Podcast Summary: New Books Network — Roddy Bottum, "The Royal We" (Akashic Books, 2025)
Date: October 1, 2025
Host: Rebecca Buchanan
Guest: Roddy Bottum

Episode Overview

In this engaging episode of the New Books Network, Rebecca Buchanan interviews Roddy Bottum—musician and now memoirist—about his new book The Royal We. Known for his work with bands like Faith No More, Imperial Teen, and Man On Man, Bottum discusses his creative journey from punk and goth scenes in LA and San Francisco through to international touring, addiction, and coming out as a gay man in the rock world. The conversation dives deep into the unique cultural blend of 1980s/90s San Francisco, the power of community and chosen family, issues of secrecy and self-acceptance, and Bottum's thoughts on confronting contemporary bigotry with unapologetic honesty.

Main Themes and Discussion Points

1. Genesis of the Memoir

• Morning Pages Inspiration: Roddy shares how he began writing during the pandemic, spurred by a friend's advice about "morning pages" from The Artist’s Way. This practice provided the structure and momentum to transform his reflections and stories into a memoir.
  • Quote: “My friend JD Sampson… was like, ‘Are you doing your morning pages?’ And as I said, ‘What’s that?’ I knew exactly what you meant... So I just started getting up every morning and like writing for an hour, just like freeform.” [02:16]
• Emphasis on Storytelling: Even prior to memoir, Bottum felt himself to be a storyteller, whether writing lyrics, emails, or just recounting experiences aloud.

2. Growing Up: LA and San Francisco in the '70s-'90s

• Childhood and Identity: Growing up gay in 1970s LA, Bottum lacked meaningful role models and felt isolated, which affected his sense of self and belonging.
  • Quote: “I grew up in Los Angeles as a young kid, and I'm gay. And it was a hard time... not a lot of role models. The ones that I did find were… cartoon caricatures of what it was to be a gay man.” [05:04]
• Migration to San Francisco: Bottum describes moving to San Francisco in 1981 and landing amid a magical, culturally vibrant, yet gritty cityscape—a place where hippie, punk, and goth currents blended.
  • Quote: “San Francisco was, like, so weird, so dark… goth rock… The drugs were different… There was still like a residue of… witchery and crazy hippie commune sort of vibes… It was this weird clash.” [05:04–08:16]
• Entitled Generation: He dubs his cohort “the Royal We” to highlight a sense of lucky entitlement found among those who experienced that particular pre-Internet cultural window.

3. San Francisco’s Unique Punk/Goth Scene

• Scene Dynamics: Bottum contrasts LA’s “cartoonish” punk with San Francisco’s more psychedelic, experimental, and intellectual flavor.
  • Quote: “San Francisco felt more like… embracing this weird psychedelic sort of movement as well as adopting this forward-thinking punk rock thing.” [09:02]
• Music as Art Project: Faith No More began as an art project focused on provocation rather than traditional songwriting, incorporating visual elements, cultural appropriation (which Bottum now views with nuance), and unpredictable performances.
  • Quote: “We would create these loops in which we just, like, bang on things or make a sort of… hypnotic thing… We created these loops and got different singers for every show… we were just provoking people.” [10:50]

4. Navigating Masculine, Misogynistic Rock Culture as a Gay Man

• Industry Contrast: Bottum describes the world of big rock tours (with Metallica, Guns N’ Roses) as dominated by toxic masculinity and misogyny—vastly different from his own identity and values.
  • Quote: “The music scene in which we had sort of, like, jumped into and were eventually kind of embraced… was, like, very, like, antiquated, like older men, very misogynistic, kind of based around the guitar.” [18:03]
• Coming Out as an Act of Defiance: Feeling compelled to distance himself from the scene’s stereotypes and bigotry, Bottum publicly came out in the early 1990s, notably in an interview in The Advocate.
  • Quote: “There we were,... touring with Guns N Roses and Metallica... and at that point, I felt like, okay, this is important. I've got to... wave this flag and let the world know that... we're not this.” [18:03–21:56]

5. Writing about Friends, Loss, and Community

• People Over Fame: Bottum chose not to write a tell-all memoir. He focused on first names, highlighting important, vibrant, and sometimes quirky individuals from his journey (e.g., “Courtney,” “Kurt,” “Lori the Raisin,” “Eric the Goose”) rather than on tabloid material.
  • Quote: “I don't really mention any last names... I was like, I'm not going to write like a tell all rock memoir. That's not what I was about.” [23:22]
• Processing Grief: He reflects on a formative, tragic period when several loved ones, including his father and Kurt Cobain, died in quick succession.

6. Memoir Process and Accuracy

• Fluid Memory: Bottum emphasizes his poor memory in daily life but sharp recall for formative periods; he relied mainly on memory (not memorabilia) and occasional internet lookups for chronology.
  • Quote: “I don't save a thing... I throw it all away. I'm really bad that way…” [27:15]
• Floodgates of Recollection: Writing generated new memories and connected stories, leading to a non-linear, associative creative process.

7. Themes of Secrecy and Self-Acceptance

• Secrecy Rooted in Survival: Growing up gay without models, Bottum adopted patterns of secrecy, later compounded by hiding addiction.
  • Quote: “A big sort of, like, theme... was, like, hiding things… I talk about, like, the way you're supposed to hold a book… all sorts of things… to hide the fact that I was gay, which is insane.” [30:46]
• Path to Openness: The book is an exploration of how these behaviors shaped him and his eventual self-acceptance.

8. Family as Foundation and Source of Stories

• Kooky Clan: Bottum describes his family as a “coven” of eccentric, loving individuals, providing rich, funny material and emotional grounding for the memoir.
  • Quote: “My sisters, I have three sisters and they're all nuts and they're kind of like, I call them a coven.” [34:09]
• Honest Revelations: Writing candidly required Bottum to share deeply personal truths—even ones his close family didn’t previously know, leading to new conversations.

9. Living with AIDS Anxiety

• Era of Fear: Bottum shares how the specter of HIV/AIDS shaped his youth, from promiscuity and drug use to a persistent belief that “any sore” meant he was infected and doomed—a mindset reinforced by a media and political landscape ignorant or hostile to LGBTQ+ realities.
  • Quote: “Anything that came up, like, any sniffle, any sore throat… I was sure… I have HIV… And at that age in my life, I was so scared.” [38:39]
• Naivete and Education: He recounts personal experiences that contextualize the ignorance and fear rampant in the era, and how information was slow to catch up.

10. Intent and Timeliness of the Memoir

• Aiming to “Ruin Thanksgiving”: Bottum’s intent is both to document personal/community truths and to challenge those who would erase or shame queer histories. He views the memoir as deliberately provocative, a counter to loud reactionary voices in the current cultural climate.
  • Quote: “It’s my goal to ruin their Thanksgiving. I want them to read this book, and I want it to shock them, and I want it to shut them up and realize that the world is a bigger place than they acknowledge.” [45:05]

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On Naming the Book:
  “I called it the Royal We… We are kind of like an entitled group of people… privileged, entitled sort of sense of royalty… it kind of refers also to like San Francisco.” — Roddy Bottum [05:04]
• On Early Faith No More:
  “Faith no More started as more of an art project… more interested in provoking people than… making music.” — Roddy Bottum [10:50]
• On Coming Out Publicly:
  “At that point… I felt like, okay, this is important. I've got to… wave this flag and let the world know… we're not this.” — Roddy Bottum [18:03–21:56]
• On Not Writing a “Tell-All”:
  “I didn't want it to be that. So in my writing I chose to just like say first names, which… we all know who I’m talking about.” — Roddy Bottum [23:22]
• On Family:
  “I'm really lucky in that they're all kooks. They're all like crazy people. My sisters… I call them a coven.” — Roddy Bottum [34:09]
• On the Intent of the Memoir:
  “I'm aiming for… timelessness… those people who are criticizing them are so loud… And my perspective in writing this book was, okay, well, take this then… I want it to shock them… and realize that the world is a bigger place than they acknowledge.” — Roddy Bottum [45:05]

Timeline of Key Segments

• [01:34] Interview proper begins
• [02:16–04:24] Why Bottum wrote a memoir; origins in morning pages
• [05:04–09:02] Growing up in LA, moving to San Francisco, unique 80s/90s scene
• [10:50–14:05] Forming Faith No More as an art experiment, punk/goth context
• [16:10–21:56] Music industry, misogyny, coming out, intersections with metal scene
• [23:22–26:38] Memoir process, writing about friends, dealing with loss
• [27:15–30:09] Writing process, memory, accuracy, creating narrative
• [30:46–33:25] Secrecy, addiction, and coming to terms with identity
• [34:09–38:06] Family dynamics and including them in the memoir
• [38:06–41:01] AIDS/HIV fear and personal experience
• [41:01–43:59] Government response, queer musicians, then and now
• [45:05–47:30] Purpose of the memoir, confronting contemporary bigotry
• [47:44–48:34] Upcoming projects (Crickets, Imperial Teen, Man On Man)

Closing and Projects

• Upcoming Performances & Releases:
  • Crickets show at Parkside
  • New Imperial Teen album forthcoming on Merge
  • Man On Man working on third record (due 2026)
  • Musical about Sasquatch in progress

This episode offers a rich, candid look at Roddy Bottum’s world—an invaluable listen for anyone interested in queer history, alternative music culture, or the intersections between personal narrative and broader societal currents.