Tim Burton taps you to write a screenplay, it’s a big deal. But when your two bestselling novels are already being adapted into feature films, I guess it’s just another level of awesomeness.
Such is the life of author Seth Grahame Smith, who is known for his “mash up” novels “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” and “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter”. I only became aware of his work with Burton (he wrote the forthcoming “Dark Shadows” and the duo are working on a separate stop-motion animation film called “Night of the Living) AFTER we got him in studio to share five of his favorite songs as part of the Guest DJ Project.
It’s clear music fuels his writing process and he’s incredibly passionate about it, describing the shoegaze classic My Bloody Valentine’s “Only Shallow” as “my favorite piece of art on the planet”.
Author Seth Grahame-Smith on KCRW’s Guest DJ Project by KCRW
He also connects the drone of Sonic Youth with his suburban youth in Connecticut, calls The Carpenters’ version of “Help” the “perfect trailer song”, relishes in the juxtaposition of the music and lyrics in A Tribe Called Quest’s “Electric Relaxation” and gets choked up when talking about Louis Armstrong’s track reflecting on a life well lived, “We Have All the Time in the World“.
RR
Seth Grahame-Smith Guest DJ Project Tracklist
1. Only Shallow- My Bloody Valentine
2. Help!- Carpenters (Cover)
3. Dirty Boots- Sonic Youth
4. Electronic Relaxation- A tribe Called Quest
5. We Have All The Time In The World- Louis Armstrong