Sir Ian Rankin, «el punk me permitió pensar que podía escribir»

Agudo asks Ian Rankin about the relationship between rock music, his own writing and the character John Rebus. The introduction describes how the Spanish translations, from “Black & Blue” onwards, also made musical discoveries possible. Leven appears expressly as one of the musicians readers became aware of through the novels.

Rankin explains that music is so often central in his books partly because he himself would have liked to be a musician. The mentions in turn made musicians into readers and made personal meetings and joint appearances possible; as an example he names the collaboration with Leven on “Jackie Leven Said”. Asked about this mediating effect, he replies that he is pleased when readers thereby discover Leven, Mogwai or Blue Rose Code.

The conversation also covers punk as encouragement to write, Rankin's earlier band, Van Morrison and instrumental background music while working. It provides no new chronology of the relationship with Leven and names no first Rebus novel with a Leven reference. Its value lies in the reception continuing into 2026: a Spanish rock magazine asks Rankin specifically about Leven's discovery through the crime novels.