‘Stoner’: The 1960s novel that inspired Fontaines D.C.
I don’t need to be here to tell you that Fontaines DC are inspired by James Joyce. One, which Irish artist isn’t? Two, the band tell you that themselves, again and again and again, in their songs.
The role of Joyce in the band’s world is obvious. On Skinty Fia, their track ‘Bloomsday’ takes direct inspiration from Ulysses, as does ‘Horseness is the Whatness’ on Romance. Elsewhere, Dogrel was massively inspired by Dubliners, dropping into Irish lives just as how Joyce does, and singing on ‘Boys in the Better Land’ of a man with a “heart like a James Joyce novel.”
The connection between Joyce and Fontaines is well-worn and really doesn’t need to be tread again. Telling fans that if they like the band, they should read one of Ireland’s most influential authors feels like beating a dead horse by now, so I won’t repeat it.
Instead, I’ll draw your attention to the work of another author who was inspired by the band, and also Grian Chatten’s solo work, as the impact of this one novel now feels completely formative to how the frontman strings his words together, and how the entire band connect with art.
When the Irish Times asked Chatten about how he felt about his solo record, Chaos for the Fly, after it’s release, and how he hoped it would live on in his life and the lives of others, he basically skipped the question to instead talk about John Williams’ 1965 novel, Stoner.
“The whole book is about an apparently unremarkable life, of someone who’s never stepped outside their comfort zone or challenged themselves enough and lived very quietly in their own head, unexpressed,” he explained to the publication, talking through the plot, “In the last page he is dying on his couch and he looks over and he sees this unremarkable book that he published once in his life, 20 years ago. And he picks up the book and he sees that he’s there, he’s real; that he has lived, basically. There’s evidence of his having lived.”
To Chatten, that answered the question as he added, “That’s how I feel about the solo record.”
The novel moved him greatly, not just as a reader, but as an artist himself. It served as a reminder that art wasn’t just about skill or impressing an audience, it was also about capturing a part of yourself.
It seemed to lead directly to a song like ‘Favourite’, where the band became their most sentimental yet for a sweet and personal track, allowing them to put a piece of themselves as people in there beyond just a piece of themselves as musicians.
The impact is shared by the rest of the band, too. Clearly, they’ve passed that book around, as bassist Conor Deegan told GQ that if he could make the whole world read just one book, it would be that one.
“It’s just a real study into a person’s life and their feelings, and someone who doesn’t express themselves very well but feels everything very deeply. When you put it down, it’s like you’ve made a friend with that character,” he said. Also connecting with the text, to him, William’s novel was a lesson in how others connect to art, perfectly mirroring Chatten’s take-away from the other side.
“Anyone else I talk to who’s read the book, it’s like we’re talking about our friend,” he said, which is such a beautiful way to articulate how different people can connect with and commune around the same piece of art, leading the band to home that their music can do the same.
