In her novel White Lines, Jennifer Banash takes us on an exhilarating trip through the club scene of 1980s Manhattan. It's intensely thrilling and darkly disturbing, and the authenticity simmering on each page leaves no doubt that the author speaks from experience. We were so mesmerized by the world Banash created that we invited her to stop by FYA HQ and share a mixtape of '80s songs that inspired her story. But in the end, we got way more than a soundtrack. Banash gave us an incredible glimpse into her own teenage life, and we're incredibly excited to share it with you today. Because seriously, Stefon ain't got nothing on this lady.
When telling a story, the old adage is usually “write what you know,” and with White Lines, I’ve done just that. What could I tell you about growing up on my own at 17, in the heart of the Lower East Side? Should I tell you about the smell of roasting nuts hovering over the sidewalks in the dead of winter? The way the punks and goths roamed the streets surrounding St. Marks Place like predatory cats, the jangling metal chains on their leather jackets transmitting the most beautiful and melodious music? How the pavement of my stoop burned my thighs at the apex of summer as I sat out there for hours, graffiti streaking the buildings all around me with no parents to beckon me inside as darkness fell, watching the blue sky downshift into dusk? Or how I found myself one late night outside a club in the meatpacking district, an invite clutched in one sweaty hand, my pulse thudding its own discordant melody of desire and fear in those brief moments before I was chosen from the thrumming crowd, chosen and raised up into the neon light...
We were all misfits, all essentially broken in some significant way that seemed to defy the language necessary to relate our experience, but didn’t, couldn’t possibly, limit our understanding of it. We lived for the coming night, rushing towards it, for the colored lights that bathed our bodies in rainbow hues, for the music that pumped through our veins stronger than any drug, our heads tilted back as we closed our eyes in bliss, the body taking over entirely. If I close my eyes now, all of these years later, I can still feel it—that heady mix of adrenaline and desire, the tingling in my extremities that signaled we were on the cusp of something bigger than ourselves, the feeling that somehow, without my knowledge, I’d come home. That I belonged.
Although I’ve certainly drawn inspiration from my own life, White Lines is a work of fiction, and Cat’s story is entirely her own. Well—almost. In those long, hard hours spent bent over our computers, every writer dreams in their secret heart of making an impact, of touching the lives and hearts of her readers—and I’m no exception. Cat’s story is absolutely her own, but I hope, in some small, flickering way, it will be yours too, that she can come to live in your heart the way she’s occupied mine for almost three years now. That you might offer her a safe haven where the music never stops, and where the rush of love is not merely chemical, but real. Genuine.
I think she’d like that.
Here's the tracks that were on heavy rotation while I was writing the book:
1. Soul II Soul: "Keep on Movin'": "Yellow is the color of sun rays . . ." This song is actually hard for me to listen to, even today. It brings back all the memories of that time in my life so viscerally that I often tear up when it comes on. This track will forever be me and all of my friends on the dance floor, heads thrown, faces bathed in the colored lights spinning overhead. A classic.
2. New Order: "Blue Monday": This track always blew up the dance floor whenever it came on--usually around 2 am or so when energy was lagging a bit. New Order is one of my favorite bands--in fact, the first concert I ever saw was New Order and Echo and the Bunnymen. True story!
3. Nenah Cherry: "Buffalo Stance": Because I grew up in the 80's where New Wave, Hair Metal, Pop music, Hip-Hop and Rap collided, I have very eclectic taste in music. This song brings back graffiti-streaked subway cars, neon socks, rubber bracelets and bicycle shorts like nothing else.
4. Ralphi Rosario: "You Used to Hold Me": NYC House music will always be in my blood, and this track represents the very apex of what was great about House in the late 80's in Manhattan.
5. Jungle Brothers: "I'll House You": "You're in my hut now . . ." Another House classic. I love that the Jungle Brothers really couldn't sing to save their lives. Who cares. The track is hot.
6. Rob Base and DJ EZ Rock: "It Takes Two": This will forever be evocative of blistering hot summers in New York, sitting out on my stoop just to catch a breeze, listening to the guys walking around with huge boom boxes blasting this song.
7. The Human League: "Don't You Want Me": This just reeks of the 80's. The essence of New Wave. Also a great video featuring the lead singer, Phil Oakley, wearing lots and lots of eyeliner 
8. Cocteau Twins: "Crushed": I fell in love for the first time in the 80's, and this song was the soundtrack. It's what I hear in my head every time Cat and Julian get together in White Lines.
9. New Order: "Bizarre Love Triangle": "Every time I see you falling, I get down on my knees and pray . . ." Another dance floor classic. The room was on fire when this track came on.
10. Grandmaster Flash: "White Lines:" "Twice as sweet as sugar, twice as good as salt . . ." No 80's playlist would be complete without this track, and what better way to close out this one in particular than with the song that inspired the title. I knew the book would be called White Lines before I ever wrote a single word. Try to keep this song out of your head after playing it once. I dare you.
Here's is a pic of the Tunnel basement in, I think, 1988. I'm not in it, but all of my lunatic friends are. The guy who was the inspiration for Giovanni's character is wearing the white t-shirt and black vest, all the way to the far right.
1. What's your '80s music guilty pleasure?
There are a few: pop music like Taylor Dayne and Debbie Gibson. I'm blushing in shame even as I type. Duran Duran--I had a HUGE crush on the bassist, John Taylor, because he was FINE. Madonna, of course. I still worship her. Also really cheesy Hair Metal--I've always had a thing for dudes in make-up
2. What, in your opinion, is the most underrated '80s song?
Missing Persons: "Destination Unknown." Dale Bozio, the lead singer, had amazing style. Gwen Stefani only WISHES she was Dale Bozio, but I digress...
3. What '80s trend do you wish would make a comeback? And which one do you hope remains burning in the flames of the past?
Leg warmers! I still love them and fervently pray they will somehow come back into style. And parachute pants should always and forever be relegated to the dustbin of bad fashion history. *Shudders*
So here's another pic. Notice Ru Paul in the bottom row, on the left. Michael Alig is the guy in the first row with the red spots on his face--he's the inspiration for Sebastian in White Lines. Michael went to jail a few years later for murdering his drug dealer... If you've seen the movie Party Monster, well, those were some of my friends and that was pretty much my life.
My first boyfriend is at the bottom of the pic in the front row, next to Ru--the skater looking kid with all the colorful shit on his shoulder. He died last year of a drug overdose :( Funny, either my friends from that time either all died of overdoses or went on to do amazing things. For example, I hired a club kid named Zaldy to perform at one of my parties called Petting Zoo, where we body-painted a bunch of club kids to look like zoo animals (Zaldy was a zebra), covered the floor of the basement with hay, and put the "animals" in cages suspended over the dance floor. Zaldy is now GWEN STEFANI'S LEAD DESIGNER FOR L.A.M.B! How crazy is that? And everyone knows what became of Ru Paul...
Seriously, who else is dying to head back to 1988 so we can spend a wild night at Tunnel? MIND THE DRESS CODE.