An Interview with Alex McElroy

Of all the possible songs in the world, Alex McElroy once quoted to me part of the apocalyptic voiceover in “The Dead Flag Blues” on Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s album F#A#∞: “The car’s on fire, and there’s no driver at the wheel.” Every time I’d listen to that song, I’d hear Alex’s voice. Then came the snowy afternoon when I logged onto Zoom for my interview with Alex about their debut novel, The Atmospherians. Before we started, I put on that Godspeed record and then settled in for our talk (me in Denver, them in NYC). In the background, an unidentified man narrated the end times: “We’re trapped in the belly of this horrible machine, and the machine is bleeding to death.” And I realized how much of Alex’s novel depicts many of the same moods and fears and darknesses.