Amy Keating

Hi Niko! Thank you so much for your time. I must be a fangirl first and let you know I’ve been following your work for some time and I am thrilled to be talking to you today. There are so many exciting themes in “Dad Rock” that I want to ask you about! Though, I’m going to begin with a bit of a bummer question because lately I am so often thinking about grief and mental wellness amongst my peers. When you discuss Jason Molina’s Farewell Transmission in your essay We’re all Supposed to Try, you capture your own memories with the song and you also present bits of Molina’s story. But I was moved by how careful you were to discuss his life and work without overly romanticizing his struggles, while still acknowledging the reality that he lived with alcoholism and ultimately died quite young.