faqs
How did you get your start?
INTERVIEW WITH JASON PETTIGREW, EDITOR IN CHIEFHello, Jason. You know, one of the greatest things about reading AP reader email is when they tell us how much we’ve influenced them to want to get into journalism. I think that’s just the best thing we could possibly do. God knows this industry needs quality journalists. So, I thought I would sit down with you and ask you a few questions with the hopes that maybe you could give some insight into this business that we do and give some advice and tips to AP readers who are interested in possibly making journalism a career choice. You up for it?
It’s slightly better than a root canal, but a root canal has better audio. Fire away.
Okay, cool. So let’s start with a little bit about you. Tell me how you got started in this business? What was it that attracted you to journalism? Were you always a critic by nature? What were your first few assignments?
My childhood and adolescence were totally wrapped up in music magazines: Rock Scene, Creem, Circus, Rolling Stone... never cared much for Hit Parader, though. I always wanted to hear the new music before everyone else, and I knew that there were cooler bands than the ones the big rock station in Pittsburgh played. I’ve had a head start in despising commercial radio.
I went to college and became the features editor for the campus newspaper. Through that, I got an internship at the local über-conservative right-wing newspaper, somehow being able to get in stories about Gang Of Four, Psychedelic Furs and Gary Numan. They wanted me to write about crap like Chicago and Scandal. I protested. I got booted.
I discovered AP when some buddies of mine and I came to Cleveland for a show. I thought it was something cool and necessary at the time. I called up Mike Shea to congratulate him on what he was doing, but gave him some shit about a review he wrote. He called me out on it, asking me if I could do better. For the most part, I’ve been involved with AP ever since.
So one of the big questions we get asked is what sort of courses readers should take if they’re interested in getting into journalism?
A command of the Queen’s English is necessary. I hated most of my high-school English teachers, but they are there to make sure you can communicate your thoughts, opinions and concepts clearly. Take all the English and writing courses you can. Take some literature, as well, so you can expose yourself to great things-and trash. You should take some music appreciation courses which detail the various technical terms and nuances inherent in certain musical styles. Granted, 90 percent of an audience who reads about music doesn’t know what a middle-third or a press-roll is, but you can take those concepts and articulate them into a vocabulary that Joe RockFan can understand.
If you didn’t do well in those courses in general, does it mean you’re doomed to failure as a journalist? Can you succeed in journalism if you’ve been doing pizza delivery for 5 years of your life and then you decided to do a career change?
You’re not doomed if you can express yourself with clarity and great articulation. In other words, you’re going to have to be 167 percent smarter than those who post in an AOL chatroom.
Does it take a special type of person to be a journalist? Does it take a special skill?
I think you should be passionate, confident and willing to put yourself out there far enough to be smacked down. If you’re doing investigative things, you have to be fearless. Don’t see that too much anymore...
What about age requirements?
Age ain’t nothin’ but a number. If you have a special point of view, with a flair for articulating it, people will take notice. If you’re covering bands, you should be old enough to get into the bars some of them are playing in. I will guarantee you this, though: things you feel passionate about when you are 17 don’t necessarily translate into continued greatness when you’re 25. Although I still swear that Missing Persons were a great pop band with excellent musicianship.
So what are a few things about this career of music journalism that are myths? You know, behind the glamour of it all?
If you think it’s glamorous, you’re either a shill for the industry or your writing is boring. I would wager that most people who get flown around in style are merely lapdogs for spin-masters.
What’s the most difficult part of a music journalist’s job?
Deadlines. Access. Trying to capture the entire picture. Getting to the essence of the subject and trying to do it within a proscribed word count.
What’s the most fun part of a music journalist’s job?
The discourse. (“What was Pettigrew thinking? That prick!”) Discovering a piece of great, yet obscure music that you want to share with the world, because you know any Clear Channel-owned outlet won’t do it. I’d be lying if I told you I was bored with getting free CDs.
What are the biggest mistakes music journalists make today?
They are misinformed or not informed at all. They approach the craft like plumbers and not as reporters or artists. They think people in bands will be their friends, so they write fluffy things about them. God bless Trent Reznor: he never asked me for story approval, and he once wished death on me onstage at a gig in Detroit because of something I once wrote about him. Yet he’ll still talk to me. I’m proud of that.
How has music journalism changed over the past 20 years?
The worst thing about music journalism is that everybody wants control of the final product. I remember the Guns N’ Roses “interview release form” from the late ’80s that said the band owns the right to a writer’s interview, and the band must approve everything. Nobody wants to ask any hard questions for fear of ruffling artists, mangers and publicity people. Back in the ’70s, there was a classic exchange with Lou Reed and the late Lester Bangs that took place at 3 a.m. where they are just calling each other out. It’s very candid, and some of it is downright nasty. To do something like that with any big star today is inconceivable, because everybody wants to make friends, secure McCelebrities for their covers to keep selling issues. It’s really sad. And very boring.
If one of our readers wants to get a start in music journalism, what are some ways you would suggest they try?
Start your own print or Webzine. If you are in high school or college, take an interest in the school’s newspaper, yearly writing review or whatever kind of outlet those organizations have. Send some reviews on spec to local alternative newsweeklies or established fanzines in your area. You won’t get paid, but you will (hopefully) get printed. And keep writing, constantly. Walk away from it, and return to your work after a few days. You might want to buy a shredder, because if you get hit by a bus, somebody might discover your rough drafts and have a good laugh at your expense. That was gruesome. Sorry. You know, I own a shredder...
What is the state of music journalism today?
It’s pretty vacuous. The indie-rock contingent will go on for 700 words describing a fricking 7-inch just so they can hear themselves speak. The Entertainment Weekly-ization of American culture-50-word record reviews and a letter grade-doesn’t allow for any kind of real discourse. The thing is, there are people who like music, and people who buy compact discs. Personally, I like music. The latter camp put those really bad radio bands on the sales charts. Geddit?
Is there much money to be made in music journalism? Can you survive on just writing about music?
You could, but you’d have to write a lot of puff-pieces about flavor-of-the-second celebrities for $3.00 a word. And most major corporate-owned magazines won’t let you write about how people like Mick Jagger, Fred Durst or Chad Kroeger need to be taken out back with rabid dogs and have a bullet put in their cerebellums. You will not make that kind of money writing about, oh, Combat Wounded Veteran. My advice is the same thing anybody who has been involved in the underground-rock scene has ever preached: love what you do. If you didn’t make a dime doing it, hey, at least you had fun. What’s the difference between RS contributor Neil Strauss and a fanzine writer? One gets a check, the other is in love.
If an AP reader wanted to write for AP, how would he or she go about doing that?
Send me some of your work at 1305 W. 80th St. Ste. 2F, Cleveland, OH 44102-1996. Send Web links of your stuff to editorial@altpress.com. If we’re into it, we’ll be in touch. I get a kick out of cover letters filled with vicious self-deprecation, BTW.
Is there anything else you would like to say to our readers?
Keep your knee-jerk reactions to a minimum, whether it’s about bands or world affairs. Only make sweeping generalizations about things in which you are an expert. Keep an open mind, but not at both ends. Feel sorry for people who like Matchbox 20 and Nickelback, because you know a part of them has died.
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