Ask the Author: J.D. DeCosta
Answered Questions (2)
J.D. DeCosta
There are a few that hit hard, but the chapters about the artists who are no longer here were the roughest to get through. Writing about people like Chester, Chris Cornell, and others who carried so much pain with them, that was not just storytelling for me. It was grief and guilt and a lot of “what if” that I had pushed down for years.
I also struggled with the more personal parts, where it is not about a famous name, it is about my own screwups and the fallout in my life outside the club. Those are the pages where I really had to decide if I was going to be honest or just write something that sounded cool.
The most emotional chapters were the ones where I had to admit that I was not just a witness. I was part of the whole machine. And sometimes that machine chewed people up.
I also struggled with the more personal parts, where it is not about a famous name, it is about my own screwups and the fallout in my life outside the club. Those are the pages where I really had to decide if I was going to be honest or just write something that sounded cool.
The most emotional chapters were the ones where I had to admit that I was not just a witness. I was part of the whole machine. And sometimes that machine chewed people up.
J.D. DeCosta
I spent a lot of years thinking these stories were just things that happened to me, then I started to realize they were kind of my whole life map. The clubs, the bands, the fights, the late nights, the losses, all of it shaped who I am in a way I did not really face until I got older.
What pushed me to actually write the book was this feeling that the version of Hollywood and the music scene people see on TV is fake compared to what really happens in those rooms. I wanted to capture what it felt like to be the guy in the middle of it, trying to keep shows from falling apart while my own life was kind of falling apart in the background too.
So the book came out of two things. One, I did not want these stories to die with me. Two, I wanted to be honest about what it costs to chase something you love that much.
What pushed me to actually write the book was this feeling that the version of Hollywood and the music scene people see on TV is fake compared to what really happens in those rooms. I wanted to capture what it felt like to be the guy in the middle of it, trying to keep shows from falling apart while my own life was kind of falling apart in the background too.
So the book came out of two things. One, I did not want these stories to die with me. Two, I wanted to be honest about what it costs to chase something you love that much.
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