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out of Manchester since then, typified I suppose by
Oasis and Happy Mondays. I mean, the escape that
they’re on is just not the same at all. They’re escaping
into stereotypes, for a start. There’s very little sense of
exploration in their work. And it really does upset me
that Manchester has become associated with that ‘laddist’
image.”
So who does he regard as closer to the spirit of the
city? Joy Division, perhaps?
He laughs quietly, like a private revelation. “I regard
Joy Division as being the spirit of the city! If you look
at The Smiths and Joy Division, you’ve got a light
and dark thing going on there, a reflection of what
was going on in the city at the time. Whereas, with the
new Manchester thing, the ‘New Manchester’ people,
they’re trying to pave over the darkness.”
Not something Noon could ever be accused of; his
Manchester is a place where tattooed addicts make
love to shadows, dogs and humans carnally succumb
to aphrodisiacs, where a young girl with a deadly kiss
is the living embodiment of Mother Nature’s power to
destroy. And the sirens never stop.
Vurt was a watershed book; upon release it, and Noon,
made a leap into the consciousness of underground
literary subculture. Why does he feel the book had such
a strong impact? And how does he view himself, no
longer the underground writer he was?
“Am I not?” He laughs. “I hope that my heart’s still
BUY Jeff Noon books online from and
there. I mean, when Vurt initially came out it reached a
certain number of people, and grew from there, but it’s
been very slow. Even now, my sales aren’t what you’d
call massive.”
He emphasises the word. “Slow. I know that when
I start complaining about this, my writer friends just
say ‘Shut up, Jeff. I should have your problems!’” He
laughs again. “But I’d really like to break through to
another level. I’m really into reaching out to people,
but in an interesting, experimental way. That’s what
I’ve always tried to do. I have no desire to write books
just for a few people to enjoy. That’s not really me.
“But at the same time, I have this really strong streak
of experimentalism [sic] that just kind of pushes things
a certain way. I just hope that one day it will happen,
you know? With the kind of age that we’re moving into
now, we should be discovering new ways of telling
stories. And I hope my work becomes part of that. But
it’s a long journey.”
Speaking of experimentation, new ages and cultures;
what is it about club culture in general which appeals to
Noon? Much of his work seems almost entrenched in
club/dub fusion culture, the primacy of the DJ.
“That goes back to punk again. The most important
moment in popular history happened in 1977, when
white kids discovered dub reggae. From that moment
comes everything we now listen to. And it was a complete
revelation to me. I was learning to play the bass,
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