Laney Berry – The St Christopher’s School Lockdown
[b]Ingmar[/b]: You’re a huge fan of the Sex Pistols and have a fondness for punk rock. Spending a lot of time writing stories and being heavily influenced by punk rock throughout the years myself, I am very well aware how much impact punk still has on my personal writing. Would you say the same about yourself? If this is correct… where can we feel the vibe of Johnny Rotten, Dave Vanian, Joey Ramone, Stiv Bators, etc. in St. Chris? Are there certain aspects that wouldn’t be that way if it weren’t for punk? What does punk rock mean for you as lifestyle in general?
[b]Laney[/b]: I have to share this with you, since I know you’ll appreciate it – right after you’d sent over the interview questions, my father e-mailed me, the subject being “A song for your personal St. Christopher’s soundtrack!”, and I opened it up to find that he’d linked me to a video of The Damned’s “Smash It Up”. In other words, my passion for punk is just such a huge part of my personality that even my dad knows that St. Christopher’s pulses to a ’70s anarchistic beat. I don’t think I can write without this enthusiasm toward the genre coming through in my work, just like you!
I will say outright, that the non-playable leader figure in this revolt, Roger, is, in ways, actually modeled on John “Johnny Rotten” Lydon of the Pistols. A huge amount of charisma, political ideology and rebellion, all packed into one person who is stuck in a situation which is destined to go as tragically wrong as the demise of The Sex Pistols did. And let’s not forget the utter frustration Lydon must have gone through, watching the inevitable heroin-fueled implosion that was Sid Vicious, his best friend. Roger shares this sense of helplessness in a lot of ways, and Rotten’s autobiography actually really helped me solidify Roger Spencer as a character in my head.
On a lesser scale, you will, of course, become witness to obvious references to the music and the icons which inspired me throughout the game. Characters all have their own individual musical tastes, which will be represented (without getting sued for copyright infringement, I hope!), and the game will actually involve the background antics of an amateur teenage garage band as such, so, yes, you will certainly pick up on punk as a thematic device!
And even in terms of visual aesthetics, I find myself drawn to the fashions and visual iconography of the ’70s – this is very evident in the various character attires, my font choices, and the color schemes I find myself attracted to.
A final note on this: another musical epoch I am incredibly fond of, which is also a fairly big influence on the overall style, is the ’60s British mod scene. The Who, the Kinks, the Small Faces; think scooters and anoraks over classy suits… I think I might just go and listen to Quadrophenia now…
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