Ashod Simonian is the author of Real Fun: Polaroids from the Independent Music Landscape, now out from PictureBox. We sent the bearded man some questions about his life and work, which he graciously answered from his home in Portland, OR.

When did you begin taking pictures of your travels?

If you want to put it like that, I s'pose you could say 1981 - I have some amazing pictures of bison at Yellowstone National Park that i took with a rickity 110. I accidentally left it in a bathroom there. As for the polaroids, that started around the same time that I started playing music, maybe 1995 or so.

Do you consider the period covered in Real Fun to be an extraordinary one for music?

Every year that passes, that period seems to become more and more extraordinary. I didn't know it at the time but some of these bands are becoming the R.E.M.s and U2s of our generation (and the other bands are becoming the band that you've never heard of that opened for R.E.M. in a school cafeteria in Athens in 1980 and let's face it, that's where the real gold is).

In the introduction you write that your dreams have come true. So, what's next? Do you still have the documentary urge?

Ugh. My friends all make fun of me for having said that. I guess it's a pretty hardcore thing to say but I reckon it's far better than feigning dissatisfaction in light of achievements. Of course there is always more. I have notebooks full of ideas that I would love to see to fruition. I have even contemplated opening up an idea store where you could buy my ideas as investments or, if you needed an original idea, i could custom-build one for you. I am a creative person. I like making things. Someday I would like to make babies. That would pretty much be the best thing ever.

What story do you think Real Fun tells, aside from your own travels?

It seems that there are a lot of folks out there who wish they could trade in their boring day-to-day lifestyles to join a band and see the world. My hope is that Real Fun gives those people a glimpse into what that would be like minus all the hangovers, homesickness, drama, exhaustion, stress, worry, lonliness, financial strain, so on and so forth.

Who or what were your photographic inspirations?

I've always been a fan of taking dates to the photobook section of the bookstore. Generally, the books I really wanted to see didn't exist but there were always a few that sunk their claws in like a good record. Truck Stop by Marc F. Wise comes to mind, and more recently, Justin Kimball's Where We Find Ourselves. Ultimately, my inspriration comes from my friends doing really amazing things and my desire not to ever forget those things.

And, what's the best show you've been to lately?

I recently played with this kid named Ramon who goes by Ramona Cordova. He stayed at my house and told me how his inspirations ranged from Dashboard Confessional to No Doubt to The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. If seeing him perform live hadn't already blown my mind this news surely would have. We stayed up all night drinking wine and he showed me how he made these amazingly strange, soaring gypsy songs out of a few ska chords. I hope that he is our future.