Nick Smart on the New Issue of David Bowie Glamour

In this interview, I welcome back Nick Smart, co-editor of the David Bowie Glamour fanzine and author of David Bowie: The Collector, to discuss the long-awaited 12th issue of David Bowie Glamour. Nick explains that the fanzine combines interviews and contributions from Bowie’s friends and collaborators with work submitted by fans, with roughly half of its content coming directly from the fan community. He also explains its limited-edition approach: each issue is restricted to 1,000 copies and is never reprinted.
We discuss the extensive lineup of contributors to the new issue, including Carlos Alomar, Kevin Armstrong, Chris Duffy, Robert Fripp, Henry Hey, Ivo van Hove, Leah Kardos, Geoff MacCormack, George Murray, Nicholas Pegg, Guy Pratt and others. Nick recounts how his contact with Robert Fripp developed after meeting him following a D.A.M. Trilogy tour performance and eventually led Fripp to contribute his reflections on the tour. We also discuss the remarkable fact that Fripp and Carlos Alomar only recently met in person despite both having contributed to Bowie recordings decades earlier. Carlos Alomar, George Murray and Kevin Armstrong also contribute their perspectives on the D.A.M. Trilogy tour and how it came together.

Nick discusses other material in the issue, including an extensive interview with Geoff MacCormack accompanied by MacCormack’s photographs, an interview with Chris Duffy drawing upon material from the Duffy Archive, and a conversation with Nicholas Pegg about the evolution of his Bowie reference book and how changing perceptions of works such as Labyrinth have required him to reconsider earlier assessments.

We also discuss the physical creation of David Bowie Glamour. Nick describes the new issue as 120 pages and explains the substantial amount of work that he, his co-editor Andy Jones and his wife Catherine put into writing, designing, producing, packing and mailing it. The cover, created by Helen Green, is based on a Masayoshi Sukita photograph from the Heathen period, while additional Sukita images appear inside.

A broader theme of our conversation is the continuing level of interest in Bowie ten years after his death. Nick discusses how Bowie’s extensive archive and preservation of lyrics, objects and other materials continue to provide subjects for research, while his work itself remains open to new interpretations. We also discuss how Bowie’s collaborators provide additional paths of discovery, with musicians such as Kevin Armstrong and Donny McCaslin having substantial bodies of work of their own.

Finally, Nick explains why fan contributions remain essential to David Bowie Glamour. Fans contribute artwork inspired by Bowie, accounts of encounters with him and other personal perspectives, receiving the same prominence in the publication as Bowie’s friends and collaborators. That combination remains central to why Nick continues to describe David Bowie Glamour as a fanzine.
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For more on David Bowie Glamour, visit the web site here:
https://davidbowieglamour.wordpress.com/

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If you missed our two previous discussions, check them out below: