Post Grunge Drifting with Wez aka Obsidian Blackbird

In my time cruising around Substack, one of the more interesting personalities I’ve come across is a fellow named Wez, aka Obsidian Blackbird. who writes “Memories of a Post Grunge Drifter”, a sort of ongoing autobiographical project that winds its way across the end of Generation X and the turn of the new millennium through the eyes of a vagabond Kiwi. Along the way, Wez shows us how the adversity of his family situation was dealt with, or not, via running away from home and leading a life not unlike that lived by another friend and former guest of this show, A.M. Hickman.

A journey that spans the Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean while straddling cultural shifts of rural living in the British Empire’s furthest flung outpost to the streets of early 2000s Sydney and Toronto, and onward into the weirdness of post Covid America, Wez’s life has been lived with both hands firmly gripping the short and curlies. This interview is as entertaining as his writings, often accompanied by his own illustrations, which you ought to check out here -

https://obsidianblackbird.substack.com/

A brief selection of titles -

The Cruise Ship as a Spiritual Experience

Operation Finnish Princess

I Was a Gypsy Roadside Rug Salesman

Escaping From Bad Men that look out for Teen Runaways

Snow White and The Seven Starving Bogans

Wez is nothing if not prolific; those five titles barely scratch the surface of his output - if you’ve got the time and inclination, there is so much more.

And after all of that, he’s going back to New Zealand to start a ‘Right Wing Hippie Commune’. Almost as if his story is just getting started at the ripe old age of 47.

Thanks for listening, and remember to not pass judgement on the hitch-hikers.

Questions, comments, suggestions, corrections and Hate Mail are welcomed and strongly encouraged - [e-mail]