Happy new year! Welcome to the first Blogger Spotlight of 2014. We have been quietly planning many new features and columns for the months ahead and are beyond excited to begin rolling them out this afternoon. If you have any questions about the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more about the services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
There are a million ways to find a career in the music industry, but almost every professional you encounter will tell you their business life began in their local scene. For some, this meant booking bands in their basement or barn, keeping an eye out for cops while letting their friends play for anyone who cared to listen. Others, like the person featured in today’s post, took the far more traditional route of being in a band themselves and gained early exposure to the inner working of a life in entertainment.
Justin Proper may have never had a song on the radio, and if you ask him today he’s more than likely to shy away from details, but for a few short years he was a midwest rock guitarist with dreams of a life on stage. He played in bands when not in school, some that could even be called nu-metal (it was the early-2000s, after all), and woke each morning with the goal of further progressing his already stunning guitar prowess.
As Justin grew older however, his interest in music began to change. The world of bands became less appealing and the world of film grew far more alluring. He put down the guitar and picked up a camera, but knew deep down he could never leave his passion for music behind. He found a writing opportunity with a new entertainment outlet started by someone on his college campus, and before long was writing reviews for music and music-related dvds on a regular basis. Six years later he still calls that place home, and today he shares his life in music with the the Haulix community.
If you would like to learn more about Justin and his efforts in both writing and film, we highly recommend visiting Under The Gun Review on a regular basis. You can also follow Justin’s life and sardonic commentary on existence via Twitter. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.
H: For the record, please state your name, job title, and the publication(s) you have written for:
J: My name is Justin Proper and I am a Senior Staff Writer for Under The Gun Review.
H: You’re a bit of an oddity for our blog. You are currently known more for your work in film than music, but from what I understand rock and roll has always played a large role in your life. When you think of your earliest memories with music, what comes to mind?
J: My earliest memory of music actually comes from one of those vague childhood memories that was so long ago it almost seems like a dream. Growing up my parents split so I spent a lot of time with my grandparents while my mom worked. When my grandpa would come home from work he would always play his harmonica for me and I soon grew to love music, especially classic blues and rock and roll. I actually inherited that harmonica after his death and learned to play.
H: Every person we interview has a band or album, sometimes 2, that helped guide their formative years towards a life in entertainment. What are influences for you, and when did you encounter them in life?
J: Very early on in my life (circa 1993) my mother took me to a Garth Brooks concert, which I loved. I became very obsessed with that unique rock/country style that Brooks brought to the table and I would listen to his albums that my mom owned as often as I could. Soon thereafter my father exposed me to 90’s alternative and grunge (which was his favorite genre at the time) and I soon could not get enough of his Beck and Nirvana cd’s. Ever since then I have been in to more alternative rock which led to a massive love for metal. Bands like The Deftones and Slayer ruled most of my high school years until I discovered grindcore senior year, specifically See You Next Tuesday and their album Parasite. Ever since then grindcore has been my favorite genre of music.
H: Do you remember the first album you purchased with your own money? Do you still own it today?
J: The first album I bought with my allowance was 311’s self titled album. I cleaned the house and did yard work for a month to get that album. I even still remember going to the store with my father so he could buy it for me, as it was explicit and I was in the 3rd grade. I also still remember how pissed my mom was after she read the lyrics. The cd no longer works, but I still have it packed away with my childhood possessions. Hopefully I will never lose that disc that looks like the planet Mars.
H: Before you ever got into writing you were heavily involved in your local music scene. Did you play in bands? Please tell us a bit about your life before entertainment writing.
J: Starting around the 7th grade I decided to learn guitar. I may not have been any good at first, but that did not stop my friends and I from forming a band and playing the high school talent show. After that the members may have changed but I was always in a band as a guitarist/vocalist. For a while one of my bands was even serious enough to hire an audio tech to record a demo. Looking back now it was just a pipe dream but the confidence gained far outweighed the potential embarrassment. One of my bands even played a local music festival which featured some well known local talent. It was easily one of the most fun times in my life. Eventually, though, high school ended and I went to college with more of a focus on film than anything else.
H: We mentioned it above, but it’s fair to say film has played a large role in life for you as well. What is your favorite movie and why?
J: My favorite film is Nicolas Winding-Refn’s masterpiece Valhalla Rising. It is an arthouse film that focuses on a viking warrior that ends up traveling with a group of Christian crusaders as they seek a new land to spread their religion to. It stars Mads Mikkelsen and he does not say a single word the entire movie. The way Winding-Refn was able to tell such an epic tale with so few words still amazes me. It is also one of the most gorgeous films I have watched. It is set in Scandinavia and features the mountainous coast. Every single shot in that film has a certain raw beauty to it that is hard to describe. The cinematography becomes a character itself. I know it is not a movie most people would enjoy, but for film nerds like myself it is a wet dream.
H: Onto your work with UTG. You are one of the longest-running contributors to Under The Gun Review. What initially attracted you to apply for a position on the team?
J: I have always believed that the key to success in life is experience. I was working on my degree in television production but I was writing scripts in my spare time. I knew that if I wanted to be any good at writing I needed to do as much of it as possible. I happened to know the owner of the site so I asked him if I could do some freelance work for him. That eventually led to a full time position at the site and the rest, as they say, is history.
H: What was the first big feature you worked on?
J: The first feature I worked on was actually film related as well as music. I wrote a review for a Van Morrison DVD. In fact, the first handful of things I did for the site was reviews for concert DVD’s for bands ranging from .moneen. to Gorgoroth (which started my black metal obsession). This was all when the site was only two months old. It does not get much more ground floor than that.
H: The site you work for has undergone many changes since formation, including the addition of film and comedy coverage. As someone who has had a front row seat to the evolution of UTG, what would you say inspires its direction?
J: The best way to explain the changes to UTG over the years is to not think of it as a website but as a person. Much in the same way that most of us are not the person we were half a decade ago the website now is not the same site it once was. It started with a singular focus of music and eventually it grew up and started experimenting with other forms of entertainment and writing. After a while the music reviews became more natural so we started doing interviews. Then when those became commonplace for us it was time to add more features and branch out to new areas like comedy and film.
H: If you were asked to describe UTG to someone who had never visited the site before, what would you say?
J: If I was asked to describe UTG to someone who had not been to the site before I would say that it is an entertainment news and review site with a focus on original content. It is like a magazine like Rolling Stone, not just reviews, not just news, but editorials, columns, and original features. Only instead of getting one issue a month you can check it every single day and see new things every time.
H: Though you write about all forms of entertainment, I know from your writing that you are a metal head at heart. Do you have any special/memorable experiences through UTG in the world metal you can share with us?
J: One of the most memorable experiences involving metal i had as a result of working for UTG was meeting Dave Peters of Throwdown. We interviewed him while Throwdown was on tour with Bury Your Dead in 2009. For the few years leading up to that interview I had been obsessed with the band. Their music and straight edge message had a huge impact in my life when my friends had started to become burnouts. Peters even signed my vinyl copy of Haymaker. He is one of the nicest and down to earth guys I have met to this day.
H: You have written a number of reviews in your time with UTG. When it comes to receiving music for review consideration, which services do you prefer and why?
J: We have been using Haulix since the early days of the site and I still find myself taken back by how smoothly it works. Other services have come and gone, but Haulix has remained and I have to believe that is because they work for their clients as well as they do for journalists. The player is smooth, the email design is simple-yet-elegant (as elegant as email can be), and in all the years I have used it there has not been a single day the service was completely down. Now I told you all my feelings in an interview for your company blog. Is that bad?
H: New bands are probably filling your inbox as we speak with pitches and requests for coverage. What advice would you offer young artists to help themselves stand out from the competition online?
J: My advice to new bands would be to get as much exposure as you possibly can and stay professional and friendly. If you are out there more then more people will notice you. Being a great band helps, but I have seen bands I considered awful rise to small fame because they were everywhere anyways. Above everything though, you do not want to be the guys (or girls) that people remember because they were assholes. You are far more likely to gain favors and asked to join tours if people like being around you off the stage as well as on.
H: There has been a lot of talk recently about whether or not it is still important to have a ‘local presence’ as an artist when you can just as easily become famous online with the right marketing tricks. Where do you stand in this debate?
J: Being part of a local scene is one of the most important parts of music in my opinion. Other musicians are your family and if you isolate yourself from your family they are not going to throw you any bone. Aside from that the comradery amongst the local scene is not like anything I ever ever witnessed before. These people would go to jail for each other in a heartbeat and are always there to support other musicians when they fall on hard times. Just a few days ago I was at a New Years Eve party for a local music scene and it was easily the most fun I have had at a party in years. Why would you intentionally miss out on something so amazing?
H: 2014 will have started by the time this runs on the blog. What goals do you have for the new year?
J: In the new year I hope to write more reviews than I did last year and branch out by writing more editorials. These goals will help me develop my voice as a writer which is something I still do not think I have found.
H: Thinking a bit farther out, what type of career goals do you have at this point?
J: Other than finding my voice as a writer a huge career goal is to get a quote on a film poster or in it’s trailer. This has been a dream of mine ever since I started to take my film reviews seriously and I really feel that it is attainable with enough effort.
H: Okay, I think that just about covers everything. Do you have any final thoughts you would like to share before I let you go?
J: Just because a film is bad does not mean you cannot enjoy it and keep it metal. Have a great 2014.
