Russell Brand: why I wrote the Pied Piper of Hamelin

The comedian Russell Brand aims to make young people think and ask questions when they read his first book for children – and hopefully grow up wanting a revolution!

• Plus win two tickets to see Russell Brand and friends’ Trickster Tale show for one night only at the Royal Albert Hall on 14 November 2014
  

Why have you written the first of your Trickster Tales series on the Pied Piper of Hamelin?

I think the Pied Piper is such an interesting figure. When you think about it’s weird what he did, taking them children away and it makes you ask questions. Why did he do it? Is that okay? Why did it happen? What’s the story trying to tell us? The Pied Pieper makes you think. There’s something about it. You have your basic story: there’s a town, the town has a rat problem, the town calls the Pied Piper, the Pied Piper gets rid of the rats, the town doesn’t pay the the Pied Piper and the Pied Piper takes the children. But everything else is up for grabs, you can change it, you can set it anywhere in the world, you can say it means anything you like.

What do you think it means?

That the Pied Piper’s pipe leads the children away with a pipe is really significant because music is something that has a powerful effect that we can’t really understand. In itself it’s a metaphor for the other things that have an effect on us that we can’t see or even really understand. I’m talking about love, god etc. When I was a little kid I hadn’t heard of things like “be in the moment” and didn’t know about invisible forces you can access, or that you shouldn’t get distracted by materialism. But those things are in folk tales and fairy tales from all over the world. That’s why they are important.

You’re famous for wanting change in politics – how much is The Pied Piper a part of that? Are you sowing seeds to grow future revolutionaries here?

Yeah. Someone told me that children that are growing up now will be cosmically inclined to think differently. So I think if you give you information now while you are young you’ll grow up knowing a lot more and asking more questions.

You’re throwing a bit of a party at the Royal Albert Hall and giving the children’s books site two tickets as a prize, what’s going to be happening?

We’re going to read the story, Chris Riddell the illustrator is going to be live drawing and there’ll be an amazing orchestra. I hope it’s going to be chaos I want there to be an atmosphere where children can go mad and to have riotous fun!

Sam in the book is a victim of bullying, did anything like this ever happen to you?

Yeah, I was on both sides of that equation when I was growing up, I was bullied and didn’t want to go to school, at other times I was nasty. I think you have it in you as a kid to do that. I was both bullied and a bully – what I identify with more strongly is the feeling of being alone as a kid. Chris Riddell’s illustrations are so evocative and totally arrived unbidden, the page when Sam is on his own (seen in picture below) and is going up the hill and when he’s in his mum’s arms, those feel like scenes from my own life.

What books did you love when you were growing up? Were you a fairy tale fan?

Stories that impacted on me when I was a kid were Revolting Rhymes by Roald Dahl and Enid Blyton’s Magic Faraway Tree and other stories – and as an adult the Oscar Wild fairy stories, especially The Selfish Giant made a big impression. I thought if I can draw influence from those three places and use the code of the Pied Piper, then surely I can write something that has an impact. I read all the fairy tales, when I was a kid including the Pied Piper – which I thought was creepy but somehow it seemed to make sense that he was taking the children away, even though you could regard it as a massive overreaction. Talk about using a sledge hammer to crack a nut! I’ve thought about it even more since I wrote the book. In a way the rats and the Piper are the same thing, an invading entity. In a way the rats are chaos with no rules and the Piper is order. The rats bring chaos to this place that has a plasticity to it and the Piper in a way spells out what the price is. I think he’s a trickster and tricksters in mythology (think of Prometheus or Hermes) are always there to bring about change.

Are you a bit of a trickster yourself?

More than anything else I’m the trickster. It makes more sense to me. Whenever you talk about change you’re put in a moral position. People say: “You’re asking for change? You’d better become perfect immediately! How come you’ve got a house then if you want things to change? Why don’t you go and live in the gutter!” I say, but I’ve just pointed out some economic inequality! “Yeah well you have to go and live in the gutter if you’re going to say that, give away all your money.” But the Pied Piper isn’t really good or bad. The same trickster figure occurs in the form of Loki in Nordic myth, Coyote in native American myth and in African myths. Ancient Egyptian had these weird kestrels. I like the figure that comes in and says what you think of as normal isn’t normal.

Were you a rule breaker when you were a kid?

I was naughty. My mum says I was a lovely boy with a big heart, but I used to get into a lot of trouble.

How much do you love Chris Ridell’s illustrations?

They are wicked, really good. I’m so glad he did the book! When I first saw them, I was astonished by his pictures. It’s not like it’s exactly how I envisaged it because I’m not an artist, but I can’t even see it how I imagined it any more. Everything is pure Chris, with the exception of the Piper, who Chris first drew with a black pointy hat and beard, doing a jig. I was like no, he’s got to look like an interdimensional, manga droog. He’s got to look like someone who doesn’t belong anywhere, so I did ask for changes. I asked for pointed shoes, long straight hair, chequered eyes, but other than that it’s entirely Chris.

What’s your next Trickster tale going to be?

The ones in my head are The Emperor’s New Clothes and Rumplestiltskin, but as it goes on I want to do folk stories that no one’s ever heard of, including some weird Icelandic myths. The recurring themes in mythology the world over are fascinating.

Win tickets to see Russell Brand and Chris Riddell at the Royal Albert Hall on Friday 14 November 2014!

Do you fancy a bit of the chaos Russell Brand is on about in this interview? You could win two tickets to see Russell Brand, Chris Riddell and friends at the Royal Albert Hall in a special one night only show suitable for children. It’s on Friday 14 November from 6.30 – 8.30pm – and tickets include a copy of Russell Brand’s Trickster Tales: The Pied Piper of Hamelin, illustrated by Chris Riddell.

All you need to do to enter our prize draw is email childrens.books@theguardian.com with the heading “Russell Brand” by 10 November at 5pm telling us why you should win. There will be two runner up prizes of a copy of the Trickster Tales: The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Good luck!

Tricksters Tales: The Pied Piper of Hamelin is available to order from the Guardian bookshop.

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