Shaun Industry™

Here’s a transcript of the recent interview I did for SCENE magazine.

An Industrial-Sized Dose of Shaun Industry

From SCENE Underground Magazine, Written By Mike Nguyen

When I asked Blaine how I would know who Shaun Industry was when he met me at the coffee shop today, Blaine said, “Oh, you’ll know him. Just look for the guy that looks like Pete Wentz with green eyes.” That definitely had my interest – a cute gay writer with awesome taste in music? Sign me up!

I arrived about fifteen minutes early to Little City on Congress and sat toward the front waiting for Shaun to show. This particular coffee shop is known for its hip, trendy and often gay crowd. I was checking out the hot little barista when I spotted a handsome guy with a green cap on his way to the bar. He was wearing a lime green Trailer polo and ripped jeans. His green eyes were shining emerald, complimented by his shirt. I thought, could this be the infamous Shaun Industry? Then, he smiled. It was a smile I believed to be patented by Pete Wentz himself and I knew that this must be “the Industry.”

I waved him over and he brought his mocha, decaffeinated latte and sat down. After the introduction, Shaun went straight to business with the interview.

SI: Well, I guess it must be a slow news day for Blaine to want you to interview me. (laughs)

MN: Not at all! Blaine and some of the other guys talk about you all the time. He did warn me that you are painfully sarcastic, though.

SI: ME? NEVER!

MN: Blaine also mentioned that you look a lot like Pete Wentz.

SI: Yeah, I’ve gotten that a lot. I was in LA not too long ago and was greeted by a crowd of screaming teenage girls. At first, I thought that somehow they knew who I was, but I was confused. Then one of them screamed, “I love you, Pete” and I knew what was going on. Frankly, I wonder how many people pay attention – firstly, I have no tattoos and Pete has two sleeves. Secondly, Wentz is pretty short and I’m 6’1”.

MN: Well, there is a major resemblance in the face.

SI: It’s the teeth and the smile.

MN: There’s a rumor that you’re related to him going around locally.

SI: Is there? Well, I haven’t heard it.

MN: There’s something you aren’t telling me.

SI: No. (smiles) See, that’s the first rule of self-promotion: don’t deny any rumor, just remain silent. (laughs)

MN: There’re rules about that sort of thing?

SI: Oh yeah, I’m writing a blog about it soon. You’ll have to look for it online; you know, like take a time machine to the early nineties when Al Gore invented the Internet.

MN: Hey, buddy!

I prod him a bit for his jibe.

SI: Sorry, sorry. Next question.

MN: So, are you ready for Internet celebrity?

SI: (laughs) No, no, I have no delusions of grandeur. I mean, the Internet is a media outlet, for sure, but all I’m trying to do is get my voice heard. I’m doing a lot of work now and collaborating on a lot of projects and I just really want to reach as many people as I can. Speaking of which, when is SCENE getting a web site?

MN: We’re not getting one. There’s a big split in philosophy between some of the guys working on the magazine about whether or not we should go online, but the bulk just want to stay ‘underground.’

SI: Yeah, I know… but what about a Myspace page?

MN: Oh, Myspace is way too mainstream. They’re owned by the big ‘M’ now!

SI: McDonalds?

Shaun gives me a clever little smirk.

MN: (laughs) No, Microsoft.

SI: Oh, ‘Micro-slut’! Well, are you going to have to type this all up and telegraph it to the future?

MN: (laughs) No, I’ll type it up and send it to the editorial desk.

SI: And where’s that, 1984?

MN: Okay, back to your web presence…

SI: Okay, back to that.

MN: What do you think of some of the other weblebrities out there: Matthew Lush, Jeffery Star, Perez Hilton, Chris Crocker, etcetera?

SI: I’ve haven’t met any of them yet, so I really haven’t formed an opinion. They seem to all be doing what they want to do and I really wish them the best.

MN: Oh, come on, you can dish a little!

SI: There’s really nothing to dish. I mean, I don’t agree with the message or persona of every web-queer, but I’m not going to dish anyone in print – I’ve read my James St. James.

MN: At least, can you tell me what you think of this web-war between Matthew Lush and Jeffery Star?

SI: I heard about that. All I can really say is that the web’s a lot like alcohol: it subtracts a good decade or so off some peoples’ maturity level, plus they are both really young… I think Matthew’s heart is in the right place most of time, but his ideals aren’t really all that realistic. And, well, you can’t shove your ideals down everyone’s throat. The most you can do is encourage and inspire people to be better.

MN: So, what are you working on now?

SI: A lot! Really, I’m having a great time. I’m working on a graphic novel with an unbelievable artist named Ben Beaty, called Lucid:Ragnarok and I’m working on my novel, A Million Ways To Be Cruel and my blog, of course. I’ve also been approached about adapting a one-act play I wrote for a young-adult audience in a book format.

MN: So, I know what A Million Ways… is about, but tell me about Lucid.

SI: Most of it is pretty hush-hush at the moment, but basically it’s about an epic battle between ancient gods that are, in fact, living dreams.

MN: Sounds awesome! When’s it due out?

SI: Well, soon, hopefully. I was actually working on it with another artist who had some personal troubles and had to leave the project. But Ben is onboard now and I couldn’t be happier with the way things are going.

MN: Wow, you’re doing a lot! So what’s next for “the Industry.”

SI: Well, a friend of mine suggested that I make some T-shirts with some quotes from my writing on them.

MN: Ah, so could a clothing line be in order?

SI: It’s a possibility. I’ve always wanted an underwear line. I love underwear!

Shaun gets up at this point and shows me his underwear – a cute red boxer-brief with drawings of a cartoon turtle.

MN: You’re not too shy, I see.

SI: I KNOW! I used to be really shy. It was hard to talk to new people or even look them in the eye. That’s one of the really great things about reinventing yourself: you get to define who you’ll be and you don’t feel obligated to act any certain way. Really, it’s been a great experience for me.

At that point, we decided to end our interview. The story? Shaun Industry is a class-act… with a cute butt! I snuck a little peek as he was leaving and I’m alright with that.