Greetings from a dog-eared music journalist
 

Hey everyone... My name is Push... I worked for Melody Maker from 1985 to 1995 and was the editor of the clubbing magazine Muzik from 1995 to 1998... I'm also the author of the book "Rat Scabies And The Holy Grail"...

Welcome to the forum.

What kind of work did you do with Melody Maker? You interview any notable names? How did you get into that industry? Is it a field you'd recommend to others or is it saner to pursue freelance writing in this day and age?

Thanks... Good to be here...

I wrote features and reviews and also commissioned/edited a couple of the regular sections... Yes, I interviewed some notable names... Nirvana, NWA, De La Soul, The Orb, Orbital, Guns N' Roses, Soundgarden, Fugazi, Carter USM, The Chemical Brothers, Underworld, Public Enemy, Gang Starr, Tears For Fears, Henry Rollins, Pulp, The Lemonheads, Jamiroquai... Loads more...

I started out by sending Melody Maker reviews of the gigs I was going to and they began printing them... If you're interested in writing and you're interested in music, I'd totally recommend doing something like that if you can get in somewhere... It's a great job... There are also lots of opportunities to do stuff online now, of course...

That is quite a list of big names that you've interviewed. Who would you say was you favorite artist/band to interview?

Welcome to Music Banter, Push. http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...999/drinks.gif

@Skaltezon -- Cheers!

@Blarobbarg -- That's a tough question... I was lucky enough to meet some great people, so it's hard to say... Nirvana, Guns N' Roses and Primal Scream were particularly memorable for me, but I'd say Henry Rollins, Ice Cube and The Orb were among my favourites... I interviewed each of them three or four times... They were all good guys and they always gave great quotes...

@ Orrin -- Best job ever!

I love Pulp. That's really neat. Who are your favourite artists to listen to? That you interviewed?

Wow, great to have you aboard!
Your experience is very impressive!

Does he ever relax or drop the intensity (even if just by a notch)?

Are we talking Doberman ears here or Basset Hound? I'm just trying to get the right mental image.

Thanks for your all warm welcomes. Good to be here!

@ Pedestrian -- I listen to all kinds of stuff (from rock and punk to rap and electronica) and I find it hard to pick any particular favourite artists. With Pulp, I especially like their early stuff. I interviewed them when their second album came out, so that was probably around 1987.

@ Mr Dave -- Well, he's certainly an intense character, but I always found him to be a nice guy – polite, chatty, cracking the odd joke. He was very direct in interviews and took the time to make sure you understood what he was saying (the other person I remember being like that was Professor Griff from Public Enemy). Rollins always gave me a lot of time and he always seemed to remember where and when we’d met previously, even if it had been a couple of years since we’d last talked.

@ Janszoon -- Cocker Spaniel.

Heh. good answer. :laughing:

I was reading about your book on Amazon by the way. Sounds very interesting!

That's very cool. Is 'making sure they understand' a typical issue when interviewing bigger musicians? What would you say is the ratio of legit personal answers and canned PR lines for a typical pop act?

I remember reading about Pantera back in the day and how they used to videotape ALL of their interviews to protect themselves against slanderous journalism. Ever deal with something of that nature?

Last question for now, you said you interviewed Soundgarden. Is Chris Cornell REALLY that perma-baked? :pimp:

Most of the people I interviewed, even the bigger names, gave what I’d call honest answers pretty much the whole time. Some of these interviews took place 20-25 years ago and I think the record industry had much less control over their artists than they seem to have now. Plus, I was mainly interviewing rockers and rappers and technoheads, as opposed to mainstream pop acts.

The only one who insisted on making a tape of the interview was Professor Griff. I interviewed him in 1990, just after he’d been kicked out of Public Enemy for making racist comments about Jewish people to a Washington Times journalist (comments which he says were taken out of context).

I interviewed Cornell twice and he didn’t seem especially boxed either time. There were certainly several others who were a lot worse!! Lee “Scratch” Perry for one. Meeting him was an experience I’ll never forget.

hahaha nice. Speaking of technoheads from 20-25 years ago did you ever chat with Squarepusher or Aphex Twin by chance? What about the dudes in Air?

Hope you don't mind these type of softball questions :thumb:

Sorry for the delay in responding this time Mr Dave...

I've never interviewed Squarepusher or Air, but I did Aphex Twin a few times. This would have been around 1992/1993. He was nice guy but a very serious young man. He seemed a bit innocent and not quite of this world. I remember interviewing him once in Hyde Park and when we left the park we tried to hail a black cab, but I noticed he was trying to hail cabs that didn't have their lights on (meaning they weren't available for hire). When I pointed this out to him he said, "Oh, I've often wondered why cabs sometimes have lights on and sometimes don't". I think he'd been living in London for a couple of years by this point and I was astonished he hadn't worked that out yet!!

No problem about the questions. Happy to oblige with answers if I can.

It's all good :thumb:

Having read up on Aphex Twin a bunch in the past I'm not at all surprised in the way you describe him. There's a good chance there's a touch of autism at play.

So what's your score now? Are you completely out of the music journalism thing? Do you still find yourself digging for the next great thing or have you found yourself and your tastes relaxing more as you get older?

I have been out of music journalism for about 10 years. I've been mainly writing books since then. I recently started blogging, but it's no big deal, it's just for fun, and I'm certainly not searching for the next big thing these days. Far too old for that!

I definitely hear you with the age thing. It's one thing I noticed within myself and my peers as I hit into my 30s. Would you say a decline in the hunt for the next big thing is more due to a change in social pressures and perspectives or a lack of new stuff being made for old farts?

Yeah, I think it hit me in my late 30s. I pretty much stopped listening to music for a couple of years after that. I think my ears just needed a rest for a while! I'm back to listening to tons of stuff now, but I guess it's mainly old stuff. I find that most new music just doesn't connect with me, although I do occasionally come across a new act I really like (AutoKratz and The Hysterical Injury are two I'm listening to quite a lot at the moment). New bands shouldn't make music for old farts like me, though. That wouldn't be right at all!!

Hello Push, nice to meet you! :)

Nice to meet you too – and apologies for being slow to say so!!

Stopping by to say hello! I still have quite a few MMs from the 80's Early 90's. It's cool that you're here.

Thanks Screen13. It's cool that you're here too, you know.