Jim Carroll's Interviews

Curtis Ross, "'Diaries' Author's Life an Open Book." Tampa Bay Tribune 1 Nov. 2002.
Carroll talks about his Vietnam draft physical, music, and why it is he can write about himself so openly. Some other people are also interviewed about how Carroll has impacted them.

Jason Louv, "Void of Course: An Interview with Jim Carroll." Dangerous Minds 14 September 2009.
The interviewer explains, "In honor of the passing of Mr. Jim Carroll, I found an interview with him that I did one month after 9/11, in Saratoga, CA, at a reading from Void of Course. In it, he discusses the effect of the WTC bombing on life and art. Originally published October 24, 2001." Download PDF | Original Article

Louise Thach, "The Basketball Diarist: Jim Carroll Speaks Out." Hudson Current 8 March 2001).
This interview previews an performance in Hoboken. Carroll talks about Maxwell's (the venue) and the nature of spoken-word performance, the Basketball Diaries film, and his changing audience.

Suzan Alteri . "Unspoken Genius." Real Detroit Weekly 13-19 Jan. 2000.
In this lengthy cover-story interview, Carroll touches upon many of his familiar themes, also answering a very unique question at the end: "If there was fire and you only had time to grab three things, what would they be?"

Having Words With . . . Jim Carroll. Detroit.CitySearch.com (2000).
Carroll covers the usual terrain, from rock 'n' roll to the in-progress novels. One unique question he addresses is, "do you consider yourself a surrealist?"

Nate Schweber. "Poets, Punks, and Scenes: An Interview with Jim Carroll." Kaimin Online 5 Nov. 1999.
This is an amazingly well-done interview that takes the old chestnut questions and turns them around to make them fresh. Carroll talks about how he got into writing ("I think if it wasn't for writing I probably would've wound up dead or totally lost like a lot of friends of mine were"), Columbine, Keith Richards, and counterculture.

Curtis Waterbury. "Interview: Jim Carroll." Portland CitySearch.com 1 Oct. 1999.
Carroll talks about his return to the rock arena, his poetry, and a Hollywood lawsuit.

Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher. 8 June 1999.
Complete transcript of Carroll's appearance on Politically Incorrect. The main topic was Columbine.

Frank DiCostanzo & Michael Workman, "Jim Carroll: Caught in a Trap." Lumpen Times 8 May 1999.
In this interview following a reading at Chicago's Hothouse, Carroll talks about the historical relationship between poetry/spoken-word and music, the nuances of digital recording, why many of the works in Void of Course are titled "Poem," and his thoughts on death. The article begins with a nice review of Carroll's performance.

Marlene Goldman, "Mercury Rising: Jim Carroll Can't Escape Rock & Roll." Rolling Stone (1999).
Carroll discusses Pools of Mercury and his return to rock 'n' roll, the deaths of Allen Ginsberg and William Burroughs, Mayor Giuliani's cleaned-up NYC, and Kurt Cobain.

Colin Devenish. "Poet Jim Carroll Waxes Lyrical On Return To Rock." SonicNet Music News of the World 24 November 1998.
Carroll, Lenny Kaye, and Anton Sanko talk about Pools of Mercury.

"Quote (Unquote): Jim Carroll." SonicNet Music News of the World 24 Nov. 1998.
Carroll talks about college basketball.

Robert Roth. "Fast Stories From Jim Carroll." The Rocket 4 Nov. 1998.
Carroll talks with Truly's Robert Roth about train surfing, his Basketball Diaries and people who died.

Steve Baltin, "Jim Carroll Moves Between Two Worlds." CDNOW.com (1998).
Carroll talks about the motivations behind Pools of Mercury and his experiences as a rock performer.

Jackie McCarthy, "Alter Boy: Jim Carroll Rising." Seattle Weekly (1998).
Carroll talks about his Seattle connections.

Lisa Scott, "Catholic Boy Jim Carroll Returns to Rock." Exclusive to The Jim Carroll Website (1998).
In this insightful interview Carroll talks about how Pools of Mercury evolved from pure spoken-word to a rock 'n' roll album.

Jason Knowles, Interview with Jim Carroll for BG 24 News (1996).
Jason Knowles interviewed Carroll at Bowling Green State University shortly before Carroll's reading. Carroll talks about his new novels, how he wrote "8 Fragments for Kurt Cobain," rock 'n' roll, addiction, etc. The interview is transcribed, unedited, from videotape. This web site is the only place the interview is published.

Christina Schmitt, Interview. Minnesota Daily Online (1996).
An excellent interview with Carroll--one of the best I have ever read. Check it out!

Douglas A. Martin interviews Carroll for Flagpole (1996).
Part I: April 10, 1996.
Part II: April 17, 1996.

Cindy McGlynn,"Apollo on the Hudson." Eye Weekly (1996).
Cindy McGlynn, of Canada's Eye Weekly, assesses Carroll's career. Includes an interview. Download PDF

Thomas Gladysz,"Jim Carroll: Verbal Entries." Booksmith Reader (1995).
This is an outstanding interview with Carroll by Thomas Gladysz in The Booksmith Reader (on-line zine, 1995). Parts of the interview originally appeared in The Street (San Francisco, 1987). The full text of the interview was published in X-Ray (San Francisco, 1995).

Neil Gladstone, "20 Questions: Jim Carroll," Philadelphia CityPaper.net 20 July 1995.
Another good interview. Carroll discusses inspiration, his novels, the Basketball Diaries film, young poets he admires, Patti Smith, and how he feels about his book, The Basketball Diaries, now.

Jon Stewart. "The Street Side of the Game." Interview April 1995.
Carroll talks about "talks about bouncing between the literary, jock, rock, and drug cultures" in the context of the Basketball Diaries film. This is close to a classic interview.

Andrew O'Hehir, "A Poet Half-Devoured." San Francisco Bay Guardian (1995).
This is one of the most insightful articles on Carroll I have ever read. O'Hehir focuses on The Basketball Diaries, trashes Kalvert's film, comments on Carroll's poetry, and includes interview comments from Carroll. A terrific article.

Chris O'Connor,"Heaven in a Wild Flower."Eye Weekly (1992).
An insightful article that includes an interview with Carroll. Horrifyingly enough (to me), Carroll talks about me! The article is also available as a PDF.

Frank Andrick, "Back Beat: An Interview with Jim Carroll." Source unknown (1991).
An interesting interview (apparently a telephone interview) conducted shortly after the release of Praying Mantis. Carroll discusses how he came to record the album; his new novels; the relationship between poetry, rock, and spoken word; Frank O'Hara; how and why he published The Basketball Diaries; the St. Mark's Poetry Project; Patti Smith; and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Karla Peterson, "Jim Carroll: From Poet to Rocker--and Back." San Diego Union (1989).
A preview article for one of Carroll's appearances at the Spirit club in San Diego. Includes telephone interview comments by Carroll; this is the earliest article I have in which he mentions that he is writing a novel.

Karl Irving, "Nods of Days Gone By." UC Santa Barbara Daily Nexus (1986).
This is an all-time classic Jim Carroll interview, especially when Irving gets him talking about his visit to Germany with William S. Burroughs. See also Irving's accompanyting feature article, "Visions from a Razor's Edge."

The Jim Carroll Radio Special. Transcript. Atlantic Records (1984).
Transcript of a 45-minute special featuring a fascinating interview with Carroll and selections from I Write Your Name.

Peter L. Noble, Future Pop: Music for the Eighties (1983).
Carroll talks about John Belushi.

Elliot Lefko. "Carrolling On." Shades 25, 26 (Sept., Nov. 1982).
The article, which features another photo by Peter Noble (see Future Pop above), describes the Jim Carroll Band's third appearance in Toronto as an anonymous opening act for the J. Geils Band. Carroll talks about John Belushi, The Book of Nods (he goes into some detail about "Just Visiting," then in progress), touring, punk rock, and going after a kid in "designer punk" who was wearing a swastika. Download PDF

Clarice Rivers, "The Catholic Boy Confesses." Interview (1980).
In this interview, conducted by Larry Rivers's wife Clarice (a good friend of Carroll's), Carroll talks about his time in Bolinas, the origins of The Jim Carroll Band and his entry into rock, and the then in-progress Forced Entries and Book of Nods. Also availabe as a PDF.

Interviews LOST on the Web

These are interviews from 1995-1996, when I was only linking to articles on the web to preserve copyright integrity -- that is, before I got smart and started "reprinting" articles and maintaining them here. All of the links are dead. If you are able to track any of them down to current locations, please e-mail me!

Sonicnet, Biography and Chat Transcript (November 1995).
http://www.sonicnet.com/sonicore/chat/bios/biobobs1.html
A five-page biographical essay on Carroll (written by someone at Rhino records to promote A World Without Gravity) plus a link to the transcripts of Carroll's chat session on "Bob's Conscious Party" on Sonicnet 11/15/95.