Greetings! We know how hectic life can be these days, so please know we are grateful that you have chosen to spend a few minutes of your precious time browsing our blog. The article you find yourself staring at now is one of our favorites in recent memory, and if you give it a read we bet you’ll feel the same as well. Jonathan K. Dick is a crazy talented person, and it is an honor to share his story with you today.
You know how a lot of people take musicians and/or athletes and put them on pedestals as if their talent somehow makes them a great human being? Though I don’t think I do it intentionally, the same could often be said for how I view many of the writers whose work I read on a regular basis. As someone who has spent the better part of a decade trying to make writing their full-time career, I’ve often found myself completely enamored by the writing of a peer who I perceive to be more successful than myself. I don’t even mean successful in terms of career or financial gain as much as I do their ability to string together thoughts and observations. That’s what impresses me. The craftsmen and women who, whether they know it or not, challenge the writing side of music as a whole to create better content. Those people have become my heroes, and today we share one of their journeys in music with you.
Jonathan K. Dick is freelance writer, English professor, and all-round hardworking guy who loves music the way some people claim to love dessert. He’s only been in the writing game for about two years at this point, but he’s already made a huge impression on the worlds of hard rock and metal, including having created features for publications such Invisible Oranges, Noisey, and the like. He also runs Steel For Brains, a blog filled with interviews, editorials, and even a burgeoning podcast we at Haulix absolutely adore. I could go on and on, but hopefully you get the idea that Jonathan is someone who is doing everything in his power to have and retain a place in the world of music journalism. I don’t know how he found time to speak with us about his experience up this point, but over the weekend he did just that, and you can read highlights from our exchange below.
H: Hey there, Jonathan. How are you today? I’ve never been to Alabama in January. Is it cold there?
J: I’m doing well! It’s cold for Alabama, yeah, but I imagine it’d be Jet Ski weather if this was Canada.
H: Don’t worry, this interview will be a bit more personal than that introduction. I’d like to start with your personal history. Tell me, was music a big part of your life since childhood?
J: Oh yeah. Both my mom and dad were always singing around the house when I was growing up. It was pretty much a given that my siblings and I had to join the church choir. My mom played the piano and despite me begging her, she didn’t let me take guitar lessons. I got piano instead which I hated at the time, but after fifteen years of lessons I managed to develop as a pretty skilled player. Aside from that, like I said, we were all in choir and choral competition. I took vocal lessons throughout my teen years and did the competition thing for a while. So yeah, there was always some kind of music playing pretty much nonstop around the house – usually of a gospel or soul variety and occasionally some Creedence if my dad was feeling edgy.
H: Did you have anyone in your life, be it a family member or friend, who helped introduce you to the world of music beyond what was popular on the radio at the time (rock/metal/etc)? If so, who?
J: When I think about people who influenced me early on with music, it’s always my dad and this guy who worked at a CD store where I used to hang out. My dad was and is very religious, so it was a healthy dose of gospel music from anyone like Mahalia Jackson or the Gaither Vocal Band. I always dug it just because I loved the vocal harmonies and upbeat tempos. We used to go on hunting trips a lot, and the camp where we hunted was about three hours from where we lived. I loved the drive more than the the actual hunting experience because it meant we’d listen to the oldies station, and my dad would spend the entirety of three hours telling me about every single artist that came on. Frankie Valli, the Righteous Brothers, Patsy Cline, Roy Acuff, you name it. I loved it because none of my friends had ever heard of these people, so I felt cool and my dad probably felt like I was going to be normal so long as we kept the station there. As soon as I was able to drive I pretty much became a barnacle at the CD Warehouse that was a few minutes away from where I grew up. This guy Tony worked there, and literally every time I came in the store he’d be playing something that I’d end up buying before I left. It was nuts. He exposed me to stuff like Belle and Sebastian, Pavement, The Replacements, and a ton of others just by me pretty much latching onto the register counter and asking questions and trying to pretend like I knew what the hell I was talking about. It’s weird because I immediately heard these similarities between the stuff that my dad was listening to and what I was hearing in my first taste of indie rock. Tie in the fact that I was also sneaking my older brother’s Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam tapes into my room, and it was pretty much a cocktail of any kind of music I could get my hands on.
H: Do you remember the first album you purchased with your own money? How about the first concert you attended?
J: Green Day’s Dookie. I wore that CD out. I still laugh at the hidden track which I think was about masturbating or something I would’ve totally thought was crazy extreme at twelve. After that it was Columbia House 15 CDs for 1 cent tragedies that ruled my album buying days for a while. My first concert was the Grateful Dead, and while that sounds cool as hell, I was eleven and scared out of my mind because my older sister used me as her alibi to go with her older boyfriend who my parents didn’t like and probably would have been horrified to learn was a “Deadhead.” But I don’t count that show. I certainly wasn’t a fan at the time, and I didn’t want to go. I just remember the whole place smelled like sweaty feet and burnt tires, which I would later discover was weed mingled with body odor. My first willing attendance to a concert was a Matchbox 20 show when I was sixteen. It was cool. They played a cover of Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time” which was pretty rad.
H: Research tells me you either are, or at one point were, an English Professor. Before you reached that point in life you obviously needed to attend some type of higher education. What college did you attend? Did you study anything other than English?
J: Yeah. I teach 8th grade English during the day every day of the workweek, and then two nights a week I teach college English and literature to freshmen at one of the local community colleges. I initially wanted to be a lawyer and had that all lined up, but I ended up substitute teaching a 6th grade classroom while I was in college and my fate was pretty much sealed. I loved it and still do. I received my BA in English from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, but I also studied theatre and microwaveable foods/expiration dates. I went on to get two graduate degrees for whatever damn reason – one in Secondary Education with a focus on curriculum development and the other in English with a focus in creative writing.
H: When you were in school, was the end goal always to become a professor, or did you try a bunch of different avenues before landing on the career you now lead?
J: Like high school? In high school I wanted to be asleep or listening to music. My parents were both self-educated and had grown up in poverty, made a life for themselves, and received graduate degrees, so they placed enormous value on me having that same opportunity. My mom taught school and was a school administrator for 37 years, so I basically thought that anything remotely close to teaching was utterly repugnant. I saw the students she dealt with and, worse yet, their parents. So no. It definitely wasn’t a goal – haha. I’ve had some kind of job since I was fifteen. My first job was in furniture restoration with this old retired Navy colonel who was batshit insane. I just took the job so I could save up enough money to buy Jncos, Airwalks, and some free shameful memories. He’d been an evangelist for a while after retiring from the military so it was pretty much me, three vats of various types of acid, a pressure washer, a lot of old rich people furniture, and him yelling like a lunatic about various biblical prophecies. I thought about getting into acting for a while, but I didn’t want to be the next Clint Howard, so I basically stuck with what I loved which was reading and arguing about what I was reading to other nerds. I figured out quick that I had a penchant for talking to people, and when I ended up teaching for the first time it felt like I’d been doing it all along.
H: This is always a hot button topic, so I am curious to read your thoughts. As someone who has established themselves as an influential voice in the music business, do you feel attending college is something all aspiring industry professionals should do?
J: No. The Internet has changed the game in a lot of ways just in terms of what value we place on education versus experience. That doesn’t mean that college or furthering one’s education is pointless, though. Not by a long shot. The reason this is a “hot button topic” is because of something that’s been around a hell of a lot longer than the Internet – laziness. Regardless of someone’s degrees or abilities, the difference between just being educated and actual learning is backbone. If you want something you have to work your ass off and then work a little more after that and then work to make sure that other people can share in the joy of what you’ve accomplished because then they’re encouraged to have the same kind of attitude. It sounds idealistic, but for all the terminology we like to throw at people’s choice to go or not to go to school, it boils down to the principle of hard work. Aspiring music industry professional should aspire to work harder and focus less on archaic notions of qualifiers. Guarantee you that any editor worth her/his salt is looking for the same thing: someone who knows their own shit, is willing to learn more shit, and ready to endure all kinds of shit for writing what people may not like to read. It’s great because someone who has a good work ethic will inevitably grow as a writer. It takes practice. It takes focus. It takes resilience. Will a degree give you more angles? It’s possible but not guaranteed. I’ve not had one editor ask for my resume or my transcripts (thank Christ for the last one). They want to see the work you have that no one else does. That’s all that matters.
H: In 2010 you were a recipient of the Thomas H. Brown nonfiction award. Can you tell us a bit about the work you were awarded for?
J: I received that award as a result of a short story I wrote about the death of my grandfather. I was eleven at the time, and he and I had been very close. One of the things that always stuck with me about the aftermath of his death was the enormous amount of food that people brought over to my grandmother’s house for what seemed like weeks. Never mind the fact that the food wavered between casserole and gelatin consistency, it was just odd to me even then that here we were being provided with sustenance and nourishment and life essentially, someone we loved was doing the same to the Earth in being buried. I dunno. It sounds weird now that I’m typing it out, but it’s still fascinating – that whole tradition of bringing over food to mourn. Makes sense I guess that the story is titled “Death Food.”
H: I know you have mentioned working on a new book, also nonfiction, but that it likely won’t be finished anytime soon. Can you give us a progress update on ‘The Ecology Of Sound’?
J: The book started out as nonfiction, but last year I felt it pulling me in another direction that was fairly new which was science fiction. I’m obsessed with the power of sound and the impact it has on learning, relationships, and even our history as human beings. Without delving too much into it, I’ve finished the first of what will be three volumes and am currently shopping the story in the hopes that people aren’t tired of lasers and robots. I’m kidding. There aren’t lasers or robots. Maybe robots.
H: Let’s get to your site: Steel For Brains. What is the ‘Marvel Origin Story’ of your site, and what can you tell us about the inspiration behind its name?
J: In February of 2012 my daughter who wasn’t quite two at the time was hospitalized for viral pneumonia in both lungs. She spent eleven nights in the hospital, five of which were in the intensive care unit. I stayed with her every night in the hospital, barely slept, barely ate, and basically just worried myself into nothingness. The only thing that brought me any kind of comfort whatsoever was Opeth’s discography. I’ve been a fan of the band for years, of course, but it was pretty random. I just decided to go through their discography back and forth until I felt like I had control over something. Metal’s always been like that for me more so than any other kind of music. It’s a stop gap, and I think in some way I wanted to talk about that with the people who made it. Add to that the fact that my ten-year marriage was ending alongside one of the worst bouts with depression I’ve ever had, and it was either going to be me calling it a day or me doing something meaningful that would benefit me and hopefully others as well. Around June of that same year I’d finalized the divorce and moved into a one-bedroom rat’s nest that had been turned into an apartment. My first night there I spent $50 on getting my Internet set up, $50 on groceries, and then about an hour trying not to think about how I would have money to make it the rest of the month. That’s when I sat down, entered the only info I could think of to set up an account, and started emailing bands. I had no idea how anything worked, who you emailed, what a Tumblr was, or if I had a snowball’s chance. I’d had a Facebook account at one time but other than that was completely in the dark about what social media entailed, much less how a person was supposed to get in touch with a band to talk to them about a site featuring absolutely nothing but digital tumbleweeds at the time. Not to be crass, but I found that I had greater success and less stress by simply saying to myself “Fuck it” and going for it. I think I sent out maybe fifty emails that first evening? I was hitting up new bands I was really getting into, and older, classic big name bands who I was sure would just talk to whoever the hell sent them an email because they were nice guys and not busy. Joseph Rowland from Pallbearer was the first email response I got, and I immediately called my mom because I was so stupid excited. She was just disappointed the band was called Pallbearer because it seemed “so sad to call themselves that.” Everything else after was just building rapport and keeping an even keel with regards to not becoming some jaded old fart who hates everything and everyone because he’s done everything and everyone. I still get excited. Big band or small band or whatever. It’ll always be an honor and a privilege for me to do because this music has done so much for me.
H: You do a number of interviews on your site. Would you say that is your favorite type of content to create? Do you have a favorite conversation or two we could promote when we run this interview?
J: It is and as evidenced by my responses in this interview, it’s likely due to the fact that I like to run my mouth. Favorite conversation? You know, this has come up a few times recently, and it’s hard to think of what would be my favorite. That said, I always come back to this interview I did with Attila Csihar. Easily one of my favorite vocalists in any genre and also one of the kindest people I’ve ever had the opportunity to interview. The other would probably be this interview with Tom G Warrior. Both were intense just from the standpoint of who these guys are, but they were also incredibly honest and sincere with me and with themselves as individuals more importantly. That’s always refreshing and increasingly rare.
H: As someone who seeks out longform music writing, I have been reading Steel For Brains so long it’s hard to recall the first time I heard about it. Have you done anything specific to market or otherwise spread the word about your site? I know a lot of aspiring writers who could use some help promoting their work.
J: I have to be honest and say that I don’t know the first thing about marketing. I promoted a few posts early on with Facebook, but then I just thought you know, this is stupid. Stop worrying about how many people are reading it and focus on providing engaging content that’s honest and simple. That’s the kind of thing that sells itself, so I haven’t really thought a whole lot about marketing. I’ve had a lot of people tell me this or that about how to market, and I think the one thing I’ve figured out as the common denominator for any kind of marketing success is genuine interaction. I stopped looking at likes, retweets, followers, favorites, etc., a while back because it doesn’t matter and focusing on it is masturbatory at best and self-destructive at worst. Social media has given nearly infinite avenues of opportunity for interaction but the factor of being genuine is still thankfully a human one. The whole cynical and jaded windbag angle is so played out, you know? Getting noticed in a field where everyone is doing all they can to be noticed isn’t some ancient, unbreakable cipher. As soon as I stopped worrying about how people would find out about SfB, people started finding out about it. It wasn’t magic. It was just a shift in focus from things that didn’t matter to the only thing that does in this context: the music. That’s honestly it.
H: The site also boasts a podcast, which I hope with every bit of my soul I can one day appear on. Could you tell our readers a little bit about that show and what its format entails?
J: The podcast was something I’d always wanted to do. I love Mike Hill’s (of Tombs) podcast on Everything Went Black Media, and I wanted something similar just to give readers another avenue of engagement with the site. I know absolutely nothing about podcasting aside from clicking “Record,” and I’d already established a good relationship with Erik Highter who was writing for Last Rites and Pop Matters at the time. Erik is a tech madman with that stuff, and he knows his shit when it comes to a wide array of music, so it was a good fit. We’re still kind of figuring the format out, and I honestly like it that way because it keeps things loose, and we’re not worked up over plugging this or that. We’ve had guests like Luc Lemay from Gorguts, Mike Scheidt of YOB, and I try to make it a point to have other metal writers on the show as well like Kim Kelly, Gary Suarez, and Adrien Begrand. I love having other writers on because it’s like a sharpening stone. It’s a necessary abrasion to keep you thinking and to make you challenge your own critical perspectives. That kind of thing is invaluable, and I think it gives the podcast an edge where we’re not just floating along our own ideas or opinions. And I’d love to have you and your soul bits on. Consider this your official invitation.
H: Before we move on, would you please tell us a bit about your goals for SFB? You started the site so you could have a hub for conversations and music discussion, but I have to wonder if there is anything else fueling your continuing efforts in music writing.
J: I think the goal has largely stayed the same for me. I want to challenge myself. Whether that’s with getting the impossible interview or with maturing as a writer and a critic it’s all related to the kind of self-awareness I have to keep in check daily. There are bucket list artists I’d love to interview, of course, and I get stoked as hell when those opportunities come around, but the end of this for me is just growing as an individual by talking to other people and hearing about their experiences. For me, music is simply that. It’s a vehicle for a universal conversation we’re all capable of having if we’re willing to do the work it takes to make that happen.
H: I wanted to touch on your work for other publications as well, especially considering the large number of sites and magazines who have featured your work. When did you first begin writing freelance?
J: I started writing freelance in 2013 when Fred Pessaro asked me if I’d be interested in doing something for Invisible Oranges. He was with them at the time but is now Editor-in-Chief at Noisey. I did a couple of interview features there before Fred moved on to Noisey which led to me writing for them as well. Pretty much everything else has been a result of reputation and/or me pestering the hell out of editors. Usually that last one. But I owe a lot to Fred for that first big opportunity. It’s cool because it goes back to that thing where even at the “highest” level music outlets, the people behind the scenes are just other music nerds who’ve worked their asses off just like you.
H: Have you been approached to join any site or magazine’s staff full time yet? If not, is that something you hope to find?
J: I’ve had a couple of offers recently, but at this point there hasn’t been anything lucrative enough to put me in a position where I could quit my teaching job. Of course that’s an issue as well. I love teaching, and it’d be very difficult for me to leave that behind. For me, the source of this wasn’t for me to make money. That doesn’t mean I’m not grateful or deeply appreciative for the paying opportunities I have now. Far from it. I’m a divorced dad of three kids who teaches for a living, so I’m not delusional about my own financial needs. I just know where this came from for me, and I make sure to keep that in check regarding my own motivations. That said, I’m allowed that privilege because I have a full time job and can afford to pick and choose. Not everyone has that and it sucks. I have the utmost respect for people who freelance for a living. If you want to learn how to write, how to pitch, and how to survive in general in the music writing cesspool, those are the people you need to latch onto and learn from.
H: If you could offer one piece of advice to people reading this who may be considering the pursuit of a career in music writing, what would you tell them?
J: I’ve only been in this for two years so I’m not sure how much advice I can offer without sounding like a prick. I think the most important thing I’ve learned is to ease up on myself. Nothing is so pressing that I have to upend my own sanity to get it done. If that’s the case I didn’t prepare adequately, and that’s on me. I’d encourage anyone to pursue their love of music writing over a career in it. I know that seems glib, but it’s the truth. This work is hard, and it’s unforgiving, and it’s thankless a lot of the time, so if you’re hoping to land that big interview or the article in whatever magazine just to have the reassurance that you’re a swell person then you might want to pick up that political science degree after all and maybe do something else. Do it because you love it and do you it because you know it. If you have those two things then you can hear “NO” a hundred times and it won’t matter. You’ll get there, and it’ll be amazing because you did it on your own and without compromising.
H: More and more people are asking whether or not there is still a place for music critics and/or album reviews in a time where social media has given virtually everyone a voice. How do you feel about this?
J: I think any music critic or person for that matter who spends an inordinate amount of time worrying about their relevance in today’s culture of immediacy has pretty much already answered their own question. Everyone’s always had a voice. Not everyone has had the means to pipeline that voice to a wide audience, and the Internet changed that. The gaping maw of armchair criticism has been around a hell of a lot longer than this tiny microcosm of pop culture that pretends to have the market cornered on critical perspective. I think it’s hilarious and also unsettling that the idea of more people having a voice is somehow a threat to what’s long been a white man’s racket. Get over it. Write better, work harder, and celebrate the fact that logic dictates more voices equals a more multi-faceted perspective and Christ is that ever needed.
H: Without giving it too much thought, where do you see yourself in five years time? I know forward thinking isn’t a universal trait in the music business, but given your body of work and continued drive for success I have to imagine such planning has crossed your mind at least once or twice.
J: I don’t have the first clue, man – haha. I used to spend a great deal of my time worrying about the future because of my personal health issues, but that only created obstacles for what I wanted to do in the present which is just to be a good dad to my kids, to be a supportive partner, and to challenge the way I think, write, and react to things on a daily basis.
H: Let’s speak a little more short term. Do you have any goals or ambitions for your writing in 2015 that you care to share with us?
J: Aside from having my first novel published, I’m working with my dad on writing his memoirs. He’s an amazing human being, and I’m humbled to have the opportunity to share his incredible story with people. I’ve had an interview feature in mind since I first started SfB that I’ve been working on to the point of obsession, so hopefully that’ll gain some traction this year. Besides those things, SfB will be featuring more writing, guest spots, and critical perspectives from women this year. I’ve not done nearly enough in that regard and it bothers me because I can’t possibly expect to offer multiple perspectives for readers if it’s just a boys club hee-hawing over their favorite metal records. Who knows what else could happen?
H: Right now, what are the biggest obstacles standing between you and the aforementioned goals?
J: My biggest obstacle is myself. Period. Time management is crucial, and that’s a hard skill to master and even harder to stay consistent with when there are so many roles to fill. It’s just a matter of prioritizing and knowing what things are subject to compromise and those things that are immovable.
H: I think that is all I have for right now. Before I let you go, are there any final thoughts or comments you would like to share with our readers?
J: Never give up, never give up, never give up, never give up. Be unashamedly passionate and listen as much to your honest critics as you do the people who offer up constant praise. You’re never above shit but never below the possibilities you create for yourself if you’re just willing to work your ass off and ignore the distractions.
