be a music journalist

I’ve recently felt a bit melancholic about the time when I could still count music journalism among my hobbies. The editorial staff was weird, the weekly meetings a pain and our editor-in-chief a sociopath (and reason to quit). But the creative aspect was fun and challenging, and I miss the high experienced after an interview, the pride I took in articles, the joy of discovering new music. The rhythms and rituals of the music industry – annoying, but strangely satisfying. And last but not least: it just felt SO cool.

In spite of my nostalgia, I look at those seven years as an era gone by. Some things can’t be recaptured – the job, maybe, but not the sentiment. Although it does bother me that now I’ll never get to interview Thom Yorke. Or James Dean Bradfield. Grr.

I’ve always been into music as a child, not necessarily the best, but it was music nonetheless. I was always a bit of an oddball growing up, instead of worrying about boys, I would be in my room with my radio blaring, while reading the latest article on my most recent favorite boy band. It wasn’t until I was 15 that I actually broke out of the full cycle of pop babylon when I heard the band Incubus for the first time. “Make Yourself” shifted my musicality to a whole-nother level and opened my eyes to eclecticness. To this day I try keeping an open mind and open ear to new music. And I still obsess over bands and act like a 12 year old when a band I like is being recognized, it makes me feel like I made it happen, and I love that feeling. I had never really put two and two together until I saw the Cameron Crowe moving Almost Famous, and I thought to myself “Is this really possible? Does a job like this really fucking exist?”