
But how do we separate ourselves without losing ourselves?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Do we still see grunt? Like when you know, we
go through so many.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Things in fashion, and everything that's old comes back again.
But I haven't really seen the resurface of grunge really,
like we're seeing some nineties trends that are back.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
But yeah, you never know, I know, I don't think
it's it's not back, I mean not yet. I mean no, yeah,
like our music has become sort of very very processed,
I think, you know. I mean, I mean there are
still the you know, kind of those singer songwriters out there,
but there's just the music is very different from when
(06:34):
I was growing up, and very different from when this
novel is based. You know, I don't know whether I
have an affinity towards like all the new music. I mean,
sometimes I just think it's I don't even know what
they're saying, and maybe I just you know, I'm coming
across as old as like Tanya, you're just old. But
you know, I love music. I am a music lover,
and I will try to find, you know, something to
(06:55):
listen to in all genres of music. I just find that,
you know, some of the newer stuff right now isn't
isn't totally relatable to me. But I will say that
that news that new song. Now, I'm based here in Evonton,
and of course the the Evonton Oilers are going going
towards the Stanley Cup and in their dressing room they
are playing that song. Oh what is it? The Pink
(07:17):
Pink Pony Club, chap Pony Club Club?
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Right?
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Great, I love that And you know that song is
very dancy, very sort of current, but it's got a
great guitar solo in there that is reminiscent of like
some of those guitar solos that we heard back in
the day. Right So, I'm like, you know, this is
rather interesting is music? Are we are we starting to
get more guitars in our music? Is this what's gonna happen?
(07:45):
I don't know anyway, that's a little segue, but uh,
but yeah, I haven't seen that the plaid shirts or
anything come back back yet. And the really angry kind
of Kurt Colbing snarly.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
And different combat boots and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Too, right.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Yeah, that's funny you mentioned Chapel Roane. My two teenage
nieces love absolutely love her, and when I listen to
them chat about the music that they love. I mean
they're big you know, Swifty fans as well, but it
is kind of a there is a similar vibe, you know,
the whole look and the messaging might be just a
(08:24):
little off, but I think there's there's some kind of
a connection and it's interesting just to watch and observe
them with their friends as they talk about their music
or explain it to the adults in the room.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
I guess what we probably did.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
You know, with our parents as well at that time.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, there's always that growing up the music that you're
listening to. Like, for me, it was a lot of
rap music, and I'm sure my parents were like what
is this music coming out of her room? But it's
like when we listen to their type of music, it
was like, well what is that? And now my kids
when I'll listen to something and I'm jamming out from
the nineties or something, they're like what because they're so
you to that different. Like you said, Tanya, that that
(09:02):
process music and it's just very different and I'm like,
I don't even understand a single lyric this person is saying.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
What are they saying?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Like, sometimes I feel like that storytelling is a little
bit different, and I guess it's just not relatable to us,
but it's relatable to this new generation and their slang word.
So the way music evolves and people's tastes and as
now I'm coming into just. I'm a big music lover too,
but I'm starting to really like country music. I never
thought I would be the person to like country music,
(09:29):
but I'm starting to go that direction and I'm like,
who am I? And I'm like, well, I'm also aging
and just, but they're a differentoring.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Yes, Like with country. I used to work at a
country station, and I, you know, I remember my parents
listening to old country. Okay a confession here. The first
concert I ever went to was Charlie Pride. I was probably,
I don't know, ten or eleven years old, so I
had that old country influence. But then later on I wasn't,
(10:00):
you know, such a fan. And then when I had
to work at this station, I thought, oh my gosh,
am I going to get my head around this? But
I learned to love it. I didn't learn to love it.
I actually did really enjoy it because I heard the
influences from other genres of music, and there's a storytelling simon,
and maybe that's what you love about it as well.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Yeah, and it's interesting how their relationship started in this
chat room. It even takes you back to the times
of chat rooms where you really, I think, are getting
to know someone on a deeper level because you're not
really looking at each other through a camera.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
It's just your words and how you're.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Expressing, whereas now sometimes you know, we're just people are
one swipe away from someone else, and it's like, are
you really getting to know someone at their core when
you're dating or going on these dates? So it was
like that was another time too. I remember spending hours
on the phone talking to someone. Is that still happening
or people just kind of texting and facetiming here and there.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
I don't know. I think they're phoning like I can't.
I don't think I can't get my nieces to like
I think. So I think that the next generation or
like whatever to behind me just like, oh my god,
can't pick up the phone and actually talk, like we
can't do that. It's all going to be through a
text or something like. Honestly, you know, I can probably
(11:18):
count on one hand the amount of times I've talked
to my nieces, and they're like in their early twenties.
The phone is just not a thing. It's just and
like this book with the whole chat room thing, like
I grew up in the country and I did not
do chat rooms. We didn't even have internet, Like, we
didn't like you know, so this whole thing is is
like it was totally foreign to me. But at the
(11:39):
same time, I think it's really cool because you get
to know somebody, like someone said, like on a very
different level as opposed to seeing their picture. You're like
the words that they say and the things they talk
about that the things that they have in common, which
who's your favorite band? Who do you know? And you
sort of you connect through that way. And and you know,
these two Jane and Elijah, they ended up writing letters
(12:03):
at one point because you know, Jane's mom found out
about them chatting and like, you know, put a shut
down to that. So I just really liked kind of
how they got to know each other and then how
that story progressed, you know, as Jane is like a
you know, a young girl in Ontario in a very
(12:24):
religious upbringing, and she just feels like there's nothing there
for her. So she goes on a road trip at seventeen,
crosses the border, which she wouldn't be able to do now,
but anyway, she crosses the border, turns eighteen somewhere on
that road trip and goes to Seattle to meet this
guy that she's been chatting with through this love of music,
and that's how this story sort of starts. And then
(12:47):
where it goes from there is like, is quite fascinating,
and I think we all kind of know, you know,
people in the industry who have started out one way
and then they just become an absolute train wreck. And
that's kind of what happens as we progress through this story.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
And in those situations, you will have people who stick
with you or people who will abandon you. And you know,
it was interesting to see there was a little bit
of both with their with their love story. It really
surprised me the way the book kind of weaved through
I was not expecting, you know, once you get to
the point to see that it's kind of like a mystery.
Now when we're unlocking clues. I was like, what, I
(13:26):
did not anticipate this happening. So I really liked that
part of it because you never really knew where they
were going to end up, where he was, what was happening.
And I really loved the part with hen just like
a fan getting to you know, you're listening to artists.
I'm sure there are artists that we had plastered on
our bedroom walls and we listened to imagine actually being
(13:48):
able to hang out with them and have deep conversations.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Honestly, honestly, I would have liked to have done that
with Rick Springfield. He was on my way.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Oh my god, wow, oh no, oh my god, Oh
my gosh.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
I would have been Hann was very composed, I thought,
but you don't she just to be able to meet
like your stars. And then you know that whole conversation
about the relationship between the artist and the listener, right,
the fans and how they perceive you as an artist
as but not even as a person. We kind of
(14:25):
get into the story where we find out that Hann
realizes towards the end of the book that you know,
she finally sees Jane as a person and not this
thing and I care you know I mentioned about celebrity
is I'm a character right where we see celebs all
the time, all the time, now more than ever, because
they're all over social media, right, and we just sort
(14:45):
of see them as just this kind of entity. But
do we really think of them as people having hopes
and dreams? And I don't know whether we do, because
we just, you know, you get kind of fascinated when
they like, you know, fall from the top, right what
get they a drug overdose? Or they do this or
do that, and we're just like, oh, we're kind of
(15:05):
fascinated by it. But at the end of the day,
they're just people. They just happened to be in our
face all the time.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
And I think we we you know, we find a
connection with them and then we insert ourselves into their
story and find, you know, our place in all of that.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
So, yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
Can't imagine meeting some of you know, the celebrities that
I admired growing up, and what would my reaction have been, Like, Yeah,
hen was certainly a lot more mature than I was
at that stage.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
And perhaps if.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
She had met Jane, you know, if they were the
same age, they would have been you know, traveling together
on the you know, on the road, taking a little
trip to find their their true loves. But who are they?
Are they characters? We are all human, but you kind
of forget and I think we like to remove ourselves
from what for you know, is stressing us or taking
(16:02):
us down.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
In the in the moment.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
So then we look at a celebrities life and if
things are unraveling, you think, okay, not so bad. I
think we're doing okay right here, and it's a great
distraction for us.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Yeah, And I think, Tanya, what you touched on with
with fans, you know, looking at Elijah, he knew his
fans were the ones who made him. He was so
good to his fans, whereas Jane really wasn't. And that
happens a lot too, where some people, you know, meet
their idol and their idol's kind of rude or doesn't
want to sign an autograph. But it's like they kind
(16:35):
of signed up for this world they're in. But maybe
they just shine on stage and then they just want
to close in like a little turtle in their shell
once they're off stage. Not everyone's meant to be a
personality and be always on. They have to have their
off moments, and I think for her, when she started
ken started learning a little bit about Elijah, she's like, oh,
(16:57):
he's not the person I thought he was. And I
think that's it. We're all human, And I think that's
what happens with celebrity. You follow along to them because
you're like, Wow, they live such an incredible life. They've
got money, they've got fame, and then when things start
to fall apart, you're like, well they didn't. A lot
of them don't know how to handle that. Like, how
would any of us if we were given you know,
we don't know where we would end up. If suddenly
(17:19):
we skyrocketed to fame and had millions of dollars thrown
at us, would we change as people?
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Maybe?
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Well?
Speaker 1 (17:25):
And I think and I think too that, you know,
I mean, obviously people are people, right, but I do
think that that people who create, and I'll just use artists,
you know, and whatever it is that they're doing, they're
often very sensitive. You know. I believe that art comes
from a really deep place. And there were times when
I was reading this book and hearing the words and
(17:49):
the thoughts that Marissa put into Elijah, and my heart
was breaking for him because he really was. I just
think that he was so sensitive. I got that from
the very beginning. His mom knew it right, and I
don't think he didn't have that hard exterior that he
(18:09):
needed to withstand what went what happened with them in
the music industry. All he ever wanted to do was sing,
you know, and do music. He didn't want all the
rest of it. Now a lot of us can say, yeah, yeah, yeah,
you signed up for it, come on, But you know,
I just felt like he was just, you know, things
affected him so much when he sang that one song
that Jane pushed him to release and he's like, man,
I don't want to do this because it went too
(18:32):
deep for him. And I think he just and they
were pretty young. They didn't know how to handle that
kind of pressure. And I think that happens with a
lot of young artists is that they they're just kids.
You know, even in your early twenties, you're still just
a kid. You don't really know. There's a lot of
stuff out there, and when you're getting pushed and people
(18:52):
are wanting stuff from you, and you can't even figure
out your own feelings, and yet you're trying to do
this other thing, and then you know, in the dark
room at night, all you want to do is just
do your music and you don't really care about anything else.
And I just I just felt that he was just
sort of broken from the beginning, and it just escalated
to the point where he was just bearing himself, you know,
(19:15):
in everything.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
And I think he wanted to share his music, but
he didn't necessarily want to expose himself or his you know,
his every being or every part of his you know,
his being. And I think, you know, going back to
the chat room when he and Jane met and being
able to share that love of music.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
And what it all means to them.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
You can share that with fans, but fans always want
a little more than that, and as humans were not
ready to share everything with everybody.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
And so many great characters in this book. Obviously, you know,
Elijah and Jane were very different but meant for each other.
Hen was just ten and you know, so optimistic about
what she wanted to do and solve all these these
little clues and these riddles. And then of course you
had Kim Kim, Yeah, oh Kim. The friends that act
(20:13):
like they're supportive but really want to take you down. Yeah,
he was just angry.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
He was just angry, well because he just wasn't that talented, right,
he knew that Elijah was more talented than him. And
while Elijah was in the band, he could float on that, right,
he'd be part of the band. So he's part of
it all. But then Elijah leaves because of Jane. Yeah,
and that's you know, I think there's many stories of
(20:42):
you know, people breaking up or getting out of stuff
because of another person and then you know they hate
that person. And that's what happened to Jane. And oh
my gosh. You know who I really liked and I
don't know whether I'm saying his name right. He's French Maxine.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
Oh I just picked it up.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Can we kiss again? Oh my god? When he looked
at her, and Jane was like, you know, I've never
had anyone look at me like they want me except Elijah,
and she never felt that. And so and I really
like Maxine because he you know, he was like in
this what the punk rock band that they opened for.
(21:20):
They're from France, and you know, you get to meet
him later on and as the story progresses, and he's
he's grown up. He's doing art. Now he's making more
money doing art and shows and stuff like that. And
I just thought he was incredibly interesting and incredibly sexy
and how I wanted a little bit more of him,
think and.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
A good heart too, like I think, you know, he knew,
you know, his boundaries, and he was very respectful, and
you know, he did seem.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Like he was very caring individual.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
He wasn't like creepy. He was just like, hey, I'm here.
If you're interested, I'm around.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
You know, you know, one part of this story which
and I don't know, maybe you guys got something different
from it. I felt, you know, in the beginning, all
Jane wanted, well, she didn't like her life, so she
wanted to be famous. That's how she thought all her
problems would be solved. And she wanted her music out
there because she couldn't not write. It was just part
of her lyrics would just come out of her. And
(22:17):
I don't know, you know, there was a few people
that propped her up, Maxim Zach who was in that
band who ended up you know, overdosing, and there were
some supportive people with her, and of course Petra, their manager,
but did Jane ever get what she wanted at the
end of this book. First of all, nobody knew. The
record company wouldn't let anyone know that she wrote the songs,
(22:41):
you know. So she was this woman, you know, she
was the creator of all this amazing music, and I
don't know did she get did she get what she
needed or did she not need that anymore? I don't know.
I don't know what the answer to that is. I
feel like she didn't get it, but at the end
it didn't matter.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
She still got him and the life life that they wanted,
and they still got to make music together.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
And yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
It makes you think of like ghostwriters when it comes
to even books or you know, musicians and people who
are writing the songs and doing that but they don't
get credit. I think that was like Sia in the beginning,
you know, and Cia wasn't quite out and she was
like making music for a lot of people, but she
was very much in the background. And then it came
to a point where she said, Nope, that's all my music,
that's me, that's what I've been doing.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
And it was just this yeah, like she.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Maybe finally came into the fame or just got to
that point where she's like, no, I want the acknowledgment
for what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
I don't want to just.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Be in like a CD, you know, booklet. I want
people to know, you know, especially when your music is
charting in its hits. I guess it could be said
either way. You can put it out there and be like, oh,
my music sucks, nobody knows it's me, or and suddenly
when it takes off, you're like, I want the credit, right, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
I'm sure, just like you know, Jane not being able
to get the credit and people not be leaving her.
There are a lot of artists who, once they come
forward and say actually, yeah, I've been doing this for
a very long time, fans of those who have been
in the spotlight think, oh, really, no way, you're just
saying that you're wanting to get in the spotlight.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
And they don't believe you. They can't believe that somebody else.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
Was actually doing, you know, the work that was right
there in front of them.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Yeah. So it's like who, you know, if the question
is am I fight with this? Sometimes? Who is the
artist the one who writes the lyrics and the music,
or the or the singer.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
I guess that's just the combination of both.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Right, combination of both. Y. I used to think it
was the songwriter. I used to think that, but then
you know, the way Marissa describes Elijah's voice, like there
are people with a gift and it's.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
To lift those words off the paper.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Where do you take it? How do you take it to?
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Yeah, to the heart of the soul of your fans?
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yeah. Interesting, Yeah, that's a good question. That's a great read.
It's a great such a good book. Yeah, And of
course we dive into, you know, just sort of women
in music, and there's a whole you know, commentary on
that with people hating you know, Jane and she gets
all these awful nicknames from the media and the fan base,
(25:19):
and it's it's just so much of it is just
so awful. But we see it, right, we see it
today and how it Yeah, it's common. And how you
know a male artist can do you know, there's there's
a part in the book where you know, Jane is
performing and she turns her back on the audience. Well,
there's male artists who do that too, but it's not
received in the same way, you know.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
So true.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
So it's like a double standard. It's a double standard
standard in music as well. Geez, women, we just can't win.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
We gosh, I know, I know we can keep talking
about it.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
I know, I know we can't. You know, when a
celebrity dies, what the fan, you know, what happens with them.
It's like it's like a it's like a your you know,
your your heart has been ripped out, and you know,
they often Jane and Elijah ended up in Iceland, and
the last place that they lived in together. It became
(26:15):
sort of like a place where fans would go to
sort of try to come to peace with the fact
that that he's gone, right, And of course we learn
a whole lot more after that in this book without
giving anything away, but you know, like if you guys,
you know, as a death affected you in a way,
you know, celebrity and affected your life in any way,
(26:39):
can you remember one that you kind of.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Went Yeah, So for me, it was growing up in
the nineties with the rap music, and then it was
the death of Tupac Shakur, and then you know, a
month later the death of Notorious Big. So it was
like I just remember being in high school. These two
were their career was just skyrocketing, and then they had
this big rivalry, this East coast West coast thing, and
then within a month we lost these two incredible artists.
(27:03):
So I remember that was my first like kind of
shake up moment where you're like, wow, like what it
just what just happened here? And then after that, of course,
there's been so many like you know, you think of
I know, you know, people are kind of here nor
there sometimes with Michael Jackson, but it was still someone
who was so influential early on, and then to see
that career come to an end. Yeah, the ones that
(27:27):
you know, there's some I think you just kind of
think about, and then there's the ones that are so
sensationalized and make the headlines and they go really deep,
and those ones can affect you because everyone's talking about
them globally. Whitney Houston, right, that was, and especially when
you lose when you lose them in such tragic ways.
Obviously Kurt Cobain Nirvana. That was back in yeah, the
nineties as well, And it's like when it's that, you know,
(27:49):
if it's like unfortunately their life was taken by a
car accident or something, it hits differently than when it's like,
you know, something happened in a different way, and those
ones always hit a little bit harder or two.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Yeah, And I think sometimes they're like the voice of
a generation, right, like they they mean something to us
wherever they are in our lives that we pick up
on them. And I remember I was working in Vancouver
and I used to walk to work and I and
I got to the radio station and the receptionist is
just like staring off into space. I'm like, what's going on, Janelle,
And she's like, Kurt Cobain died, what what? And of course,
(28:24):
and then I went into the station and it was
just quiet. Everyone was just quiet, you know. And you know,
even though I was a huge you know, Cobaine fan
or Nirvana, the one that really affected me there was
Prince of course, because I thought he was just so brilliant.
And David Bowie.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
Because I just felt like and David Bowie's.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Just always been there, and I just I remember when
he passed and I'm like, I can't imagine a world
without David Bowie. Yeah, I don't. I don't even know
what to do with that. I felt incredibly lonely actually
without him. What about you, Dad?
Speaker 4 (29:00):
And David Bowie and Prince that was twenty sixteen. I
remember I was working in a new city and and
I felt like I was the curse. I was working
at a rock station.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Oh and so they died the same year.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
And then later that year it was George Michael and
then there were a few in between as well, like
that was a really big year for musical like big
musical names, and of course Michael Jackson. Yeah, I was
such a big fan and then conflicted with you know,
so many things going on, and I remember when when
the news came about him. It was actually on the
(29:35):
anniversary of my dad's passing and so and my mom
was remembering how much we adored him. So she's like, well,
isn't this interesting. So then we had a big discussion
about music and you know, family and everything in between.
So it was, yeah, it's interesting how it does affect you.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Yeah, yeah, I love books like this because they really
just make you think about those things, your connection to music,
your connection to artists. And yeah, it was a great read.
And if you tune into our next episode, we'll actually
be chatting with the author of The Lightning Bottles, Marsa Stapley.
So until next time. Bye.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Thank you for kicking back and relaxing with us.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
We hope you'll join us again on relaxing Reads.
Join us and unwined with a good book. Welcome to
relaxing reads.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Hi, it's Devin, Halifax Heights a Mountain, Vancouver.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hey, it's Tanya and Edmonton.
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Okay.
Speaker 4 (00:11):
Our latest read, The Lightning Bottles, comes from Marissa Stapley,
and it's all about love, drugs, and rock and roll.
Jane was once half of a famous duo from the
Seattle grunge era of the nineties. Years later, she became
perhaps the most hated and least understood.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Woman in music.
Speaker 4 (00:28):
She was never as popular with fans as her bandmate
and soulmate Elijah. They were on a high, at the
top of their game, and then that rise to fame
came crashing down. Her husband and partner in music abruptly disappeared,
and through the public hatred, all Jane really wanted was
to retreat. What she doesn't anticipate is the bombshell that
(00:49):
awaits her at her new home in the German countryside.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
There's a super fan.
Speaker 4 (00:53):
Secret messages for Jane, and so much in between. A
cross continent road trip about two misunder stood outsiders brought
together by their shared love of music. It was something else,
wasn't it. It certainly was it was you know, page
turning mystery and a love letter to the grunge era.
(01:15):
I don't know about you too, but I was feeling
some and experiencing some flashbacks.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Yeah, especially being so close to Seattle, Like growing up
there was a lot of that influence in Vancouver when
it came to that music. So for sure, that definitely
took me back as well.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Yeah, absolutely, And I was really you know, and that
whole Seattle sound scene came out in the nineties, it
was just like it was, you know, something we had
never really heard before and certainly never seen before. I
mean she, you know, Marissa goes into great detail about
how everybody looked from that time, right, It's like the
you know, the plaid shirts and the long johns and
(01:54):
like multiple layers of clothing.
Speaker 4 (01:57):
Yeah, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
So it's like I could definitely I could relate to, like,
you know how she was sort of describing the whole thing,
because we all lived through that too, you know, we did.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Yeah, I Halifax was known as Seattle North and so
the music scene here was very similar.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
To what was going on in Seattle.
Speaker 4 (02:21):
So, you know, going downtown and listening to that music
in some bars and then you know, seeing some live
performances with some bands with a similar track, a soundtrack
was it was a whole lot of fun.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
I never heard of that. That's so interesting.
Speaker 4 (02:36):
Yeah, it was a fun time. And and you know
some of the rock influence during that time. My brother
was all for it, and I was more poppy you
know in high school and coming out. I mean I
always enjoyed some aspect of rock, and then when that happened,
I was, you know, going to university in college and
(02:57):
different groups of friends.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Who were really in that scene.
Speaker 4 (03:00):
So it was a neat introduction to what that era
was all about.
Speaker 1 (03:05):
Yeah, it's sort of like what Marissa was saying in
her book and how she described the scene. It was
sort of like the anti music you know, the anti
famous music stars, right, like they were they're all trying
to do this thing. But they but they but they're like, no,
we don't want to sell out, man, we don't want
to you know, we don't want a record deal. But
it's like, of course they want a record deal. It's
(03:26):
just that they they come across as just being so
angry and kind of anti establishment. You definitely got that
from you know, a lot of the artists that were
described in this book, and certainly with Elijah growing up
in Seattle and and his friends and them jamming in
the basement and you know how that story progresses. So
I thought it was it was kind of interesting about
(03:48):
you know, where this whole thing is set and uh,
and really sort of Marissa's comment as we sort of
find out throughout the rest of the novel on celebrity ism,
you know, like what that actually means, what it means
to be famous, what it means to be like an
artist who just wants to get their music out there
and then and then they become famous, and then that
(04:10):
sort of just turns everything, like three p. Sixty for
all of these characters.
Speaker 2 (04:15):
Yeah, And it's interesting you say that, because I think
a lot of it is about the creative control. They
don't want to give up that creative control when it
comes to their music. And so many artists who were younger,
they got signed on to these big labels and later
had to go back and realize, you know, they gave
up a lot of their creative freedom to get to
where they were. And then once you're established, you can
kind of say, no, this is how I do things.
(04:36):
I'm going to tour if I want to. If I
don't want to do something, I'm not going to do it.
So it's definitely interesting and it's so true because I
think you have this idea of people listening to your
music or whatever it is you do, and then once
you get there, maybe it's not all that it was
that you thought it.
Speaker 1 (04:54):
Was going to be.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
And I think that was the case, is they had
such a beautiful beginning and love story and the way
they connected, and once they got to that level where
they finally were living out their dreams, they were doing
that in response to losing some of their dreams.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
Yeah, and I think you know, you know, fashion or
the lack of fashion during that time was maybe part
of it. You know, coming out of high school into
university in college years, for a lot of kids, whether
they were in a band or they had friends in
a band, it was you know what, don't tell me
how to dress. I'm just casual, very casual. I don't
(05:32):
care about my appearance. Although you know, then everybody got
into it and it's just, for lack of a better term,
a sloppy kind of look.
Speaker 5 (05:41):
Yeah, and yeah, and then it went beyond the oh,
my gosh, you're right, Like, you know, people are looking
at us, professionals in the industry want to have a
part of us.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
But how do we separate ourselves without losing ourselves?
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Do we still see grunt? Like when you know, we
go through so many.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Things in fashion, and everything that's old comes back again.
But I haven't really seen the resurface of grunge really,
like we're seeing some nineties trends that are back.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
But yeah, you never know, I know, I don't think
it's it's not back, I mean not yet. I mean no, yeah,
like our music has become sort of very very processed,
I think, you know. I mean, I mean there are
still the you know, kind of those singer songwriters out there,
but there's just the music is very different from when
(06:34):
I was growing up, and very different from when this
novel is based. You know, I don't know whether I
have an affinity towards like all the new music. I mean,
sometimes I just think it's I don't even know what
they're saying, and maybe I just you know, I'm coming
across as old as like Tanya, you're just old. But
you know, I love music. I am a music lover,
and I will try to find, you know, something to
(06:55):
listen to in all genres of music. I just find that,
you know, some of the newer stuff right now isn't
isn't totally relatable to me. But I will say that
that news that new song. Now, I'm based here in Evonton,
and of course the the Evonton Oilers are going going
towards the Stanley Cup and in their dressing room they
are playing that song. Oh what is it? The Pink
(07:17):
Pink Pony Club, chap Pony Club Club?
Speaker 5 (07:22):
Right?
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Great, I love that And you know that song is
very dancy, very sort of current, but it's got a
great guitar solo in there that is reminiscent of like
some of those guitar solos that we heard back in
the day. Right So, I'm like, you know, this is
rather interesting is music? Are we are we starting to
get more guitars in our music? Is this what's gonna happen?
(07:45):
I don't know anyway, that's a little segue, but uh,
but yeah, I haven't seen that the plaid shirts or
anything come back back yet. And the really angry kind
of Kurt Colbing snarly.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
And different combat boots and stuff like that.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
Too, right.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Yeah, that's funny you mentioned Chapel Roane. My two teenage
nieces love absolutely love her, and when I listen to
them chat about the music that they love. I mean
they're big you know, Swifty fans as well, but it
is kind of a there is a similar vibe, you know,
the whole look and the messaging might be just a
(08:24):
little off, but I think there's there's some kind of
a connection and it's interesting just to watch and observe
them with their friends as they talk about their music
or explain it to the adults in the room.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
I guess what we probably did.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
You know, with our parents as well at that time.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Yeah, there's always that growing up the music that you're
listening to. Like, for me, it was a lot of
rap music, and I'm sure my parents were like what
is this music coming out of her room? But it's
like when we listen to their type of music, it
was like, well what is that? And now my kids
when I'll listen to something and I'm jamming out from
the nineties or something, they're like what because they're so
you to that different. Like you said, Tanya, that that
(09:02):
process music and it's just very different and I'm like,
I don't even understand a single lyric this person is saying.
Speaker 3 (09:08):
What are they saying?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
Like, sometimes I feel like that storytelling is a little
bit different, and I guess it's just not relatable to us,
but it's relatable to this new generation and their slang word.
So the way music evolves and people's tastes and as
now I'm coming into just. I'm a big music lover too,
but I'm starting to really like country music. I never
thought I would be the person to like country music,
(09:29):
but I'm starting to go that direction and I'm like,
who am I? And I'm like, well, I'm also aging
and just, but they're a differentoring.
Speaker 4 (09:39):
Yes, Like with country. I used to work at a
country station, and I, you know, I remember my parents
listening to old country. Okay a confession here. The first
concert I ever went to was Charlie Pride. I was probably,
I don't know, ten or eleven years old, so I
had that old country influence. But then later on I wasn't,
(10:00):
you know, such a fan. And then when I had
to work at this station, I thought, oh my gosh,
am I going to get my head around this? But
I learned to love it. I didn't learn to love it.
I actually did really enjoy it because I heard the
influences from other genres of music, and there's a storytelling simon,
and maybe that's what you love about it as well.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Yeah, and it's interesting how their relationship started in this
chat room. It even takes you back to the times
of chat rooms where you really, I think, are getting
to know someone on a deeper level because you're not
really looking at each other through a camera.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
It's just your words and how you're.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
Expressing, whereas now sometimes you know, we're just people are
one swipe away from someone else, and it's like, are
you really getting to know someone at their core when
you're dating or going on these dates? So it was
like that was another time too. I remember spending hours
on the phone talking to someone. Is that still happening
or people just kind of texting and facetiming here and there.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
I don't know. I think they're phoning like I can't.
I don't think I can't get my nieces to like
I think. So I think that the next generation or
like whatever to behind me just like, oh my god,
can't pick up the phone and actually talk, like we
can't do that. It's all going to be through a
text or something like. Honestly, you know, I can probably
(11:18):
count on one hand the amount of times I've talked
to my nieces, and they're like in their early twenties.
The phone is just not a thing. It's just and
like this book with the whole chat room thing, like
I grew up in the country and I did not
do chat rooms. We didn't even have internet, Like, we
didn't like you know, so this whole thing is is
like it was totally foreign to me. But at the
(11:39):
same time, I think it's really cool because you get
to know somebody, like someone said, like on a very
different level as opposed to seeing their picture. You're like
the words that they say and the things they talk
about that the things that they have in common, which
who's your favorite band? Who do you know? And you
sort of you connect through that way. And and you know,
these two Jane and Elijah, they ended up writing letters
(12:03):
at one point because you know, Jane's mom found out
about them chatting and like, you know, put a shut
down to that. So I just really liked kind of
how they got to know each other and then how
that story progressed, you know, as Jane is like a
you know, a young girl in Ontario in a very
(12:24):
religious upbringing, and she just feels like there's nothing there
for her. So she goes on a road trip at seventeen,
crosses the border, which she wouldn't be able to do now,
but anyway, she crosses the border, turns eighteen somewhere on
that road trip and goes to Seattle to meet this
guy that she's been chatting with through this love of music,
and that's how this story sort of starts. And then
(12:47):
where it goes from there is like, is quite fascinating,
and I think we all kind of know, you know,
people in the industry who have started out one way
and then they just become an absolute train wreck. And
that's kind of what happens as we progress through this story.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
And in those situations, you will have people who stick
with you or people who will abandon you. And you know,
it was interesting to see there was a little bit
of both with their with their love story. It really
surprised me the way the book kind of weaved through
I was not expecting, you know, once you get to
the point to see that it's kind of like a mystery.
Now when we're unlocking clues. I was like, what, I
(13:26):
did not anticipate this happening. So I really liked that
part of it because you never really knew where they
were going to end up, where he was, what was happening.
And I really loved the part with hen just like
a fan getting to you know, you're listening to artists.
I'm sure there are artists that we had plastered on
our bedroom walls and we listened to imagine actually being
(13:48):
able to hang out with them and have deep conversations.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
Honestly, honestly, I would have liked to have done that
with Rick Springfield. He was on my way.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Oh my god, wow, oh no, oh my god, Oh
my gosh.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
I would have been Hann was very composed, I thought,
but you don't she just to be able to meet
like your stars. And then you know that whole conversation
about the relationship between the artist and the listener, right,
the fans and how they perceive you as an artist
as but not even as a person. We kind of
(14:25):
get into the story where we find out that Hann
realizes towards the end of the book that you know,
she finally sees Jane as a person and not this
thing and I care you know I mentioned about celebrity
is I'm a character right where we see celebs all
the time, all the time, now more than ever, because
they're all over social media, right, and we just sort
(14:45):
of see them as just this kind of entity. But
do we really think of them as people having hopes
and dreams? And I don't know whether we do, because
we just, you know, you get kind of fascinated when
they like, you know, fall from the top, right what
get they a drug overdose? Or they do this or
do that, and we're just like, oh, we're kind of
(15:05):
fascinated by it. But at the end of the day,
they're just people. They just happened to be in our
face all the time.
Speaker 4 (15:13):
And I think we we you know, we find a
connection with them and then we insert ourselves into their
story and find, you know, our place in all of that.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
So, yeah, I.
Speaker 4 (15:26):
Can't imagine meeting some of you know, the celebrities that
I admired growing up, and what would my reaction have been, Like, Yeah,
hen was certainly a lot more mature than I was
at that stage.
Speaker 3 (15:39):
And perhaps if.
Speaker 4 (15:40):
She had met Jane, you know, if they were the
same age, they would have been you know, traveling together
on the you know, on the road, taking a little
trip to find their their true loves. But who are they?
Are they characters? We are all human, but you kind
of forget and I think we like to remove ourselves
from what for you know, is stressing us or taking
(16:02):
us down.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
In the in the moment.
Speaker 4 (16:04):
So then we look at a celebrities life and if
things are unraveling, you think, okay, not so bad. I
think we're doing okay right here, and it's a great
distraction for us.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Yeah, And I think, Tanya, what you touched on with
with fans, you know, looking at Elijah, he knew his
fans were the ones who made him. He was so
good to his fans, whereas Jane really wasn't. And that
happens a lot too, where some people, you know, meet
their idol and their idol's kind of rude or doesn't
want to sign an autograph. But it's like they kind
(16:35):
of signed up for this world they're in. But maybe
they just shine on stage and then they just want
to close in like a little turtle in their shell
once they're off stage. Not everyone's meant to be a
personality and be always on. They have to have their
off moments, and I think for her, when she started
ken started learning a little bit about Elijah, she's like, oh,
(16:57):
he's not the person I thought he was. And I
think that's it. We're all human, And I think that's
what happens with celebrity. You follow along to them because
you're like, Wow, they live such an incredible life. They've
got money, they've got fame, and then when things start
to fall apart, you're like, well they didn't. A lot
of them don't know how to handle that. Like, how
would any of us if we were given you know,
we don't know where we would end up. If suddenly
(17:19):
we skyrocketed to fame and had millions of dollars thrown
at us, would we change as people?
Speaker 1 (17:25):
Maybe?
Speaker 4 (17:25):
Well?
Speaker 1 (17:25):
And I think and I think too that, you know,
I mean, obviously people are people, right, but I do
think that that people who create, and I'll just use artists,
you know, and whatever it is that they're doing, they're
often very sensitive. You know. I believe that art comes
from a really deep place. And there were times when
I was reading this book and hearing the words and
(17:49):
the thoughts that Marissa put into Elijah, and my heart
was breaking for him because he really was. I just
think that he was so sensitive. I got that from
the very beginning. His mom knew it right, and I
don't think he didn't have that hard exterior that he
(18:09):
needed to withstand what went what happened with them in
the music industry. All he ever wanted to do was sing,
you know, and do music. He didn't want all the
rest of it. Now a lot of us can say, yeah, yeah, yeah,
you signed up for it, come on, But you know,
I just felt like he was just, you know, things
affected him so much when he sang that one song
that Jane pushed him to release and he's like, man,
I don't want to do this because it went too
(18:32):
deep for him. And I think he just and they
were pretty young. They didn't know how to handle that
kind of pressure. And I think that happens with a
lot of young artists is that they they're just kids.
You know, even in your early twenties, you're still just
a kid. You don't really know. There's a lot of
stuff out there, and when you're getting pushed and people
(18:52):
are wanting stuff from you, and you can't even figure
out your own feelings, and yet you're trying to do
this other thing, and then you know, in the dark
room at night, all you want to do is just
do your music and you don't really care about anything else.
And I just I just felt that he was just
sort of broken from the beginning, and it just escalated
to the point where he was just bearing himself, you know,
(19:15):
in everything.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
And I think he wanted to share his music, but
he didn't necessarily want to expose himself or his you know,
his every being or every part of his you know,
his being. And I think, you know, going back to
the chat room when he and Jane met and being
able to share that love of music.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
And what it all means to them.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
You can share that with fans, but fans always want
a little more than that, and as humans were not
ready to share everything with everybody.
Speaker 1 (19:50):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 3 (19:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
And so many great characters in this book. Obviously, you know,
Elijah and Jane were very different but meant for each other.
Hen was just ten and you know, so optimistic about
what she wanted to do and solve all these these
little clues and these riddles. And then of course you
had Kim Kim, Yeah, oh Kim. The friends that act
(20:13):
like they're supportive but really want to take you down. Yeah,
he was just angry.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
He was just angry, well because he just wasn't that talented, right,
he knew that Elijah was more talented than him. And
while Elijah was in the band, he could float on that, right,
he'd be part of the band. So he's part of
it all. But then Elijah leaves because of Jane. Yeah,
and that's you know, I think there's many stories of
(20:42):
you know, people breaking up or getting out of stuff
because of another person and then you know they hate
that person. And that's what happened to Jane. And oh
my gosh. You know who I really liked and I
don't know whether I'm saying his name right. He's French Maxine.
Speaker 4 (20:56):
Oh I just picked it up.
Speaker 1 (21:00):
Can we kiss again? Oh my god? When he looked
at her, and Jane was like, you know, I've never
had anyone look at me like they want me except Elijah,
and she never felt that. And so and I really
like Maxine because he you know, he was like in
this what the punk rock band that they opened for.
(21:20):
They're from France, and you know, you get to meet
him later on and as the story progresses, and he's
he's grown up. He's doing art. Now he's making more
money doing art and shows and stuff like that. And
I just thought he was incredibly interesting and incredibly sexy
and how I wanted a little bit more of him,
think and.
Speaker 4 (21:40):
A good heart too, like I think, you know, he knew,
you know, his boundaries, and he was very respectful, and
you know, he did seem.
Speaker 3 (21:48):
Like he was very caring individual.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
He wasn't like creepy. He was just like, hey, I'm here.
If you're interested, I'm around.
Speaker 4 (21:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
You know, you know, one part of this story which
and I don't know, maybe you guys got something different
from it. I felt, you know, in the beginning, all
Jane wanted, well, she didn't like her life, so she
wanted to be famous. That's how she thought all her
problems would be solved. And she wanted her music out
there because she couldn't not write. It was just part
of her lyrics would just come out of her. And
(22:17):
I don't know, you know, there was a few people
that propped her up, Maxim Zach who was in that
band who ended up you know, overdosing, and there were
some supportive people with her, and of course Petra, their manager,
but did Jane ever get what she wanted at the
end of this book. First of all, nobody knew. The
record company wouldn't let anyone know that she wrote the songs,
(22:41):
you know. So she was this woman, you know, she
was the creator of all this amazing music, and I
don't know did she get did she get what she
needed or did she not need that anymore? I don't know.
I don't know what the answer to that is. I
feel like she didn't get it, but at the end
it didn't matter.
Speaker 2 (22:58):
She still got him and the life life that they wanted,
and they still got to make music together.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
And yeah, it's interesting.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
It makes you think of like ghostwriters when it comes
to even books or you know, musicians and people who
are writing the songs and doing that but they don't
get credit. I think that was like Sia in the beginning,
you know, and Cia wasn't quite out and she was
like making music for a lot of people, but she
was very much in the background. And then it came
to a point where she said, Nope, that's all my music,
that's me, that's what I've been doing.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
And it was just this yeah, like she.
Speaker 2 (23:27):
Maybe finally came into the fame or just got to
that point where she's like, no, I want the acknowledgment
for what I'm doing.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
I don't want to just.
Speaker 2 (23:33):
Be in like a CD, you know, booklet. I want
people to know, you know, especially when your music is
charting in its hits. I guess it could be said
either way. You can put it out there and be like, oh,
my music sucks, nobody knows it's me, or and suddenly
when it takes off, you're like, I want the credit, right, Yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:51):
I'm sure, just like you know, Jane not being able
to get the credit and people not be leaving her.
There are a lot of artists who, once they come
forward and say actually, yeah, I've been doing this for
a very long time, fans of those who have been
in the spotlight think, oh, really, no way, you're just
saying that you're wanting to get in the spotlight.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
And they don't believe you. They can't believe that somebody else.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
Was actually doing, you know, the work that was right
there in front of them.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Yeah. So it's like who, you know, if the question
is am I fight with this? Sometimes? Who is the
artist the one who writes the lyrics and the music,
or the or the singer.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
I guess that's just the combination of both.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
Right, combination of both. Y. I used to think it
was the songwriter. I used to think that, but then
you know, the way Marissa describes Elijah's voice, like there
are people with a gift and it's.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
To lift those words off the paper.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
Where do you take it? How do you take it to?
Speaker 4 (24:51):
Yeah, to the heart of the soul of your fans?
Speaker 1 (24:55):
Yeah. Interesting, Yeah, that's a good question. That's a great read.
It's a great such a good book. Yeah, And of
course we dive into, you know, just sort of women
in music, and there's a whole you know, commentary on
that with people hating you know, Jane and she gets
all these awful nicknames from the media and the fan base,
(25:19):
and it's it's just so much of it is just
so awful. But we see it, right, we see it
today and how it Yeah, it's common. And how you
know a male artist can do you know, there's there's
a part in the book where you know, Jane is
performing and she turns her back on the audience. Well,
there's male artists who do that too, but it's not
received in the same way, you know.
Speaker 3 (25:40):
So true.
Speaker 1 (25:40):
So it's like a double standard. It's a double standard
standard in music as well. Geez, women, we just can't win.
Speaker 4 (25:48):
We gosh, I know, I know we can keep talking
about it.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
I know, I know we can't. You know, when a
celebrity dies, what the fan, you know, what happens with them.
It's like it's like a it's like a your you know,
your your heart has been ripped out, and you know,
they often Jane and Elijah ended up in Iceland, and
the last place that they lived in together. It became
(26:15):
sort of like a place where fans would go to
sort of try to come to peace with the fact
that that he's gone, right, And of course we learn
a whole lot more after that in this book without
giving anything away, but you know, like if you guys,
you know, as a death affected you in a way,
you know, celebrity and affected your life in any way,
(26:39):
can you remember one that you kind of.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
Went Yeah, So for me, it was growing up in
the nineties with the rap music, and then it was
the death of Tupac Shakur, and then you know, a
month later the death of Notorious Big. So it was
like I just remember being in high school. These two
were their career was just skyrocketing, and then they had
this big rivalry, this East coast West coast thing, and
then within a month we lost these two incredible artists.
(27:03):
So I remember that was my first like kind of
shake up moment where you're like, wow, like what it
just what just happened here? And then after that, of course,
there's been so many like you know, you think of
I know, you know, people are kind of here nor
there sometimes with Michael Jackson, but it was still someone
who was so influential early on, and then to see
that career come to an end. Yeah, the ones that
(27:27):
you know, there's some I think you just kind of
think about, and then there's the ones that are so
sensationalized and make the headlines and they go really deep,
and those ones can affect you because everyone's talking about
them globally. Whitney Houston, right, that was, and especially when
you lose when you lose them in such tragic ways.
Obviously Kurt Cobain Nirvana. That was back in yeah, the
nineties as well, And it's like when it's that, you know,
(27:49):
if it's like unfortunately their life was taken by a
car accident or something, it hits differently than when it's like,
you know, something happened in a different way, and those
ones always hit a little bit harder or two.
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Yeah, And I think sometimes they're like the voice of
a generation, right, like they they mean something to us
wherever they are in our lives that we pick up
on them. And I remember I was working in Vancouver
and I used to walk to work and I and
I got to the radio station and the receptionist is
just like staring off into space. I'm like, what's going on, Janelle,
And she's like, Kurt Cobain died, what what? And of course,
(28:24):
and then I went into the station and it was
just quiet. Everyone was just quiet, you know. And you know,
even though I was a huge you know, Cobaine fan
or Nirvana, the one that really affected me there was
Prince of course, because I thought he was just so brilliant.
And David Bowie.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
Because I just felt like and David Bowie's.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Just always been there, and I just I remember when
he passed and I'm like, I can't imagine a world
without David Bowie. Yeah, I don't. I don't even know
what to do with that. I felt incredibly lonely actually
without him. What about you, Dad?
Speaker 4 (29:00):
And David Bowie and Prince that was twenty sixteen. I
remember I was working in a new city and and
I felt like I was the curse. I was working
at a rock station.
Speaker 3 (29:10):
Oh and so they died the same year.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
And then later that year it was George Michael and
then there were a few in between as well, like
that was a really big year for musical like big
musical names, and of course Michael Jackson. Yeah, I was
such a big fan and then conflicted with you know,
so many things going on, and I remember when when
the news came about him. It was actually on the
(29:35):
anniversary of my dad's passing and so and my mom
was remembering how much we adored him. So she's like, well,
isn't this interesting. So then we had a big discussion
about music and you know, family and everything in between.
So it was, yeah, it's interesting how it does affect you.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Yeah, yeah, I love books like this because they really
just make you think about those things, your connection to music,
your connection to artists. And yeah, it was a great read.
And if you tune into our next episode, we'll actually
be chatting with the author of The Lightning Bottles, Marsa Stapley.
So until next time. Bye.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
Thank you for kicking back and relaxing with us.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
We hope you'll join us again on relaxing Reads.
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