Spin Magazine writer Andy Greenwald knows the definition of the word “emo.”

So much so he wrote a book titled “Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo.”

The Brown University graduate talked recently to Weekender about his new novel, touring with bands and where the future of music lies.

Weekender: Where are you now and what can you see?

Andy Greenwald: Right now I am in the house that me and my fiancee have rented here in Boise, Idaho and I can see my living room.

WE: What are you doing in Idaho?

AG: We are here for a year away from New York City, because she’s a lawyer and she’s clerking for a federal judge based here, and since I can do my job from anywhere, we moved here for a year. We’ll be back in Brooklyn next fall.

WE: What are you working on right now?

AG: At the moment, I’m working on doing some magazine work. Today I’m working on some bits and pieces for the Spin “Year in Review” issue. I’m working on getting my Web site redesigned and working on a proposal for my next novel.

WE: Can you sum up your new book “Miss Misery?”

AG: It’s basically the story of a guy in his mid 20s who’s having a mid-20s crisis and he’s got terrible writer’s block. He’s supposed to be writing a book about diaries, which was inspired [by] my writing about LiveJournals in “Nothing Feels Good.” As he’s getting more and more obsessed with other people’s lives – which is how some of the book is told, through diaries – his girlfriend leaves him, he doesn’t leave the house any more and he’s just getting caught up with people, especially two people in particular. One is a girl whose online name is Miss Misery, who he’s never met. She just seems to have the most exciting, fabulous life. The other is a girl in Utah who is a fan of his writing and just keeps Instant Messaging him and thinks he’s the greatest. The story basically turns on the twist when he is so dejected and has nothing to do, so he starts his own diary and everything he writes is so fake and fictional. One day he finds out that Miss Misery is moving to New York City, and he checks his diary and it’s updated itself and his evil, raging doppelganger is running around New York City taking over his life.

WE: Where did you get the inspiration to write “Nothing Feels Good?”

AG: I was in a really weird place professionally, and I was freelancing a lot and writing a lot for Spin in the freelance capacity. I wrote three stories for Spin, one of which was the first story on Dashboard Confessional, who I was not really familiar with at that time. I pitched two other stories about Makeoutclub.com and the rise of LiveJournals. And something about all three of those stories and the research and writing of them really resonated with me. It was something that really stuck with me, and I felt that there was a connection there that hadn’t really been explored and a sort of yearning that the fans of Dashboard had the desire to share and be part of a shared experience that was exhibited on these other Web sites and I felt like there was something there.

WE: How were you able to go on tour with Dashboard Confessional, Jimmy Eat World and Weezer?

AG: The interesting thing to me about the book was the sociological aspect of it. I was really interested in the fans and the teenagers and how they clicked. It was only when I was preparing to do this that I realized I have to do my homework on this. I had to set the standards and talk about the history because nothing of this sort had ever been done before. In terms of going out with the bands, I have a good relationship with people who work with Jimmy Eat World and people who work around Chris [Carrabba] and Dashboard and Chris and I got along really well, so it was just a question of getting it to happen.

WE: Who do you think will be the next big thing?

AG: I don’t really know. The music business is so stratified right now and there’s so many definitions of success. There aren’t many bands like Thursday and Dashboard who had years of touring before the spotlight shifted to them. And those types of bands are either well on their way to making their second album or broken up. Even the slow-growing indie bands like Death Cab for Cutie and Rilo Kiley are spoken for and on their own. There’s this thing now where if an album gets a good review on Pitchfork.com and then has good sales on Insound and then is played on the “O.C.,” that’s quote, unquote success.

WE: What advice would you give to college students?

AG: Wow, what a soapbox. I absolutely loved college, because it’s the one time in your life where you are encouraged to try everything and do everything and I just think that’s so important. I also think that it’s important that even if you settle in a career path that you should never lose sight of that. You should always be up for trying new things, be reading new things and always keep that wide-eyed second-semester-freshman-year attitude throughout your 20s. The worst thing in the world would be to shut yourself out of things just because you think you’re about to become an adult and you have to get a career and lock yourself into becoming a grown-up person. I think that can really limit you in your possibilities.