Hello everyone! Sorry I've been quiet this week, been a bit busy!
Just a quick post to let you know I'm still here (I'm not going to abandon this blog!). I had a telephone interview with Dez Fafara (Devildriver/Coal Chamber) on Saturday night so I'll be uploading that for you all to have a listen, as well as a transcription :).
Hope you've all had a good start to 2014!
Thursday, 30 January 2014
Saturday, 25 January 2014
Getting into music journalism
It's a dream for most young people these days, meeting their favourite band's & musicians and just getting to speak to them, even if it's only for a few seconds. I know when I was younger I would have given anything to do that, music moulded who I am today. That's not me sound pretentious by the way, it's just I can't imagine how I'd have turned out if it wasn't for music, mainly metal!
The countless gigs I had my Dad drive me and my friends to around the UK, the waiting outside in the freezing cold for an hour before doors, the getting into the pit and just singing along to every word and of course getting a chance to meet your idols.
Nowadays I'm a lot more relaxed when it comes to gigs and meeting bands. I'm self made in my journalistic career so far, but I'm always looking for that opportunity to prove what I can do. I've interviewed a lot of bands over the last few years, usually local/national UK artists who are trying to break into the industry, but 2013 was the year I stepped up and started going out and asking for opportunities.
One particular moment I remember when I took the plunge from 'gig-goer' to interviewer was at a Kataklysm concert in 2009, at the now closed (I think) Rios in Leeds.
Me and a friend of mine went along to this show as fans, but ended up talking to the band for a good while after the show, which led to a few drinks, which led to a few more drinks, which led to us & the band being kicked out of a strip club....with a Swedish barmaid. Yep, that actually happened.
It all started with the band saying, "if anyone wants to stay behind after the show and have a beer, then come and drink with us!". We gladly obliged, after all we were fans. After the first 10 minutes congratulating them on their set and boasting how much we loved them, we just got talking to them on a normal level, like we'd known them for years. I shared a few stories with bass player Stephane Barbe, one about how he can't handle the lethal Dutch lager/beer 'Duvel'.
The rest of the evening consisted of many drinks and stories, and also an extremely drunk Polish man (who since then always recognises me at any death metal gig I attend in Leeds/Manchester).
It wasn't until the next day when something clicked in my head, that I'd actually done what I had always wanted to and met a band that I was a fan of, and spoken to them like I would any friend of my own.
I never did much for a while in terms of interviewing, I was a live sound engineer for a number of years so most of my time was spent dealing with bands on that side of things, but since 2012 I have rekindled my love of journalism.
Before I leave it, I remember one of my final days at college in 2007, one of my lecturers asked me where I was going to University, and what I was studying. He was sad to learn that I wasn't doing a journalism course, as he thought that's where I'd naturally end up. Maybe all along, subliminally, this is what I'm meant to do!
Who knows, 2014 is another big year for my young journalistic career, I've got a few events I want to cover, and I'm starting things this evening with a nice telephone chat with none other than Mr Dez Fafara of DevilDriver/Coal Chamber fame.
That's all for today, but here is a picture from the Kataklysm gig in 2009 (including the extremely drunk Polish man, he's the one in the middle)
Thanks for reading!
The countless gigs I had my Dad drive me and my friends to around the UK, the waiting outside in the freezing cold for an hour before doors, the getting into the pit and just singing along to every word and of course getting a chance to meet your idols.
Nowadays I'm a lot more relaxed when it comes to gigs and meeting bands. I'm self made in my journalistic career so far, but I'm always looking for that opportunity to prove what I can do. I've interviewed a lot of bands over the last few years, usually local/national UK artists who are trying to break into the industry, but 2013 was the year I stepped up and started going out and asking for opportunities.
One particular moment I remember when I took the plunge from 'gig-goer' to interviewer was at a Kataklysm concert in 2009, at the now closed (I think) Rios in Leeds.
Me and a friend of mine went along to this show as fans, but ended up talking to the band for a good while after the show, which led to a few drinks, which led to a few more drinks, which led to us & the band being kicked out of a strip club....with a Swedish barmaid. Yep, that actually happened.
It all started with the band saying, "if anyone wants to stay behind after the show and have a beer, then come and drink with us!". We gladly obliged, after all we were fans. After the first 10 minutes congratulating them on their set and boasting how much we loved them, we just got talking to them on a normal level, like we'd known them for years. I shared a few stories with bass player Stephane Barbe, one about how he can't handle the lethal Dutch lager/beer 'Duvel'.
The rest of the evening consisted of many drinks and stories, and also an extremely drunk Polish man (who since then always recognises me at any death metal gig I attend in Leeds/Manchester).
It wasn't until the next day when something clicked in my head, that I'd actually done what I had always wanted to and met a band that I was a fan of, and spoken to them like I would any friend of my own.
I never did much for a while in terms of interviewing, I was a live sound engineer for a number of years so most of my time was spent dealing with bands on that side of things, but since 2012 I have rekindled my love of journalism.
Before I leave it, I remember one of my final days at college in 2007, one of my lecturers asked me where I was going to University, and what I was studying. He was sad to learn that I wasn't doing a journalism course, as he thought that's where I'd naturally end up. Maybe all along, subliminally, this is what I'm meant to do!
Who knows, 2014 is another big year for my young journalistic career, I've got a few events I want to cover, and I'm starting things this evening with a nice telephone chat with none other than Mr Dez Fafara of DevilDriver/Coal Chamber fame.
That's all for today, but here is a picture from the Kataklysm gig in 2009 (including the extremely drunk Polish man, he's the one in the middle)
Thanks for reading!
Friday, 24 January 2014
Upcoming
I'm trying to be more active on here, I must have sat down at least 3 times in the past few years with the intention of writing my blog, but never followed through. Lately though things are at a bit of a stand still in my life, so I'm trying to use the time constructively.
I'm a very motivated person, I find it very difficult to sit around doing nothing.
I volunteer quite a bit, (have done for well over a year now), notably with community radio and the youth services. I like to keep myself busy, so I've got a few projects/ideas in the pipeline.
I'm going to use this blog to post stuff from my continuing journey in the world of journalism. Football and music mainly. I cover a lot of the NE football as well as any opportunities that arise for me to do coverage for cultural events or gigs.
I hope you, the reader, find my posts interesting, because in my line of work I have met some rather interesting characters.
Thanks for reading :)
I'm a very motivated person, I find it very difficult to sit around doing nothing.
I volunteer quite a bit, (have done for well over a year now), notably with community radio and the youth services. I like to keep myself busy, so I've got a few projects/ideas in the pipeline.
I'm going to use this blog to post stuff from my continuing journey in the world of journalism. Football and music mainly. I cover a lot of the NE football as well as any opportunities that arise for me to do coverage for cultural events or gigs.
I hope you, the reader, find my posts interesting, because in my line of work I have met some rather interesting characters.
Thanks for reading :)
Thursday, 23 January 2014
Damnation Festival 2013 - Part 2
Lets continue shall we?
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One band I've been following for a number of years, a genre after my own heart (thrash/crossover) is of course the mighty scouse outfit SSS. This was a nice little informal chat with main man Foxey before they played their slot. A big surprise to us was that the band were releasing their new EP on the day! (which I purchased of course ;))
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One band I've been following for a number of years, a genre after my own heart (thrash/crossover) is of course the mighty scouse outfit SSS. This was a nice little informal chat with main man Foxey before they played their slot. A big surprise to us was that the band were releasing their new EP on the day! (which I purchased of course ;))
Going into the event there were a few bands we were told check out, one of those being Tides From Nebula. Polish alt/post-rockers kicked off the festival early on the day with a great set, and we caught up with them later in the day.
One band we were both looking forward to seeing live were The Ocean. Now these guys are awesome, and the visual spectacle they put on during their set is a must see! We caught up with Robin after their set
The first band we interviewed on the day was on the main stage acts, we had just arrived at 12pm and we were both a bit worn out from running from the station!! Luckily our interviewee was also running a bit late (come on these guys are metalheads, a few were hungover ;)).
We caught up with enigmatic frontman Jørgen Munkeby of Norweigan avant-garde/jazz fusion/experimental rockers 'Shining'. Check these guys out, you won't hear a more original band on the scene at the moment, have a listen to 'Blackjazz'!
We did do one more interview, with a special guest interviewer, but I'll save that post for another day.
Thanks for reading!
Damnation Festival 2013 - Part 1
On the 2nd of November (2013) me and a fellow journalist went along to Damnation Fesitval at Leeds University student union. Now anyone who knows of this festival, knows its an all out metal feast, featuring bands from all the ranging genres within the metal community.
I'd been wanting to get further afield with my newly found passion for event coverage, after doing a number of local ones here in my hometown. As some of you may know I have a 2 hour weekly radio slot on Radio Hartlepool, playing a mix of rock/metal/punk and everything in between, so when I saw the lineup for Damnation I straight away applied for a press pass.
Thanks to some lovely and extremely helpful people on various labels, and of course the Damnation crew, I was given press access and set out to cover the event on behalf of my local station.
As you can clearly see, it was a monstrous lineup and an absolutely awesome event. Before the event a few artists reps & label people got in touch and asked if I could interview certain artists and bands, so I gladly obliged.
So the whole point of this post is to finally put my interviews out on personal medium, after a few months of on air spots, sending back to the labels and a little artist collaboration.
First things first, Carcass would not interview on the day (only one person managed to get one, and he was about 10 years old!), but that's not to say I didn't interview some fairly awesome people.
Might as well start off with one of the biggest interviews that we conducted on the day, with Gaahl of God Seed/Gorgoroth fame. My fellow journalist Par Mahn Azad conducted this one as I recorded.
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/b61vj4coruh9ab7/God%20Seed%20Int%20MD.mp3
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Next up we interviewed Hacride, who actually weren't performing at the event, but Luis (frontman) was more than happy to tell us about the band, tour & everything else Hacride!
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/jsuu7uzi91a8xm0/Hacride%20Int%20MD.mp3
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On the day we managed to get a couple of interviews with people who were floating about the press area/venue, notably Mr Ben Carter of Evile. We caught up with him and got the scoop on the latest Evile news following the departure of Ol Drake. This was more of an informal chat with the Yorkshireman
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/hpq0h93b52ep797/Evile%20Int%20MD.mp3
Part 2 of Damnation Festival 2013 will be posted shortly!
I'd been wanting to get further afield with my newly found passion for event coverage, after doing a number of local ones here in my hometown. As some of you may know I have a 2 hour weekly radio slot on Radio Hartlepool, playing a mix of rock/metal/punk and everything in between, so when I saw the lineup for Damnation I straight away applied for a press pass.
Thanks to some lovely and extremely helpful people on various labels, and of course the Damnation crew, I was given press access and set out to cover the event on behalf of my local station.
As you can clearly see, it was a monstrous lineup and an absolutely awesome event. Before the event a few artists reps & label people got in touch and asked if I could interview certain artists and bands, so I gladly obliged.
So the whole point of this post is to finally put my interviews out on personal medium, after a few months of on air spots, sending back to the labels and a little artist collaboration.
First things first, Carcass would not interview on the day (only one person managed to get one, and he was about 10 years old!), but that's not to say I didn't interview some fairly awesome people.
Might as well start off with one of the biggest interviews that we conducted on the day, with Gaahl of God Seed/Gorgoroth fame. My fellow journalist Par Mahn Azad conducted this one as I recorded.
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/b61vj4coruh9ab7/God%20Seed%20Int%20MD.mp3
Next up we interviewed Hacride, who actually weren't performing at the event, but Luis (frontman) was more than happy to tell us about the band, tour & everything else Hacride!
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/jsuu7uzi91a8xm0/Hacride%20Int%20MD.mp3
On the day we managed to get a couple of interviews with people who were floating about the press area/venue, notably Mr Ben Carter of Evile. We caught up with him and got the scoop on the latest Evile news following the departure of Ol Drake. This was more of an informal chat with the Yorkshireman
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/hpq0h93b52ep797/Evile%20Int%20MD.mp3
Part 2 of Damnation Festival 2013 will be posted shortly!
I said I'd post new stuff frequently, so why not start with a bang?
This a quick promo of my band, we're in the middle of recording/mixing new tracks (first since 2007).
We used to go by the classically named 'King of The Kill', but now we are simply known as 'HOS'....who knows, that could change at any moment!
This is a sneak preview of our track 'Stonelord', no vocals though (those are for later ;))
Enjoy!
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/dxkab8txfy8xvw9/tapemaster1.mp3
This a quick promo of my band, we're in the middle of recording/mixing new tracks (first since 2007).
We used to go by the classically named 'King of The Kill', but now we are simply known as 'HOS'....who knows, that could change at any moment!
This is a sneak preview of our track 'Stonelord', no vocals though (those are for later ;))
Enjoy!
http://www.mediafire.com/listen/dxkab8txfy8xvw9/tapemaster1.mp3
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