Coloring Outside the Lines
- a punk rock memoir by Aimee Cooper
Review and interview by Michael Cornelius
There were girls like Aimee in punk scenes everywhere. Girls who just kinda fell into the scene from a protected suburban lifestyle, naive and not knowing what they were in for. It''s a view of the scene you rarely hear. Most punk history is written by jaded scene makers or interested outsiders. Aimee's book is a first-hand account of how a bored girl can go from clean cut college kid to living in a hollywood punk crash pad and working at Slash magazine. It's a lot more about the search to fit in and find friendship than it is about punk rebellion and so speaks more to what the punk experience was for many others.
Yes, I'm very close friends with Maggie and Malissa, and I just spoke again with Gloria last week for the first time since Hollywood. I haven't spoken with Emil yet; I miss him.
Have you heard from people since the book came out?
Gloria read the book and really liked it, and Michelle (Darby's friend in The Decline) wrote to me that she enjoyed the book.
How long did you have this book in mind before you started working on
it?
That's kind of hard to say. The memories kept coming back in my mind for several weeks, bugging me, like itching powder. I was very resistant to writing it as a book, cos I really doubted I could do it - but my friend Michelle here in Austin convinced me to give it a try, since the worst that could happen was that I failed.
Was it based on journals or diaries?
No, neither. I started by laying on my bed in the dark, and talking into a tape recorder. Then when I finished I did it all over again. Talking it all out first seemed to help solidify times and such; I also kept a lot of old newspapers, and that helped with some of the dates. After that I grabbed a yellow pad. It flowed out of my head pretty easily after that.
Where you into any punk scenes after your Hollywood period?
No, not at all. I left it behind me.
What would you say you took away from your experiences that altered
your life?
Don't skate on grass. Okay, seriously, I guess I grew up a little during that time; I realized how wonderful it is to have friends, and how unimportant celebrity is, and how important it is to follow your heart and your instinct. Of course, those lessons had to be pounded into my head a few more times over the years - sometimes I can be a slow learner!
Did you ever try skateboarding again?
Yes, I went back to New York to live for about a year, and my friend Bosco (he played with The Germs for a while) and I found this huge, shallow, totally abandoned pool in Brooklyn. We got as much of the trash and bottles and old shoes and stuff out of it that we could, and that was a lot of fun to skate. I wish I had had the opportunity to skate a bowl-type pool, though; I might have been too scared to be any good, but I would have loved to have tried it once!
So, how did you end up on a ranch in Texas?
My dad took me to see the movie Shane when I was five, which pretty much settled it for me that I wanted to live on a ranch! Then growing up I watched The High Chapparal all the time on tv. That actually took place in Tucson, but Texas has that same western feel!
Are you writing or thinking of writing anything else?
I'd like to try writing a fiction book, like a romance/adventure for young teens - I loved Mary Stewart's books when I was growing up. I think some of the TC might write their own books - Maggie, and Gloria, and maybe Malissa, and if they wanted help with that, I'd be glad to offer it. I think Michelle is writing a book. Those guys have some amazing stories, so I hope they do put them down on paper - I'd love to read them!
Coloring Outside the Lines is published by Rowdy's Press, ISBN 0-97231171-8.
For more information go to Aimee Cooper's web site
Do you still know any of the punk friends from back then?