Each week Boundary Sounds cosies up with people from various creative industries.
Boundary Bonds with Nick Snelling (Editor of Beat Magazine)
1) What does a regular day for a street press editor such as yourself involve??
You would think it was listening to a lot of cutting-edge new hip music, but no.... Unfortunately, someone in our office refuses to take Power Ballads Vol.4 off high-rotation on the shitty office stereo, so that simply doesn't happen. So, apart from answering, forwarding, deleting, ignoring, filing and processing a lot of emails....answering the odd phone call. (Oh, and then there's all the free cocaine, which naturally enough I snort through $100 bills off the inner thighs of various supermodels....)
2) So what's your favourite part of the job?
The perks are definitely cool, (ie. see that last bit.) and needless to say, my cd collection is continuing to expand exponentially and I'm fortunate enough to get into any gig I want to. Also, the odd interview with a musician or band you respect highly and writing up a good article about them is always rewarding - after all, a love of music and wanting to write about it is how I and every other music journo starts out. As cynical and jaded the industry can sometimes make people, I've never lost sight of that
3) What's the worst part of the job?
Monday deadlines. I hate them.
4) What's the most awful article you've ever had to commission?
Probably the ones where it's the 4th birthday for some dodgy nightclub promoter, and because he or she advertises regularly somehow we're then meant to turn that into a "story". I refuse to do them anymore, as too many bands out there deserve the space a lot more.
5) Break the myth for us, is street press really as much ads for editorial as people say it is?
Yes and no. Street press has a well-deserved reputation for being very mercenary, and there's no doubt the various publishers make a shitload of money from flogging advertising. Also, some of the sales reps out there are pretty hardcore when it comes to stitching up deals for stories. However, the people who actually write for street press all genuinely love music and that's why they do it. They don't get paid enough not to, and are never influenced by whether someone buys an ad or not. I can only speak for myself and all the writers who contribute to Beat, but I'm sure it extends to any street press - the music journalists are in it for the right reason, and no one is ever given a favourable review or interview just because they advertised. The writers write what they want, and as an editor, I think that's vital.
6) Your favourite band of 2007?? And why?
Shit, that's a hard one. Anything off Power Ballads Vol.4, really....
Boundary Bonds with Jerry Soer (Manager of Young and Restless & Editor of 'Who
The Bloody Hell Are They?')
1. How did you get started in the music industry?
I crashed the Annual General Meeting of FBi Radio, stood up in front of everyone and said "Hey, someone give me something to do!" True story.
2. Why band management?
I get in to gigs for free, I get access to the band's riders, I travel with great people and I can call all of that 'work'. Why not really?
3. Tell us a bit about 'Who The Bloody Hell Are They'?
It is an ambitious project to catalogue all the new bands and artists that matter in Australia. Dom (Allessio) and I started it last year with the promise of daily updates; that doesn't always happen. It's good to keep in touch with what's buzzing in the different scenes in Australia, and since so far no one else is doing an Australian music only website (AMO died), we'll just keep on going until someone else takes over.