F News Amplified: Sex, Drugs, Rock ‘n’ Roll, and Ghost F**king: A Valentine’s Day Episode

CW: conversation topics include drug use, overdosing, occult violence, sex, sexual themes, asphyxiation, domestic violence, cock shaming.

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Transcript:

Little boxes of chocolates. Flavored cigarettes after sex. The lingering taste of someone else’s lip balm. Sales on sex toy websites. And the worst day of the year for anyone who works at a restaurant. This year, however, it’s even worse for me.

[Jazzy intro picks up in volume]

Not because I dislike Valentine’s day. In fact, I actually love Valentine’s day, especially because it’s one of the favorite holidays of my favorite person, my gay twink lesbian girlfriend. And, as a wife guy (in parentheses, girl), there’s nothing I like more than spending Valentine’s day with someone who loves and appreciates as much as she does. But this year, I live in Chicago and she lives in Texas, so I can’t be gay on Valentine’s day because I’m pursuing a freaking masters degree, and I have to enjoy the holiday with my girlfriend through a three by five inch LCD screen. So this year, Valentine’s day fucking sucks. Ba humbug, if you will.

But, like the Scrooges before me, I’ve become overjoyed with the holiday spirit and the power of love, by the presence and apparition of ghosts.

Yes, literally, by actual-ass ghosts and actual-ass spirits, actually. You see, I was approached by F News about making a Halloween episode, and as you can probably tell, there was no Halloween episode. Anyway, the idea was to get ghost stories from people, and interview listeners about crazy encounters they’ve had, and we did that! We got a whole bunch of that, but one interview stood out way more than all the others. And we turned it into a Halloween episode, but then election shit got really rough, and it just didn’t really feel appropriate to put out an episode about someone who was fucking ghosts. Yeah, yeah. I said what I said.

Today, we’re interviewing a ghost fucker. But, you guys, remember, late October/early November — that shit was BLEAK. So we repurposed the episode for Valentine’s day, and now you’re listening to it… after Valentine’s day. Look, like I told you, I’m getting a freaking masters degree, shit comes up! But hey, the episode is done now, and it’s still in the neighborhood of Valentine’s day, so hopefully you won’t be too mad at me.

Anyway, today we’re interviewing Frankie Lyne, Chicago underground comic artist, and author of F News’s recurring comic strip series, Starr Ramone, as well as several other zines and independent publications that you can find at Quimby’s (if they’re still open when this comes out) and other legendary comic and book shops in the city like Alleycat in Andersonville! Now a creator of this caliber obviously has a lot to offer in an interview-based show like this one, and there are so many things we could’ve talked about in any other context, but since it’s Halloween — I mean, Valentine’s day, I mean, St. Patricks Eve — I wanted to lock in on their experiences with ghosts, and more specifically, fucking ghosts.

A quick disclaimer: This is definitely not a conventional episode, and this isn’t normally the kind of coverage that we’ll be doing. This episode certainly isn’t news, and we won’t claim that it is. We, as a newspaper and as a podcast, are not endorsing the idea that ghosts are real, and we’re not saying that if they are real, it’s possible to fuck them. This episode is purely entertainment, opinion, speculation, and is in no way intended to be anything other than good, clean, Valentine’s day fun.

With that being said, my conversation with Frankie was fascinating, and if you’re curious about the supernatural, I think you’ll get a real kick out of it. While I will reiterate that this interview in no way intending to claim or be based on scientific fact, I do still encourage you to keep an open mind, as I did, and consider that the world you know might just be a little bit more interesting than you thought.

So with all that stuff in mind, let’s get balls deep in some ghosts, with Frankie Lyne:

this week on Amplified.

[the Theme song plays]

Content warnings: conversation topics include drug use, overdosing, occult violence, sex, sexual themes, asphyxiation, domestic violence, cock shaming.

GREN: Hi there, my name is Gren Bee, this is F News Amplified, I’m here with-

FRANKIE LYNE: Frankie Lyne.

G: And we are here to talk about ghosts and paranormal experiences. So, Frankie, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? What do you like to do? What do you do here at SAIC? All that good stuff.

F: Yeah, so I write Starr Ramone at F News, and I’m kind of known as like the comics guy and the guy who’s like balls deep in ghosts.

G: Hell yeah, brother. What can I say? Dude, that rocks. Hell yeah. Well, let’s talk about it. So could you maybe tell us a little bit about your first encounter with a ghost?

F: Oh, man. I mean, I’ve been having encounters since like I was growing up. Like, the place I lived when I was a little kid was, like psychics have told me, without even like talking to my dad, that there’s been like cult activity at that house. Which is what my dad used to say when I was growing up.

So that both kind of answers the question, where do I get my little ability from? And, you know, like what kind of shit was I seeing? I was not seeing friendly things growing up. One of them like followed me out when I was like eight. It was latched on to me for like 20 years almost. I guess I’ll be 15. You know, I’m an art student. I’m not good at math, but…yeah.

G: Well, fair enough. Okay, so just a little bit, how would you necessarily define yourself? Like, I know people use the term like medium and things like that. Do you have like sort of a role that you play in how you communicate with spirits and ghosts?

F: I would say… That’s a good question. I mean, I’m just like radically unsafe with it and like I should probably be reined back a little bit.

I had like my first like delve into like kind of more like spirituality and stuff when I was like, you know, 17 about. But I haven’t really figured out what I’m doing with that yet, which is, you know, it’s its own thing. It’ll reveal itself to me in time.

G: A lot of people sort of like when they talk about having reoccurring experiences with ghosts, it is usually tied to the place, right? And you were talking a little bit about that. You grew up in this environment of cult activity. Do you know any more of the history there or anything like that that you’d be able to share with us?

F: Absolutely not, actually. I have no idea about it. It’s the most like unassuming like, like, suburb. It’s like in New Hampshire. There’s not much going on there as far as I know. It’s in this place called like Londonderry, which is like the only thing they’re known for is like going to the Rose Bowl every year.

So unfortunately, I can’t tell you much because I don’t I don’t know. Yeah, I mean spiritual activity can be anywhere, you know. There’s like portals and stuff.

My dad is a very big talker about portals. Like I’m not even really sure about those other, I can kind of feel it a little bit. I mean, it’s I guess if there’s anything in common with these things, it’s all kind of surrounding myself, so.

G: So yeah, okay. So yeah, that I think that makes a lot of sense because a lot of people do sort of have that idea that it’s tied to location or anything, but it seems much more tied to yourself, right? Is it something you kind of agree on?

F: Yeah, I mean more or less, you know, I think when you’re open to it, you’re open to it. And I think there can be environmental factors that make you more open to it. Like if a place has got a really strong energy that can really tie you in.

Like places like the Chelsea Hotel or really like have become that way over time. I mean just from like the psychic trauma that’s gone on there. Places can even like hold that psychic trauma and see it play back, you know, 50 years later. Yeah, it can happen anywhere.

G: No, I think that I think that makes total sense and you said that, you know, anybody can be open to these kinds of experiences and these kinds of connections. Do you think of it as like this is an ability that you specifically have or is it more that this is something that anybody can get into?

F: No, absolutely not. I mean, I think anybody is able to access it. I think it depends upon what you’re meant to do in this lifetime, you know, what you’re still kind of agreed to.

I mean, it’s not for everybody and it’s barely for me. But if you have that desire, you know, you can find somebody who can really teach you how to access it. I think it’s really about finding out which senses you have.

I mean, for each of the five senses, there’s ways to detect things around you. And like I’m not clairvoyant, you know, I don’t see things very clearly. I’m more like clairsentient and I get like knowledge and stuff about things.

So it’s different for everybody and clairsentient would be feeling a physical sensation. Like I close my eyes and see what’s around me.

G: OK, yeah. So when you talk about these sort of like, you started to go into a little bit about the physical sensation, there is this kind of like lingering feeling that you feel. Could you talk to us a little bit about that specific feeling, how that kind of manifests?

F: Yes. So, I mean, everybody has their own sensation, you know, like people’s energies are different. It’s not about the matter at all.

It’s all about what energy you’re getting. I mean, people have very specific energy. You can tell when you’re talking to somebody who they are or you can tell if somebody is like not quite right.

You can tell that with spirits as well, like what kind of person you’re talking to. But there are some spirits who are really good at pretending and that can get really dangerous. And that’s where I’m not the most experienced.

Maybe I should be more experienced. I think I think most people could definitely relate to that, right? Like there’s like a vibe that you get with people.

But obviously, when we’re talking about the spirit world and things like that, you know, it’s different. And I think people want to hear about that. You know, we’ve talked about like there’s an energy that comes off when when you are in communication with the spirit or when this kind of operates to you.

But how else do these spirits make themselves kind of known to you? Do they operate in any kind of physical form or anything like that?

G: I think the most physical thing I usually see is they leave like little little gifts or little signs that they’re there. Different people have different symbols and they will make it known to you. I think the first person I got really close with was the ghost of Sid Vicious, who I knew in my last lifetime before I died, before we both died.

He would leave little signs of things. I forget what his are. I remember what Mark’s are better because I just communicated with him more recently.

So. But it’ll be like a certain animal or a certain image or a certain like flower or like songs. So if you’re a song, it’ll be like a song that you haven’t heard in 10 years. Certain lyrics will match up with certain things they’ve said to you during the day. Oh, I just talked to him. He just said that. Yeah, they have a way of changing the space around you if they really want to talk to you.

G: OK, so I think and I think we’ve talked about this a little bit off microphone, but just for the audience, could you clear up who Mark is?

F: Oh, man. Yeah. So Mark would be referring to the spirit of Mark Boehner.

He’s a very different spirit than the spirit of Sid Vicious. But yeah, I’ve talked to both. I’ve talked to a lot of spirits over the years.

Those are two that stand out to me probably the most. They have the most significant impact on how I think about the world, you know.

G: And like specifically, like you said that you knew Sir Vicious in a past life. Are you someone who believes in the incarnation?

F: I mean, I’ve I’ve seen things from my past life. For me, it’s very factual because I’ve had that experience and not everybody has. And I think anybody could want to tap into that.

I think it’s very empowering to know the kinds of things that are affecting you. You know, like I have this horrible problem with needles, like tattoos are fine, but like blood draws and everything. That’s like really evasive. I mean, my arm right now, as you can see, is like blown up. Like, no, it looks like Pangea is breaking apart on my arm right now. And it’s all because of my past life.

It’s because I was a punk in the 70s and I was smacked up. And that’s how I died. And that’s why I’m like terrified of dying in my sleep. And I can’t use drugs. I’ve experimented, but I, you know, I can’t even get out of my mind. That’s how I died.

That’s why I was communicating to Sid Vicious. We knew each other. We went to the same in New York before, like when everything was the worst for him.

That’s when we knew each other. And I have like memories of being seen at parties and what it’s like. They’re just like really intricate, and nobody would ever fucking guess that.

And even things about like circumstances surrounding his death. I know, you know. Past lives are really interesting.

They do hold a bearing on your current life. I also found out about one that was also in New York in the 1920s, where like I basically got fucked to death and I was getting choked and that’s how I died. And like I’m like, so like just like I can’t wear scarves that are too tight.

You know, I hate that shit. I’m very self-conscious about my neck, you know, in little ways. Some of them can be like so unserious.

It’s like, oh, come on. That’s why I don’t like to sweat. But like.

G: Oh, yeah. So I’m also like a reincarnationist, so I’m also like really big into that idea. This is a very self-indulgent question for me.

F: Of course.

G: But on the subject of reincarnation, you’ve mentioned a couple of like human past lives, right? Have you had any experiences as like an animal or anything like that before?

F: I mean, I have a spirit guide that’s an animal, but I don’t personally remember if I’ve had anything animal. I do have like feelings that I’ve come from. And maybe this is just a neurodivergence, but I do think my soul comes from a planet that’s not this one.

I do believe souls can come from anywhere, any type of life.

G: I hope we can talk forever about that, because I think that’s so interesting. I think that’s so cool. I’m very into like civilizations on other worlds or not even civilizations, but life on other planets and things like that.

And and about like, because, you know, there’s all these theories about like, oh, like maybe two civilizations didn’t ever line up, you know what I mean? Like things like that. I’m very into it. The universe is very old, you know what I mean? Life in the universe is potentially very old, you know? So I think that’s super, super fascinating.

But just because this is the Halloween episode, I’ll try to keep it on the guests. So, I have a question that I think the audience is dying to hear. Dying to ask. Dying for me to ask, right?

You said earlier that you’ve been balls deep in some ghosts. Have you been balls deep in the ghosts that I’ve previously mentioned? From earlier questions.

F: Well, me and Sid dated from like 2020 to 2023. So that should probably answer your question. We were friends for a year and things started to get really chaotic.

We were having really bad sex in Jones Hall. You know, it was I’m a fall 2020 guy. So, yeah, we were locked down.

We were getting down with it. And, yeah, just having really fucking bad sex. And whoever’s living in 1010 right now, cleanse, spiritually cleanse your space.

It needs it. If you failed your term paper, it’s because me and Sid were having bad fucking sex in that bed. Yeah.

G: Both of them. Hell yeah. Hell yeah. OK, so just for just just for just for the audience. And if you don’t want to get into it, you don’t have to. I’m not trying to like, you know, make anything too personal. But like, OK, bad sex versus good sex with a non-corporeal entity. You know what I mean? What’s the what’s the difference? What’s good? What’s good ghost head versus bad ghost head?

F: I mean, you know how I told you, you can feel the ghost. You can feel it like somebody’s touching your shoulder, touching your face, touching other things. And you can you can get a real sense of not only like, you know, when a ghost walks into a room, you can tell how tall they are, what kind of build they are, you know, even like their posture.

But you can also get a real sense for other aspects of their body. And I- How do I say this in the least like this, like disturbing way? But like there’s a there’s this rumor that people always say about tall people, right? It’s not true. But I’m not going to say too much about that.

I mean, he’s only 21, so he’s not the most experienced. You know. Oh, you’re fucking with somebody who’s 20. They have a lot more experience.

G: So like Sid Vicious is just kind of a virgin. Is that what you’re saying, or what?

F: Well, he’s not technically a virgin, but um, he’s just a lot more naive to it. And he was down to experiment. He got better.

G: He got better.

F: We broke up because our sex was bad. And then we got back together because it was good. And then we broke up and we got, we broke up like once a year until we broke up for good.

G: How do you break up with a guest?

F: It depends upon what entities are involved with Sid. There’s there’s actually these types of entities that are shapeshifters and can shapeshift into the person you’re fucking with. And if you’re not careful, if you’re too laissez faire, if you’re not really fucking careful about how much you’re talking to those ghosts, when, how grounded you are, I mean, that’s the most important thing, staying grounded and being able to really feel who this person is, because there was a demonic entity that attempted to be Sid at the same time I was talking to Sid and would get Sid in trouble and then not allow us to break up. And so we’d get back together like every single time, except for the final time where I was just like, no, I’m good. And it was because I was told that he cheated on me seven times in seven months.

But I’m not there’s no way to know whether or not that’s true, because by then, the demonic entity had really entrenched itself in our friendship and relationship. And so now it’s just easier not to talk to people.

G: Obviously, a relationship is more than just sex. OK, despite what the ops may say. But but yeah, so like, so, yes, there’s physical contact with a ghost.

I mean, you talked about like cheating and that brought in my mind, too. Like, could somebody else sort of like channel or conjure the spirit of Sid Vicious while you guys were together and have similar contact? Is that possible?

F: I mean, it’s possible. And that’s not exactly what happened, but it’s definitely it’s definitely possible. And actually, I was in this band and I was quite good friends with these folks.

They’re good people. They were dropping tabs and they actually saw him. We were all like watching like Good Burger together.

It was really funny. And and they’re two separate people. And one of them, our guitarist is like, is that fucking Sid Vicious on my on my bed watching Good Burger?

And I’m like, yeah, it is. And he’s like, hi. And they’re like, holy shit, this is weird.

I thought you were fucking with me. And the other friend was like, I also thought you were fucking with me, Frank. Yeah, people have been able to see him.

I think I think we almost had we almost had something going on. One of my friends who’s like also see spirits, who we hung out with in Vegas and like, and the shade, the shade of it all. He would like talk shit behind their back and be like “shut the fuck up.”

But he’s perfectly nice other than when he’s like self-conscious. And then he’s like, oh, I’m like, oh, I’m remembering every reason we broke up.

G: Yeah, yeah.

F: Instead of the reasons why we were together in the first place, you know?

G: Oh, yeah. I think people are obviously, you know, they’re, they come to it with the surface level curiosity of like, oh, my God, like this person like has had contact with the ghost. They’ve had sex with the ghost.

But what we’re really learning is that Sid Vicious is a bad boyfriend.

F: You know, he was he had his ups and downs. He was a very, he had struggles with like having people who gave a shit, you know? You know, he needed a lot of care.

And I I’m not that person. I’m not trying to be like, be his only caregiver. And, you know, he really is the kind of person who wants to see his friends do well.

But he has a lot of issues himself from a very bad beat as a child. It’s almost like he never had a chance, got taken advantage of a lot. But that doesn’t justify him taking advantage of my kindness as well.

You know, it’s not all bad. He never got me any gifts, though. One time he got me a blue a blue lighter on my birthday.

Like I woke up and I went out onto the balcony. It’s a blue lighter sitting on my, like a table. And he said, happy birthday.

And I’m like, this is the only thing you’ve ever gotten me. What the fuck? Early on in our friendship. You got me a book, with like, a picture book. Dennis Morse and Sex Pistols was really cool. I was like, I’m going to send him a card.

G: Awww

F: Um, he’s like five bucks. So, um, oh, yeah. I I keep forgetting what the questions are. I’m teleported back in time.

G: Yeah. OK, so we’ve talked about how things kind of like ended, right? But how did things start? How did you guys meet? Like, can you tell us that story?

F: Yes! So in my past life. I was a bassist.

And this is recent information, but it all makes a lot of sense. Because it was right after I picked up bass and switched to bassist too, if you could call me. He’s more of a singer.

I don’t know how much he is of either of those things. Never got to be more than just kind of those things. But yeah, he came to me when I was learning bass,

I just could not fucking get it down. And something about meeting him activated something from my past life. It’s goddamn I want to be sedated by the Ramones, which is like if you’re a bass player, you know, like most of the Ramones discography is kind of like, all right now, like this is not difficult.

And then Sid came to me and was like, you can’t figure it out. I’m like, no. And he’s like, all right, I’ll teach it to you.

And, just funny because he knows how to play the Ramones, but he can’t play his own band’s bass lines. I’m like, you can’t play the ones that your guitarist wrote. You can play DJs.

OK, I see the neurodivergence coming out. I was 17 at the time, which is a little, I don’t know what he’s doing, but I don’t know. It’s just kind of the perfect time and place.Yeah, remember.

G: OK, so I had a question because you’ve had, you- This is not the only famous musician.

F: Yes, I was wondering when we were gonna-

G: I know, right now. So, did you, did you and Mark Bolan date also?

F: For like a week.

G:OK, OK.

F:You know, Libras are, and he’s the Libra of all time. He is the Libra. When you look up Libra, Mark should be the first person who comes up. And if he’s not, that’s a damn shame.

He has four aspects in the sign, one of which we share, is our Libra Venus. So we’re both very kind of the same type of lover, I believe. But yeah, he’s a delight.

I, you know, I’m not going to fucking do that again. But like, you know, I love him as a human being. I mean, he’s a great guy.

We dated for a week and, we started dating the day after he, you know, his death was on September 16th and we started dating the 17th. Uh, which is kind of chaotic. Everything about our connection was chaotic.

It was like about, I broke up with Sid, and he broke up with me and then kept asking to get back together, which I said no to in September. And I started hanging out with Mark like, I think the first time we encountered each other was like he came in with somebody else. I was like healing from my gallbladder surgery, which was because of the stress it caused me.

Sid or the demonic entity, I like literally everything is a haze. So I don’t remember which was which. It’s very hard to tell in retrospect.

But Mark came in and he’s like, how are you? And I’m like, I do not want to talk to you. I was like, I was like oxied out like post gallbladder surgery.

And I was like, go. Leave. So like, yeah, we talked about it later. He’s like, yeah, the first time we met, I kind of thought you were a bitch.

And I was like, yeah, I was a bitch to you because I was tired. But we both know that now. We started really, you know, like June, I’d say like May, June. Things happened a lot faster for us than it did with Sid.

Sid’s a Taurus, so he’s more slow and steady. Everything that isn’t air, everything that isn’t Libra on Mark is like a like a fire sign. So he’s got like Leo and shit in him.

So he’s like fast action. You know, we started hooking up before we started dating, too.

G: Classic.

F: Yeah. But everything happened like so condensed and fast. It was like we started doing that in August, like the first week of August.

And it was while we were on a trip. And it was my like my parents took me on a trip. And I was often in my own hotel room, balls deep.

And I hope my dad never finds out, because he’s the, he’s the, he’s the one who’s like, don’t talk to us, Franco. Like, you’re kind of right. But also, like, if you had a ten out of ten hot twink in your room, you like asked him, like, like, well, oh, could you do that?

And he’s like, I’m not really looking for a relationship. And I’m like, OK.

G: Yeah.

F: Yeah. Oh, what’s the question?

G: Fair enough. Fair enough. Yeah. Well, I feel like you answered a couple of things ahead of time.So Mark Bolen, pretty good at having sex.

F: Yeah, I would say he is the incarnation of sex himself. So I feel like, yeah, obviously he’s really good at it. Yeah.

I mean, he’s just like a kind human being. Like I was going through some shit after, like, you know, sometimes when you have surgery, you can have like bouts of depression just from like your body just being like, where the fuck is my gallbladder? Where the fuck is it?

You’re like, I’m sorry to break it to you, body. But that doesn’t exist anymore. So, yeah, this is going through it.

And I was like, so it was still sort of like, you know, the demonic entity which is trying to like fuck with me throughout that whole like, from September up until like Mark got involved. He’s the one who like chased it off. He’s the one who’s like, Sid does this.

And I’m like, yeah. And, you know, he couldn’t tell me what it was because I would have been like, no, you’re fucking me. You know, I’ve been like, no, it’s Sid.

Like, are you trying to gaslight? You know, he was like, yeah, this is, you know, quote unquote, Sid is doing this. I’m going to make sure he does not bother you ever again.

And here’s, you know, he’s the one who got that entity away from me and made me aware of it, too. Like while we were having having our fling in Florida, you know, I went to a psychic for funsies because that’s what I did when I started talking to Sid is, of course, you go first, you go to your therapist, make sure you’re not psychotic. And when your therapist says, no, you don’t have symptoms of psychosis, then you go to the psychic and then you meet him.

And I go, wow, you are Sid. I’m like, oh, yeah, you are Mark. You know, going to that psychic in Florida with Mark was the reason that I found out that there was this really bad energy around me trying to like basically take me over.

And I was like, oh, so when my dad said not to fuck with spirits, he was right, first of all. Second of all, thank you. Because, yeah, like if it wasn’t for Mark, I would I would still have this thing haunting me and I wouldn’t be who he does for you.

And he is! He’s very nice. He’s very generous, too. He gave me a lot more gifts than Sid ever did.

G: What were some of those gifts?

F: Oh, man. I know one of them was, oh man, I know one thing was like, I was like bitching and crying about, like, I want the perfect flare pants. And I go to this vintage market all the time and I’m trying to find the perfect everything, right? Perfect shirt, perfect pants.

And right after I like, you know, we had like some type of disagreement on something. And he’s like, how can I get up to you? And I’m like, get me some cool pants.

And I go to this thing and there’s these pants. They have these like embroidery up the side and like rhinestoned the hell out. And they’re more of like a Y2K kind of flare, but they’re like flared.

And I’m like, oh, I know who this is from. I try them on, they’re not like tied up top and not loose on the bottom. They like hug the thigh without suffocating the midsection.

I’m like, oh, somebody cooked. And um, it’s like little things like that. It’s like, you know, spirits can’t really like go out and buy you a coat or anything, but they can create opportunities.

And um, he’s very good at doing nice little things like that. Yeah, little miracles.

G: Okay, so here’s the thing. I feel like, you know, not many people have had experiences dating ghosts, right? But I also feel like not a lot of people have opportunities to date celebrities.

You know what I mean? You know what I’m saying? Like, you know what I mean?

And so I wanted to ask like, because just because I, you know, I think about like, there’s obviously like, you know, sort of typical “celebrity”/civilian dynamic, you know what I mean? Not that, listen, you’ll, listen.

F: I’m the celebrity.

G: Listen, you wanna rock the fucking world, and don’t get twisted. This is just early years stuff. You know what I mean? Your fans are gonna be listening to this back and they don’t know who I am and they don’t know who you are. We are establishing that dynamic, right?

F: I’m in my unicorns era.

G: Exactly. And so that’s something I wanted to kind of think about is usually there’s this kind of power dynamic that I feel like people think about typically with like celebrity/civilian. But also there’s a kind of, you know, there’s a different dynamic too, because I feel like you know so much more about these people right off the bat.

You know what I mean?

F: That’s actually, I, and I’m gonna get read to fill for this. I had never been able to really get into these artists before I knew them as people. Like, I always had respect for like T-Rex and everything.

And I especially noticed it with Mark where like one of my best friends, a lot of my friends really are such huge fans and I was never able to like jive with it until I got to know Mark better. And I understood why he does the things he does and where that art comes from. And now I’m able to see like him in it and appreciate it a lot more.

And like, it’s so funny, because like even before we ever met, I had this almost like, you know, a spirits create opportunities for things. In 2022, which is kind of the start of the darkest point in my life. But, because that’s like, it was like literally like two days before I broke my leg.

A bunch of shit started happening after that. But I was in this record shop in Florida visiting my folks. And it’s a very eclectic place.

You know, it’s like no place for a record, no place a record should ever be. And I pulled this record out and it’s T-Rex Tanks. And it’s, you know, I looked at it and it has the poster still in it from 1973, the year my mother was born, by the way.

I always think that’s funny to bring up. And then it’s just the most magical thing I’ve ever found in a thrift store. And I got it because my friend was into it.

And I was like, I want to really listen to this record. And, you know, because I really respect my friend and his taste, and I respect, you know, what this band means to him. So, you know, I think it’s worth it to buy it just for that.

And I started to get into it kind of after we, I first saw him in April, around. And then I really got into it after that. But it’s like these little, you know, these little signs that exist, you know, and spirits really are careful to create that sort of thing.

Before I was ever born, like my grandfather used, when he was like bullying my grandmother, as grandparents do, he used to call my grandmother sid vicious, which he was being mean to him. He was like, oh, stop being vicious, you know? And that’s a story they just like told me recently.

Yeah, there’s the signs, there they are. They’re there.

G: Okay, well, I have another question for you. So I know you’ve talked about like these relationships have had like a profound impact on your life, right? And like, you know, you’ve had these like really impactful experiences, these really impactful relationships, but, because this is an art school, how, how has this affected your artistic endeavors?

How does this affect your creative process?

F: There’s a very real answer to that. So back when I was first dating Sid, I would, I was in like freshman core class, and I think people remember, I brought this to my research class, people remember this because it was fucking nuts. I made, there was like these Warhol paintings, right?

He would use the projector, he would paint these like headlines, and the headline that I chose to do, I was very, I’m very passionate about Marilyn Monroe’s body of work as well, so I did one for her as well. She’s the model I use for all of my comics, but I also did one for Sid that was like “a punk star dies of overdose,” and I did it in two layers of paint, and one layer was red lipstick, it was like lacquer lipstick, so it never dries. And that, moving that from place to place, hell on earth.

And after me and Sid broke up, I actually did a performance piece where I stabbed it in the manner of which many believe he stabbed his girlfriend, filmed myself tossing it in the dumpster. And because of the lacquer, it was red lipstick, it looked like there’s blood on my hands. So it’s very like. gestures, I make these huge romantic gestures, which is why you know I’m a Libra Venus.

Libras are incredibly romantic. But yeah, so like I made, I tried to write a poetry book when I was with Sid, but none of it was good. It was all atrocious, it was like, I look back on that and I’m like oh God, thank God I only showed like two people that, I never want to bring that up again.

I tried to learn how to write songs, and the poetry and the songs didn’t come together until I started hanging out with Mark. Yeah, I made a breakup comic about Sid that’s on F News, it was, I think it was the last upload that Teddy ever did as comic’s editor. With Mark, I’m working on a poetry book.

I wrote an 88 page script for a comic that I don’t think I’m ever gonna make. I made like six pages, and I was like okay, I’m penciled to six pages, I’m gonna make it. I was like it’s good, but busy.

But I do have a poetry book called Marquis, and I don’t know what the fuck I’m gonna do. I want to release it, but I’m like he has living, like with Sid, there’s nobody alive who like, you know, would be impacted by that. But Mark, I just have the utmost respect for him and his family, and I don’t want to release that book in a way that would be harmful.

And especially because he, you know, when you talk to him, you see how much he loves the people that were in his life. He still does, he still looks after. His girlfriend he never got to marry, he was technically married to somebody else, you know, so he looks over them, and cares a lot, so.

This poetry book’s gonna stay between me and my writing workshop class for now, until I figure out what the right thing to do with it is. But this poetry’s very good.

G: Yeah, well good.

F: Because it’s about a poet. But yeah, I think it does influence my art. I try not to let it.

I think you can even see it in Moonstride, where like, which is my comic series that I do independently, where, you know the first issue of it’s like this Sid and Nancy parody called Simon and Marie, where they’re like bitching at each other from like a balcony. And Simon like accidentally drops the dresser, and it almost like hits his girlfriend, who’s in the street in her underwear screaming at him. It’s based on a real Sid and Nancy story.

They really did have an argument like that. The dresser was not involved. But yeah, it does influence my art and the kinds of like character designs that I’m drawn to.

And yeah, I mean, I think the experiences you have in your life influence your art in a lot of ways.

G: Fantastic. And I did want to ask if you talked about like, you’re sharing this work with your writing workshop, right? And obviously this comes up in very like public facing work, right?

Like, you know, you’re on this show right now. So you’re open to talking about these k; inds of experiences and your relationships. Has that caused any problem for you before?

Have people reacted in kind of a negative way or anything like that?

F: I mean, most people I meet in public think I’m really weird if I bring it up, but that doesn’t really bother me too much. I mean, I’m a little neuro spicy, so people tend to think I’m weird anyway. So I don’t pay any mind to that.

I’ve never had, fortunately I’ve never had anybody who’s like aggressive towards me. But I really, a lot of people are, the thing I’m surprised by most is that people are really open and people, you know, even if they don’t understand, they’re willing to, you know, take my experiences for what they are. And that is always, you know, really, I admire that a lot.

It gives me a lot of faith in people’s kindness, you know, people’s ability to reach things that they don’t quite know about or understand. Yeah.

G: Well, fair enough. I just wanna say thank you so much for coming on. Thank you for talking to us. This is fantastic. I think people learned a lot. Do you have any final comments?

And then would you like to just talk a little bit about, you know, what you got going on plugs-wise?

F: Yeah, final comments. I probably shared a little too much. No shame on our little wee-wee game. We love it. Just know what you’re doing, you know? Hit the right angle.

G: True

F: You know, if it has to be, you know, a right angle or an acute angle, obtuse angle, you know, hit that shit right, you know. Communication with your partners is always good. And, you know, if you are like a 5”5’ twink who doesn’t have that problem, good for you.

We like you. We like you a lot in this program. Yeah, just like, I always think about what my dad said.

Don’t fuck with ghosts. If you got too much going on and you don’t need extra shit, don’t even. That is a can of worms, you know?

Once it’s out, it doesn’t go back in. It doesn’t. So be careful what you wish for, definitely.

G: Oh, great. And where can people find you?

F: Oh, man. You can, I mean, you can technically find me online at my Instagram, Obl_v_ous, aka Oblivious, but you’re probably more likely to find me brick and mortar.

You can get Quimby’s, Chicago Comics, Howling Pages. I mean, anything with like a twink on the cover, I probably made it. My book’s out right now, or Simon and Marie, Boys, Love and Avoid, By the Moonlight, Detox Revolver, Devout just came out. Forgot Mimi. And soon we’ll have “Vive La Vie,” which is probably, it’s not the gayest, but it’s definitely the one with the most sex in it, I feel. But yeah, and, you know, read Starr Ramone and read F News, you know, all of it. If you’re here, you probably know that.

G: Hey, so true. How can I say anything against that? I agree. And thank you so much for coming on. It is the light. This has been the episode.

F: So yeah, thanks so much. Yeah, thank you very much for having me. I hope that, you know, you didn’t blush too hard hearing some of this.

[outro music beings]

G: You know, just a healthy amount. All right, well, that’s it. Bye, thank you.

After my interview with Lyne, we talked a little bit more about ghosts, relationships, music and comics before we left for the night. We traded zines in traditional gay fashion and since we both live pretty far up north, we took the L train together. I got a little bit more insight from them on their relationship with Mark and I don’t intend to share it all here, but after talking about things more with Frankie, I found that there were many similarities between my corporeal relationship with my partner and Frankie’s relationship with the ghost of Mark Bolin, lead singer of T-Rex.

We talked about first dates, how theirs was a movie theater and mine was a museum walk. We talked about how our relationships impacted our art and our partners supported us through really difficult times, like how my partner helped me through my move and how the ghost of David Bowie helped Frankie recover from their gallbladder surgery. Yes, Frankie has had contact with David Bowie too, but no, they didn’t smash.

What I learned from our interview and subsequent train conversations is that whether or not you believe in ghosts, Frankie does, and their interests have much less to do with whether or not they’ve successfully made contact with the spirit world and more to do with how their relationships have affected them. I don’t know if Frankie really dated the ghost of Sid Vicious but talking to them really made me think that if they had, they were not better off for it. They talked about how much stress this relationship caused them and how it gave them so much anxiety, created real medical problems in their life.

And whether or not the spirit itself was real, the effect of it sure as hell seemed to be.Another takeaway I had is that I really love talking to other people who are in relationships.When you talk to single people while you’re in a relationship, you can sometimes sense a kind of resentment, especially around Valentine’s Day.

I get it, on one hand since I’ve been on both sides of love, but it can still come off as kind of obnoxious or irritating. I didn’t get that vibe from Frankie, which did make me think that the belief in their relationship is genuine and that this wasn’t some kind of elaborate hoax for them. In fact, I didn’t get any kind of insecure vibe off Frankie whatsoever.

I’m sure those insecurities are there. I mean, Frankie is a human as far as we know, but genuinely for someone as esoteric as Frankie, it was made abundantly clear to me that they could not give a damn about what you think of them or whether or not you think their ghost fucking claims are legit or not. And frankly, that energy was truly infectious.

I don’t know if ghosts are real and I’m not really worried about it. All I know is that hearing about them is a blast and Frankie was raw as hell for coming onto a show like this and spilling all the ghastly details. Whether or not Frankie can raise the dead and fuck it is one thing, but they certainly raised my holiday spirits and hopefully they raised yours too.

So sincerely, from F News, happy Valentine’s Day. And if you decide to fuck a ghost this winter, please protect yourself. For some people, protection is a condom, but for others, protection is one of those spiffy Ghostbusters uniforms.

Thanks for tuning in to Amplified. I’m your ghost, sorry, no, let’s try that again. I’m your ghost, Gren Bee, and this is something to look forward to.

[Music with spoken lyrics begins]

British beauty, we watch the movies. The light goes down, the sound surrounds. The chatter goes quiet, first whispers through the silence. It should be you up there, acting in film. Don’t look down from your place up there. A little old me, bashful and trembling. Nearly the same height, but your star is bigger than mine. You’ll get vertigo from your place among the clouds.

[Music falls into a stagnant tone]

And here’s your line. I was born when you kissed me and died the minute you left.

Now, I don’t have any scripts, but if I did, it’d go something like this.

[Tone morphs back into music]

Sat under the stars with the full moon above. We shined brighter with our cheeks of lightning and our eyes of thunder. Is it any wonder why we sat there together?

Your sheen so joyous and bright, my hands shaking from excite, meant for you to hold when the lights of the theater dampen and the picture takes hold. The stars aren’t of the screen, they are of spirits passed on, like yours, never gone. I’ll kiss you again, and again, and again, play the reel thin, and play the tape again.

I want just one more kiss, or simply touch, to watch your feathery hair eat me and my nails cut jagged across your back, to watch your mauve lips hang wide. Our tongues tripping over each other like one of these trunks. Do you feel dizzy yet, staring down at me this?

Never, rather this. I can’t place the feeling that makes me love you, your physical attraction or your bubbly attitude, or your monumental star pointing me north through the mountains. You shine like a beacon.

Did you forget I am not a moth? I am the stallion, but not the one you rode in on. I am the wind that gave you breath, the fire that ate from it, the combustion of your car’s engine that your girlfriend was driving.

Under the full moon’s light, through the fog of London, and past our personal pretensions, it eats at our friendship, something great destined. I don’t care if you fuck off somewhere else. I know you’ll be back, because I know who I am, and I know who you were.

And when I look to the screen above and to the ground below, I know you’re never gone. You lived a week in my body, but forever in my heart.

[Music tones are played before it fades away]

Gren: This podcast is a production of F News, the official newspaper of SAIC, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is paid for by the university. This show and this episode specifically is written and recorded by Gren B, with production from Sid Gard, Alex Lee, and oversight from Sophie Goalson. Music is provided by Drake and the Beatles, and is completely royalty free and for public use.

Thank you so much for listening. This is F News Amplified.

After my interview with Lynne, we talked a bit more about ghosts, relationships, music, and comics. Before we left for the night, we traded zines in traditional gay fashion, and since we both live pretty far up north, we took the L train together. I got a little bit more insight from them on their relationship with Marc, and I don’t intend to share it all here, but after talking about things more with Frankie, I found that there were many similarities between my corporeal relationship with my partner and Frankie’s relationship with the ghost of Marc Bolan, Lead Singer of T. Rex.

We talked about first dates; how theirs was a movie and mine was a museum walk. We talked about how our relationships impacted our art, and how our partners have supported us through really difficult times; like how my partner helped me through my move, or how the ghost of David Bowie helped Frankie recover from their gallbladder surgery. Yes, Frankie has had contact with David Bowie’s spirit too, but no, they didn’t smash.

But what I learned from our interview, and subsequent train conversation, is that whether or not you believe in ghosts, Frankie does, and their interests have much less to do with whether or not they’ve successfully made contact with the spirit world, and much more to do with how their relationships have affected them. I don’t know if Frankie really dated the ghost of Sid Vicious, but talking to them really made me think that if they had, they were not better off for it. They talked about how much stress this relationship caused them, and how it gave them so much anxiety it created real medical problems in their life, and whether or not the spirit itself was real, the effect of it sure as hell seemed to be.

Another takeaway I had is that I really love talking to other people who are in relationships. When you talk to single people while you’re in a relationship, you can sometimes sense a kind of resentment, especially around Valentine’s day. I get it on one hand, since I’ve been on both sides of love, but it can still come off as kind of obnoxious or irritating. I didn’t get that vibe from Frankie, which did make me think that the belief in their relationship is genuine, and that this wasn’t some kind of elaborate hoax for them. In fact, I didn’t get any kind of insecure vibe off Frankie whatsoever.

 

I’m sure those insecurities are there, I mean, Frankie is a human, as far as we know, but genuinely, for someone as esoteric as Frankie, it was made abundantly clear to me that they could not give a damn about what you think of them or whether or not you think their ghost fucking claims are legit or not. And frankly, that energy was truly infectious.

I don’t know if ghosts are real, and I’m not really worried about it. All I know is that hearing about them is a blast, and Frankie Lyne was raw as hell for coming onto a show like this and spilling all the ghastly details. Whether or not Frankie can raise the dead and fuck it is one thing, but they certainly raised my holiday spirits, and hopefully, they raised yours too! So sincerely, from F News, happy Valentine’s day. And if you decide to fuck a ghost this winter, please protect yourself. For some people, protection is a condom, but for others, protection is one of those spiffy ghostbusters uniforms.

Thanks for tuning in to Amplified. I’m your ghost, Gren Bee, and this… is something to look forward to:

[MUSIC]

This podcast is a production of F News, the official Newspaper of SAIC, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and is paid for by the university. This show, and this episode specifically, is written and recorded by Gren Bee, with production from Sid Gard, Alex Lee, and oversight from Sophie Goalson. Music is provided by Drake and the Beatles and is completely royalty free, and for public use. Thank you so much for listening, this is F News Amplified.