“I think that the whole thing can be taken at face value,” says Svenonius. Chock full of allusions to Marxism, Frankfurt School conceptualizations of popular culture, and postmodernist/poststructuralist theory, the book requires concentration – and yields insight and a lot of laughs. But bear in mind that Supernatural Strategies is a different beast than the usual rock tome. Sure, Svenonius’ downplaying his linguistic dexterity is charming in conversation. I just use a lot of big words to say simple things.” “But the language, you know… I’m probably like one of those policemen who uses a lot of big words. “It’s funny because I’m not from academia,” says Svenonius. He seems reluctant to acknowledge that his writing is important and really, really smart. In conversation, Svenonius is oddly self-effacing – almost bashful. But once you’ve gotten over the sometimes daunting vocabulary to fall into the cadence of his writing, you’ll find that Svenonius explains the ugly realities of the machinations of rock ’n’ roll’s (sub)culture industry with a rapier wit. Written in the parlance of academia, Supernatural Strategies may require a bit of patience for the reader. Both as satire and as plain truth, Supernatural Strategies for Making a Rock ’n’ Roll Group (Akashic Books) is a scream – something that could only be produced by the punk rock aesthete who was once named Sassy magazine’s “Sassiest Boy in America.” Poseur, provocateur and pontificator, Svenonius’ most recent cultural product comes in the form of a book. Svenonius’ art is as much about image manipulation as it is music, and he has the endearing audacity to make it all work. Clearly, Svenonius has affected this persona and style with aplomb. thrift shop version of Ray Davies, and his hair – a gravity defying tangle of ebony locks that only the most audacious sort would dare to be seen with.

The running thread of the aforementioned bands is, of course, Ian himself: his cocksure performance style that melds the moves of a beatnick James Brown with a Marxist Mick Jagger, his wryly witty lyrics which bring to mind a D.C. So Svenonius might just know a thing or two about what it takes to strategize a group.

And each of these bands employed some kind of quasi-ideological rhetoric to define itself, oftentimes coming in the form of a manifesto. With almost 25 years in the rock ’n’ roll trenches, Washington D.C.’s Ian Svenonius has fronted a number of important bands such as Nation of Ulysses, The Make-Up, The Scene Creamers, Weird War and his present act, Chain and the Gang.

Ian Svenonius Explains His Supernatural Strategies John Sewell on at 2:50 pm “A Tight Rhythm Unit With This Extrovert in Front.”

Ian svenonius supernatural