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Every week we engage with a number of different personalities from around the music blogging scene, and every week we seem to come away from those interactions with a new perspective on the business as a whole. Most of these conversations are captured in the interview you see appear on this blog every couple of days, but every now and then a story is shared that is too good to be delivered in any way other than how it is told by the person who experienced it first hand. Such is the case with the post you’re about to enjoy.
Bradley Dillon, otherwise known as Brad or B-Rad (I may have made that one up), has been blogging about music for a handful of years at this point, and he recently shared with me a desire to help the next generation of online music writers prepare to enter the scene. I told him about our ‘Journalism Tips’ series, but as we continued our discussion I realized Bradley would need to share his own journey in order to properly set up the lesson he wanted to share. With that in mind, we decided together to create the following feature which recounts Bradley’s time in music, as well as the advice he has to offer others hoping to become more involved in online music coverage. You can find his journey and thoughts below.
If you would like to learn more about Bradley and his efforts in music writing, please take a few moments to follow The New Fury on Twitter. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.
Hi, I’m Bradley. I run TheNewFury.com and I’m in love with writing, sports, and music. I’m known as “that guy who does interviews” in my local scene, but not many people know how I got my start in music journalism. This is my story.
It was the end of 2011. I had just moved in with my grandparents in St Pete, and I had been to some awesome shows that year – saw Underoath, As I Lay Dying, and many more bands. I also helped my friend Lisa film a few interviews with The Chariot and Upon a Burning Body. It was pretty sweet to be able to talk to those bands for a while about…everything.
Fast forward to the end of December. I was awake late one night and got to thinking – why am I not in the music scene? I’m no musician – but I do love many different bands, bands I know people need to hear.
I started going to a few local shows and interviewing them. Bands like Coralise, Blunt Trauma, and some band called Dark Sermon – maybe you’ve heard of them. The local scene back then was awesome – and it’s still solid today.
It was a week or so later I got a message from one Tim Morris of IMSZine, one that would change my life very much. He immediately saw my potential (and lack of direction) and taught me almost everything I know – how to email people, post on WordPress, and much more.
It was then I started going to more shows in 3 months than I had ever been in my life. Local bands, huge tours, you name it – I was likely there. I even hit up bands I wasn’t interviewing in person on the day of shows for interviews – Man Overboard, Seahaven, and a lot more. What’s more interesting is I never really got turned down. But it takes a lot of balls to do something like that.
Going to Warped Tour, Summer Slaughter, and Uproar Fest all in one year was a highlight, too. I never thought I’d get to interview Periphery, Memphis May Fire, or New Found Glory – some of my favorite bands at the time.
Fast forward a year later, and unfortunately Tim and I went our separate ways (he runs Rise Above The Anchor now, you should check it out) and I was left with a choice – join another blog and not have creative control, or venture on my own, do everything myself, and really learn how to use WordPress?
I chose the latter.
Sure, I had to get some help from my friends (my friend Matt hosts my server and manages it for me, my ex-Facebook wife Taylor did the backgrounds for me) but I learned a lot on my own, and I’m very glad it all happened like this.
Where I’m at now, you ask? I’m still attending every show I can get my legs to, I finally am getting a good staff together, and I’d like to think TNF is helping people discover new bands before anyone else.
That’s my story.
You may be asking yourself, “how do I get into the industry?”. It’s honestly not too hard (if you have a passion for writing and music) but here’s some things you can do to get a leg up.
First, decide if you’re wanting to join another website, or start an entity of your own. I started an entity of my own – but it took me a while to hone my craft. My vision (an amalgamation of love for 80’s-90’s alternative rock, sludge metal, post-metal, and other somewhat niche genres combined with my love for nu-metal and today’s cutting edge prog rock bands) is certainly not going to be yours.
It’s hard to keep motivation high when you’re not making much money (I’m still not) but there’s plenty of perks – free music, meeting your favorite bands, and being guest listed for many shows. I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything.
If you’re wanting to contribute to someone else’s vision, it may be your best bet. You likely won’t see money (unless you’re really, REALLY good) but you’ll likely see more people reading your material, which can be awesome. The choice is yours, and yours alone.
I was lucky enough to find someone who saw my potential, but the same thing may not happen to you. My advice? Find your niche. Write what you love. If you’re interviewing a well-known band, don’t write generic questions that everyone has already asked. Make the interview a conversation.
I may have a love for writing, but keep something in mind – I’m very socially awkward. I rarely know how to act in front of people and I’m often in my own little world.
If I can do this, you can do it too. Have a vision. Whether or not I do this for the next 5-10 years, I wouldn’t trade these experiences for anything – whether it’s hanging out with my friends in Silver Snakes at a restaurant in Ybor City, or doing an impromptu interview on Wolves At The Gate’s tour bus, everything I do for TNF isn’t work – it’s a blast.
