The Monday Media Diet with Geoff Rickly

On perfume, the Alps, and Septology

Geoff Rickly (GR) was introduced to us by Sam Valenti (SV4). I also loved his installment on friends of WITI How Long Gone. Happy to have this deep cut edition of MMD today. Buy Geoff’s book here. Have a great week. -Colin (CJN)

Photo: Liza de Guia 

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Geoff Rickly and I’m the lead singer of Thursday, No Devotion and United Nations. I live in Brooklyn, New York. My first novel, Someone Who Isn’t Me, was published through Rose Books in August of 2023.

Describe your media diet. 

I’m a voracious reader. Every week I read several magazines, a couple newsletters and at least one novel. When I was a kid I was absolutely obsessed with Raygun Magazine. My parents would give me British music magazines for Christmas since I loved bands like Curve and Spiritualized, who hadn’t yet broken in America. Now I love chasing down things with a strong physical presence, like Forever Magazine, Civilization, Paris Review etc. 

What’s the last great book you read?

John Fosse’s Septology. It changed who I am as an artist. I honestly don’t think I’ll ever be the same. The spiritual dimension in that book is somehow both modern and eternal feeling. 

What are you reading now?

The Things We’ve Seen by Augustin Fernandez Mallo. I haven’t read much in the way of Mallorcan literature but this strongly evokes the light that falls so beautifully on those islands. There’s a beautiful expansive yet isolated quality about the writing that I find very compelling. 

What’s your reading strategy when you pick up a print copy of your favorite publication?

First I flip through it to get a feeling for the way an issue is organized. I ask myself what the visual language is trying to convey in terms of any possible theme. Then I scan for writers I recognize, then subjects that interest me. I like to flip around. There’s something casual about reading a magazine. I don’t like being tied to front to back chronology. 

Who should everyone be reading that they’re not?

Sasha Fletcher. Be Here to Love Me at the End of the World is a singularly beautiful novel. No one is writing like Sasha. NO ONE. He eschews typical plot scenarios for an impressionistic attempt at getting past the mundane and into something much truer than memoir. Novels like his are why the novel is still the art form with the most possibility. 

What is the best non-famous app you love on your phone? 

Master Tour. Want to know what time soundcheck is in Kentucky? Or whether you’ll be able to shower this week? How about how many guest list spots you have left for the LA show?

Master tour will tell you. 

Plane or train?

Train. I always cry on planes. I get weepy. But on trains I can write and I get bold. 

What is one place everyone should visit? 

When I was younger I would’ve said the Mutter Museum in Philly. Now I’d have to go with the Swiss alps. Heaven on earth. 

Tell us the story of a rabbit hole you fell deep into.

Perfume. When I got sober I became obsessed with perfume. As an art form. As a stimulus. I read the guide by Luca Turin and made it my mission to sample every five star review. Then I got into the weirdo avant garde stuff and indie houses. The thing about perfume is you start out wanting to smell good, then you want to smell interesting and finally you want to smell repulsive. For some good indie houses, check out the Japanese farm to bottle perfumer, Di Ser, and especially sample their spiritually pure scent, Kyara. The attar maker Sultan Pasha makes emotional works that are so perfect they are exhibited at the osmotheque in France (especially the melancholy meditation on death Thebes G1) and the Pacific Northwest blackmetal perfume brand, Slumberhouse (check out Norne if you can find it). My personal fav is MeM from the Italian David Bowie of perfume: Antonio Gardoni and his brand Bogue. (GR)

Thanks for reading,

Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Geoff (GR)

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