Renee Liang talks to performance poet, artist and musician Shane Hollands, who has been performing his distinctive style of poetry for more than 30 years in Auckland. Shane Hollands is the host and organiser of The Kerouac Effect on March 14, ‘an annual celebration of everything Beat’ held close to the birthday of beat poet Jack Kerouac.

Renee Liang talks to performance poet, artist and musician Shane Hollands, who has been performing his distinctive style of poetry for more than 30 years in Auckland. Shane Hollands is the host and organiser of The Kerouac Effect on March 14, ‘an annual celebration of everything Beat’ held close to the birthday of beat poet Jack Kerouac.

“I live the life of a 'Beat' and understand the tradition. It’s about the rejection of society's values and dedication of my life to art above the focus of money generation.”

Renee: What is the Kerouac Effect and why do you do it?

Shane: The Kerouac Effect is an annual celebration of everything Beat held close to the date of the birth of the one of the most influential beat poets, Jack Kerouac’s birthday.

I do it for the love of beat poetry and in an attempt to bring the ideas and experience of Beat to the poetry community of Auckland/NZ. I chose Jack mainly as he was one of the more recognisable beat poets, but the concept was to celebrate poetry in the musical form.

The idea came to me at The Joe Strummer Day event. I thought, “wouldn't it be good to have a celebration like this for a poet?” There is 'Robbie Burns Day' but I wanted something more contemporary.

R: And quite a different "feel", I think, to what you put together.

S: Yes, since I first saw Genevieve McClean perform at Alleluya in the 1990's I got hooked on performance work. And then I met the members of Freaky Meat and I haven't looked back - you could say I'm addicted to music poetry.

R: Do you think of yourself as a Beat Poet?

S: Yes I do, of course not in the sense that I don't live in America or that I wasn't born in the 30's but I live the life of a 'Beat' and understand the tradition. It’s about the rejection of society's values and dedication of my life to art above the focus of money generation.

I do starve for my art. I do love the freedom of self to create and see it as my reason for existence. I know that can come across as bullshit but I actually embrace it - people that know me, know I'm not lying about that.

One of the things that really inspires me and allows me to feel I have legitimacy is when I listen to work of great poets and when I see and understand the mechanics of good performance.

That's what caused me to start The Literatti, seeing and understanding how a thing like that could be done by a normal poet.

“All the things I am Passionate about I Fear in equal measure.”

R: I'm interested in this idea of good performance. Are there any common techniques or qualities that you've observed in your long career?

S: Confidence becomes a part of it, also 'being in the moment' is a technique that everyone from actors, musicians and good poets understand or at least practice even if they don't realise what they are doing.

Knowing your work is a strong key. Practice is the other - notice I placed them differing. Good looks help unfortunately but the most inspired performers can rise above that like Bukowski.

R: "Knowing " meaning "inhabiting?"

S: Yes, that's exactly what I mean.

R: Is performing poetry like acting, in a way?

S: Performance poetry is more akin to being a musician than an actor , I believe, though I'm not sure on that... I understand that acting always makes you 'pretend' a role whereas a musician or a poet 'becomes' what they are.

R: I think it depends on your style and philosophy of acting, just like all performance...

S: Maybe an actor is only themselves when they are acting in the same way as we are poets. Yes the schools of acting… Are there schools of poetry, interesting question!! I think there are, I see that in the division of the university poet and the street poet.

R: But those divisions are quite artificial, and I see in your work that you like to question and shift lines all the time…

S: I like to raise questions and not give answers. I want to inspire people to think that it IS possible to be as creative as they want to be but to me it's secondary to actually understanding that ourselves.

The Kerouac Effect is one way….it is an effect because it’s an inspiration to see life as Beatific or Beyat as Jack said (silly Buddhist Catholic that he was...)

One of the most inspirational things for me is the way people react to The Kerouac Effect. It is overwhelmingly positive in a country that spurns poetry on the whole. The average person for some reason can relate to it and it doesn't seem to carry the 'normal' negative connotations that poetry seems to have with the non-poetry going people. Even some radio stations that are notoriously anti-poetry love the idea. It's like they don't realise that it's poetry and think it's music so they are suddenly more interested.

My favourite compliment is when people say “I hate poetry but I like what you/lot do.”

R: That's really funny. Have you seen the attitude to poetry changing, with all the work that you and others do? Or is it more that poetry is changing to suit modern tastes, that we are making it more like what people are used to on TV and movies?

S: Yes, I have been involved in (street) poetry for a long time and have been thinking about the renaissance of the Auckland poetry scene. I guested at the Howltearoa in Wellington a few years back and at that time the AK scene was almost dead, Wellington was brimming and I worked out the structures that were allowing it to thrive and tried to help them form in Auckland. Of course a lot of them formed without me. But anyway, the three things are:

A Hub, a community that co-operates with multi art forms (film, music, dance etc) and funding - they are very good at getting grants in the capital. But now we have a hub (The Thirsty Dog on K’Rd where Poetry Live is held every Tuesday) and a community that is here now, with a lot of fresh ideas.

We still need a 24 hr drop in centre and someone who can help facilitate funding for poets.

R: That's true – funding applications are an art in themselves and we're all too busy actually making events….

S: My own interest and focus is with The Kerouac Effect, the Dirty Wordz Sessionz (Monthly Sunday afternoon live Jam-style poetry & music colaberations at the Thirsty Dog) And The Dirty Wordz Show (Tuesday 3-5pm on www.fleetfm.com or 88.3). Through them, I hope to facilitate and encourage poets to record, and experiment with music.

Music poetry is the crest of a wave that is huge in the world and only really starting to break in New Zealand. I have this vision of building poetic sculptures that the average person can appreciate at their leisure. You might say that’s going against what I said earlier, but I’m beginning to see that the real beauty of going with the mainstream is that it opens things up for people.

‘Mainstream’ is of course the opposite of beat but also the essence of it. Jack recorded his work with great jazz musicians for the love of Jazz, even though a studio is the antithesis of The Road.

R: I think it's good to be open to new ideas and themes and technologies. I see that a lot with the artists in the Kerouac effect - you seem to choose innovators.

S: I choose good performers and I choose musicians who ‘get’ beat poetry. A satisfying part of TKE is how many performers are passionate about doing the show.

And as for ideas, there is no such thing as a perfectly new idea. Songs use chords, poetry uses structures, art uses colours and technique. We all borrow - I steal ideas all the time and willingly give them away. We are all Robin Hoods of creativity.

R: I like that idea! Tell me about this year's Kerouac Effect. Who's in it?

S: This year I have 29 performers including 5 bands and it’s an over 4 hour show – so it’s huge, and in the plush art deco setting of Fordes Bar which I think is perfect.

I have the Glen Ashworth (Fun with Knives) Band and Reknown Rd Review coming up from Wellington, and Micha De Wolfe coming from Timaru, and of course Texture from Edinburgh as well as Slam Champions Courtney Meredith and Tourettes. Also a (surprise) show of The Literatti. And experiance ranging from Terry Free doing acapella to the debut of Public Hairs.

There will also be a famous performer using a nom-de-guerre – let’s just say that Benny Profane may be lying about something, and it’s not his age!

What is also different this year is that I have made it a dress up event so people are encouraged to get into the feel of TKE, and of course I will give away some great Beat prizes for people who make an effort.

R: Wow….so if you wanted to sum up your event, what would it be?

S: Well… I could quote the blurb….

Jack Kerouac was among the first - perhaps the first - who coined the phrase 'the beat generation', source of the word 'beatnik'. The 'Beats' rebelled against the conformity of 1950s society and valued artistic and personal freedom of expression.

Every year as a celebration of that spirit of personal expression of freedom The Kerouac Effect gathers together some of Auckland’s finest performance poets and musicians for a night of poetry, music and… everything Beat.