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To do so we met Scott in a studio in Paris to record a Carhartt Radio Interview Special in which fellow skateboarder Bram De Cleen questioned him about his new book, A Room With No Windows - a novel that is based around the author’s real life adventures. Scott lived for years in San Francisco and when he came to Paris, Carhartt WIP welcomed him as the first U.S. professional on the skateboard team. Besides being a gifted man on the wooden board he is a true writer, novelist, poet, thinker, and man with a voice. In the past years Carhartt WIP has not only published three books of his poetry, but traveled with him to far off places like Mongolia and Eastern Europe. And a few weeks ago 1980Éditions released his first novel, A Room With No Windows. To find out what happens when you dive into your head to search for a truth, we spoke with him for Carhartt Radio. Between the words Scott introduces the music of Chris Kenna and Melissa Cox taken from their album One Night In Paris. To give all those who have never heard of Scott Bourne, a little introduction, we asked him some additional biographical questions that go beyond the book. You’ll find the answers below and more of his thoughts in the Carhartt Radio Interview Special.
Hey Scott – can you introduce yourself to us in a few sentences. Where did you grow up, where did you go then, where you are right now, and where you see your future?
Scott Bourne: I grew up on a little family farm in North Carolina. Only house at the end of a dirt road. I was a run-a-way from a small town, mills, agriculture, factory life. After bouncing around the good old USA in a van, by thumb and sometimes freight, I ended up homeless on the streets of San Francisco with my good friend Will Daniel. When he returned to the east coast to walk theAppalachian trail, I found a shitty job and a shitty apartment and kept skating. After close to 10 years in SF, I loaded up my life and moved to Paris where I now live and write.
You lived for long in California: what is special about this part of the earth?
Scott Bourne: At the time it was probably the capital of skateboarding and one of the most beautiful cities a skateboarder could dream of living in. It was still wild, untamed and filled with discoveries.
Now you are in France – what is special about this country - also compared to the USA?
Scott Bourne: Nothing, but I enjoy it. Every country has a flag, which is a sort of segregation that I am not so interested in. But flags aside, this is a country of wines, cheeses, fabulous bread and beautiful cities as well as countryside.
Would you consider yourself as a libertine?
Scott Bourne: I subscribe to one idea that is not new at all, and that idea is to just be who you are. If you like being a gardener, then be one. If you like pleasuring people, then be a prostitute. No one knows who you are but you and no structure can be created to satisfy ALL men.
What is your favorite virtue?
Scott Bourne: Sincerity……all said and done, sincerity is required to be in my pack of wolves.
Can you tell us something about your occupation that you never told someone before?
Scott Bourne: Every man must keep his mysteries.
What do you still love about skateboarding after all those years?
Scott Bourne: Lance Mountain!
Do you think skateboarding changed your perception of the world? If so: how?
Scott Bourne: Certainly. I notice textures, and the potential in ordinary things. Who else knows the time of every light or the texture of every street on the map of a city.
( Bram De Cleen and Scott Bourne )
What do you love about writing?
Scott Bourne: It is solitary work and cost nothing to do. Free means complete freedom!
Why do you had to write a book? What was the driving force.
Scott Bourne: Because I had one in me that just wanted out.
Can words say more then music?
Scott Bourne: Little compares to a well-composed symphony, and at the same time little compares to a well-constructed novel. Both of these things have become nearly extinct in the digital age!
What is your idea of happiness?
Scott Bourne: At 40 I can honestly say that there is little that I have not had in life. I am a grateful man but also know that this all comes from making no compromises. I have always worked, waited and held out for the exact thing I wanted.
If you would not be yourself, who would you be?
Scott Bourne: Death!
Who is your favorite prose author?
Scott Bourne: Lawrence Durrell
Who is your favorite poet?
Scott Bourne: Ted Hughes
Can you name us your favorite hero in fiction?
Scott Bourne: Jesus
And at least: your favorite motto?
Scott Bourne: A house without books is like a room without windows - Horace Mann
Photo: Scott Bourne, Bertrand Trichet
Recording and sound mixing: Julien Viallet