The digital age destroyed all barriers for entry into the music industry that had previously existed. For the first time in human history anyone with a computer could create, record, and distribute their music from the comfort of their own homes. As this trend grew increasingly popular the competition between up and coming artists reached a boiling point that shows no signs of change in the foreseeable future. In today’s economy, simply making good music is not enough. Those who succeed today must have marketing skills, networking skills, and a general sense for good business practices. Of all the talented music makers in the world only a small percentage can say they offer the ‘full package,’ and one of them just so happen to be San Francisco rock band The Living.
For those unaware, The Living are a self-proclaimed heavy atmospheric rock act from the Bay Area. Their music falls somewhere between Deftones and The Dear Hunter, but with a heavier edge that is incredibly hard to resist. The group has been making the rounds in Northern California for a few years, but they have been working harder than ever in 2017. With a successful headlining tour recently under their belt, the band is now preparing to self-release their debut album on September 22. You can stream the lead single, “Delay,” below:
When we first heard The Living we found hope for the future of rock and roll. Then we heard their album and realized they are, beyond the shadow of a doubt, one of the best rock bands in America today. With the right push they could soon be everywhere, so we decided to play our part and interview them about all things rock. Enjoy.
How’s life in San Francisco today?
“I work in an office so, ya know, typical office stuff. Pretty removed from the rock and roll thing.”
I think it’s good to not always have your feet in music. Keeps you connected to the struggles and experiences of regular people. You can appreciate how much they don’t want to be in an office because you’re there as well.
“That’s right, actually. Everyone at work was pretty surprised to learn I am in a band, but to me it’s like – everyone I know is in a band. It isn’t a crazy notion to me”
I spent some time with your new single, “Delay,” and I really love what you’re doing. There has been so much talk about rock being dead or forgotten as of late that I wonder what it’s like for you, the rock musician, in the industry today. What can you tell me about the existence of rock in the Bay Area?
“It’s pretty eclectic out here, actually. A rock scene definitely exists, but I think it was probably more prominent ten or fifteen years ago. Now there is a lot more electronic music, which is cool in its own way. But at the same time I wouldn’t say San Francisco has ever been associated with just one sound or style. It has always been a fairly eclectic place for music. One of my favorite things to do, in fact, is to check out all the shows happening on any given day and pick a random one to attend. It’s pretty great what you can discover.”
But kids are still coming out to the rock show?
“Yes, absolutely.”
This past week I was reading an article that claimed the digital age killed local scenes. The main idea was that the internet changed our perspective on new music. People used to leave their home to experience something new, but now everything is a click away, which – this article claimed – made people less willing to leave home to support local up and comers. As someone cutting their teeth in the industry, how do you feel about this idea?
“I don’t know. I guess I can see it both ways. For me, personally, I’ve learned about way more local shows and events through the internet than I did before.”
Let’s move on to you and your career. “Delay” is the first single off what will be your first full-length, correct?
“Yes, this is our first proper album. We did an EP a few years back, but didn’t really do anything with it. We started writing for this record about a year or so ago, and most of the creation came from being together in our practice space. I think only one song was written outside of that setting, composed if you will. We locked ourselves in that practice space and we would jam for hours hammering things out. We ended up writing a lot of songs, which we then cut down to 10, and we then recorded those. When that process was complete we ended up cutting the song list even further while still working at Atomic Garden studios.
It’s funny, looking back on that process now it seems like such an undertaking. When we entered the studio I would say we completed 75% of what made the record on our very first day. We recorded live, so it came together pretty quickly. The next few days we did patch ups and overdubs, stuff like that. I think it came out very raw, and that is exciting.”
When I first heard “Delay” I thought it sounded as if it were recorded live, so I’m happy to hear that was the case. I think there is something about recording in that manner, the looseness of simply performing as a band while the tape rolls, that captures something special. There is a big difference between how records recorded live sound and, I guess, more polished albums. This approach really seems to fit your sound.
“Definitely. I think it’s a pretty cool approach. I’ve done the opposite in the past, where you single track everything, and it’s just so meticulous. You’re sitting down most of the time, you’re the only one playing, and you’re so focused on doing everything perfect that there is no real vibe happening in the room. Recording live helps to capture at least some magic from the band.”
Rock is a genre where hearing a band live can change everything. There are rock bands known for live performances rather than albums simply because their studio work never comes close to recreating the magic of their concerts. I think your approach to recording helps bridge that gap.
“That was our idea as well.” [laughs]
We keep saying rock in this conversation, but to market yourself in today’s world you need a little more specificity. How do you sell The Living to people who may have never heard your music?
“You know this is something we’ve been talking about a lot as of late because it’s something we have struggled with ourselves. We’re kind of at this weird intersection where we’re a rock band, but there are also elements of metal, pop, and other sounds thrown in as well. All of this leaves us at a loss at how to promote ourselves, but lately we’ve gotten into the habit of billing ourselves a heavy atmosphere rock band. I’m pretty bad with all that, admittedly, but it’s something we have been working on. We know if we can get people to listen to it they will probably like it, so we’re really working on finding the best methods of getting it into their hands.”
The artwork for your record is pretty eye-catching, which will surely help attract new listeners. Where did the concept for the cover come from?
That is our good friend Sam. She’s an amazing artist. We basically sent her the record and a few very loose ideas for how we wanted the record to look. She took all that and designed a few mock-ups that we then reviewed. We ended up going back and forth a lot, but ultimately we decided to let her do her thing. We’re super happy with how it came out.
We’re still a few weeks out from the release of your album. How do you feel about the response you have received so far, particularly as it applies to “Delay”?
“Yea! So far we’ve received a lot of great reactions. I’ve actually been really surprised by some of the press we have been getting. Some writers have reached out to say they dig what we’re doing and that is always great to hear. There are also people who feel differently, of course, but I really try to not let that negativity in. I’m not hyper concerned with critical reception, but I have been pleasantly surprised by how much people like it.”
You just wrapped a short tour, but with the record coming I assume more show are as well?
“Our next gig is the album release show on September 29, which is exactly one week after the album is out. We’re still locking down support, but that will be the next big show. This fall we hope to hit Southern California, like San Diego and Los Angeles. We don’t have anything in the books beyond that yet, but we hope to get out more often and maybe even hit some festivals. Regardless, we are planning to promote this record heavily as we move forward and continue working on new material.”
A big goal we have at Haulix this year is to better understand what determines success for artists. Obviously this answer is a bit different for everyone, but as it applies to you and this upcoming album release – what would you consider a sign of success? What is your goal?
“The goal is…Well, the first goal was just to make a record we all liked. On that front we have succeeded. Beyond that, our main goal is to get this album into the hands of as many people as possible and gain leverage for the next release. We’re still a pretty unknown band, so we’re focused on taking this as far as it can go and win people over along the way. That is why we keep booking shows further and further away, to get in front of more and more people. If we can do that, then we will consider this whole process a success.”
Last question: What do you hope people take away from your new music?
“I hope people have an emotional response to this record. When we were just on tour I saw a guy in the crowd singing along to “Delay” not long after it was released. He blew me away because I couldn’t believe someone already learned all the words. If we can make that kind of impact on other people that would be pretty great.”
Considering how fast streaming companies like Soundcloud and Spotify have become a focal point in the music industry it can easy to forget that this corner of the entertainment business is still very much in its infancy. We haven’t had major streaming services for even a decade yet, but already the market has changed several times over, and it will no doubt undergo several more evolutions during our lifetime. It’s like the old saying goes, “If you don’t like the way the entertainment business is working just wait five minutes and there will be a new system in place.”
Orfium, one of the newest competitors to enter the streaming market, understands that this industry niche is in a constant state of flux. They are currently trying to win over subscribers with a marketing budget far smaller than that of Spotify or Apple Music, and so far they are finding a lot of success. Instead of subscribing to the belief that streaming is already the savior of the music business the team at Orfium chooses to look for ways to make the streaming age as beneficial for artists as it is for fans. We’ve all read about the discrepancy between streaming royalties and plays, and while Orfium does not have a full-proof solution they are constantly searching for ways to improve their business model. This, coupled with their undeniable passion to see up and coming talent make it in this turbulent world, has created a recipe for longterm success that has only just begun.
I recently had the opportunity to speak with Orfium’s Chris Mohoney and Drew Delis about their creation and the way it fits into the current streaming community. Their answers will not only enlighten you as to the realities of streaming today, but they may even convince you to join their platform. Enjoy.
We should probably start with the most obvious question: Why does the world need another streaming music platform?
The answer is the same reason why the world needed another telephone when the smartphone arrived; existing solutions had a limited scope of utility and flexibility. In the case of a smartphone, it made a lot of sense to integrate a phone, rolodex, caller ID, pager, email client, calendar, task list, and internet browser into a single integrated communication device with configurable personal settings. Likewise it makes sense for the next generation music platform to integrate streaming, social, downloads, events, distribution, rights management, and licensing functionalities into a single system with configurable personal settings controlled by artists. Of course all of this would have to be presented elegantly and intuitively in a simple consumer friendly interface, which is what Orfium strives to do.
Spotify, SoundCloud, and Apple Music all serve different purposes which don’t make sense to be fragmented. SoundCloud, for example, allows artists to upload directly but only if they give their music away for free. Spotify and Apple Music require artists to go through distributors and they do not accept free releases. For a consumer, it creates a frustrating scenario when trying to listen to both types of music on a single playlist. SoundCloud also serves as a social network for artists to engage with each other and their fans whereas the others lack this functionality, however on the other hand, SoundCloud lacks as a consumer interface for pure listening. Orfium is the only solution that offers all of the functionality of the alternative platforms combined. We also built it on top of a rights management back-end system which gives us the flexibility to properly license remixes and DJ sets/live mixes so we won’t suffer the issues of SoundCloud. Also, unlike YouTube and SoundCloud, the sound recordings on Orfium are not duplicated since we use a tag-based system to credit each contributing party, which makes our library much better organized for both discovery purposes and rights management.
Where did the idea for Orfium originate?
The idea for Orfium actually arose from a synthesis of smaller ideas we had while working in the industry. Previous to starting Orfium, I was a YouTube Content ID music administrator and represented about six million sound recordings and compositions, as well as managed a sync licensing library with about 400,000 recordings. I am also a computer programmer and received my bachelors and masters in Accounting from the University of San Diego. My partner Drew and I met as undergrads at USD, and after we graduated he went on to law school in Los Angeles at Pepperdine Law and studied intellectual property, licensing, and music rights.
A major influence for starting Orfium came from experiencing YouTube’s more elegant solution to managing music copyrights while watching SoundCloud struggle in this regard. As this unfolded Drew and I had many conversations surrounding the issues with the flow of royalties, management of music rights, and the fragmentation of music services and their functions. As time went on I saw the problems only getting worse and all these new services popping up either ignored these problems completely or only addressed a small set of them while missing others that are essential to the big picture.
Finally Drew and I decided that we were going to create a complete, one-stop solution for artists to promote and monetize their music and a place for fans to discover, listen, and share great music. The general idea was to elegantly synthesize every essential feature that a music platform must have and build it on top of a back-end that had the power to manage the complexity of music rights and generate every type of digital royalty possible to artists. We scrounged together all of the resources we could come up with and turned our apartments into our offices and got to work. After two years of grinding it out going from prototype to beta to version 1.0, which just launched in July, we are still grinding from our apartment offices serving 42,000 artists with 140,000 songs on Orfium.
I’m always curious where streaming services like yours get there start. Who were the first artists to sign up? Did you have any prior relationship with them? If not, did you ask how they found you?
A friend of ours who initially was helping us early on formulate the concept, but ended up primarily focusing on his musical career, was the first to upload and test the site. He was part of a duo named Bad Vision and now has a solo project called AWAY. He referred a few of his artist friends to the platform to help with testing the beta, and from there we started seeing more artists flow in both via word of mouth and some of our own direct reach out efforts. Some of the first artists to join who we did not have any first or second degree relationship with were Niteppl, The J Conspiracy, and Emma Longard. Niteppl is a duo from San Francisco who has consistently been at the top of our charts to this day. The J Conspiracy and Emma Longard are both from Germany and The J Conspiracy actually runs a blog as well where they have documented their experience with Orfium.
Entering the digital marketplace can be incredibly difficult. What methods of promotion have worked best for you thus far?
It is certainly difficult and the hardest part is getting the initial start, which involved leveraging relationships we already had with friends in the industry and directly reaching out to independent artists and labels. However once we started to get going traffic began flowing from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, where we also have social profiles. Now we are also seeing organic search traffic from Google becoming more and more significant and we are grateful to have online media sources like you picking up our story as well.
A lot of people seem to believe the streaming space is already a bit overcrowded. Are they mistaken?
Yes and No. In the sense that there are many streaming platforms that offer nothing new in comparison to others, yes that part of the space is overcrowded and becoming obsolete. However Orfium is completely different because it is not just a streaming service as a smartphone is not just a phone.
I had been watching new streaming services pop up for the past few years, each time wondering if they were going to address any new problems that needed solving, and in almost every case they were just another copy, often worse copies, of already existing systems. I think it is just a result of entrepreneurs entering the hyped up space blinded by pure profit motives as they seek a piece of the action, and with such a shallow purpose the best they can do is copy yesterday’s successes. Likewise I think musicians notice this in aspiring musicians who are in it for the fame and money and that limits them to copying yesterday’s productions that are popular today rather than contributing the new sounds that will be popular tomorrow. That said, I don’t think there is anything wrong with being inspired by someone else’s creation, but you have to build on it and contribute something new to add and I think that is something that people have a harder time doing when they don’t have the right purpose.
Do albums, playlists, or singles ultimately rule the streaming world?
Well in one sense single tracks are the primary content source since albums and playlists are collections at the very least. However I think a complete album that tells a story from beginning to end in well-thought sequence of tracks with fluid transitions is one of the greatest forms of musical art second only to a live performance of the same. It is however rare to find since it is not only a great challenge to produce such a work, but also more may be required to captivate an audience today who have grown short of attention in a fast-paced technological environment. It is far more common to find albums containing only a few hits with a less interesting remainder in an insignificant sequence. Playlists on the other hand play the role of a catalyst for music discovery as those with good tastes in music and a savvy ability to find it will attract a wide audience to their playlists. Others will use playlists to simply share music within their closer group of friends. Also podcasts and sets should not be neglected as these are also important catalysts for discovery like playlists, and like a great album a great set can also take the listener on a musical journey. We do have planned support coming soon for podcasts and DJ sets, and further in the future there will be music video support as well.
Therefore every content type plays a different role by providing a unique experience. Some musical works are common like quartz, others are rare and sought after like gold, and though bite-sized content might become more common due to impatient demand, the most powerful long-form musical works will remain at the pinnacle of the art.
How do you ensure artists are properly compensated for their work while keeping costs to consumers low enough that they will want to use your platform?
We pay out 80% to artists, and just to clarify this is based on the retail price. Some people get confused when they are told they are getting 90-100% of royalties from their distributor, which is actually just based on what the distributor collects from the retail site, not what the end consumer actually paid for their music. Usually retail platforms pay out around only 70% to the distributors / labels who then pay some of that downstream to the artists, and licensing platforms often pay far less often between 35-50%. I mention licensing because we offer many more monetization services to artists than just streaming and related retail services so the earnings potential is much higher with us.
For consumers the default the prices we offer are the same they find elsewhere however we do give artists the option to set their own prices as well.
For those readers who have yet to hop on the streaming bandwagon, why is Orfium a service they should use over your competition?
There is an enormous amount of technology behind the platform which we have been able to build with very limited resources where others have failed with tons of resources, and I think this should be a strong indicator to anyone about the trajectory we are on. Most of the other platforms have already been around for 5-10 years and they all took a lot of time to mature. We are just getting started, but the greatest challenges are behind us. The seed has sprouted and it is only a matter of time now for Orfium’s potential to be fully realized.
In a perfect world, where is Orfium one year from today?
I think it is reasonably possible that we could have around 1 million to 3 million songs by 500,000 to 1 million artists. I certainly expect that we will have a mobile app, though our web version is currently optimized for mobile browsers. Rights management and licensing royalties will be flowing and steadily increasing each month operating as a well-oiled machine, and we will probably be shifting our focus more heavily towards scaling up the consumer operations including retail, streaming, and radio.
How do you feel about the state of the music business today? You’re obviously passionate about this world, but there is a lot of media talk about the industry being worse off than ever before.
I think it is a lot like the rest of the world, tons of potential, but also a lot of limiting beliefs still holding us back. It is technologically and informationally greater than it has ever been, artistically and culturally more diverse, yet to a large degree the same fundamental human weakness of mind still exist that have always existed. What technology can do is eliminate barriers and provide everyone with many more choices, and anyone who has studied economics knows that is a good thing for all except monopolists, however it is still up the individuals to consciously strive to make the right choices and encourage and support others doing the same.
Where can people go to learn more about Orfium and how you’re changing the industry?
A brief look at the band’s currently leading the alternative and underground music realms might lead one to believe that heavier music has lost its edge, or at least its public appeal. Sales are down, which is admittedly true for every area of the industry, but unless you’re tuned in to certain niche heavy arenas there have been few, if any, ‘breakout’ acts in the last two or three years. Some might even say hope seems lost, but those people are idiots. Heavy music is alive and well, if you know where to look, and even the extreme corners of the industry have innovative young artists who are working day and night to keep their scene alive.
Enterprise Earth, who were the third band to be announced as part of the still young Stay Sick Recordings, have quickly risen through the ranks of the heavy music underground with well refined, yet incredibly chaotic take on deathcore that is sure to leave your ears feeling as if they have been pummeled by a heard of panicked elephants in the best possible way. The band’s label debut arrived back in December, and since its release acclaim for the band has only continued to grow. We’ve even had the record in regular rotation here at our new office, much to the dismay of the very kind bankers with whom we share a glass wall, and there doesn’t appear to be another album quite like it due out anytime in the near future.
We recently had the opportunity to speak with the BJ Sampson, guitarist for Enterprise Earth, about the record, its reception, and their plans for the rest of 2016. You can read highlight from our conversation below. Afterwards, make the best decision of your month and pick up a copy of the band’s label debut, Patient 0, from your favorite online retailer.
Haulix: Hello! Before we dive in too far please take a moment and introduce yourself, as well as your role within Enterprise Earth…
EE: BJ Sampson, Guitar
H: Thank you for taking the time to chat with me. Roughly two months have passed since your Stay Sick debut, Patient 0, was released. How has the initial wave of reaction and criticism been so far?
EE: It’s been well received. We could’nt be any happier with the fan and industry reaction. We started out with devoted fans and continue to acquire new and equally devoted fans daily. That alone keeps us driven and passionate.
H: Are you someone who reads reviews and the like, or do you try to steer clear of the press and their critiques?
EE: Reviews are ok but its just one persons opinion. Personally, I’m not swayed by the opinions of others. I make my own thoughts.
H: Did you keep busy during the holidays, or did you guys take the end of the year off? I know a lot of artists lay low during those last two weeks because there is not a lot going on in the industry.
EE: We did not take time off. We released Patient 0 in the midst of holidays. There is no “time off” in our eyes. Work. We have time for that around the clock and calendar.
H: I see you have a string of tour dates set for January that keep you on the western half of the United States. Do you have plans to come further East in the months ahead? Please tell us whatever you can about your future touring efforts.
EE: We did a small west coast run with our friends in Traitors. We have plans to be out on the road from March 31st to May 28th. Keep an eye out for date announcements. In addidtion, we will be appearing at “Extreme Thing” in Las Vegas April 2nd as well as “Texas Independence Fest” April 9th.
H: Most people know that your label, Stay Sick Records, was founded by Fronz from Attila. How did you initially connect with him, and what was it about Stay Sick that attracted your band?
EE: Our initial connection was our move first. We reached out to them and the relationship was born.
Stay Sick has a group of individuals working hard behind the scenes that have a track record that is unmatched. It was a “no-brainer” to join forces with people who have equal drive and motivation to succeed.
H: Some have argued that hardworking bands do not need the assistance of a record label anymore, but we have found a lot of people who think like that are not in bands themselves. Can you shed some light on the necessity of a label, or how labels help artists such as yourself?
EE: The misconception is that when you get signed “you’ve made it” and the label does all the work for you. This is false. Being signed means that you have to work even harder. Spend more time with development. Image (art) sound, ect. Blossoming and growing continually in all aspects. Sure, bands can DIY easier and easier these days. However, not many do it well! If you’re in a band that is killing it DIY. CONGRATS!!!
H: There was a time about 6-8 years ago when deathcore and grindcore acts like yours were getting quite a bit of attention from the alternative realm as a whole, but once Ferret Records went under so did a lot of the critical and cultural hype for the heavier side of music. How would you describe the state of the death metal community in 2016?
EE: Its coming around full circle. What you heard and loved back in 2006-2008, prepare to hear and love again, but better. We believe 2016 will be the year that deathcore returns and in a smashing fashion!
H: Let’s turn to your music. What were the main influences, both musical and not, that inspired the material on Patient 0?
EE: Lyrically it was inspired by horror films. We love a good horror movie. Our lyrics are stories told as if describing a movie. They also have some underlying personal life connections for Dan as well. Instrumentally I cant say it was influenced by anything really, I starred at two screenshots of “The Evil Within” while I wrote. That was my inspiration.
H: Did you have any goals for the record? If so, do you feel you have you fulfilled them, or are on your way to doing so?
EE: The goal was to be dark and heavy. We wrote based off of gut feelings so the riffs werent locked into one specific sound. I wanted to keep it open like that so if we wanted a slam or a blast or a death metal feel we could do that with out being locked in completely to one “sub genre” of metal. We will continue to use this approach going forward.
H: I know I have used a few terms to describe your music, but how do you explain your sound to someone who is unfamiliar with your work?
EE: We just ask “do you like metal?” if they answer yes we just say “go check us out”. This is the one time sub genres act as repelant, JUST LISTEN TO IT. If you enjoy it, perfect. If you dont like it, right on.
H: You’ve been a band for just under two years at this point, but you’ve already dropped two releases on the metal community. To what do you attribute your relentless work ethic?
EE: It’s funny because we dont feel like we did anything special with the time frame. Isnt that what you’re supposed to do? Bands should be writing and touring non stop. It doesnt take much time at all to be forgotten in the day and age where 5 new bands pop up a month looking to push through to the top
H: If someone hears Patient 0 and decides your style of music is what they have been missing all their lives, what albums should they listen to next?
EE: They may enjoy Oceano, The Acacia Strain, Whitechapel, Fallujah, Lorna Shore, Rivers of Nihil, A Night In Texas, ect
H: If all goes as planned, what do you hope to accomplish as a band by the end of 2016?
EE: Exposure. We just want to go out and play for as many people as possible and meet every single one of them in person. That’s what it’s all about. Having a good time doing what we all love!
H: That is all the questions I have right now. Before I let you go, is there anything you would like to say or plug?
EE: NEW MUSIC COMING SOON
Pick yourself up something REAL NICE over at our store 😉
This article is part of a new series highlighting the brilliant minds and voices of idobi radio. We know some of the people highlighted may be known as musicians, publicists, or other industry professionals, but for these features we will focus solely on their passion for [digital] radio. Follow Haulix on Twitter and Facebook for regular updates, including new content and upcoming features.
It may seem hard to believe, but Alex Garskath and the boys turned men of All Time Low have been actively working in the music industry for twelve years at this point. Along the way, they have made many great accomplishments, including touring the world and releasing a series of increasingly successful pop punk records. We admire the band’s hard work and have a fondness for several of their singles, but to be completely honest this interview has very little to do with All Time Low and their plans for the future.
You may or may not know this, but for the last several years Alex Garskath and fellow All Time Low member Jack Barakat have hosted an internet radio show through idobi called ‘Full Frontal.’ This is not a weekly show, but rather a series which has already compiled three seasons worth of material (all of which is currently available, for free, through iTunes). Fans have been demanding a fourth season, and just last week we had the chance to speak with Garskath about the potential for the show’s return. You can read his thoughts on this, as well as his history with radio, below.
H: Hey there, Alex. Thank you for taking time to speak with us. How are you today?
A: I’m very well! Just hangin’ out and killing time before soundcheck in Glasgow.
H: We are doing an entire week of cross-promotion with idobi radio, which is a company you have been associated with for a number of years. Can you tell me how you first became familiar with their programming?
A: We met the folks at Idobi a very long time ago, when we were first breaking into the scene, they pulled us aside and interviewed us at some of our very first shows in the in DC / VA area. They hosted a hand full of really cool online radio shows that catered to the genres of music I was actually into, so I gravitated towards the station and eventually ended up doing more and more together.
H: I guess knowing about a company and becoming a part of their radio team are two entirely different things. When did you initially begin discussions about having your own show, and who approached who?
A: Tom, the founder of Idobi, came to us with the idea. Jack and I had talked about doing some kind of show or podcast in the past, and when Tom came to us and offered to provide a home for some kind of show, we jumped on it, and Full Frontal was born. He basically said, just be yourselves for an hour and we’ll see how it goes. I don’t think he knew what he was getting himself into… Or maybe he did. Haha
H: Up to that point, had you ever considered having your own program? One would think the band provides you a pretty big platform to share your perspective on things, so I’m curious as to whether or not you had been consciously seeking another outlet of some kind.
A: Yep! As I said before, we had talked about a few different ideas, just kindof testing the water to see what we could potentially do it… To be honest, with our schedule, a lot of ideas just didn’t pan out because they weren’t conducive to being on tour all the time. But with a podcast, especially one that we’re able to pre-tape and produce up a little bit, the possibilities became nearly endless, and we’re able to tape it all from the road. If anything, I think it makes the show extra special, having access to people and places all around the world to incorporate into each episode.
H: You and Jack host the show together, but was that always the plan?
A: Jack and I are certainly the biggest shit talkers in the band… Haha! And we’ve always had a good chemistry when it comes to back n’ forth banter, which is really important for a show like ours. We take what we learned on stage and bend it to work in the context of Full Frontal, and we have a damn good time doing it. I don’t really know if we’re funny, annoying, or what, but if people are enjoying it, we have
H: It has been nearly a year since the season 3 premiere of the show, and almost 10 months since the season 3 finale. Given how busy 2014 was for ATL, it’s easy to understand your lack of time for the show, but can you provide an update as to when we might see ‘Full Frontal’ return?
A: We’re absolutely planning on bringing it back! We’ve just started touring together again, and at some point soon, I expect us to kick off a new season. It’s much easier to do the show when we’re all traveling together. 🙂
H: Keeping the show’s return in mind, will there be anything new in season 4 that may surprise listeners?
A: There will be plenty of new segments, debauchery, but obviously right now I don’t really want to give too much away. Haha! The show is extremely off-the-cuff anyway– Sometimes new segments and bits come together out of nowhere, so we’ll have to wait and see.
H: The show is often filled with discussions that feel so natural it seems obvious that you two have similar conversation when the microphones are turned off. Is that true?
A: Haha, yea, pretty much! It’s definitely an extension of our every day conversations, laced with our weird and possibly terrible sense of humor.
H: As a member of one of the alternative scene’s biggest bands, your stamp of approval on any band on the rise carries a lot of weight, so it’s not really a surprise that the songs played on ‘Full Frontal’ has helped the careers of the artists behind them. Are there any young bands on the rise right now that you think people should check out?
A: We’re always trying to give new bands and artists a little bit more exposure if we can, plus we just like playing music that we actually enjoy listening to ourselves; We’d be spinning lots of Neck Deep if we were to tape a show today!
H: What is the most rewarding part of doing ‘Full Frontal’?
A: Just getting to do something that’s a change of pace– There’s a lot of down time on tour, and taping the show is a nice outlet when we’ve got nothing to do on a day off, or before a show.
H: You’ve made your mark in music, and I think it’s safe to say you’ve done the same with podcasting. What I find interesting, is that it’s largely the stories and experiences from performing that fueled your success in radio. People love to learn about your adventures, regardless of how they are presented. Do you think there will come a day when you pen a book, or perhaps explore another format of broadcasting to further engage with fans?
A: Anything’s possible! We’re all driven people, and we’re always trying to find ways to connect with our audience, so it could happen.
H: Well we’ve covered the history of the show, the hiatus, and what you find most rewarding, so I think we’re running out of things to discuss. I am curious, however, as to what you’re looking forward to most about the show’s new season?
A: I wouldn’t call it a hiatus so much as a maternity leave while we gave birth to our new album, Future Hearts. Hah! As far as what I’m looking forward to most about season 4? Hopefully another “Drinking with Dans”… Just because I enjoy getting people drunk and encouraging them to say offensive things.
H: Before we go, do you have any final thoughts or comments that you would like to share with our readers?
A: Just that I’m really thankful for every single person who’s taken the time to check out our band, and our show Full Frontal! Thanks guys.
Hello and welcome to final Blogger Spotlight of the week. The interview you are about to read was written and conducted by music writer Jesse Richman at our request. 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.
You might not recognize the name James Shotwell at first glance, but if you’re here reading the Haulix blog (and I know you are, because you’re reading this right now! gotcha!), you’re actually intimately familiar with his work. Yes, James is the man behind the keyboard here at Haulix, turning the spotlight on industry professionals of every stripe with his interviews, offering advice on publicity, marketing and more to bands, and keying you in to the newest features of Haulix’s platform. Think about that for a moment – how is one man capable of writing about, or even qualified to write about, all of this stuff?
Well, as it turns out, this isn’t James Shotwell’s first rodeo. I’ve long known James as the founder of Under The Gun Review, one of the best sources on the Internet for insightful, smartly-written commentary on the latest in music, film, comedy and more. (He’s also the guy who put up with a full week of my snoring at last year’s SXSW, which means he’s either a living saint or a crazy person. I’ll let you be the judge of that). Still, as I discovered in this interview, there’s a lot more to James than even I knew. Instead of boring you any further, I’ll just let the man tell you about himself, in his own words, below.
If you would like to learn more about James, make sure you follow his thoughts and observations on Twitter. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.
H: I think we’re all pretty familiar with who you are and who you work for, but what is your official title here at Haulix, and what does it actually mean you do here?
J: Well my name is James and I am the marketing coordinator here at Haulix. I run organize and execute all social media campaigns, run the blog, research promotion opportunities, and generally do my best to make sure the Haulix brand is being represented well both online and off.
H: Ok, we’ll get back to Haulix in a little bit, but let’s start where you start. Where were you born and raised, and more importantly, what role did music play in your life during those early years?
J: I was born in Bowling Green, Ohio in late 1987. It’s the same day Miley Cyrus was born, and oddly enough many of my earliest memories with my mother and music are when she was a diehard fan of Billy Ray Cyrus. I mean a real fan, like, fan club exclusive windbreaker and everything. She even likes the non ‘Achy Breaky’ albums.
Music has always been a big part of my life. My grandfather was a pastor in the church, and I spent many days roaming the empty pews while he and the choir prepared for the next week’s service. My parents were also big music fans. My mom, as mentioned above, loved country a lot when I was very little. My dad was into rock, both christian and mainstream, and they began taking me to concerts before I was old enough to enter school.
H: What’s the first band you fell in love with? What was it you love(d) about them?
J: The first band I can remember being captivated by is Audio Adrenaline. Specifically, Audio Adrenaline during their ‘Some Kind Of Zombie’ phase. Horror is something I love nearly as much as music, and I look to that band and that record as very formative forces in my early years. They were a christian rock band, but they had an edge and gift for lyrical wordplay that drew me in like no other. We even saw them live at one point, but I barely remember the show.
H: What about your first live music experience? Who did you see, when, where? What stands out about that first show?
J: I touched on this before, but my parents were taking me to music events from a very young age. I cannot pinpoint which was first without calling my mom, but I remember the Audio Adrenaline ‘Some Kind Of Zombie’ tour leaving a big impression on me. They were headlining with the OC Supertones as direct support. Before that, I believe we saw the vocalist Carmen in Toledo, but again – too young to remember. My dad tried to buy me a shirt from the Audio Adrenaline show to mark the occasion, but the only size they had left was adult medium. I didn’t care though, and for the next year or two after that I would sleep in a tour tee from that night.
H: At what point did you know you wanted to make music more than just a hobby? DId you ever pick up an instrument yourself, or did you always know you wanted to be the man behind the curtain, as it were?
J: I think my interest in the music business began with those early concerts, but it wasn’t until I heard Blink-182’s ‘Enema Of The State’ that I felt any drive towards making music my life. Until that album hit my ears music was something I used to connect with the world outside the quiet farming community I called home. My parents bought me a cassette copy of ‘Enema,’ and that same summer I probably spent every other night riding around my town on a bike with headphones in (behavior I no longer encourage – wear a helmet!), screaming along to every line. I felt drawn to the chords and the lifestyle of being yourself the music spoke about, and before long I was signing up for band in school and attending local shows at night.
As far as actually performing is concerned, I was a member of my school band (concert and marching) from middle school until graduation. I also played guitar for a number of years, and even put out a couple solo releases under silly uber-emo names that will remain out of this interview because I don’t need the internet digging up forgotten streams. I played shows, tour the region with friends, and whenever that was not an option I booked shows for friends at a local venue. I was never the greatest booking agent, but I loved being involved in creating entertainment opportunities and realize now those times helped inform the ‘Advice’ columns I now write through Haulix. It all comes back around, I guess.
H: Folks here might only know you from Haulix, but before you started working for the best online music promotion service in the business (it is, isn’t it?), I knew you as the man behind the keyboard at Under The Gun Review. Where did the impetus to start UTG come from? How has that site grown and evolved over the last half-decade?
J: I spent the majority of high school and college doing whatever I could to build my resume in hopes of one day catching the eye of someone in the music industry. At some point during my Sophomore year in college I stumbled across a Facebook post seeking writers for a new music review site called HighBeam Review (RIP). I applied and spent a couple of months writing for them, but ultimately decided to step out on my own after falling in love with a chapter on music from Abbie Hoffman’s ‘Steal This Book.’ He wrote that anyone could gain access to free music from record labels if they were willing to run a zine of their own, and for whatever reason my broke as can be self thought that was the perfect role for me. I gave notice at the site, launched a blogspot after my own name, and about two months registered the Under The Gun URL.
With our sixth anniversary just two months away I must admit the many changes the site has undergone since launch have been on my mind quite a bit as of late. I was the only contributor originally, and at first there was a strict policy against news on the site. I only wrote reviews, and every day a new review would be posted. Over time I realized that reviews alone would not build a community however, and slowly news began to creep into the site. More writers came, new ideas emerged, and now we feature news, reviews, editorials, pictorials, and a few random articles in between. There are nearly 40 contributors spread across the globe, and many of them have been with the site for well over a year. We’re a family as much as we are a team, and we even found time along the way to introduce film coverage into our offerings. It’s been an absolute blast thus far and I cannot wait to see wait year six will hold.
H: You’ve broken a number of stories at Under The Gun Review – it’s a great source for music news. But perhaps even more importantly, Under The Gun frames that news with context, insight, and educated opinion, and that editorial work has been recognized by some of the biggest sites in media. Do you have a particular favorite story or feature that you’ve worked on? Which accolade was the most surprising? The most meaningful? Don’t be shy, toot your horn!
J: First off, thanks for tooting our horn. We try to focus on quality over quantity and never let the chance for easy hits interfere with our desire to offer in-depth insight into the entertainment industry, but it’s admittedly a constant struggle and we appreciate anyone who notices our efforts – good or bad. That said, I often find myself falling in love with features that are not necessarily the most read or widely covered. My greatest joy in doing UTG comes from creating features that I don’t believe would have otherwise existed had our staff not thought to create them. In 2013, a good example of this would be our in-depth interview with Cody Votolato about the early years of The Blood Brothers and what he remembers from the time surrounding the release of ‘Burn, Piano Island, Burn.’ That album has impacted more lives than probably anything I could hope to write, but as the decade mark was approaching it seemed like everyone was fine to let the day pass without a moment of reflection. Our column may not have been our most read interview of the year, but for fans of the band it offered a never-before-shared perspective on their most formative years that many probably never thought they would read. To me, that’s the kind of content sites like UTG should hope to create every day. We know we don’t have access to Miley Cyrus or other ‘in the moment’ stars, but we do have the ability (and time) to craft unique editorials on topics and ideas that bigger publications are forced to pass over for one reason or another. Sometimes we lose sight of how great that is, but we’re getting better at it.
H: One of the things that makes Under The Gun Review unique is that you don’t limit your reporting to music – movies and comedy make up a large part of your coverage. What’s your favorite movie of all time? Is there a story behind your interest in the cinema?
J: My love of cinema, much like my love of music, started very early on. There was a small theater near our home in Ohio that I would frequent with my parents as a child, and for whatever reason I still hold many memories from that location close to my heart. The pain I felt when ‘Aladdin’ was sold out its opening weekend still haunts me.
When it comes to film and UTG, the decision to inject more cinema into the site was one that felt logical from the start. Everything on the site, at least initially, was spawned from my personal interests and tastes. I like to think of myself as someone with a very open mind when it comes to art, and I do my best to seek out new music/film/photography/etc whenever the opportunity presents itself. I figured if there were enough people in the world who agreed enough with my diverse taste in music to read UTG there were probably just as many, if not more, who also loved film. We gave it a go, and as of December 2013 our film coverage is as frequent as our music, with nearly as many reviews being completed in the calendar year as the previous two combined.
Favorite movie is a question I do not take lightly. I have thought about this for many hours, and have gotten into heated arguments with myself over the pros and cons of movies far older than myself as a result. That said, I am confident in my belief there is no greater film in existence today than the 1976 classic, NETWORK. It blew audiences away when it was release, and to this day it holds up on each repeat viewing. The dialogue is crisp, the acting is on point, and the tale of a newsman trying to stay above water in the face of the ever-changing world of media is something I connect with far more than I would ever care to admit. I think everyone who writes about the world probably feels the same. That is, if they’ve seen it.
H: How about comedy? Is there a favorite comedian, or comedy album/special that sparked your interest?
J: My biggest creative inspiration is George Carlin. I have poured over every one of his comedy specials and books at least three times already and I know I will go through it all many more times before my days are done. I found his book, ‘Napalm and Silly Putty’ in my local library in middle school and have been a fan ever since. My parents were (and are) against profanity, so I had to keep his work secretive around the house. Some teen boys have hidden porn collections, but I just had dirty comedy written by the snarkiest grey-haired man I had ever encountered.
H: As long as we’re on the topic, it’s that time of year again… list time! Instead of making you run off a countdown of faves (I imagine you’ll be doing plenty of that regardless), how ‘bout you tell us one artist, movie and comedian that made an impact on you this year but flew under the radar for most? Let us bask in your secondhand cool for a minute, so that we might be cool too.
J: Things that the spotlight we call ‘hype’ missed? Hmm…
Artist: Sledding With Tigers
This is a bit of a selfish pick because my label just agreed to do their debut album, but throughout 2013 I was slowly falling in love with this band. I like to think of them as the love child Kimya Dawson would have if she were impregnated by The Front Bottoms, only slightly more punk.
Movie: The Kings Of Summer
This movie had so much hype leading into summer that I thought it would be a runaway success on the level of ‘Little Miss Sunshine,’ but for one reason or another it got lost in the early june box office shuffle between ‘Now You See Me’ and whatever came out before ‘Man Of Steel.’ Coming of age are almost movies always a safe bet for a good time, but there is a special chemistry shared between the three young men at the center of this story that is nothing short of electrifying to watch. Plus, Nick Offerman appears.
Comedian: Lamont Price
I just saw Lamont perform as an opener for Big Jay Oakerson on New Year’s Eve and he absolutely crushed. His stage presence is very welcoming, making you feel almost like a best friend sitting opposite your over-active, nicely afro’d friend with hilarious stories to share. It’s hard to discuss him too in-depth without giving away bits, but a quick scroll through YouTube will probably give you all the information you need to know.
H: Back to business – along with UTG, you recently spent time with a company called OurStage. What was OurStage, and how did you get involved with them? What was your job there? Tell me about a particularly memorable experience from your time there.
J: I got involved with OurStage after a former UTG contributor suggested I apply for one of their paid internships. I lived in Michigan at the time, but when they asked me to fly out for an interview my parents helped me book a flight the next day. I came out, we talked for about forty-five minutes, and I went home. Two weeks later, while stranding in Arkansas following car trouble on my way back from SXSW, they called and offered me a full time role promoting a new project they were developing. That project eventually died, but I stayed on as social media head for a few additional years. I also worked on the blog, which highlighted the efforts of OS artists as well as those in the mainstream.
In 2012 the company suffered a few financial setbacks, and as a result I was laid off for several weeks. When they called me back to work, an opportunity came up for OS to sponsor a stage on Warped Tour and we leapt at it. I was chosen as the tour manager not long after, and the following summer I accompanied Larry g(EE) across the country for six weeks of shows on the world’s wildest traveling music festival. It was a one-of-a-kind experience that I will never forget.
By the time I returned to the office there had been several more changes to the structure, and I eventually settled into a general marketing position that included my previous efforts in social media and blogging. That lasted another year, and then I decided the time had come for me to move on.
H: OurStage, like most entertainment ventures, ultimately struggled to succeed. Having had a front-row seat to its rise and fall, what lessons did you learn from your OurStage experience that might help Haulix users fare better in their own ventures?
J: OurStage taught me that in order to succeed in the startup world you need a complete offering. OurStage built a streaming platform for exposing people to new music that worked great and proved to be a valuable tool for businesses hoping to leverage music in promotional campaigns. That always worked and will, most likely, continue to work for whatever business builds a similar platform in the future. The problem is that when the company tried to expand it did so in ways that did not always benefit the initial offering. For example, we had a social network element to our site that was never very social.
Haulix offers a far more complete product. We keep your music safe and offer a great streaming platform for journalists, yes, but we also offer all the tools needed to distribute and manage your media in ways that entirely customizable to your needs. We also offer analytics on both email and media engagement. It’s a ‘one stop shop,’ if you will. Having nailed that down, we are now able to refine what we know works while focusing additional time and effort on exploring future updates.
H: Is there anything else I’ve missed? Any other industry-related experience I haven’t mentioned?
J: I do some PR work with The Catalyst Publicity Group.
Oh, and I am one-half of Antique Records. We’re a boutique label based out of Boston that specializes in limited edition releases. We have a dozen or so tapes out right now, as well as great 7” from the band Maura. We just announced plans to release Sledding With Tigers’ debut album in early 2014.
H. You joined Haulix in June of last year. How did you find your way here? Were you a user of the service before you came to work for it, like a modern-day Sy Sperling? What was it about Haulix that intrigued you enough to cast your lot with the service?
J: My role at Haulix came into existence more or less out of my own curiosity about the company. I had been tweeting with Matt (the founder) over the last several years, and one day our conversation built from a basic Twitter chat about the company’s plans to a chain of emails that eventually became the position I have today. Being someone who works online, I’ve learned to appreciate anything nice anyone says about my efforts, and as a result have made it a point to tweet zines/startups I enjoy to let them know they have my support. Haulix has been my favorite platform for music distribution since I first encountered it in 2008, so I had been tweeting to them (and about them) for a number of years before it ever grew into something bigger. When Matt asked me however, I knew right away it was unlikely a company I loved as much as Haulix would come my way again and leapt at the opportunity to add to their efforts.
H: What about a “best practice” here at Haulix? What’s one part of the service you see being underutilized, or misutilized? You folks offer a lot of great tools – what should your users be doing to make sure they’re getting the most out of your offerings?
J: Something I know I am guilty of underutilizing in the past as a journalist is the ability to add comments/review links to your individual promos. Most bloggers I know either email links to PR people or hope someone connected with the release notice their social media promo blitz, but you can directly engage the people responsible for sending you the promos you have review through our service. I’ve included a screenshot to be nerdy/helpful:
H: The music industry is rapidly changing, and between your different positions, you’ve got your finger on the pulse of it. What advice would you give to someone who is just getting started, or is wanting to get started, on a career in the industry? What are the clearest avenues to success? To what do you attribute your own success?
J: I’m a firm believer the best industry minds get their start in their local scene. If they do not have a scene they should consider their first challenge in the business to be creating one. My town lost its only music venue when I was in middle school, but thanks to a very kind family I was given the opportunity to reopen it while still in high school. I booked over two dozen concerts before graduation, working with both local and national talent, and though it closed again shortly after I left for college the experiences made possible by its existence laid the foundation for everything that would follow in my life.
There is no ‘clear avenue to success’ in this business, but those who find a niche they enjoy and dedicate all their effort into doing that thing to the best of their ability are those ones most likely to succeed. There is something to be said for knowing a little bit of everything, but unless you can do a few things incredibly well you will not be very useful for long.
H: Finally, prognosticate a little. Where does the industry go from here? Where do you see Haulix in five years, and where do you see yourself?
J: To be honest, it’s really hard to guess what the industry will be like five years from now. It seems more and more artists are moving away from the traditional album release format, and I think in the long run that is probably best for a lot of talent currently working the unsigned music circuit. More often than not albums seem to end up being underwhelming and turn away people who may have been sold on the group if they had chosen to release one song at a time, or even a couple of tracks every few months.
As for Haulix, I believe the sky is the limit. We have been consistently growing for a number of years and we would like to continue doing so for as long as possible. We will be launching our mobile platform this year, and there are several additional developments we are currently considering. Can’t let those secrets out just yet!
My biggest goals right now are to stay the course with my current projects and see just how far they can develop. Working at Haulix is a dream come true, and the fact it allows me time to also write freelance on the side is something I certainly do not take for granted. I would be perfectly happy never working in a conventional office setting again.
Hello and welcome to another week of music industry insight and advice here on the official blog of Haulix. We have had an incredible January thus far, but there is a part of us that believes the best content may still be on the horizon. If you like what you see and want to be involved in a future article on this site, please do not hesitate to email james@haulix.com and share your story. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
In a world where there are literally dozens of new music blogs popping up every month it can be hard to choose a name for your digital publication that sticks out to readers in our increasingly-distracted world. Don De Leaumont overcame this hurdle by branding his efforts The Great Southern Brainfart, and in the interview below he shares with us the realization of a dream nearly three decades in the making.
Dreams are quite amazing when you think about it. They come to us when we’re least expecting it and drive us to do things we would otherwise never consider. They live in our souls, propelling us forward on life’s journey and helping us choose which paths to take next without ever providing us with any guarantee of success. We pursue them in spite of this because to not act would be to live a life unfulfilled, and that is a fate far worse than death.
Don De Leaumont has been pursuing his dreams of a life in music since he was very young. Inspired by the record collection of a close friend’s older brother, Don picked up a guitar in his youth and never looked back. As he grew older he realized he also had a passion for music discussion, and not long after The Great Southern Brainfart came into existence. It’s a place Don can share his thoughts on music and engage with others who seek discussion beyond daily headlines, and truth be told it’s one of our favorite heavy music blogs to frequent.
If you would like to learn more about Don and his adventures in the world of hard rock we highly recommend visiting The Great Southern Brainfart on a regular basis. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.
H: For the record, give us your name, job title, and the publication you’re here to discuss:
D: Sure, my name is Don de Leaumont and the site is called The Great Southern Brainfart.
H: [laughs]
D: That’s pretty much the reaction everyone gives. I’m the head of the site and pretty much do everything.
H: Let’s start with your history. What are the earliest memories you have of your life with music?
D: Well I grew up in New Orleans, so music was everywhere. For as long as I can remember my parents were playing music in the house. They weren’t musicians, but there was always music. We had a stereo in every room. A lot of singer/songwriter and folk music. They liked Crosby, Stills, and Nash type stuff – not exactly the hippie stuff. Also, because of New Orleans I grew up with a lot of jazz music. Dr. John and things like that. Music was always a constant.
H: So it’s safe to say it was always an influence on you?
D: Definitely, and I think I get my opinionated side from my dad. [laughs] He was a bit of a music snob, so I think it runs in my blood.
H: Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money?
D: Probably Michael Jackson’s Thriller. I turned 40 this year, so that came out a time when people my age were really getting into music. It was huge!
H: You write primarily about metal, so when did that genre become a part of your life?
D: I never had an older brother, but I had a cool friend with an older brother. I think it was around 83 and my friend’s brother was really into metal. I remember hearing it from next door and wanting to know what it was he was listening to. I asked him and he told me a bunch of artists to listen to. It wasn’t just one record, but Dio, then Sabbath, then Ratt. I think I went home the next day with five records, including Twisted Sister and Motley Crue. That was when music really opened up for me.
H: Can you pinpoint the moment you began to consider a career in music?
D: I’m also a musician. When I discovered those records from that friend’s brother I was pulled into the world of guitar and Twisted Sister is when I realized it was what interested me. Writing about music though I would probably say happened closer to 88. I loved rock magazines, but I always thought they never asked the questions I would want to ask someone. I would read interviews and come up with things I would have added if I were having the conversation.
I never really pursued writing until the blogging age came around. About 4 or 5 years ago I decided to try my hand at it and that’s what I have been doing ever since.
H: So, let’s talk about the name. What is the story behind The Great Southern Brainfart?
D: As you may have noticed I pretty much have diarrhea of the mouth when talking and fingers when typing stuff. Everything about me just kind of comes flying out of me. The title is a spin on the Pantera album, The Great Southern Trend Kill. It just kind of stuck with me and personified who I was. I never thought or imagined I would be called ‘The Brainfart,’ but it just kind of happened. I roll with it. [Laughs]
H: How would you explain your site to someone who has never visited it before?
D: It’s not your typical news site. I don’t do copy/paste headlines and news blurbs and I pride myself on original content. When you come to the site you’re going to see interviews conducted by me, reviews written by me, editorials by me, and so on. When I’m talking to someone about it I say “When you want to read about music, but don’t care to read the same headlines floating around every else online you should come to the site.” It’s kind of like my lunch table. We sit around and talk about music. If you don’t like it, step up and say something. We can debate it. I love to do that!
H: What would you say are your goals with the site?
D: I don’t do it to monetize or otherwise make money. I look at it like I look at playing music: It’s a place to getaway for myself and my readers. It’s place to voice my opinions on music and you know, stir the pot a little. I think a lot of people play it safe or nice, and I want the site to be a place where I discuss music like in the same way I would talk to my best friend.
H: Have you thought about expanding your staff?
D: I have had a few friends work for me as contributors over the years. I am going to be working with some more in the year to come, but for the most part I feel like some of my favorite sites began to lose my interest when they had too many hands in the pot. You can lose control of the quality. I’m sure that’s subjective though, just like everything else, but the site is my baby and I like to be in control of the content featured on it. I want to keep things as consistent as possible.
H: When it comes to receiving albums for review/feature purposes, which services do you prefer and why?
D: It may sound corny, but I honestly believe there is nothing better than Haulix. When I first started I was receiving boxes of CDs for consideration,a nd after a while it became a bit overwhelming. A site like Haulix simplifies everything. I get an email, login, and from there can not only stream the album I went there for, but also see every other release sent my way from people using Haulix. It’s all in one place, and I can preview materials before downloading or reviewing them.
Some labels and PR groups use their own services, which can be cool, but I love Haulix because it’s all in one place. There are so many people asking for coverage that it’s nice to have it all accessible from one source.
H:What is your ultimate career goal?
D: To be honest, at some point I think it would be fun to write a book about my adventures. I’m only five years in at this point, but maybe in another five years I will write about my adventures in music. Maybe only a few people would find it interesting, but I think it would be fun.
Otherwise, I’ve thought about expanding to podcasts, but at the end of the day I want to have a site that people enjoy coming to. I want to entertain my readers and offer them something different than what can be found on other sites online.
H: Okay, we’ve reached the end of our time together. What can you tell us about your plans for 2014?
D: I think 2014 is going to be a really fun year. Every year has been better than the one before, and I think this one is going to have a lot of shows and a lot of interviews. I am going to aim higher with my coverage and try to work with some bigger names than I have in the past. I want to create better content and push myself to do more in general.
H: That sounds great. Before we let you go, any final thoughts?
D: If you’re looking online and you don’t like what you’re reading, start your own damn site. Start a revolution all your own. It doesn’t have to be a big thing. If you have a voice, use it, and don’t hold back!
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the second and final Blogger Spotlight feature of the week. We have a special column planned for later this week and thought a two-day celebration of writers would be a good way to kickoff December. If you have a suggestion for a future column on this blog, or if have questions about Haulix and the services we offer, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
The best websites are only as good as their contributors, and right now in alternative music it is hard to come across a more diverse and talented team than that of Mind Equals Blown. We’ve already told you about the early days of the site, but today we’re going to learn about life in one of the industry’s fastest-growing blogs from the perspective of a contributor who is just starting to find his footing in the music business.
Tyler Sharp is one of the first writers to be featured on this blog that we discovered through our efforts with this very series. We saw Tyler’s name come up when looking at social sharing numbers from recent articles and quickly sought out his work as a writer. When we realized he was part of Mind Equals Blown we knew he had a story to share, and fortunately for us he was kind enough to let us in his journey thus far.
Making a name for yourself in music today is harder than ever, and while writing is definitely a good way to get your foot in the door it can also take years to offer any true returns for your effort. Tyler’s talents have already given him a leg up against his peers, and I have no doubt he’ll continue to succeed in whatever avenues of the business he chooses to pursue in the future. If you would like to informed on everything he has going on, make sure you bookmark and frequent Mind Equals Blown. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.
H: For the record, please state your name, position, and the site(s) you write for:
TS: Tyler Sharp, News Director, Mind Equals Blown.
H: To who or what do you attribute your interest in music? Writing?
TS: Musically, it was the band Underoath who really peaked my interest and essentially helped mold into the person I am today. They were the first band that introduced me to not only heavy music, but music outside of pop culture. As for writing, I have always been an avid reader. I love telling stories and I believe there is an important story to be told with music – I’m just trying to help write it.
H: When you think of your earliest memories with music, what comes to mind?
TS: Growing up I was always surrounded by the music my parents listened to (Led Zepplin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Fleetwood Mac, etc.), but I never initially took a liking to music. It wasn’t until I was in the fourth grade sitting in my living room watching Green Day perform their single “American Idiot” on the Grammy’s, that I really began my journey with music. The rest is history, I suppose you could say.
H: An interest in music is fairly common, but a desire to make a career in it is something else entirely. Do you recall the first time you realized the entertainment business was the place for you?
TS: As a matter of fact, I do. I was a Junior in high school, finally realizing that performing in a band for the rest of my life wasn’t exactly the most practical life choice. I had always enjoyed reading reviews of albums and interviews with bands and it just hit me that I could do that. I had never really thought about it before, but it literally hit me like a deer in the headlights one day, and I’ve been working towards my goal of a making a career out of it ever since.
H: You’re currently a resident of Indiana, which is not exactly the first place that comes to mind when people think of the music industry. What can you tell us about your local scene and how you first got your start networking in the business?
TS: I live in the Northwest part of the state, about an hour outside of Chicago. The music scene is somewhat confusing around here. Allow me to explain: Unfortunately, there is a lot of judgement and division. We have the hardcore kids, pop-punk kids, deathcore kids and everyone in between, but it just doesn’t seem like anyone can find a common ground. If your band doesn’t sound a certain way and or you don’t dress a certain way, then you don’t “fit in.” I know this situation isn’t unique to NWI, it’s just extremely disheartening to see so much seclusion in a scene that is supposedly built upon acceptance. Don’t get me wrong, there are some very good-hearted, reputable people here (kids, bands and promoters alike), it’s just discouraging that you have to search for them.
H: Onto your work with MindEqualsBlown. When did you first learn of MEB, and what lead you to apply for a contributor position?
TS: It was around January of last year when I first heard of MEB. At the time, I was operating my own music news-based website, The Scene As We Know It. I realized that while I loved owning a website and having others writing for me, I just wasn’t happy with the situation anymore – it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I felt like TSAWKI had run its course and I had the opportunity to open a new door, so I began searching around for a new website to contribute my efforts to. I first came across MEB in a forum on AbsolutePunk. I checked out the site multiple times before applying, weighing my options. I finally decided that I really liked what they were doing and felt as though I could bring some new opportunities to the table for them – so I applied and am currently coming up on my one year anniversary.
H: There are a lot of sites in existence covering the areas of music MEB is known for. What is it about the content offered by MEB that sets you apart from the competition?
TS: A good portion of our content is editorial based. I’ve noticed a lot of sites out there right now are more concerned about quantity, rather than quality, in regards to content. We try to tackle the major stories and issues in the industry today, but with a more in depth look than other sites may offer. Even our news stories offer not only the story itself, but our opinion and the chance for you to voice yours as well.
H: Like many bloggers, you do not get paid your efforts. Why do it?
TS: It may sound cliche, but I really do just love it. I love working with bands and PR people and setting up exclusives and premieres. I always get this underlying excitement when we break a huge news story or premiere a brand new song for a band. Seeing how much impact I have as a writer on the industry, even if it’s just a little bit here and there, just makes it all worth it.
H: What is the biggest misconception people have about the music industry?
TS: I think a lot of people see the music industry as this idealistic place where everyone plays nice and there’s never any controversy. The music industry is essentially a battle ground and you have fight for everything you can get, because there are a hundred people right behind you reaching for the same goals.
H: In addition to working on MEB, what steps are you taking to further your pursuit of a career in music?
TS: I’m currently attending Purdue University North Central for a degree in Communications. I’m really hoping to make a career out of writing, and I thoroughly believe music is where I’m supposed to be – so we’ll just see where it goes!
H: As someone who writes a lot of news, what is the most comment mistake you see artists make when trying to get the attention of journalists?
TS: Being unsociable. Let’s face it, a generic press-release template that says your band rocks like so-and-so and has shared the stage with so-and-so really doesn’t have much impact on me – and I’m sure I’m not alone. Bands need to get more personable; talk to me about your band, ask about the website, show me that you actually care about getting your name out there. There are too many outfits out there that just assume they deserve all the publicity in the world because they released a somewhat well-produced single, or went on a two week run with one of their “biggest inspirations.” It’s okay to be confident about your band (that’s good), but when you come off as arrogant or conceited, you’ll soon find that you’re not going to get anywhere fast.
H: If you could offer one piece of advice to artists hoping for more exposure on sites, what would it be?
TS: Like I said above, get personable. Talk with people and make connections. Meeting people and making new acquaintances is a huge perk about being involved in music, and I think a lot of people overlook that sometimes. Almost everyone involved in the industry has some sort of online presence, get in contact and open some doors for your band. Sending me a mass message on Facebook telling me to check out your band because you saw that I ‘Like’ this band or that band doesn’t exactly make me want to look into yours. Spark up an actual conversation and see where it goes.
H: When it comes to receiving music for review purposes, which services do you prefer and why?
TS: To be completely honest, Haulix is the only one I’ve ever used! I really love how all the materials are so easy to access and the new password integration is a very nice addition. It’s simple, straight to the point, and just enjoyable to work with.
H: What is your ultimate career goal?
TS: This is a tough question considering I don’t know exactly where I want to go with my career as of yet. I suppose in a perfect world, after I graduate I’ll find myself working for a large music-based publication, following bands around while they’re on tour and writing feature articles on them. Traveling is something I’ve always wanted to do, and fortunately enough, it seems to go hand-in-hand with music.
H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
TS: I would definitely change the divisions between genres and fan bases. I mean, I get that if you’re a Trapped Under Ice fan, you’re not necessarily going to jam the new Black Veil Brides record and actually enjoy or respect it. Nonetheless, that doesn’t mean there has to be this large gap between fan-bases. If you don’t like a certain band or type of music, don’t listen to them; don’t discriminate against a person because of their musical likings.
H: Before we let you go, do you have anything else you would like to share with our readers?
TS: Come talk to me about your band, who knows, maybe you’ll end up on MindEqualsBlown!
Hello and welcome to a brand new week of music industry insight and advice here on the official blog of Haulix. December has officially arrived, and we’re doing our best to squeeze in as much content before the new year as humanly possible. If you have a suggestion for a column or article you would like to see on the blog, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook
Shortly after launching our Blogger Spotlight series we began asking readers to submit recommendations of sites and writers they would like to see featured in the months ahead. We read every single request received, and to be perfectly honest have sent emails to every single person requested. Music is a busy industry though, and a number of people are simply too busy to dedicate time to features such as those hosted on this blog. We remain hopeful we’ll get them all however, and today one of our most requested names finally makes her debut after months of scheduling hurdles.
Teri Cwiek is a photographer, interviewer, and all-round contributing badass to the PupFresh team. Along with her fellow writers Teri has carved a unique niche in the world of alternative music blogging that has evolved in recent years to include nearly every corner of pop culture, and in today’s feature interview we aim to learn the story of how it all came together. You can read about her journey in the industry below.
PupFresh has been on my radar since its early days, but Teri is someone I’ve only recently gotten to know. Her dedication to providing readers with timely coverage of breaking news and first listens to the hottest new talent is inspirational to writers of all ages, and based on what she tells us in the paragraphs below it seems clear she has plenty more accomplishments on the horizon. If you would like to stay updated with everything Teri is working on, be sure to bookmark and frequent PupFresh. 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 you currently represent:
TC: My name is Teri Cwiek. I’m a photographer, interviewer, and “the nice one” at PupFresh.com
H: We like to start these interviews by learning a bit about the blogger’s past. When you think of your relationship with music, what are the earliest memories that come to mind?
TC: I grew up listening to a mixture of big band jazz and hip hop music, mainly due to the amount of dance groups I was apart of when I was younger. On myspace it was really cool to go to shows, at least in my home town, so I followed that trend and started making friends there.
H: Moving ahead just a bit, do you recall the first album you purchased with your own money? Do you still own it today?
TC: If I’m being completely forreal, it was either Destiny’s Child’s ‘Destiny Fulfilled’ or Hilary Duff’s “Metamorphosis”, both came out right around when I was in 4th grade. Unfortunately, I don’t have either. I still consider myself an active Destiny’s Child fan though.
H: How about first concert? Who did you see, who did you go with, and what do you remember about the event?
TC: I think it was Panic! At The Disco with The Hush Sound, Motion City Soundtrack, and Phantom Planet. I went with my father who was super terrified of me going into the general admission pit. He made me wear this obnoxious paisley silk beanie so he could keep an eye on me while standing at the back of the floor area.
H: Having an interest in music is pretty common for teens and twenty-somethings, but deciding to pursue a career in the business of music is something else entirely. When did you know a career in music was something that interested you?
TC: I’ve always been the type of person to get super involved in activities for short bursts of times. I competitively danced (ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, Polish) for 14 years, baseball took up about 5 years of my life, I decided my junior year of high school that I wanted to join every single academically competitive club. I started going to shows in 8th grade and since then music has always weaved back into my life after I lost interest in the other hobbies, so it’s been pretty constant for the past 5 or so years.
H: We should mention photography is just as important, if not more important than journalism is in your life. To whom or what do you attribute your interest in photography?
TC: When I started doing press at shows, it was strictly interviews only. I wanted absolutely nothing to do with the photo side of things, there was way too much drama between other photographers. I accidentally signed up for a photography class in my sophomore year of high school and I had the worst work ethic in the class possible. Actually…I’m pretty sure I nearly failed (or came awfully close to failing) my first semester of it. I would always attempt assignments then give up halfway through because I thought I wasn’t good at it. My teacher entered a handful of my photos into a national competition and I won more than I should’ve, given my poor attitude in the class. I remember my counselor sat me down during class one day and was like “Teri, I don’t get how you can win 5 national awards for photos you took but fail Intro to Photography. Do the work I know you can do.” So I stopped comparing myself to other photographers and just started doing whatever I wanted, including mixing my love for music into the whole thaaaang.
H: We know gear heads love these columns, so please tell us: What is your current photo setup?
TC: But that takes away from the magic! I currently shoot with a Canon 5D Mark II and Canon Rebel T3i with a 35mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.8, and a 15mm f/2.8 fisheye. I have an external flash that I’ve been messing around with for the past year, but it’s definitely not in my core setup.
H: Onto the site. When did you first join the PupFresh team, and what was the application process like?
TC: I joined Pup Fresh in September of 2011, about 6 months after Dan and Willy converted their wrestling fan blog into Pup Fresh. The application process was far from anything official, haha. At the time, I worked for an incredibly small blog called Shameless Media that had a whole lot of beef with Pup Fresh. Basically, my old boss would always tell me how much Dan/Willy/Pup Fresh hated our guts, so I avoided them as much as I could. It wasn’t until I was sitting inside a cafe before doors for a Jack’s Mannequin show in Toledo when I talked to Dan for the first time in person, instead of just angry Tumblr messages. To cut an incredibly long story short, Dan realized that I wasn’t as bitchy as my website made me seem and we became friends from the whole misconception, and that friendship turned into him stealing me away from Shameless Media. Dan’s version of the story includes him becoming best friends with my little brother over their love of wrestling, but I think my version’s a little more accurate.
H: There are a number of alternative blogs and publications in existence. What made you decide to join PupFresh instead of pursuing other, arguably bigger opportunities?
TC: I wanted to stay with something small and local, in the show coverage sense. My last website had a huge staff (over 20 photographers alone!) and I would always get denied interviews for tours because there would already be multiple other people covering the same shows…for photos only. It was a complete mess to say the least. With Pup Fresh, our show coverage is based in Michigan so it’s a lot more orderly.
H: How would you describe the average PupFresh reader?
TC: We definitely have a more younger crowd than the average music blog in the scene.
H: You’ve become a very integral part of the site over the last couple of years. How many people contribute to the site regularly?
TC: We’re actually a pretty small site, given our size and growth over the last few years. Dan and I are the only ones who cover shows. Willy, Emily, and Pup Jess are on news. We recently hired a handful of album/movie reviewers and a fashion blogger. I’d say we have just over 10 people working on the site in total.
H: PupFresh has widened its coverage from alternative music to include pop culture items such as movie and television news. When did the site begin to evolve from a simple music outlet, and what inspired the change?
TC: We’ve actually always been pretty open about covering entertainment items. Before Beau Bokan (from Blessthefall) gave us us the motto “Sassy Music News”, our slogan was “80% Music, 20% Entertainment, 100% Fresh.”
H: If you had to pitch PupFresh to someone interested in discovering a new website, how would you do it?
TC: We actually have a voice to our site and always try to twist every news post into something sarcastic, even if it’s at the expense of our professionalism. I understand the concept of being professional in the music industry, but there comes a point where you have to realize that most music blogs are hosted off of Tumblr.
We’re also very straight to the point with most of our posts, which is something that I definitely find to be a positive quality. If one of my favorite artists are releasing a new album, just give me a couple sentences maximum to describe what’s going on and I’ll be happy. I’m actually not a huge fan of album reviews, even though we feature them on a regular basis. I’m not one for fluff, especially in press releases or album reviews…probably because English/grammar rules have never been my strong suit. Tyler, The Creator once said in an interview (addressing his goal to start a fashion/photography/skateboard/music magazine) that album reviews are the biggest bullshit ever, saying something like “I’d rather see an article with a single ‘Yo, this shit was dope…check it out’ comment than an entire page-long writeup about how this album’s some *insert cliche phrase here.*” You’ll find that I connect with Tyler, The Creator on a regular basis.
H: I noticed there is a bit of advertising on PupFresh. Do you or anyone else on staff make money working on the site?
TC: Dan and Willy split the money made from advertisements on the site.
H: PupFresh has developed a strong brand in the realm of video content, which is becoming increasingly competitive by the day. What do you think it is about the content you offer that keeps people coming back for more?
TC: I’ve always loved video content over written interviews and features. Especially in a time where everything is either screen capped or gif-ed on all social media sites, video content is just so much more interesting. A lot of our interviews are focused on the artist specifically, not just the music their band makes. Not saying the music aspect isn’t important, it definitely is. There’s other websites where you can go for interviews discussing the process of choosing a producer for a certain album, but we choose to talk about the the members themselves. We don’t take it to the extent of making every question about porn star names and dick jokes, though. Over the summer we did an interview with Elliott Gruenberg from Blessthefall, called “The Elliott Interview”, where we basically just had a conversation with him and recorded it. Elliott doesn’t do press that often, so it was great to show fans of the band a side of him that most don’t normally see. That interview’s probably in my top 5 I’ve done.
H: There are a number of unsigned bands who get their first taste of media exposure through PupFresh. Where do you look when hoping to discover new music?
TC: The Pup Fresh inbox delivers a ton of music emails daily, as well as our social media in general. We can post a tweet like “what bands should we check out?” and get a ton of response back. A dedicated fan base is something we look for as well, of course after the music aspect has been checked out.
H: If you could offer one piece of advice to bands hoping to find their way onto the frontpage of PupFresh, what would it be?
TC: Don’t treat Pup Fresh like it’s a huge professional website, we’re a PupFreshional music blog. Yeah, a 6-page press release on a 3-song EP might get you posted on more formal sites, but with us it’ll probably get skipped if I’m being completely honest.
H: When it comes to receiving music for reviews/feature consideration, which distribution services do you prefer and why?
TC: Being a video person, I love getting YouTube links to music videos or live recorded features. I’ve gotten a few tracks sent to me over Spotify, and that was pretty cool too since I have a premium account and am on it constantly. This might sound like a huge plug because this interview is for the Haulix blog, but I actually do enjoy Haulix’s services. One of the first times I remember using Haulix was for The Front Bottom’s newest album. I’m a huuuge Front Bottoms fan and was so stoked to get the album so I jammed it on repeat for days. We actually got an email from their publicist (Hey, Rey!) a couple days after he sent the link, wondering if I had shared it with anyone else because the play count was high enough that it got flagged as might being leaked. Embarrassingly enough, all the play counts didn’t only belong to just the staff of Pup Fresh…but just me. Even though that experience outed my inner Front Bottoms mega fan, I found that feature quite awesome. Haulix just makes everything so much easier.
H: PupFresh is not your only role in the industry, but it’s certainly a big one. What is your ultimate career goal?
TC: That’s a huge question, especially because I’m only 19. Last year I went to school to get into PR and management, but it wasn’t really what I expected. Right now I’m going to focus in the photo and video aspect of the industry because that’s where my heart’s at. One of my goals for awhile was to tour and I’m actually accomplishing that right now on the Pup Fresh tour with The Big Time, Late Nite Reading, Jocelyn, and 7 Minutes In Heaven.
H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
TC: Another huge question. There’s so many of my favorite bands that had so much potential but didn’t sell enough albums to continue comfortably so they broke up/went on hiatus. This is really cheesy, but I wish there was a way to focus the industry less on album sales/sales in general. I know that’s stupid to say because it wouldn’t be an industry without that aspect, but I’m sick of seeing actual talent stop trying because they didn’t have the reach as other artists.
H: Before we let you go, do you have any additional thoughts you’d like to share with our readers?
TC: I think that wraps it up! I feel like a lot of people have a huge misunderstanding with Pup Fresh, unfortunately. Too PupFreshional to care.
Hello and welcome to a new week of music industry insight and advice here on the official blog of Haulix. We have a lot of great content planned for the days ahead, including the interview you’ll read following the paragraphs below. If you have a suggestions for a future installment of this series, or if you have any questions regarding our services, please do not hesitate to email james@haulix.com. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
Life has this hilarious tendency to do whatever it wants regardless of your plans or intentions, and while that can often be a frightening prospect it can also be one of the most exciting. For Dan Salter, life changed forever on a wet evening in London back in 2008. It was there he and his friends first had the idea to launch a music zine that told the world about all the obscure bands they had grown to love and admire, and in the years that followed Dan would discover a calling in life that has brought him international acclaim.
I had not spoken with Dan Salter prior to setting up this feature, but his work with Echoes & Dust is something that has been on my radar for a number of years. He’s always been a great writer with a unique perspective on life and it only makes sense that he eventually found his way to leading the editorial team at his site. His story is certainly one-of-a-kind, and it’s an honor to share it with you this afternoon.
If you would like to stay up-to-date with everything Dan and his team of contributors have going on, make sure you bookmark and frequent Echoes & Dust. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.
H: State your name, job title, and the publication you currently write for:
D: Dan Salter, Editor in Chief & founder of Echoes & Dust.
H: Let’s start at the beginning. Do you remember the first time you recognized your love for music?
D: My parents were both huge music fans (Mum saw the Stones in Hyde Park in 69 & went to the first Glastonbury) so music has always been a part of my life. I grew up listening to all the classic bands of the 60s & 70s, Zeppelin, Stones, Floyd, Hendrix, Joplin etc but also Roxy Music, The Police, Blondie and the like. They took me & my brother to festivals from an early age so lets face it, my fate was always sealed!
H: What was the first album you purchased with your own money? Do you still own it today?
D: Haha, it was a vinyl copy of Dire Straits – Brothers In Arms. I was about 14 & yes, it’s still kicking around somewhere.
H: Are you a journalist professionally, or do you write about music as a hobby?
D: it’s purely a hobby, I have a day job too & so do all the fantastic guys who give up their free time to write for us.
H: Journalism is an interesting path for anyone to choose in life. What lead you to becoming a writer?
D: I’ve always had a penchant for words, I was a voracious reader as a kid and a lyricist in bands when I was younger but becoming a ‘music writer’ was something that grew out of the frustration of a small group of friends that found there weren’t any website dedicated to the kind of obscure indie music we liked. One day we decided to stop moaning about it & start one ourselves, thus E&D was born and overnight I’d become a music journalist & editor!
H: Who or what inspires you as a writer?
D: That’s a hugely tough question to answer with words. The easiest thing would be to take you on a tour of my music collection & shout ‘THIS’ and ‘THIS’ at you. It’s that moment when you hear something for the first time & it makes your soul resonate, it’s that feeling when something hits you out of the blue & you know it’s going to be your new favourite thing. That’s what I live for & that’s what makes me want to write about it, I want other people to share that feeling.
H: When people ask you about your site, how do you explain the coverage offered?
D: We have a phrase on the team that we feel fits perfectly; wilfully obscure. Our approach has always been to go out of our way to cover things that don’t get much column inches elsewhere, to face away from the crowd & highlight musicians doing the same. We like music that challenges & provokes. That probably sounds massively pretentious! In less high falutin terms, we cover a broad range of genres, everything from post rock, math rock, ambient electronica, dream pop, the whole church of metal, space rock, glitch; you get the picture.
H: I noticed the story of the site’s origin involves a group of friends deciding to work together. How many contributors do you have at this point? What do you look for in new recruits?
D: Yes, originally there were 5 of us that got the site up & running but sadly life commitments mean that I’m the only one left from that original crew contributing on a regular basis. We have something like 50 writers now but their level on contribution ranges from smashing out 2 or 3 reviews a week to people who only write that in a year. All we generally ask of people is to have a passion for the music & the time to write about it, although the ability to string a sentence together is a bonus! We’ve been very lucky, over the years we’ve managed to find a bunch of very talented, dedicated people who get a kick out of writing about music & believe in what were doing. Without their contributions & the help of Sander, Ben & Hannah (Metal, Features & Live editors respectively) I wouldn’t been able to sustain this for 5 years.
H: I noticed there is little-to-no news offered on Echoes And Dust. Was this always the case?
D: More or less. It’s something we’ve considered from time to time but on a basic time & resource to benefit calculation it doesn’t stack up for us. There are plenty of sites that offer news & we see little point in adding to the cacophony as it would mean we couldn’t do some of the other stuff we do. Anything that we do want to give our readers ‘news’ on we tend to run through our Facebook page rather than the site.
H: There is an ever-growing amount of competition for attention in the music blog arena. How do you marketing Echoes and Dust?
D: We don’t really ‘market’ the site. We’ve never paid for advertising or anything like that. Most of our growth has come as a direct result in the growth of both the quantity and, I hope, the quality of our output. We have something of a symbiotic relationship with the bands, labels and PRs for the music we cover & hope that they spread the word about us as we spread it about them. It seems to work.
H: From what I can tell there is no paid advertising on the site. Do you have any plans to monetize moving forward? If so, how?
D: Again this is something we’ve discussed ad nauseum between the team. For the moment we’ve decided against it. The running costs of the site a relatively low and something I don’t mind paying as it allows me to do all this cool stuff so it’s not an issue right now. If we get to a size where the traffic means that costs rise then we’ll have another think but for now we’re happy as we are.
H: Your site seems to have a local focus, but you’ve undoubtedly begun to build an international audience. How do you balance catering to both demographics?
D: By not really thinking about location too much. We live in a globalised digital environment (kill me now!) where physical location is almost meaningless. We have writers all over the world from Melbourne to Johannesburg to Rome to Edinburgh & so on & we get submissions from an even wider range of places (we covered a metal band from Andorra the other day) so we just try & judge things on the merits of the music & not where it’s from. These days we get nearly as much traffic from overseas, especially the US, as we do from the UK.
H: What is your ultimate career goal?
D: Oh god, i feel like I’m a job interview now & I never have an answer for this then! As well as running E&D my partner Hannah & I run Cognitive Dissonance which is an umbrella for a small record label, a little bit of PR and a business building websites and Hannah plays in Rumour Cubes, who have just started recording their 2nd album, but we’re realistic enough to know unless we’re lucky none of this will let us give up our day jobs so just having a job that pays the bills & gives us enough free time to be involved in music in some small way is enough for now.
H: When it comes to receiving music for review and feature consideration, which services do you prefer and why?
D: Haha, is this the bit where I’m meant to big up Haulix?! 😉 honestly though, digitally delivery systems like Haulix have made this job so much easier. I’d say 95% of sub,is ions are delivered to us digitally in some fashion now & we prefer it that way. Makes it much easier to distribute to the writers. In fact it’s got to the point where sending us something physical is actually detrimental to something’s chances of getting covered. That’s not to say we’re not advocates of physical products though, digital is just easier for reviewing.
H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
D: Again with the huge questions! Just one thing? Almost impossible! The industry is at a really interesting point of flux at the moment & know one can really know where it’s going to go, although there are plenty of theories. So, if there was just one thing I could change it would be to see that musicians & artists get fairly paid for the art they create. At the moment we’re a long way from that.
H: You talk a lot about the future. Before we let you go, can you tell us a bit about what you have planned in the months ahead?
D: Obviously we’re coming up to the end of 2013 now & by our reckoning it’s been a pretty stellar year for music, so we’ll be having plenty of activity around that with some interesting interviews & features on people that have really impressed us this year. One thing we’re just putting together now, and something we’re very proud of doing, is a new feature strand called Musical Therapy in which we are going to explore the relationships between music and mental health, We’re getting contributions from across the spectrum of artists, writers & fans and getting them to share their views on how music has helped them, or otherwise, with mental health issues. Ultimately we want to shine a light on how prevalent these problems are in the creative sector & perhaps, if we’re lucky, remove some of the stigma attached to something that a lot off pepole suffer.
Hello and welcome to another edition of the Haulix Industry Spotlight series. This column exists to celebrate the hardworking individuals who keep the music industry alive, often for very little – if any – pay, day in and day out. We believe by sharing the stories of those who are actively working in music we can help inspire and guide a new generation of industry professionals to success careers in entertainment. If you have a site, publication, or writer you feel would be a good fit for this series, please do not hesitate to contact james@haulix.com and share your story.
Over the last five years, the two fastest growing trends in digital journalism have been original video content and podcasting. So far, this series has done a fine job of highlighting individuals who saw the demand for video content rising and met it with high-quality results, but it recently dawned on us that we have done a rather terrible job of covering those who exists in the world of internet radio. This post is the first of many in the coming months to focus on individuals working in this area, and I do not think we could have picked a better person to kick things off.
There has been a sharp rise in music-related internet radio shows over the last year or two, but five years ago the market for such programming was relatively non-existent. Seeing an opportunity to reach music fans in a way few had tried, John Rankin launched New Music Inferno as a way to share the music he loved with others, and over time built one of the most engaging outlets for unsigned/independent music on the net. Today we share his journey, and it’s one I guarantee you do not want to miss.
If you would like to stay up-to-date with everything John is working on, make it a point to bookmark New Music Inferno as soon as you are able. Additional comments and/or questions can be left at the end of this post.
H: For those unaware, please state your name, the company you work for, and your role at said business:
JR: Hi Everyone! I am John “J.R.” Rankin. I am the sole owner & operator of New Music Inferno. I book all of the artists,produce the show and promote it all.
H: What was the first album you purchased with your own money?
JR: My first record that I bought with my own money was “The Slim Shady LP” by Eminem.
H: Everyone finds their own way into the music business. What first attracted you to this industry?
JR: I found my way into the music industry, just by being passionate about music. I used to be an F.Y.E. employee and worked there for 7 ½ years. I always would just browse through the random bands we’d get through shipment that most of the people working there(including myself) would have no clue about due to them being newer bands.
H: You’re the first radio host we have featured! Well, are you a radio host? A podcaster? How do you explain New Music Inferno to people?
JR: New Music Inferno is an online radio show/podcast(even though its not broadcasted like a terrestrial station). I consider myself to be both. I used to do college radio. I haven’t had a chance to be on “mainstream radio” but that is one of my goals to have happen with this and my personal career goals.
H: The name New Music Inferno is quite unique. What inspired the name? Were there any other titles considered before you settled on that one?
JR: The name just came to me after the original name had to go do to some negative connotation. The show was originally called The Extasy Drop host by myself under the moniker known as Eron Extacy. The name of New Music Inferno fits so much better and is much more well excepted by industry people around the world.
H: Most the people we’ve spoken with started a site to share their thoughts on music with the world, but few have gone so far as to use their actual voice to share said thoughts. What inspired you to start a radio show?
JR: I was always interested in doing radio as a career and I knew I needed to somehow get my name out to the world. It’s been a slow process but been very pleasing to me and to many of my guests as a lot of them enjoy coming back onto the show to chat and have fun.
H: Did you ever consider a companion website? If not, do you foresee NMI evolving in any way in the years ahead?
JR: I actually did have a website of newmusicinferno.com for about three years but couldn’t really get anything started with it due to time and money. I had done some reviews of records and had some friends do some too but nothing really came of that site. I wouldn’t mind returning to that some day in the future. I do see New Music Inferno evolving in the future. I would love to see it get syndicated on local radio stations and not just online. It would be amazing to see that these small unknown acts that I have on get some recognition somewhere they never thought they’d be found.
H: You’ve featured a number of young artists on your program. Where do you turn when hoping to discover new music?
JR: A lot of my finding new music is by chance. I get about 30-50 emails daily from publicists regarding their clients possibly landing a spot on my show. The television show on NBC called The Voice has helped me to have some of their contestants and “rejects” on my show and I really love learning of new music from them. I also read Alternative Press and learn a lot of bands from their due to album reviews & the AP&R section. Finally some bands are just random due to Twitter adds and I check them out via Facebook.
H: Let’s turn the tables and say people are coming to you. What advice would you offer artists to help them stand out from the competitors vying for your attention?
JR: This is so tough to answer. I feel the most common answer but the best advice I can give to them is: “Be yourself and just keep practicing.” Some bands I have seen out there in the “scene” are trying to be a lot like other bands that are already successful and that where the downfall of bands can begin besides the relationships within the bands. Don’t try and be like anyone else out there already, no one will sign you unless you have some bigger and better than what is already out on the mainstream.
H: Internet radio has become increasingly popular in recent years. What is it about the content offered by New Music Inferno that gives you an edge over the competition?
JR: The opportunities that are given to both fan and artist gives me the edge over the competition. A lot of shows or sites really don’t give the fan the opportunity for them to interact with artist or vice versa. It is my utmost important to make the listeners and artists happy(smiling through the phone) or laugh on air. It makes it easy for everyone and the vibe of the show goes smoother if everyone doesn’t feel like its going to be a mundane monotone interview.
H: You have done a lot of interviews on your show. Who have you yet to feature that you would like to interview?
JR: There is definitely a list of musicians that I haven’t interviewed that I would love to have on the show and put them in the proverbial hot seat.I would definitely branch outside of the music realm as well to cover some entertainers(Adam Scott, Nick Offerman, Aziz Ansari) or film directors(Kevin Smith). The list of musicians include but not limited to: Staind, Adam Levine, Gavin Degraw, Jason Mraz, Pearl Jam,Taking Back Sunday, John Mayer, Eminem, Jay Z, & Justin Timberlake.
H: I do not know of any advertising associated with your program. Have you monetized your efforts with New Music Inferno? If not, will you?
JR: The deal with advertising is tough for me. I really want to have businesses to advertise/support but every time I try to get someone they back out for some unknown reason. I’ve tried local businesses or even people who do their own selling of products(ThirtyOne or other companies) and no one took a bite. I wouldn’t mind bands either doing ads of themselves for the show. I do make a little bit of money on the side from the website due to a built in ad revenue that is built into the Blogtalkradio website.
H: Some people believe there is no need for critics in the digital age. Do you agree? (Support your response)
JR: No,I fully disagree. Without critics everyone would be just full of pent of anger. Everyone has an opinion and its good to read what people have to say for the better or worst. I have an opinion and I give it to people all the time even if its the truth it will hurt.
H: When it comes to receiving music for feature consideration, which services do you prefer and why?
JR: I really enjoy receiving the music through Haulix or WeTransfer. These two sites are the easiest and seems like most of the people who send me music use them. I also don’t mind just receiving the music in just individual emails in MP3 format from artists themselves.
H: What is the hardest part of this ‘job’ you’ve made for yourself?
JR: Honestly… The hardest part is not having enough hours in the day to have everyone on the show. I know not everyone is top material or peoples’ choice in music but I just love how people express themselves in music.
H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
JR: I would change the format of the whole radio station world. I mean there are millions of artists out there and not just one song by them. We shouldn’t be a “single-based” community. Artists are out there busting their heads in to make a complete record for you to listen to and it should all be heard.
H: What is your ultimate career goal?
JR: My ultimate career goal would to take my show and do it for a living. Get it heard on mainstream but break the mainstream rules. I am no Howard Stern but sometimes I push the boundaries.
H: Before we let you go, can you tell us a bit about what you have planned in the months ahead?
JR: In the months ahead, I have planned the annual Holiday/End Of Year Special. This year it will be happening on Dec. 12th @ 5pm est – 7pm est. This is where I have past guests from the year come on to spread holiday cheer and possibly give away some merchandise. I also just plan on having the most fun and exciting interviews with some of your soon to be favorite artists. I just want to thank everyone at Haulix for this opportunity and all my friends(I have no fans) for listening into the show and supporting the global music community. If anyone wants to chat with me they can message me on my personal twitter @jrnmi or on the show’s twitter @newmusicinferno. Hope everyone has a great day and remember support your local music scene.
