Interview with Red Reaper

Author of  My Fart Hands – Songs You Can Sing!

Where are you from originally and where do you reside now?

I was born in San Diego, grew up a government brat in California, Virginia, and Morocco. Now I live in Arcata, CA.

If you currently reside somewhere besides where you were born, what’s the story that lead from there to here?

I originally moved to Arcata in 2006 to study Psychology at Humboldt State University. The location is what did it. This is the best place in the world. You’ve got the ocean and the rivers and the forest all around you. There’s nothing like it. I ended up earning a music degree, got a job at a funeral home, got married, and started a band called The Sturgeons.

What made you decide to write and publish your first book?

Most days in 2016 I came home from my day job as a Funeral Director to smoke weed, drink whiskey and play bass or banjo or piano. I’d sing silly shit to entertain my wife, who was a nurse at the hospital. In Winter of 2016 my band that I play bass for, The Sturgeons, was on hiatus. With some extra time on my hands, I decided to commit to transcribing all of my banjo songs. As I did that, I had the idea to add drawings to the songs like a coloring book, then I thought this is hilarious I better figure out how to publish it!

How would you describe your books to first time readers?

This is a music book full of original folk tunes with a wide range of difficulty. Most of the songs are a crack up, a couple are more somber, and the pictures look like they were drawn by a 9-year-old on mushrooms, which is basically what I am sometimes.

Who do you feel is most likely to connect with the topics you write about?

Regular people who like to smoke and drink and play music together.

What unexpected or surprising thing did you learn during the process of writing and publishing?

I was surprised how hard some of the songs are. I’ve interpreted a lot of music and know that there’s a lot more to it than ink on a page. I’ve also made music for different instrumental groups like percussion ensembles and steelpan bands. This was the first time I tried to write down all the goofy shit I came up with while driving around hauling corpses or sitting on my stoop with a bottle. When you create a song for your own fun you don’t think about what key or time signature it is, or what rhythms you’re singing. You just fuck around until it sounds the way you want. So I didn’t think of any of these songs as tough until I started transcribing them in detail. A good example is the melody in the first song, Back to Eden. I thought I was just singing a cute little waltz, but as I worked I realized it needed to be in 9/8 and not just 3/4 swing. That makes it way tougher to read, but if you put the work in it’s really fun to play.

If you could, what advice would you give to past self yourself before embarking on this journey?

Save your drafts, you idiot.

How many people would you ideally like to reach with your books?

Anybody who wants to have a good time.

What has been the biggest challenge and frustration during the process to date?

The biggest challenge was getting the coloring book pages to look right. Since this was published I’ve gotten a lot better with Photoshop, and would like to re-do everything with that so it’s all smoother. The original images look good ’cause they’re just sharpie on paper, but once you start messing around in a computer they don’t look the same as when you can smell ’em.

What’s your biggest strengths when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

Writing comes naturally. I’m constantly writing music in different styles, so there’s no shortage of material. The artistic process is a comfort zone for me and always has been.

What’s your biggest weakness when it comes to book a) writing, b) publishing and c) marketing?

I don’t know shit about marketing.

When do you think you will you write your next book?

My Fart Hands 2 is development.

Are you self published or did you use a hybrid publisher, or a traditional publisher?

I used thebookpatch.com pretty easy.