John Niven's Blur vs. Oasis Battle

·37 min·3 clips

John Niven wrote a comedy theatre show about the 1995 chart battle between Blur and Oasis.

The episode begins with host Giles Bidder introducing the show and guest John Niven, an author known for Kill Your Friends and other novels. Niven has just announced a comedy theatre show called The Battle, focusing on the Blur vs. Oasis chart battle of 1995. The interview explores Niven's writing journey, starting with his move out of London to Buckinghamshire in his early 30s, where he dedicated three years to writing, citing Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000-hour rule. He reflects on his late start compared to peers and the importance of life experience for writing material, using his decade in the music industry as inspiration for his early works. Niven discusses the commercial success of Kill Your Friends and how it defines his career, similar to other authors with one standout book. He explains his shift from primarily writing novels to focusing more on screenwriting due to better pay, detailing his experiences in Hollywood, including a script that was poorly adapted into the movie Cat Run after being rewritten for a tax break in Serbia. Niven contrasts this with his recent foray into theatre, where he finds writers are more respected, as seen in his play The Battle. He shares insights into the creative process, such as the challenges of writing for stage versus film, and the upcoming auditions and production schedule for the play. The conversation also covers Niven's views on podcast culture, his lack of time for listening due to family and work, and his past life in indie bands. He recounts a personal story about his mother's distress over a tabloid interview where he was candid about drug use, leading to advice about writing honestly. Niven mentions his mother, Jane Corry, also a novelist, and how her work influenced him. The episode concludes with host Giles Bidder promoting future guests and the show's Patreon support.

As heard by us

A Blur and Oasis hook leads into a dry, bruising story about losing control of a film.

John Niven's Blur-versus-Oasis theatre show gives the episode a lively route into the money pressures behind cultural work. Framed through his career as the author of Kill Your Friends and about a dozen other novels, the conversation turns on a film rewrite where producers…

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Why you'd press play

You want Blur and Oasis up front, then the sort of film-premiere nightmare where the writer is sitting there realizing he no longer understands his own movie.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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