Never Mind the Bacon #author Nick Diezel

NEVER MIND THE BACON is a riotous prison diary that proves even the darkest places can be lit up with humour. From the absurdity of cafeteria "mystery bread" to the unspoken rules of shower etiquette, this diary captures the daily comedy of survival in a world where boredom breeds creativity. The author turns misadventures into laugh-out-loud stories, showing that sometimes the best way to endure confinement is to laugh at it.

NICK DIEZEL is a writer and music producer. Before going to prison, he spent years behind studio doors as a music producer, and sound engineer, But when he veered off the charts, he went headlong into the world of hashish smuggling. What followed was a spectacular crash, an unexpected stretch in prison, and ultimately the raw material for this diary.

To connect with Nick ...
https://www.instagram.com/nevermindthebacon/reels/
https://www.funkycustard.com/about-1-1
https://www.funkycustard.com/ 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 0:02

It's good morning, Nick Diselle. Welcome to Yellow Shelf, Nick.

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Thank you very much for having me.

SPEAKER_01 0:08

Nick, uh, congratulations on your book. It's called Nevermind the Bacon. You're joining me from the UK this morning for you. Tell us all about the book.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

So it was a book that I wrote whilst I was doing a small amount of time in prison. And I wanted to show the funnier side of prison life rather than the grim side. In any situation in life, you you tried to make the of bad situations. And I was in an Irish prison, and there was a lot of humour amongst the men and the guards. So I just tried to capture that rather than the grim side of being locked up, which you know a lot of people have written about in the past. I thought it would be good just to show that that there is a funny side to every situation.

SPEAKER_01 1:02

Yeah, and Nick, you know, I mean, people throughout their lives get themselves in circumstances and there's consequences. And in your book, you know, you talk about your time in jail, you talk about boredom, you talk about the routines, but it's and and the book is obviously dark but humorous in what is a serious, you know, time in your life where you were dealing with the consequence of you know what went down.

SPEAKER_00 1:29

Absolutely, yeah. I mean, it is a shock to the system when you first when you first get inside, obviously, because I mean it's it everyone has an an their idea of prison, but until you go there, it it's different to the idea that you had in your head before. So obviously, I thought it was going to be a very scary place. Um, a lot of people were actually very friendly and helpful. A lot of the guards were very friendly and helpful. If you know, if you were nice to people, they were nice back, you know. So there was a good side to it that yeah. It wasn't as scary as I thought it was gonna be.

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Yeah, and you know, that's really interesting for as a uh someone who's read the book, Nick. You're in you're you're a UK citizen, you find yourself in a a jail. It was in Dublin, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_00 2:18

It was in Dublin, yeah. Yeah, got moved on to a few different things, but I was mainly in Dublin, and of course, there's a lot of history between Ireland and and the UK and England um from the repression, you know, 800 years. Um so at one at one point I was the only British person in the prison, and then there was another guy that came in, and I thought I was gonna get a lot of stick because of that. And to be honest, I didn't get any. And a lot of yeah, and a lot of people, they would there was a lot of jokes, you know, about Brits and English, and oh, you did this, you did that. But it was done in good humour, and it was never threatening. Um, and of course, there's a lot of connection. Uh obviously, there's a lot of history with the English oppression with Ireland, but a lot of Irish people have lived in England, a lot of them have got family in England, so there's there's so much connection between the two countries. It's you know, there's that obviously the bad things that happened in the past, but also there's people have moved on in a way, I think.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

Yeah, and you know, it from reading the book, you know, there's there's you know lots of stories about your time and um you like I said, boredom and routines and the structure of prison, but there's also you know, it was insightful for me. There's this connection piece where it's almost like a community, yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

I mean, it's really strange because before I um was arrested, I was living in London, and I've got a lot of friends in London, and you know, I was what you work you spend a lot of time working and paying your rent, and you know, going back home. So, in some ways in London I felt and I've got family in London as well, but sometimes there's a loneliness to being in a big city, and you don't get lonely in a three-man cell. It's impossible to get lonely, you know, you're because you're with people all the time. So that was quite I enjoyed that actually, you know. It was like it was like having a new family, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:18

Yeah, and Nick, I got the sense from the book, it was like you made the best of the situation you found yourself in.

SPEAKER_00 4:25

I tried to, yeah. I tried to. I tried to do as much reading as possible. Um and I didn't think about writing a book until maybe a year into the sentence, and then that kind of gave me a sense of purpose because I was just thinking of there were so many different funny situations. I thought, well, it would be nice to record that. So once I had that in my head that maybe I could have you know make it as a project, then that kind of helped as well to pass the time, you know. Yeah, I was looking for funny situations rather than for bad situations.

SPEAKER_01 5:00

And Nick, I guess it also gave you a focus, didn't it? It gave you a purpose and a positive. Um, so Nick, do you want without any spoilers? Because you know, we obviously want people to go and buy the book and read the book. Um tell us a bit about you know post-prison writing, releasing the book, and and about you these days. What do we need to know?

SPEAKER_00 5:24

Okay, so I could when I came out of prison, it was actually in lockdown. Um so that was quite an unusual situation from going from one lockdown to another. Yeah, um, so obviously that every the life was on hold for a while until that had that had finished. Um, and then I went back to because I was a sound engineer before I I went away. Okay. And I I've I've gone back to doing sound, so I worked for bands doing live sound. Um, and I was obviously when I was writing a book in prison, I was just doing little I mean, when I read back of the notes, they were terrible. It wasn't any sort of structure at all. So I had to spend a lot of time rewriting things and making it presentable and a lot of editing, and I, you know, um, so there was a process of almost rewriting the book so it was readable. Yeah, but it was still in my head, and I hadn't put it down on paper. So there was a lot of process to actually creating the the final book.

SPEAKER_01 6:28

I mean, and even that in itself is a journey too, Nick, isn't it? Like post post um post being released and and writing and getting the book out there and getting it um published. Nick, uh you mentioned nowadays you're a sound engineer, you know. Um those jail days are obviously behind you. Um, would you write again? Like obviously, you'd have to write about different experiences, but what was that process like as far as being a writer? Are you inspired to continue to write?

SPEAKER_00 7:00

Or yes, I am because I've I've started work on another book, which is um just surreal stories from just normal people, my friends, yeah, um uh family. Everyone's got funny stories to tell. Yes, even grand grandparents, you know, everyone's got a funny story that happened to them in their life. So I've kind of been documenting those and just talking to people. Funny stories from everyday situations. So it's it's inspired me to continue continue writing. A lot of people said that it really made them laugh, which I think that's a good thing. Yeah, it's a good thing to make people laugh. So I'd like to do that more as well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

Well, Nick, keep writing, and I think for anyone lit listening or checking us out on YouTube, um, you've got an Instagram page, so there's places to go to learn more about your work, and obviously learn more about the book. Um, do you want to point us in the direction? If anyone's listening or curious wants to know about the book, uh, how do we how do we connect with you and the book, Nick?

SPEAKER_00 8:06

So the Instagram is Nevermind the Bacon. Um I've got a website which includes my music as well and has stuff about the book, which is called funkycustard.com. Um and it's on Amazon. There's an audio book on Amazon and Apple, which has got original music that I made with my friends, um Irish musicians. So there's there's a bit of Irish music in there that's original compositions that went with the narration. I'll send you a link.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

Yeah, very cool. That'd be great, Nick. Um, Nick, I mean it was fascinating to read because you know Jayle is like you were explaining, is our more certainly my preconceived idea is what I see on TV. So thank you for sharing, you know, your journey with humor um and obviously a realism. Well done, Nick. Thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_00 9:02

Thank you so much for having me. Much appreciated.

SPEAKER_01 9:05

Cheers.