Morning Metal: Metal Rant #8: Band Interviews & Distribution
Rockso Rants
Band Interviews
Ever since I began interviewing bands at the beginning of 2014, my questions consist of asking the bands origins, album production, influences and future plans. Okay, so that might not be the most exciting questions – but it’s what I would want to know about a band I am interested in.
Wide back a few years when I begin watching interviews with Mr. Bryan Stars on YouTube. This blue shirt nitwit is known for asking some of the stupidest questions imaginable. For example;
“If you were a porn star, what would your porn star name be?”
WHY. WHY would anyone care about this? It was cute for the first couple of times when bands would get creative and respond with silly names like, “Badaptos”, which isn’t actually a bad name. However, this guy has been interviewing high profile hard rock and metal groups for a few years and his questions are all the exact same. My problem with this is that I want to know interesting facts about the bands he’s interviewing – not what their cats name is. For a guy who has gotten to the point where bands are asking him to be interviewed… Give me a break.
Bryan Stars Interviews– 0/5 Would not recommend.
Now, there are some pretty sweet websites out there who conduct wicked interviews (like me) and ask questions that people would be genuinely interested in reading/hearing. Chicago-based website/blog, Consequence of Sound, is one of the sweet websites. Not only do they cover every genre of music – but they actually have educated and in depth interviews! Of course, you need humour in your interviews, but not to that point where it becomes idiotic.
My only pet peeve with Consequence of Sound is they post articles nobody cares about. No, nobody cares if Nicki Minaj is giving Drake a lapdance in her new music video or if Taylor Swift might get fan backlash for releasing a pop song and trying something new. This isn’t college, we aren’t allowed to experiment in music!
Consequence of Sound – 4/5 Would read again, except those stupid articles. Sami Jarroush is the man, though. Props to that guy.
I absolutely love the fact that metal is becoming more accessible, but at the same time more extreme. You have bands that are gravitating towards more clean, friendly and easy listening tunes while having newer bands continue their path with aggressive music. Even though you’ll always have those magazines that will never support or even acknowledge metal music, you can always count on The Scene Magazine.
From interviews, reviews and live show reviews – they have a superb team of writers who cover it all from Ottawa to St. Johns. Check out the main website here.
One major downside to The Scene Magazine’s Ottawa edition is that they do not cover enough of Ottawa’s metal/hard rock scene. You’ll see a few reviews of shows and a run down of major festivals, but nothing more than that.
The Scene Magazine – 4/5 Would recommend, but we need more Ottawa metal news!
I would be biased not to comment on Ottawa Showbox’s involvement in the Ottawa metal scene… But I am the one who is in charge of interviewing and reviewing bands. So… Now what? I do try and interview bands once a week and have covered all of the major Ottawa bands – still a few to go, but there is always time!
Ottawa Showbox – 10/5 Would recommend to everyone, amazing articles. Hahaha, I am not cocky – as you can tell. I do try, you know! What I don’t support through the Showbox, I headline on my radio show. Win-win.
Let’s get one thing straight – I am all for more support and acknowledgement of metal in every city, but for the love of us metal fans, please ask the questions we care about. Ottawa has some of the best metal I have heard, even bands that are popular floor me how they got to be where they are.
Distribution
Getting your music out there to an audience other than your friends is difficult, but it has also gotten a lot easier ever since you could make your own band page and literally spam-share the hell out of it. It is great for people looking for new music but annoying for those who only go on Facebook to browse whatever nonsense their friends are up to. I happen to be both, but I welcome new bands who are looking to have their music played on radio – in fact, I encourage you to send me a message right now.
Distributing music is something I am very interested in and would love to take seriously in the coming months, so if you have a new CD coming out – get in contact with me! From digital distribution, physical distribution, radio promotion and support. I am all over that, so expect it.
Final Thoughts – Pomegranate Tiger needs to tour the world, forever.
James Rockso – Host of CKCU 93.1 FM’s Morning Metal