There’s this girl, see. I sort-of know her but I’m hesitant to call her a friend, which will probably insult her, but we’ve really only hung out a few times. She’s a good friend of some friends of mine, and, well, her name is Rebekah. I see her often at Phoebe’s parties, and sometimes I around town at hip concerts. Mostly I see her at the coffee shop near where I work, ever-diligently e-mailing her way to new contacts in the art community. Why? Because she is the force behind Penny Ante, an independently-published book that compiles artwork, writing, photography and more from some of the world’s most creative individuals. Rebekah has always been super-nice to me, which I gather is hard for people to be since I’m such a huge asshole. She even asked me to help with the newest issue of Penny-Ante! So, in return, I asked her if I could interview her about Penny Ante for my website. I tried to get her to talk shit about former contributors, but she’s way too professional and nice to stoop to my level. We also discuss her record label and some of the bands she manages. Yup, she’s a real jack-of-all-trades, that Rebekah! Why, see for yourself……
Hi, what’s your name? What do you do? Do we know each other? If so, how?
Hi, my name is Rebekah Weikel. I publish Penny-Ante, manage some bands, and have a lot to do with Gifted Children Records…I believe we met somewhere a while back and talked about Sebadoh using a boombox in place of Jason Lowenstein.
What is Penny-Ante? How was it conceived? How is it put together?
In the simplest terms, Penny-Ante is a yearly anthology that collects artistic and literary contributions from artists, writers, and musicians (“well-seasoned” or otherwise).
Somewhere in 2005 the idea was credibly conceived, but the initial seed was planted much earlier. As a youth, I always liked books. I liked the fact that they were my companion for a couple weeks (or however long it took me to get through one). Music and the arts weren’t realized until much later though. Growing up, my parents heavily promoted “minimal living”…the less we had, the better off we were. There weren’t any magazines, or records, and there was little-to-nothing to do with art in our house. I pretty much was confined to “the classics” as far as literature is concerned, and music came around only during the holiday season. Fate took hold though, and I met a girl when I was maybe fourteen who started inviting me over, and her father was a huge Bob Dylan fan. We’d just sit around their kitchen table, have dinner, talk, all while these old records would play in the background. Through that, I got hooked on Dylan, started finagling tapes into my bedroom, and that’s when I began “reading Dylan.” He was not only a musician, but an artist – words were his medium, and I could enjoy him on paper, just as much as I enjoyed him on tape… Plus, I do believe we’re all artists in our own right – whether you’re a painter, musician, poet, doctor, or plumber – we create art in our own ways, whether it’s realized it or not. Someone like my father for instance, never thought himself to be anything of the sort. He was very mathematically minded – He was self-employed and kept his own books for tax purposes. I’d watch him take a ruler and slowly draw columns with great care, each column measured out to perfection. His penmanship was impeccable and each page, once finished, looked like a work of art. They could be framed, they were that beautiful. I’d like to think Penny-Ante’s answer to “what art is” can range that wide.
I’m usually completely paralyzed by stress (and joy) when putting an issue together, so I’m incapable of answering how one is put together, but I would say it includes some form of magic.
Do you think people still read books? What was the last book you read?
I hope people still read books. I think they do? I believe there’s still a market for books, especially art-based books; the market has just become incredibly tiny…which is fine, it keeps us publishers on our toes I suppose…finding new inventive ways to get these boxes out of our garages, or if you’re lucky, your warehouse.
I finally finished “The Moral Obligation to be Intelligent” by literary critic Lionel Trilling and now I’m between a local release my friend Ashley gave me entitled, “Animal Shelter: Sex, Art, and Literature,” and Barry Gifford’s “The Wild Life of Sailor and Lula,” recommended to me by my new book guru Alex Maslansky,who works at the nice, new little book stop in town, Stories Books & Cafe.
You’ve put out two of these suckers already…do you have a favorite contribution? Has anyone been difficult to work with?
I don’t think I’ve ever asked myself what my favorite contribution is; they all have significance to me. I don’t know. Everyone really, I suppose that’s why they’re invited to be part.
There have not been too many problems. It’s a funny thing, the people you think might be “divas” because of their “stature in the biz” or whatever, are usually the easiest to work with. Jim James (My Morning Jacket) was a perfect example of that. It was no questions asked, he wanted to be part of it, and super cool throughout the entire process.
Jim James is indeed a swell gentleman and an excellent billiards player. I met him through a friend in Louisville and was going to return there interview him for MY book, but it never materialized. Oh well. What about Devendra Banhart? He comes into my place of work sometimes. I think he’s small. Does he possess any talent?
I don’t usually spend my days palling around with Penny-Ante contributors, but on a professional level: Complete gentlemen, easy to work with, and yes, possesses a lot of talent. I have a lot of respect for him. He’s taken his popularity and used it to shed light on smaller projects, including Penny-Ante. And as to if he is small or not, I don’t believe that matters! But no, I don’t think he’s small…he’s kind of tall actually.
You do more than just Penny-Ante, right? What other artistic/cultural ventures have you undertaken?
I started Gifted Children Records in 2007 and have been working with Silver Apples on booking and press.
What’s behind the name Gifted Children Records?
I remember being thrown into a “gifted” program in elementary school, which was my first introduction to the term “gifted child.” It was a bit absurd to me that this strange lot of kids were deemed “gifted children,” being that the only thing we seemed to have in common was that we spent recess alone. When trying to come up with a name for the label, “Gifted Children” came across and made me dig further and do my research. Although the term is highly controversial, traditionally the term “Gifted Children” is associated with many characteristics I think the artists on the label possess: complex/conceptual thinking, originality, perfectionism, sensitivity to beauty and aesthetics, working independently from authority or norms, at times, awkward…I thought it was fitting.
I too was thrust into the gifted program in 2nd grade. The same four kids remained in the program for the next four years. No newbies ever passed the test, so we became a close-knit group. What we shared in common was that we liked to eat sugary snacks and hide from the gifted teacher. One of our projects was to create a land-mass out of a mixture of salty dough and paint. I got in trouble for pinching off little pieces of my island and eating it.
You’re currently hard at work on book #3 — can you give us a hint at who will be featured in this volume?
Mick Farren is one, who I find to be completely gracious and kind, not to mention an unbelievable writer/author. I especially like the piece he has contributed for this edition. Other than that, I can’t say too much…we have about 75% of the contributors confirmed at this point, all of which I’m incredibly proud of. The list of contributors should be announced in the next couple months.
I haven’t seen Book #1 yet, does Marissa Nadler’s contribution include repeated requests for the sound guy to crank and/or pull out the reverb? HA!
No. If she needs her reverb cranked up, then CRANK IT UP for godssakes. There’s nothing wrong with that.
What does a typical day of work on Penny-Ante consist of?
For about a month it consisted of reading (Brooklyn-based artist) Victor Cayro’s emails out loud to anyone who will listen, watching the Henry Rollins Show on YouTube, obsessively listening to the Alternative Tentacles Podcast (thanks for the tip Sharif Dumani), or buying used books on Amazon from someone in North Dakota with impeccable taste.
Right now however, things are incredibly hectic. Every day is different, but what every day has in common is that by the time five o clock rolls around, we’ve answered what seems like a zillion emails, my eyes are fried, a period looks like a comma, I’m colorblind, the term “color correction” means nothing to me, I’ve mentally exhausted myself and the people around me, and all I wan’t to do is go home and watch some crappy TV show like The Biggest Loser, or whatever else the antenna picks up.
I’ve been to a few parties with you. You are notoriously camera shy. Why?
Not sure, still figuring it out.
To much fanfare, you enlisted me to help you with the newest book. Why don’t you tell the world how talented I am, and how far-reaching my influence is?
I do think you’re talented. Thanks to your post about the great pumpkin Billy Corgan alongside Ya Ho Wa 13, The Moon Upstairs and Robedoor, I now have Swan Fungus bookmarked and have been, from time to time, enjoying your pet cemetery trips, not to mention your pessimistic view on the world of “indie rock,” however cruel I sometimes think you can be. How much influence you have on your readers is suspect…I have a sneaking suspicion these comments are really your neighbors under names like “Bob” and “Jessica” …and “Ilya.” (How inventive!)
Why don’t you tell the people how they can get one of the already-released books? How much do they cost? For all the hipster musicians who read this website (of which there are many) what is the best way for a wannabe contributor to contact you?
Penny-Ante, a three hundred-page book, can be purchased at www.penny-ante.net at a low cost of ten American dollars, plus shipping. All the proceeds go toward the next edition’s printing cost, meaning if you like Penny-Ante and would like to continue to see it printed, please purchase one. To contact, you may go through our website, or just bombard our Facebook page with messages and comments (two in one day makes a statement) until we wake up from our Alternative Tentacles Podcast fog.
Thank you Rebekah, you are an intelligent and attractive woman, and I hope the next time I see you we can call each other “friend.”
