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!