Hello, everyone. Welcome to the first and only Blogger-Meets-Publicist spotlight you will see on this blog all week. It’s a rare treat that we have the opportunity to sit down with someone as engrained in the industry as the person at the center of today’s feature, and the insight she has to share is something you do not want to miss. If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more about our efforts here at Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
One of the beautiful things about building this blog has been the way our coverage of various people and sites has allowed us to network with an even larger community of writers critics, artists, and music fans than we ever imagined. By watching readers share and discuss our stories we have been able to work towards creating content more suited to your interests, and one thing you have made abundantly clear is this: You want to know more about people who balance multiple roles in this industry. We have spent the past several weeks seeking out the brightest minds who currently juggle roles with two or more companies, and in the weeks ahead we plan to profile many of them in our ‘Industry Spotlight’ series, starting this afternoon with the one and only Kim Kelly.
Over the last decade Kim Kelly has engrained herself so far into the world of hard rock and metal that she’s appeared in or on essentially every major music publication with influence in the world of rock. Pitchfork, Noisey, Terrorizer, The Atlantic, The Quietus – you name it and there is a good chance Kim has written for them. She is also the founder of Catharsis PR, which has aided some of the best and brightest young minds in music to gain additional exposure in recent years. In the interview below she tells us how it all came to be, and it’s a journey unlike any we have ever shared before.
I must admit before we dive in that this interview is a bit unique in that my initial research on Kim proved to have some errors. There is time and effort put in to learning the story of every one of our guests before our interviews commence, but sometimes information slips through the cracks. Fortunately for us, Kim was a good sport and didn’t rag on us too hard for our errors.
If you would like to learn more about Kim Kelly, we highly suggest you follow her everyday thoughts and observations via Twitter. You should also check out Catharsis PR. Any additional questions or comments can be left at the end of this post.
H: Before we begin, would you please tell everyone your full name, job title, and a few publications where your work can be found:
K: My name is Kim Kelly. I’m the assistant editor of Iron Fist Magazine and a frequent contributor to Pitchfork as well as to numerous other publications (Noisey, Spin, NPR, Decibel, Kerrang, the Atlantic, the Quietus, the Wire, Fader, Metalsucks, Myspace, et cetera). In addition, I write the ‘Ravishing Grimness’ column in Terrorizer Magazine.
H: Thank you for joining us, Kim. When you look back at your life and consider the formative moments that steered you toward the career you have today, what memories comes to mind?
K: Listening to Lynyrd Skynyrd in my Dad’s pickup truck, spending most of high school sneaking out to metal & punk gigs in Philly with my best friend Kelly, the first time I heard Bathory, working as a DJ and loud rock director at my college radio station, interning at Metal Maniacs, starting my publicity company Catharsis PR, holding the first issue of Iron Fist, being asked to write for Pitchfork, moderating a panel on extreme metal & feminism at SXSW, speaking in front of the Tilburg city council at last year’s Incubate festival…they’ve all been important steps along the way. The first time I saw my name in print and then the first time I was paid for my writing, now those were big ones. I still get excited about those.
H: Who was the first artist you remember obsessing over, and how did you originally discover them?
K: I got really into Nirvana when I was an angsty fourteen-year-old weirdo, then really, really into Cannibal Corpse when I was a slightly older, marginally less angsty weirdo. My mom used to play her Nirvana CDs in the car, and one day, it finally clicked. I found Cannibal Corpse on my own, and immediately became enthralled by death metal, goregrind, and assorted gleefully brutal shit for the next few years.
H: Does that fascination continue to this day?
K: I still like them both, but my interest has faded and musical preferences have shifted. Thou’s Nirvana covers give me shivers, though.
H: Let’s turn the focus to writing for a moment. When did you first look at the world of journalism and criticism as a possibility for your future?
K: Reading Metal Maniacs was huge for me as a kid, because every time I’d open it up to see Liz Ciavarella listed as the Editor, I’d daydream about someday seeing my name in the same place. It became my goal in life to get published in that magazine (I pulled it off when I was 19, but that’s another story). Seeing that month after month eventually made me realize that, hell, why couldn’t I write for them? If Liz, whomever she was, could rise to the very top, why couldn’t I at least paddle around a bit in the shallows? This was years before I became real-life friends with Liz; I’m still a little embarrassed about how starstruck I was when we first met, but she’s continued to be a huge inspiration.
I went into it hoping that I could combine the two things I loved most – music and writing – and with a ton of hard work and lots of good luck, perhaps find some measure of success. I’m not good at much else, so I thought it was worth a go. My original plan was to become a Senator, but then I fell in love with Bathory and ruined everything!
H: [I believe] Your writing career began, like many today, online. Where did you discover Pivotal Rage Webzine, and how long were you a reader before joining the team? What can you tell us about the application process?
K: My career did not begin online. My career began in print, in 2003. I started out writing about politics for my school paper as well as for my local newspaper, the Burlington County Times, and continued in that vein until the day my editor slid me a nondescript metalcore CD and said, “You’re into this kind of thing, right? Want to write a review?” Turns out the CD was rubbish but the music writing thing came fairly naturally. When I was sixteen I hooked up with Pivotal Rage (at the urging of my friend Alexi Front) by sending in some writing samples and crossing my fingers. They asked me to join, and I spent a few years writing reviews and such for them as well as a few other small webzines. I am very grateful to them, but am sort of glad you can’t find any of those websites anymore ‘cause I was nowhere near as clever as I thought.
H: My research shows that your magazine gig in writing came from BAST in 2006. How did that opportunity come together, and what can you tell us about the role Martha Hughes played in making it all possible?
K: That’s not quite correct. I wrote one or two articles for BAST, which was a Bay Area metal fanzine edited by “Black Metal Martha” Hughes. We got in touch via Myspace (lol 2006) and I convinced her to give me a shot. My first proper print magazine gig was Hails & Horns Magazine, which has since been resurrected as New Noise Magazine by my wonderful and supremely capable editor Lisa Root. She let me run wild through those pages, and through that gig, I got to know a lot of the publicists, labels, and writers I still work with to this day. Thanks, Lisa.
H: How would you describe your writing style?
K: Passionate and conversational, I guess? Unless I’m in serious music journalist/critic mode, I just write how I talk. I am pretty excitable and have a big vocabulary ‘cause I read too much, so, there we go. I tend to inadvertently use a weird hodgepodge of slang terms ‘cause I’ve traveled a ton and my boyfriend is English. It’s really all a big mess. I probably curse too much, too.
H: We should mention you also worked in other areas of music around this time. Specifically, you had a role in publicity with MAD Dragon, as well as a promotions title with Candlelight Records. Did you pursue writing before going after these areas of the industry, or did they all develop around the same time?
K: I’ve always been a writer. I was involved with MAD Dragon because it was part of my coursework at college. My school, Drexel, had its own record label, and my music business concentration landed me right in the thick of it. I also had a wonderful experience working with Paula and Steve at Candlelight Records, but eventually had to leave my position there in order to concentrate on my schoolwork. I wouldn’t be opposed to another label job in the future if the right opportunity came along, but, I’m happy where I am now.
H: In recent years you have continued to write while also pursuing a career in publicity (Catharsis PR). When did you decide to step out on your own in the PR world, and how do you balance the demands of both roles?
K: I started Catharsis PR during the summer of 2008. It’s been a tough climb, and I’ve learned a lot of hard lessons, but it’s been worth it to see my work create a positive impact in the lives and careers of the incredible musicians I’m lucky enough to represent. Five years later, it’s going better than I could’ve ever imagined. The gamble paid off. Sure, it can get difficult to keep up with both writing and PR. I’m usually super stressed and working on a hundred things at once, but once you’ve accepted chaos as a way of life, it gets easier. No rest for the wicked, right?
H: Has there ever been a time when you faced a conflict of interest as a result of your roles in both PR and journalism?
K: A lot of writers also do PR. It’s tricky, but it’s doable. It’s important to find a balance, and to realize that sometimes hard decisions will need be made and that ethics must take precedence over anything else.
H: Without going too in-depth, please walk us through a normal day at work:
K: Wake up, answer emails, tea, more emails, tea, write some things, work on PR stuff, bother my boss on Gchat, update social media sites for my clients, remember to eat something, send pitches to editors, delete press releases about lame bands, reply to press releases about rad bands, write more, more PR stuff, realize it’s gone dark outside, make dinner with my dude, then either stay in to work all night or go out. Repeat. I try to keep a am/pm10-7ish schedule, but, it never works. The concept of “free time” makes me anxious, so I suppose it’s for the best.
H: Beyond paychecks and bylines, how do you measure your personal success?
K: There are a few publications I’ve always wanted to write for, and slowly but surely, I’m checking them off the list one by one. It’s also immensely satisfying to slave over a piece of writing for hours on end and then, once it’s published, see it receive a positive response from people you respect or, even better, from the band itself.
Besides that, I’ve got interviews with Loretta Lynn and Attila Csihar lined up for next month so I’m pretty much set for life.
H: What advice would you offer up and coming writers considering a career in music?
K: Don’t.
But, if you’re truly determined, start a blog and write every day for a few years until you’re confident in your work, then start pitching other outlets. Don’t be afraid to follow up. Keep your day job ‘cause you ain’t gonna make much money doing this, but don’t let anyone shortchange you, either. Remember that your work has value.
Oh, and don’t be a dick.
H: There have been a number of people who have suggested there is no longer a need for professional music critics in an age where everyone is given a voice through social networks. Do you feel they still have a place in the world?
K: At this point I think it’s just as valuable to bring attention to new, undiscovered, or obscure bands as it is to bathe a big album by Metallica or whatever in oceans of music criticism. There is so much music out there that it’s impossible to listen to everything. Writers should act as guides, by seeking out and then steering folk towards those hidden gems. I don’t care about what the big bands are doing; plenty of people are willing to write about them, and that’s fine. I’m interested in the other stuff, the ugly, loud, violent stuff. The more people I can expose to that, the better. If I can turn one person on to Crom Dubh, Sortilegia, or Nightfall, my job is done.
H: When it comes to receiving music for review and feature consideration, which distribution platforms do you prefer and why?
K: Don’t be coy, you and I both know that yours is the best. I especially like the streaming feature, ‘cause I don’t like downloading things and my apartment is already a nightmarish morass of books, records, and mountains of CDs leftover from the early days when labels would mail out promos by the sackful. I’m so glad that that practice has died out; cheers for ushering that along, Haulix!
H: Speaking of listening to music for coverage consideration, do you have any advice for the independent artists reading this in hopes of learning how better navigate the industry?
K: Do your research before contacting a writer or publication – find out what they cover and try to gauge how well you’d fit into their tastes or aesthetic before trying to cop a review. Be professional (i.e. don’t bug editors/writers on Facebook!). Work hard. Tour harder. Pay for a good recording. Learn how to swallow your pride, and also how to stand up for yourself. Understand that you will almost definitely never be rich, but that the memories you make doing this will probably be worth more. Remember to use BCC. Do not try to sell me on your fucking indie pop record.
H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
K: Bury the concept of “The Hottest Chicks…” in anything forfuckingever. Sexism is not metal.
I also wish bands were compensated more fairly for their hard work, and that the music industry was less concerned with jerking itself off and more interested supporting quality music.
H: You have accomplished quite a bit over the last decade. Looking ahead, what career goals are you currently focused on?
K: I’m working on a book proposal and a few other projects, but honestly, at this point my biggest goal is to get published in a something my grandparents have heard of. NPR? Nope. Spin? “What is that?”
I thought I’d struck gold with the Guardian, but no such luck. Does American Rifleman have a music section? Maybe I can try them next…
H: I believe that covers everything. Do you have any final thoughts or observations you would like to share with our readers?
K: Thanks for the interview, James. Everyone else is invited to check out my new blog, Necrolust (www.necrolustzine.com), and fight me on Twitter @grimkim. Send me a link to your band if you sound like Hellhammer, Appalachian Terror Unit, or Skepticism (otherwise, please don’t).
Life is too short for second best…and if you are a false, don’t entry.
