Hello everyone and welcome to the final Blogger Spotlight of the week. We told you we hoped to feature more freelance talent in the new year, and the person at the center of today’s post is without a doubt one of the best yet. If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more information about the services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
The world of freelance can be a strange and difficult place. Your are your own boss, to an extent, and the responsibility of managing the various assignments thrown your way falls entirely on your shoulders. Who gets what, which style to write in, and when everything is due is entirely up to you. Some thrive in this environment because it allows them to create a schedule that works best with their creativity, while others struggle to stay afloat because no one is around to hold them accountable.
Luke O’Neil is one of the most driven and professional freelance writers we have come across in the seventh months since this series began. He has written for pretty much every publication worth bragging about, including The Village Voice and Alternative Press. We fell in love with his work through a recent feature he wrote on the supposed return of emo, which you can read an excerpt from below:
‘It’s been about 30 years since the advent of emo, and while the genre has experienced a variety of well-covered changes over the decades, one thing has remained constant: No one seems to ever agree on how to define it. In part that’s because it casts such a wide net — Touché Amoré don’t sound anything like Turnover, for example, who sound nothing like Dowsing or Captain We’re Sinking or Lemuria and on and on, and yet most anyone would call them all emo bands. Unfortunately, talking about emo forces a sort of musical existential crisis: In order to champion it, you have to admit that it even exists in the first place.’
Click here to read the original article.
We could not be more thrilled to feature Luke’s journey on our blog this afternoon. He’s the kind of professional this industry needs more of, and in the interview below he offers some insight on how you too can take your career in writing to the next level.
If you would like to learn more about Luke’s work, please make it a point to bookmark and frequent his website. You can also find him on Twitter. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.
H: For the record, please tell us your job title and a few publications that recently featured your work:
L: I’ma freelance journalist and blogger. I contribute regularly to the Boston Globe, Bullett magazine and MTV. This year I’ve had pieces in Esquire, Slate, The New Republic, Vice, the LA Times, Dazed, the Village Voice and a bunch of others.
H: Thank you again for taking the time to do this. We like to learn a little about each individual’s history with music before diving in to what they do today. When you think of formative moments and experiences that lead you toward a career in music writing, what comes to mind?
L: I have a vague sense of wanting to be a music journalist from when I was a kid. It seemed like the coolest job in the world, to be able to see music all the time. Be careful what you dream of, I suppose. I wrote a few things for my high school newspaper, and people liked them, and I thought, hmm, I could get used to this. Then I started going to shows in Providence and Boston as I got a little older and I was hooked. I ran my college radio station, and that sort of got me more invested. I went to work for Conde Nast in New York after college, then came back to Boston to go to grad school to study creative writing. Don’t do that. Then I got a job as the music editor at the Dig, and I was basically doomed from then on.
H: Was music always a big part of your life, or was it something you grew to appreciate in your teen/adult years?
L: I used to meticulously craft mixtapes, including covers I would spend way too much time on, for my friends in high school. I would spend as much time as possible going to see shows. I was basically that one music dork, minus the being that much of a dork part.
H: Do you remember the first band you were infatuated with? How did you discover them?
L: I don’t remember specifically, no. It’s been about twenty years. It was probably Nirvana. My earliest memory of completely being blown away by music, however, was coming home from school every day to watch the MTV countdown and being so psyched for “Welcome to the Jungle” to come on. And also “Express Yourself” by Madonna, but I think that was exciting in a different sort of way. From Nirvana it went on to Alice In Chains and Dinosaur Jr – I had a few older friends who were pretty tuned into all that stuff. I remember them taking me to my first real concert, which was Lollapalooza 93. Rage Against the Machine opened the day, and that sort of twisted me around. Actually, now that I think about it, I think it was Juliana Hatfield who first got me. I remember having the “Hey Babe” cassette and just listening to that non-stop.
H: We have only had the opportunity to speak with a few freelance writers before you, so let’s jump ahead a bit in hopes of covering as much ground as possible. What initially attracted you to the world of writing?
L: I liked the idea of being able to share my opinion and have people give a shit about it for some reason. Also it wasn’t a real job.
H: Did you study journalism in school? What can you tell us about your earliest experiences in this career field.
L: I took a few classes, but mostly I studied literature, and then creative writing. I wanted to write short stories, and I did for a while, and occasionally still do, but it was a lot easier to get paid for music writing stuff, so I swerved more into that career lane. This was the early 2000s. Little did I know how fragmented everything would end up becoming.
H: I read in one of your articles that you had at least one ‘typical’ office job before stepping into the world of freelance work. What can you tell us about your professional life before freelance writing came along?
L: I did a few internships in politics type stuff when I was younger. I worked summers on a construction site in college, which was one of the main motivating factors and teaching me that a real job was not for me. I was an editorial assistant for a while in New York. Then, my last office job was working in the Dig offices, probably about 8 years ago. In between I’d work in restaurants when freelancing was slow, but I’m fortunate to make my living writing now. I am a very punctual person when it comes to my writing work, never miss a deadline, always on time for interviews etc, but the idea of having to show up somewhere every day at a specific time, and sit there all day just because someone expects you to be sitting there when they look over does not work for me. My theory is that if someone is getting their work done, why the fuck does it matter where they’re doing it from? People like to call meetings though, it makes them feel like they’re in control.
H: What was the first publication to offer you an opportunity as a freelance contributor, and how did that role come to be?
L: I guess it was the Dig. It was a great opportunity, as I didn’t really know shit at the time. I think I was 24 or so. Will always be thankful for that job, as I wouldn’t be anywhere without them. I had a friend who was writing for them, and she passed me along to the editor at the time, J Bennett, and we hit it off pretty instantly. He’s my friend still, and helped me out a lot in the early days. Another former Dig editor, Joe Keohane, who’s now an editor at Esquire, has been a huge help as well, and I’ve been writing a lot for him lately. That’s how it works basically. You just stick around long enough that your more competent friends climb editorial ladders and wait for them to need something.
H: Do you remember the first article you submitted as a freelance writer?
L: I don’t, but it was definitely a piece of shit.
H: After your first freelance piece was published, how did you go about securing additional opportunities? Did publications begin coming to you? Tell us a bit about getting your name out there.
L: It’s different now. Just in the past ten years, as everyone knows ,things have changed drastically. The thing I tell people who are younger now is that half the job is pitching and corresponding with editors. Grab one’s attention with something they haven’t thought of before, don’t just pitch the same stuff everyone else is.
Here are a couple things I’ve written about being a freelancer that might be helpful, and might be discouraging.
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/news/we-broke-the-internet
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2013/02/advice_for_aspiring_music_writers.php
http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2013/05/quit_your_media_job_today.php
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/115389/writers-should-work-free
http://www.putthatshitonthelist.com/2013/03/interview-magazine-doesnt-even-pay.html
H: Without going too in-depth, would you please run us through a typical day at work?
L: I wake up, get online, see what’s happened in the world, and begin pitching ideas based on the day’s news. That’s broken up by some phone interviews in the day, and having to go out at night to a show, or to a bar. It doesn’t really sound like work, but it’s not as easy as it looks.
H: How do you measure success at your job? What is a ‘good day’ like for you?
L: When I post something that I’m proud of, that I worked hard on, and that actually contributes something to our understanding of the world. This is harder than it looks.
H: As someone who has spent over a decade writing about music, what is the one piece of advice you would offer young bloggers/journalists hoping to find a career in entertainment?
L: Look at what all your peers are saying and say the opposite.
H: Given the number of high-profile sites you write for, I assume your inbox is flooded with requests from bands and artists hoping for feature consideration. Do you have any words of advice to offer unsigned and small label acts to help separate themselves from the competition?
L: I wrote something about this recently http://bullettmedia.com/article/30-harsh-truths-for-bands-who-want-to-get-music-press-coverage/
H: As someone who watches young artists and their promotional efforts, what is one common mistake you see groups make when attempting to market themselves?
L: Be a story. Don’t just be a band. There are a million bands. People like me want stories. Either that or write an undeniably genius song. But that second one isn’t quite so easy is it?
H: If you could change one thing about the current state of the music industry, what would it be?
L: Fewer bands, fewer music writers.
H: When it comes to receiving music for review and feature consideration, what digital distribution platforms do you prefer and why?
L: Personally I only want links to streams now. I have to listen to way too much new music every day to be downloading everything. Every music writer has different preferences though, so don’t just take it from me. Do not, however, send physical CDs. No one wants this.
H: Piracy is as much a hot button item now as it was a decade ago. Do you think we will ever see a day when music piracy comes to an end?
L: No, I think the genie is out of the bottle there. I don’t pirate music ,but then again I’ve had the fortune to not have to. People don’t need to listen to as much music as they do. It’s like a form of hoarding the way some people act. Enjoy the song you’re listening to today.
H: I think that covers everything. Before I let you go, are there any final thoughts or observations you would like to share with our readers?
L: Leave me alone.
