Blogger Spotlight: Thomas Nassiff (Fuse)

Welcome to a special Wendesday edition of the Haulix Blogger Spotlight series. In preparation for the launch of a new feature next month that will likely take up large portion of our spotlight series, we thought it would be fun to squeeze an extra blogger interview into July before we bid it farewell. If you were hoping for a new advice column, don’t fret. We still plan to run one of those later this week.

Unlike the vast majority of conventional careers paths people choose to follow, working in the music industry today rarely comes with any guarantee of stability. You have to go where the work is, always, and even then you never know what may happen. You can be the best at what you do, but if it’s not what is needed at any given time you may find yourself browsing Craigslist at two in the morning wondering how you’re going to pay rent until things even out. If you do, that’s okay, because the truth is almost everyone in this business has taken a similar roller coaster like journey themselves and will likely do so once or twice more before they retire, die, or wake up on the wrong side of forty realizing that maybe teaching wasn’t such a bad alternative after all. Today’s spotlighted blogger recently moved hundreds of miles to keep his pursuit of a career in music alive, and we’re confident his guidance will aide those of you who find yourselves in similar situations.

Thomas Nassiff originally came onto our radar by way of Absolutepunk in late 2009, but his passion for music dates back to the seminal pop punk records of the 2002/2003 era. Through years of news coverage, reviews, interviews, and in-depth editorial efforts, Thomas has developed a reputation for being one of the thought-provoking minds covering the alternative music scene, and he shows no signs of slowing anytime soon. In fact, he recently joined the Fuse TV team and started his own record label, which sold out its first release in less than a day. We talked about all this and more with Thomas, and I’m relatively sure the results are one of the longest spotlight pieces we’ve done to date.

As always, if you like what you read in this article, please be sure to support Thomas and his variety of projects. Read Absolutepunk and Fuse, buy music from Paper + Plastick Records, as well as Bad Timing Records, and don’t forget to follow his every move via Twitter.

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H: For those unaware, please state your name, the site you work for, and your role at said site:

TN: My name is Thomas Nassiff and I’m a web content manager at Fuse.tv in New York City. I also label manage Paper + Plastick Records, run Bad Timing Records and write for AbsolutePunk.net in my spare time. I would like to note that throughout the entirety of doing this interview, I am listening to “Bailamos” which is a smash hit single by Enrique Iglesias.

H: You’ve become a bit of a staple in the alternative community in recent years, but that wasn’t always the case. When did you first fall in love with music, and at what age did you start pursuing an interest in the music industry?

TN: I got into this kind of music in sixth or seventh grade, which is when I started listening to Yellowcard and New Found Glory. So like 2002/2003 or whatever I guess. Good to note that “Bailamos” came out in 2002 as well. I am a little younger so Ocean Avenue and Sticks and Stones were my gateway records. I don’t know at what age I expressed an interest in the “music industry,” but I started writing for AbsolutePunk in my freshman year of college, in 2009, and everything else I’ve done has sort of stemmed from the relationships I made at AP.net.

H: It has been said the first album you connect with reflects the genre you will forever show favoritism towards. Do you feel that is correct?

TN: For me this is certainly true. Before Yellowcard, New Found Glory, Green Day and blink-182 etc. etc., the only music I really listened to was my dad’s music. Stuff like Bruce Springsteen, Dire Straits, Boston, classic rock like that. I still love those artists, Springsteen is my favorite artist of all time actually, but certainly in my formative years I connected with pop-punk songs the most and that is the genre I latched onto for many years after that. I think on a general scale, the bands you first come to love can have an impact on the people who hang out with, who can influence what genres you “graduate” on toward.

H: Unlike many of our featured bloggers, you actually have a degree in journalism. Did your interest in music influence your decision to pursue journalism in college?

TN: Everything sort of happened at the same time. I went into college as a pre-med psychology major and started to write user reviews for AP.net just to do something cool with my free time. You have a lot of free time in freshman year of college. On the first day of my second semester, it was the first week of January in 2010, and I went to my first chemistry class, I remember very precisely that it was under 20 degrees that morning in Gainesville, FL, and I walked into the classroom to find the professor wearing a Hawaiian shirt and jorts, running around the classroom yelling shit about the periodic table. I walked out of the classroom about 10 minutes later, completely horrified and realizing that I hate elements, filled out some paperwork to become a journalism major (this was a shot in the dark, but I always found that writing came relatively easy to me), and then sent an email to Linda Ferreira (AbsolutePunk.net “mail lady”), asking her if they needed any help editing user reviews. I got hired a couple months later.

H: You made a name for yourself as a music writer through your efforts at Absolutepunk. How did you come to work with that site?

TN: I guess I accidentally answered that question above. Sorry, if I wasn’t listening to “Bailamos” I would have read ahead and avoided this awkward moment. The site brought me on to edit user reviews but I quickly started to pick up reviews of records that were looked over, until I earned my stripes enough to volunteer for writing reviews for bigger releases. Writers like Chris Fallon and Blake Solomon were the ones who inspired me most to start writing for the site. I wish I could be as funny as Blake in writing, if he was doing this interview he would have though of a much funnier angle with the “Bailamos” thing. I also started posting news and doing exclusives and interviews very quickly once I got hired; I had an interest in doing those things and I think one of the best parts about the way Jason Tate manages the AP.net staff is that every staffer is welcome to do any type of content they want. It really allows you to experience new things and try your hand at anything you want.

H: Earlier this year you caused quite a fuss online after posting a negative review of a new album from the band Transit. Now that a few months have past, what do you think of when reflecting on that time? Did you learn anything from the experience?

TN: Well to be honest I was pretty well prepared for that fiasco based on my experience with the Matt Wilson / Set Your Goals thing. With Set Your Goals, the band ignored the record review (at least publicly), but a shitstorm ensued when Matt called me an asshole for buying one of their T-shirts at Warped Tour. I learned most from that experience, and also from other less publicized experiences, that it’s usually not worth it to get into a back-and-forth with the band or band member about whatever they are mad about. Similar to how artists have the freedom to write whatever kind of music they want, annoying bloggers have the freedom to blog about whatever they want. Artists know this of course…especially a band like Transit, who saw so much positive praise reigned down upon them from the blogosphere when they released Listen & Forgive, one of the best records of 2011.

With this new Transit record, I don’t really know why the band chose to react to the review in a public manner. When they did, and when I saw the #GFYTN hashtag, that was at least something that could turn into something memorable and something to laugh at in the future, and that’s what it is now. That’s all it is, really. That and the first 1,000-comment review on AbsolutePunk. The band and I are on perfectly fine terms, I talked to Joe Boynton extensively at Skate & Surf this year. I understand why they didn’t appreciate that review, but at some point as a person who writes about music sometimes, you have to just tell your true opinion regardless of what might happen to personal relationships. Or else why are you even writing about records? What is the point of having a public opinion if it’s not the opinion you feel when you’re talking about the record with your best friend? Let someone else write about the record at that point.

H: You recently joined the Fuse team, and can now be found covering a wide array of music for their online presence. What drew you to the world of Fuse?

TN: I wasn’t looking for a job when I found out about this opening at Fuse, but it was the coolest opportunity ever for me. I am so happy to work here now and be in New York City. One of the web content managers who used to work here (she left shortly after I arrived) found a review I wrote for The Menzingers’ latest LP, and she tells me that she doesn’t really like to read reviews but she really liked that one specifically. She followed me on Twitter and we started to talk sometimes, and one day she asked me to send her my resume. So I did and shortly after I had a couple webcam interviews with the web team and eventually they decided to bring me on board. This job is a lot different from anything I have done in the past, but I like it a lot and I love that I’m learning a lot of new skills while I’m here.

H: To take on this new job, you had to join the ranks of industry professionals who have moved across country in pursuit of work (in your case, Florida to NYC). Did you always have an interest in New York, or did it simply “come with the territory”? Do you have any guidance for individuals who may soon be faced with a similar decision of whether or not to make the move?

TN: Moving to New York, or moving anywhere, in pursuit of work was not really in my plans. I had my mind set on staying in Gainesville for a while and working at Paper + Plastick and doing freelance publicity. I love Gainesville, it’s my favorite place. But the opportunity at Fuse was so good and the timing was so good that it changed my plans. Everyone is different in terms of whether they want to leave their hometown or their college town, but my only advice is to just do what feels most right. If it feels like a career-starter, it’s probably worth moving for. It’s hard to turn down the prospect of stability.

H: Let’s get back to the music. When you’re looking to discover new talent, what sources do you find to be the most reliable?

TN: PropertyOfZack is the fastest website in terms of posting news, so if I’m looking to stay up to date on what’s new or just keep track of bands I already know, I’m probably looking on that site. AbsolutePunk is the best in terms of gauging how new bands are progressing because of the comment section on the site. You can look at a band’s news posts on AP.net and see numeric proof (by number of comments) of that band becoming more popular among the audience.

H: Speaking of music discovery, you recently launched a label of your own (Bad Timing Records). Do you have any plans to begin promoting and releasing talent of your own? If so, what would you look for in a band you may one day consider signing?

TN: We had a lot of fun pressing Acceptance’s Phantoms for the first time and we are looking into more catalog releases. Old stuff that we can do for the first time on vinyl. But there are two very new, very unknown bands that I like a lot and I am trying to decide whether I want to take that step and try to do that artist development. I have some experience doing that with Paper + Plastick but it would have to be a band I feel strongly about that just wouldn’t make sense on P+P. I think for Bad Timing I would look for a band that I very much enjoy, very much want to listen to every day, and very much believe could make an impact, even a small one, among people who have similar tastes as me.

H: What about when the bands come to you for news coverage? What advice would you offer bands hoping to stand out from the others vying for attention in your inbox or social feeds?

TN: Man, it is the hardest thing in the world to get someone’s attention sometimes. I don’t even know how to answer this question really, because there are times when I click on links for no real reason and other times when I just am too busy and I delete those types of emails. Some pretty generic tips are to always include a link to stream your music instead of a link to download it, and always make sure you compose emails that actually read like a competent human wrote them. The best tip is to write the best songs you can write and try your best to get people talking about your band, because word-of-mouth suggestions are the greatest publicity.

H: In the digital age, do you feel there is still a need for physical press kits?

TN: Absolutely not. Never. No. Not in this lifetime. Don’t send me anything in the mail unless I ordered it from you or you asked me if I wanted it.

H: When it comes to receiving music for review and feature consideration, which services do you prefer and why?

TN: This is probably a broken record at this point in the history of this feature, but the best service is Haulix. That’s not even an opinion really; it’s almost factual. Universal uses an embarrassing stream/downloading thing that looks like something from the age of dial-up Internet. It’s almost so bad that it actually makes me not want to listen. PlayMPE is a good idea but has terrible execution. Short of receiving a straight-up download link (Dropbox, Amazon Cloud Service, etc.) when I request a record, I prefer Haulix. I will say that SoundCloud private streams are cool for young bands who need a free alternative, but Haulix provides a lot more security. We use it at Paper + Plastick and I consider it to be the best option if you need watermarking service.

H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?

TN: I wish people were not so inundated with new music every day. It is a gift and a curse. Music is so accessible, so easily obtained, that at some point it switched from consumers seeking out new music to consumers trying to sift through all the new music that was being hurled at them. It’s at the point where people won’t download a free MP3 because it’s too much of a hassle. You literally can’t give your music away. That sucks. On the flipside, it’s easier than ever to discover new music with streaming services like Spotify and Rdio. So it’s harder and easier, because why would this industry ever be straightforward?

H: Before we let you go, can you tell us a bit about what you have planned in the months ahead?

TN: I am going to go watch Less Than Jake play three shows in three days in Gainesville at the end of August. And I’ll go to Riot Fest Chicago in September and Fest 12 in October, again in Gainesville. I am probably going to listen to the new Balance & Composure album a lot when it comes out. I am going to heavily promote the new Red City Radio record that’s coming out via Paper + Plastick, because it’s my favorite punk record since that aforementioned Menzingers LP. I also am going to listen to Less Than Jake’s new record a lot, because it’s their best work in a decade. And I will definitely be anticipating the new Katy Perry album.

James Shotwell