Roddy Bottum - The Royal We A Memoir
New from Jawbone: a queer icon and co-founder of the beloved band
Faith No More shares his story of coming of age and out of the closet
in 1980s San Francisco. On sale November 7th.
“A very honest and extremely well-articulated story of coming of age,
parallel and within the evolution of the alternative music world.” Kim Gordon
“A brilliant and gorgeous book.” Courtney Love
“Written with the right amount of flourish and punk abandon—what a treat.” Chloë Sevigny
The Royal We is a a poetic survey of a time and a magical city that once was and is no more by musical trailblazer Roddy Bottum, documenting a charged era of bicycle messengers, punk rock, street witches, wheatgrass, and rebellion. The book follows his travels from Los Angeles, growing up gay with no role models, to San Francisco, where he formed Faith No More and went on to tour the world relentlessly, surviving heroin addiction and the plight of AIDS, to become a queer icon.
A deeply personal work of humor, commentary, and reflection, The Royal We is much more than a musical tell-all. There are personal tales of historical pinnacles like Kurt and Courtney, Guns N’ Roses, and recaps of gold records and arena rock—but it’s the testimonies of tragedy, addiction, and a deeply loving recollection of a remarkable scene that make this book so unique and intriguing. Bottum writes about his dark and harrowing past in a clear-eyed voice that is utterly devoid of self-pity, and his emboldened and confident pronouncements of achievement and unorthodox heroism flow in an unstoppable train that’s both captivating and inspirational.
A remarkable portrayal of a creative individual in emergence, a gay man figuring out how to be a gay man, and a detailed look at the nuance of 1980s pre-tech boom San Francisco, The Royal We will be greatly appreciated by people who loved Kathleen Hanna’s Rebel Girl, Patti Smith’s Just Kids, and Hua Hsu’s Stay True.
Pre-order information can be found here: jawbonepress.com/the-royal-we/
Roddy Bottum is a musician, writer, creator, and actor based in New York City. He started the band Faith No More in San Francisco in the early 1980s and toured the world, selling millions of records. In 1992, he came out of the closet and blew open the spectrum of what being gay in the world of rock music meant. That same year he also formed the critically acclaimed band Imperial Teen, cited as the original pioneers of alternative queer rock. Bottum moved to New York City in 2010 and has performed and created records with Crickets, JD Samson, Nastie Band, and Man on Man, a band with his partner, Joey Holman. He’s developing his Sasquatch opera project into a musical in New York City, where he continues to live.
Roddy will be discussing the book in a series of events in the UK this autumn. Dates and venues to be announced soon.
The Royal We by Roddy Bottum
Published by Jawbone Press (www.jawbonepress.com) | 248pp softcover / ISBN 9781916829305 / £16.95 UK
