Spike Magazine

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Interview [published August 2000]
Jeff Noon: Liquid Culture
Antony Johnston discusses cities, prose remixing and the death of Vurt
I meet Jeff Noon in his now-native Brighton, stepping
off the two o’clock from Victoria to greet a man surprisingly
recognisable from his dustjacket photographs,
casually dressed and affable.
You heard me. Jeff Noon, the man who made Manchester
live, breathe and kill over the course of five
books, has moved to Brighton. And I’m not the only
person curious as hell to know what that’s all about.
But before we can settle down, Noon leads me out
the station into Brighton proper, and casually asks if I
know the city. I don’t; this is my first visit. So he offers
a two-second whistlestop tour, in the process answering
the question for me.
“Look at that sky,” he says, gesturing upward. It’s a
dry but dim day, nothing special to my eyes. “Even on
a sunny day in Manchester, you wouldn’t get a sky like
that. It’s always grey there.”
As we walk in the direction of the North Laine area,
he explains: “I’ve always loved Brighton, ever since
I did my first one-man shows down here. They were
always a great crowd. I could just tell they were up for
it, laughing at every word.”
BUY Jeff Noon books online from and
In contrast, he folds his arms and adopts an unnaturally
grumpy face. “Manchester’s a much harder
audience. ‘Go on then, impress us.’ Down here you
don’t feel as if you have to prove yourself before they’ll
listen to you.”
He laughs, leading on, and it strikes me that he really
does seem very relaxed. Not at all the intense, edgy
character I was expecting. He outlines some of the appeal
of Brighton, and it becomes apparent how much
Noon’s obviously enjoying himself in his new home.
“Brighton’s all about the individual. There’s a sense
of youth, and a great artistic community. In Manchester,
I felt isolated – here I’ve met more people, very
quickly, and started working with other artists much
more than I did in Manchester.”
We turn down one street in particular which Noon
presents as an example: “Look at this place; Green
Street. It’s all young businesses, they flock here. Here,
look at this.” He’s paused outside a small shop with
wooden fixtures, old-style fittings, and… “Beads. They
sell nothing but beads, for goodness’ sake.”
He’s right. I peer in, and finally realise what he’s re-
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