Aerospace hub Huntsville, Alabama used to be about seeing stars. Thanks to G-Side and the rest of the tight-knit rap community, it’s now about making them.
Tag: Spin
Youth In Revolt: Tunisia’s Hip-Hop Revolution
A rapper named El General posted a song to his Facebook page that became the anthem to his country’s revolution. David Peisner travels to Tunisia to see how hip-hop brought down a dictator.
Cover Story: Fantastic Mr. Fox
For Robin Pecknold, following up Fleet Foxes‘ beloved debut wasn’t just a labor of love–it was an all-consuming head trip. David Peisner goes to Seattle and finds an artist who’s still learning where his off switch is.
Professional Idiot: A Memoir
Dedicated visitor(s) of this website have no doubt noticed the lack of updates over the last 6+ months. This is largely because I’ve spent most of that time working with Stephen “Steve-O” Glover on his memoir, Professional Idiot (Hyperion), which will be available on June 7th wherever fine literature is sold. The book has its roots in a story I wrote about the Jackass star for Spin back in 2009, which you can read here. The book is kind of like the story, only way, way more graphic, gruesome and disturbing. You can be the first on your block to own a copy by pre-ordering it from one the friendly neighborhood booksellers below.
Gangster’s Paradise: Radio Interview
PRI’s “The World” interviewed me recently about the Gangster’s Paradise story I wrote for Spin. Kudos to their editors and producers for turning the rambling gibberish I was spewing during the interview into something coherent. Below is a link to a stream of the show. If you’d like to skip past all the inconsequential fluff about Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visiting Lebanon and how the dismantling of the military’s “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy will affect active-duty personnel in Afghanistan, the good bits with me start about 9 minutes from the end of the show.
Spin’s Greatest Hits: The Book
Spin recently released an anthology of highlights from the magazine’s 25 year history. The collection includes stories by, among others, Dave Eggers, Chuck Klosterman, Jonathan Ames, Elizabeth Gilbert, Richard Meltzer and, um, me. My 2006 story War Is Loud is in there and features a new introduction. If you order the book from Amazon, they will include a brown cardboard box with the Amazon logo at no extra charge.
Spin Greatest Hits: 25 Years of Heretics, Heroes and the New Rock’n’Roll
Gangster’s Paradise
The arrest this summer of elusive alleged drug kingpin–and Jamaican folk hero–Christopher “Dudus” Coke served as a dramatic reminder that when it comes to partying at the crossroads between organized crime and pop music, rap’s got nothing on dancehall.
Spin Magazine, October 2010 [Excerpt]
Spin Magazine, October 2010 [Digital Reader]
Cover Story: Alive In The Superunknown
One guy’s homeless, one likes sleeping all day, one’s in Pearl Jam and one’s Chris Cornell. Beloved ’90s titans Soundgarden are back, but where are they going?
Spin Magazine, September 2010 [Long Excerpt]
When the Bottom Fell Out
Last Christmas, Vic Chesnutt delivered on the promise of a career’s worth of haunting, darkly comic songs and took his own life. David Peisner talks to his friends and family to get the untold story of one of rock’s most curious characters.
David Peisner 