A Conversation with Jen Trynin (continued)

PM: Has the book been optioned for a movie yet?

JT: There's been some interest. To me, it's a no-brainer. It looks like an obvious movie. Maybe an indie movie or small arthouse movie, but a movie nonetheless.

PM: Who would you like to see play you?

JT: [laughs] Frank Sinatra.

PM: Junior.

JT: [laughs] Right, Frank Sinatra, Jr. I have no idea. Who do you think could play me?

PM: Let me think… Chloe Sevigny, Mandy Moore, maybe.

JT: Mandy Moore. She's funny. It's a sad comment on show business, not just today, but always, that when I was first in the heart of writing this book a few years ago, my friends and I would joke around and say, "Who's going to play Jen in the movie version?" It was kind of embarrassing. So people would mention different actresses, but Hollywood goes through actresses so quickly and tosses them out, that we've gone through three levels already. Three phases of different actresses. The second they hit thirty or whatever, for most of them, they're out the door. People who I thought of a few years ago aren't even acting anymore.

PM: Even if it doesn't get made into a movie, I think the book will stand as one of the important cautionary tales for people getting into the music business.

JT: Yeah, maybe. But I don't want to dissuade people from trying to pursue their dreams, because that's the most fun thing there is to do in life. Regardless of whether you get it or not. In fact, it's usually better if you don't get it, because then you keep trying for it.

PM: Kids going in to the music business today have access to a whole history of cautionary tales, ranging from things like your book, to biographies of everyone from Little Richard to Kurt Cobain, to movies like That Thing You Do. When you were a teenager, were there music biz stories that resonated with you?

JT: I never thought about the music business with any seriousness until I graduated college, which is too bad. I wish that I had taken it more seriously much earlier, then I might have had better luck. The only books I ever read about the music business, I read between making my first and second records. I read Donald Passman's All You Need To Know About The Music Business. That was a valuable book and taught me a lot. The other books I read were Hit Men by Frederic Dannen and Mansion On The Hill by Fred Goodman. Both of those were interesting. Something that made me really happy is that Fred Goodman read my book and called me up a few months ago, and I got to talk to him. He was really nice and funny. I was very flattered, because he loved the book. That meant a lot.

PM: Aimee Mann is a recurring figure in the book. I remember interviewing her back around '94, just when Imago had gone under and her troubles were beginning. Did having her as a friend make you more cautious about signing contracts? Could you bounce things off her?

JT: She's not the best person to bounce things off of. [laughs] She's the kind of person where you have a conversation, and she kind of sucks it in and takes it for herself. Which is a whole other story. [laughs] I would definitely listen to her tales, and she talked about that stuff a lot. She's one of the primary examples of the bad stuff that can happen in the business. I respect her, and she's kind of my hero, which is why she is who she is in the book.

By the last scene, where the two of us are sitting there talking, she's on her total upswing and is doing great and putting out her own records. She never quit and she never allowed other people to tell her that she sucked. If you really have that inside of you, and you really believe in yourself, I think that's the number one most important thing to success. I don't have it. I'm regular layman's conceited. [laughs] I'm not full of myself. I don't have that extra something that makes you really, really believe in yourself. I think Aimee does. And she should. She's immensely talented. I love her music.

PM: Were there stories that you wanted to put in the book but didn't?

JT: I'll answer that by saying that the book, as it is, is just under 400 pages. The original draft was 800. So I guess the answer is yes. At first, it was a quite a different book. It was really two books. It was much more about me and more psychological and philosophical. The music was only half of it. My editor and I decided to streamline it more and focus on what we thought people would be most interested in, which was the music part. The psychological stuff is in there, but I don't elaborate on it.

PM: Has the book resulted in new interest in your old records?

JT: Yes, and it's very confusing. [laughs] I have some copies of the records, and I have a friend who scours the internet and buys them up, if there's a bunch sitting in a warehouse or whatever. I own Cockamamie, which is the first record. So I can print up more of those and if things keep going the way they're going, I will print up more of them. The Gun Shy record I don't own, and Warner Bros. stopped making them. If interest continues, I'll probably call them and say, "What do you want to do?"         continue

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