Questions with a Starving Artist

By Rebecca Milner

Mike Jones would like to call himself a writer but usually doesn’t. Like many foreigners in Tokyo he teaches English to pay the rent, but writing is what he really wants to do. And he’s doing a fair bit of it. Surprisingly, he finds that he is more productive in Tokyo than he has ever been, suggesting that, for better or worse, the isolationist nature of Japanese society has something to do with it.

These days he mostly writes short stories, ones that often reflect his somewhat anti-authoritarian attitude. “I don’t want to be didactic,” he notes, however. “I’d rather make fun of something.” His most recent work, a short titled 'Fuck Machine', can be found in an anthology of stories about sex called See You Next Tuesday, published last month by Better Non Sequitur.

1) Why Tokyo?
I was working at a backpacker hostel in Vancouver for five years straight and I was losing my mind. I needed a change. People would check in and be like, "I remember you from the last time I was here! I'm also a huge Haruki Murakami fan and I figured that if I moved here we’d meet and he would take me under his wing and we’d be tight. I'm still trying to find out where he lives. (Oiso, Kanagawa, apparently – knowledgeable Ed.)

2) What do you eat for breakfast?
I always have several cups of Twinings Lady Grey Tea and a couple of slices of toast with peanut butter. Some days I will also enjoy a banana or perhaps an apple.

3) What was your lowest moment?
Probably my 21st birthday. I went and saw this terrible band that was trying to sound like Korn (a low point in itself) and I got myself horribly twisted. I kept walking on to the stage while they played and grabbing the microphone, saying inane shit.  Later I woke up in a hospital bed with an IV in my arm. My mom had to come and pick me up. I found out that I threw up then passed out and when my friends couldn't revive me, they panicked and took me to the hospital. Nice, right? Except I also found out that they stopped off to buy a bag of weed on the way, so that kind of stepped on my gratitude.

4) What keeps you going?
Definitely my wife's encouragement. From the first day that I met her she has been on my side. Many women are not interested in someone whose financial future isn't confirmed or set in stone. I got lucky. She edits all my writing and once told me to "stop being a pussy" when I was complaining about receiving yet another rejection letter. How could I not love someone like that?

5) What has inspired you lately?
I could say something like, "Oh most definitely I feel an overwhelming passion after reading the works of Hemingway and particularly Salinger – their methods were so abrupt, so simplistic and yet so immensely powerful...", but that would make me a pretentious twat. The truth is, I feel most creative after watching films or while listening to music. I like high frequencies and walls of noise and little bubbling sounds with strange mumblings. Lasers are also pretty inspirational.

6) Financially stable or sexually satisfied, which one would you choose?
Well, I'm already sexually satisfied so can I pick financially stable and have both? Of course I can. I can do whatever I want.

Check out Mike Jones's latest publications at: www.mcsweeneys.net/2004/11/15jones.html
opiummagazine.com/filmjonesjimmy102005.html
www.thievesjargon.com/content/workview.php?work=553
www.hobartpulp.com/website/june/jones.html

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