YOB: Live & Loud in Louisville

At the start of summer, photographer Johnny Hubbard witnessed a live show of legendary underground band YOB, playing Portal in Louisville, Kentucky. Here are some of his choice snaps, captured during Yob’s first US tour since 2019.

Death on the horizon
Consciousness asleep
The soul is unprepared
Fear runs deep
Always agonizing
On what can’t be known
Heavy is the burden
When the jester rules the throne

Churning maelstrom
A dying kiss
Fury let loose

A mammoth portal
Of epic size
Ruthless intensity
Eating all light

Aeons old black hole devours
Empty hollow within
Eating the pain
Rejecting the soul
The beginning of the end

Siren’s call
From the sea
Raging current
Pulls us under
Fighting for air
Scream for release
As colors dance and weave

Beyond all birth and death
The real is timeless
Open the shutter of the mind
And it will be flooded with light

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The process as a concert photographer has changed for me over the years. It’s crazy when I think about it. Went from me just using my phone to a throw-around camera I thought I had no use for full-on professional DSLRs. Did I ever really set out to do this damn thing? I did have dreams, but I never took them seriously until it got me into magazines and eventually Doomed and Stoned.

Originally, photography was something I took up to keep my mind off of drinking while at shows. I never asked anyone if I could bring my camera, I just did it. Eventually, I got into shows at bigger venues that deemed it necessary to have zero flash and limited the photo pit to three songs per band. Now I never use flash unless its for artistic purposes. I still like to hog the front row at smaller venues, because hey I’m there to listen to music and see my favorite bands like everyone else!

How exactly does an average night go for me as a concert photographer? These days it’s actually planned well in advance so I know what funding I need and how much time off I need from work. Yes, sometimes I get in for free. However, for the most part I pay my way in unless its offered or I’m flat broke. I’ve driven all over the country to go to festivals and shows. It really depends on my mood and how much time I have to burn. I’ve shot bands on all levels of the field. Signed and unsigned.

Once I get contact from a manager or band member that is in charge of press, we negotiate terms. Be it as simple as me getting into the venue or as complicated as getting reimbursed for travel expenses such as food, lodging and transport. This is in addition to negotiating time to talk with the artists, which for me will often come via promotional shoots or conducting an interview for D&S.

I love shooting press promos and doing interviews, it’s just like catching up with old friends. I love shooting the shit. I love road stories and hearing about pranks. If I can get this done around a dinner table, it’s always a blast because you can get a better flow if everyone is fat and happy – and for those that drink, getting the juices going.

As far as actual shooting events, I try to scope out all new venues at least an hour before to get a gist of how staff operate and what the room is like. Where the shooting area is for bigger venues. If possible I try to shoot the room to get a baseline of camera settings. Sometimes that’s tough because show lighting can differ from soundcheck to showtime (also from band to band).

I’ve shot entirely dark rooms and I’ve shot entirely lit rooms. I can do it all, but concert photography can be tricky if you shoot 100% manually. It took me five years to shoot manual. It takes time and as fast as some artists are, if you’re not practiced up you will miss a lot more shots than if you were on a semi-auto mode or an all-out automatic mode.

I also tend to get food within the venue, as well. I try to see in advance if they have coffee. I don’t drink alcohol anymore, so sometimes I get a hot black coffee to fend off the demons.

Randy J. Byrd hails from Richmond, Virginia. His photographs have been published in regional and international publications, contributing to Doomed & Stoned since 2019, in addition to covering live events and working with bands on electronic press kits & tour photosets. Instagram: @rivercitydoomconsulate. Treat Randy to a cup of coffe!

Thrilled that live music is finally coming back full steam. Over the years, we’ve enjoyed bringing the community together around stellar acts and rising stars from the heavy underground. It began with our flagship festival in Indianapolis, then other scenes caught the spirit and soon we were doing a festival in Chicago, Ohio, Oregon, and Wisconsin – even as far as Australia for Sun Burn Doomed & Stoned Festival.

Paused by COVID-19, we sorely missed putting on events like these. But there is optimism on the horizon as the hunger for heaviness is returning, and we’ve got something planned that will meet your appetite for riff-driven, down-tuned, and fuzzed-out music. The third annual Ohio Doomed & Stoned Festival will be held Friday & Saturday July 29th & 30th in Canton, Ohio. Says organizer Dan Simone:

After the pandemic, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do a fest any more, or really much of anything to be honest. Like so many other people I was just so rung out. But as things got safer, I started going out again, going to shows again, and I was seeing people who I hadn’t seen in person for those few terrible years, and it fucking brought me back.

I don’t want to get too kumbaya about it, but I realized how incredibly important and close my friends in the underground music scene had really become. It’s pretty weird how a bunch of people lugging a bunch of heavy, expensive equipment into a bar to play super loud music together for a few hours can forge such strong relationships, but it’s a huge deal for me and a lot of people.

So I’m extremely excited to be partnering with Buzzbin Art and Music Shop again to bring the 3rd Ohio Doomed and Stoned Fest to reality. This lineup is full of incredibly talented bands from all over Ohio, and every corner of the country. We’re going to sonically attack the city of Canton for two days again in the middle of the summer, and I can’t wait to party with you all.

Many of the bands participating in this year’s fest have been featured in the pages of Doomed & Stoned and our weekly podcast. This is your chance to hear them tear up the stage live! Check out the following line-up.

Friday, July 29

• Apostle of Solitude
• Artemus Ward
• Before the Eyewall
• Bog Wizard
• Book of Wyrms
• Cactus Flowers
• Dead East Garden
• False Gods
• Ghost:Hello
• Horehound
• Marijuana Johnson
• Night Goat
• Problem With Dragons
• Pythian
• Slow Wake
• Weed Demon

Saturday, July 30

• Aiwass
• Black Spirit Crown
• Black Tar Superstar
• Blessed Black
• Bridesmaid
• Cosmic Reaper
• CROP
• Cult of Sorrow
• Horseburner
• Lavaborne
• Maharaja
• Pale Grey Lore
• rebreather
• Ritual Earth
• Shi 死
• Sparrowmilk
• Twin Wizard
• Wax Brain
• Yatra

Plan a trip to historic Canton, Ohio this summer! Two days + over 30 bands = a heavy good time in the rust belt!

Longtime Doomed & Stoned contributor Randy J. Byrd brings us an interview with N.C. fuzz freaks CRYSTAL SPIDERS. Since 2018, Brenna Leath (bass, vox), Tradd Yancey (drums, vox), and crew have released a demo and two full-length records, the most recent of which is ‘Morieris’ (2021). Get to know the band, what drives them, and their favorite places to hang around Raleigh in the discussion that follows!   (Billy Goate, Editor in Chief)

What is the central theme of your latest album, 'Morieris’?

BL: Almost all of the songs loosely reference classical mythology. Our album art and title are a play on “memento mori” - the art is our take on a “white trash still life,” with trashy ephemera from the last couple decades instead of the traditional (e.g., VHS instead of books, a bag of tobacco instead of flowers, a moonshine jar instead of a wine glass). Tradd and I collected items to assemble the still life and my tattoo artist Tyler Pennington of Talon Tattoo in Winston-Salem, NC, did an amazing job painting it.

Is there one particular person that writes the lyrics or is it a group effort?

BL: I write the lyrics. My background is in writing and literature, so rhyming/poetry are pretty second nature.

Do you all write your own parts or are there collaborative efforts going on during the process?

BL: We write our own parts, although sometimes we have suggestions for each other on tweaks or additions. For this album, writing for the guitar parts was a joint effort between me and Mike Dean, and Tradd and I wrote the keyboard/synth parts together.

Tell us about your special guests on the record and how their roles came about.

BL: Mike Dean is a good friend of ours. He is my bandmate in Lightning Born and has worked on the last few albums I’ve been a part of, so when he offered to do guitar work on the album, that was a no-brainer. He is crazy talented and very easy to work with. We have a good dynamic with him in the studio. He’s a stickler for the fundamentals, but he’s always game for an experiment, which we appreciate. For “En Medias Res,” we wanted some orchestral instruments to add some atmosphere and fill out the space. I think we all got excited about the creative potential for something like that. High Priestess Nighthawk from Heavy Temple is an excellent cellist. We had been talking about collaborating for awhile, and this was the perfect opportunity. Meredith Mitchell is a new friend who is a classically trained violinist, so it was exciting to have her in the studio.

Where was it recorded, mixed, and mastered?

TY: Another reason we love working with Dean is that he’s right down the hallway! We recorded everything at a pretty comfortable pace in his studio over a couple months. Nothing’s worse than feeling rushed to get a particular track/part done due to financial or scheduling constraints and we never feel that way working with Mike. He mixes the tracks as well, which we all collaborate on in a back and forth, try-out-on-every-speaker-we-own kinda way. We did that for Molt as well and it’s helped us get that vintage sound while making sure all the individual parts are clear and stand out. Brad Boatright from Audiosiege did the mastering and is great at making the car mirrors shake, so to speak.

Any special gear used during recording to help put the icing on the cake so to speak? I.E. Amps, Guitars, basses, effects units, drums.

TY: Brenna would definitely say her Kramer Vanguard bass. I’ve been using a custom Anchor drum kit for recording which has been known to summon a demon or two, and I know Dean loves his wah that he holds in place with a bottle opener. Straight-to-tape is also a must in terms of that classic sound we all love. We’ve all got our fave piece of gear, but we’re never opposed to playing something else or trying out new sounds. The search for tone never ends!

Any long-term goals, i.e. merch drops, special editions, and splits?

TY: We were talking about splits while making Morieris, and would love to do some longer-form stuff for a split or an extended EP. It never hurts to have extra recorded stuff in the back pocket and be okay with waiting for the perfect home. Special editions are cool as well. As a fan, I’m a sucker for special/limited edition stuff, like the new Boris/EarthQuaker pedal collab or Big Business’ tour EPs. Take my money!

When coming up with new material do you all reflect on past material to move forward?

TY: I think it depends on the release and where we are in the process. When we’re in the initial writing stages, each song is like an island unto itself for the most part. Only after the pieces are mostly in place do we judge how it will fit in the record holistically, or if it fits in at all. When constructing a live show, we absolutely review older songs so everything can flow nicely for the audience. But Brenna and I are seemingly always in the writing stages for other projects as well, so we rarely sit down to listen to the older stuff and go “we need another one of these” or “definitely not doing that again.” The creative train must always move forward.

Are there any side projects that keep your creative juices flowing?

TY: Brenna and I are like sharks. If we stop swimming, we die. She has Lightning Born (with Mike Dean) and The Hell No to keep her creative train rolling (she writes like most people binge-watch TV, btw) and I have Doomsday Profit, which allows me to experiment with a more heavy-hitting, Conan-type style and Positive Punishment, which leans heavy on experimental music and improv. Unless you’re Johnny Ramone, I’m pretty sure every musician has a side-project, even if it’s just in their head. Not every riff will fit with every project, so having a lot of fingers in a lot of pies can provide the perfect home for the perfect riff.

What are you all listening to nowadays?

TY: With all these best-of-2021 lists out, we have a lot of catching up to do. So many excellent releases came out last year; it’s gonna take a couple months to go through them all. Brenna really loves her dark wave and I dig obscure blues, but those will be on hold until we check out all that 2021 brought forth.

BL: I haven’t done a proper year end list yet, but some of my favorite releases this year have been Heavy Temple, Witchcryer, Book of Wyrms, and Erik Larson. The new Monolord and Green Lung were choice, as we knew they would be! My current darkwave jams are Molchat Doma and She Past Away, but Drab Majesty is always in heavy rotation.

Who inspires you to do what you do?

TY: A major inspiration for me would be Erik Larson. He is such an excellent player, insightful songwriter, and overall good dude, it’s hard not to want to emulate his contributions to the music community, both behind the kit and in front of it. A couple months ago, I had the opportunity to open for US Christmas and Nate Hall would be another individual that inspires me. Eat the Low Dogs was one of those records that stayed in my car for a decade and to share a stage with USX was a dream come true.

BL: That is a tough one. It’s hard to balance the need to create and hone art with. Everything else we have to do to keep the capitalist train trudging forward and daily life on the rails, so I am always amazed by people who do it with flair. I think there are several people I know personally who are big inspirations, like my drummer in Lightning Born, Doza Hawes, who is always pushing himself in every arena (fitness, family, music career). He seems to need a lot less sleep than I do, to be fair!

Any superstitions?

TY: This one I learned from Larson, the hard way: Never ever ever speak ill about your transportation, even jokingly. They’re always listening. Your van is your home and karma can remind you very quickly how important they are in regards to finishing a successful tour. So, Vandolf, if you’re reading this (and I know you are). I love you, buddy. You’re the best and you’re getting more cassette tapes for your birthday.

BL: Beer before liquor, never been sicker; liquor before beer, you’re in the clear. Also, I haven’t personally experienced this, but Rich from Scattered Hamlet told me to never listen to Dokken on the road. Apparently, there’s an associated curse where everything that can go wrong will go wrong. No Rockin’ with Dokken allowed!

Favorite place to eat in your hometown?

TY: Snoopy’s Hot Dogs. Been a Raleigh staple since I was a kid. Plus, depending how hungry you are, you can titrate to the perfect amount of full with the number of dogs you order.

BL: NC is famous for BBQ. For vegan/vegetarian, Fiction Kitchen is an amazing spot in downtown Raleigh that has killer vegan BBQ; for the classic Eastern NC pulled pork style, there’s a spot down the street from me in Garner called (creatively) Carolina BBQ. Although for pescatarian/any-tarian, St. Roch is a killer oyster bar and Cajun/Creole style joint that is one of my current favorite haunts.

It’s been a while since we featured the visual output of Drew Nesbitt of Njorodynphoto, who caught up with Nashville crooners ALL THEM WITCHES on their recent US tour with soulful doom rockers, BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT from Portland. Along the trek, the bands paid a visited to an enthusiastic Texas crowd at the Mohawk in Austin on January 22nd, 2022, and Doomed & Stoned has the evidence! I’m tossing in the setlists and some live vids from the trail for your ocular and aural delight! (Billy Goate, Editor in Chief)

ALL THEM WITCHES

Setlist

1. Diamond
2. 1x1
3. Enemy of My Enemy
4. 3-5-7
5. Alabaster
6. Rob’s Dream
7. Charles William
8. Everest
9. The Children of Coyote Woman
10. The Marriage of Coyote Woman
11. Saturnine & Iron Jaw
12. Swallowed by the Sea
13. See You Next Fall
14. When God Comes Back
15. Blood and Sand/Milk and Endless Waters (encore)

BLACKWATER HOLYLIGHT

Bobby Liebling, the wicked, the notorious, the sequin bedazzled legend of classic ‘70s doom metal band PENTAGRAM lives to tell the tale! The inspirations and experiences he speaks of, as frontman of the pioneering proto-doom movement, are precious jewels of a bygone era. His career as vocalist and songwriter in Pentagram is a testament to time itself, and his journey to fame has been one riddled with strife, determination, and passion to follow one’s dreams. Bobby has paved the way for many bands to follow and his musical career has birthed an underground of heavy doom inspired by '70s groove.

What inspires your songwriting? Is there a certain atmosphere you like to set when you create lyrics?

Nowadays it seems that what influences me writing lyrics is predominantly looking into my past (now that I’m getting older). I just can’t sit down and say, “Now I’m going to write lyrics,” because that would be ridiculous and not from my heart. There’s no particular subject I ever try to focus on, because I like to try to diversify.

As for music, I write (or fool around with ideas) everytime I pick up one of my guitars, but no particular atmosphere is needed to do either.

How was Pentagram born? At what moment did you know you must start the band?

Pentagram was born on Halloween as a concept when my drummer (Geof O'Keefe) and I were sitting around getting stoned at a friend’s house one night. We both wanted to start a band together that was as heavy, loud, and forceful as Blue Cheer. That’s when it actually became a must, if you want to call it that! But the first formal get together was on Christmas 1971.

Your outfits on stage are iconic. Tell me what inspires your fashion.

My big influence as far as outfits on stage truly came from Iggy and from the New York Dolls. I loved the really glam outrageous look. You know chicks’ tops, stretch pants, high heels, and though I’m certainly not a crossdresser (which would be nobody’s business anyway if I were), I loved the glitz and glam. And like to make people wonder! Most of my tops were my mother’s that she wore in the '50s as a nightclub cocktail lounge singer. I also have an acute awareness about giving people something to remember that they saw when they come to see a concert. I absolutely can’t stand the backwards baseball hat, football jersey, grubby cut-offs, and sandals on stage. It’s totally obnoxious because I’m very in tune with the fact that people paid to see a show, so damn it give them something to look at.

How did the footage for the 'All Your Sins’ live DVD survive the ages? How was the compilation curated?

All the concert footage for the 'All Your Sins’ DVD were actually just home movies and videos that were mostly taken by our then photographer (a dear friend), and most certainly biggest supporter Jeff Lee. I don’t know who you would consider a curator.

When Bedemon had their first live show at Psycho California in 2015, Pentagram was also on the bill. How come we didn’t see you front their set at the gig?

I was definitely considered for the first choice to do that, and initially was sequestered by Sean Pelletier (who was at the time representing them as well as Pentagram), but since Pentagram was playing the same show (actually headlining, per se), I just didn’t feel right getting up there with two different bands. Now I dearly wished I had for posterity’s sake, since it came to be their only live show.

How did it feel to have your own costume glass case at the Hard Rock Casino for Psycho Las Vegas? I distinctly remembering filming the Pentagram set you performed there in 2016. You did a celebratory whisper of “Yes!” to yourself after one of your songs. It felt to me like this was a long time dream finally manifested for you. Is that true?

It was a total honor and really captured me when I saw the case. To sum it up in one word "Absolutely.”

Pentagram both encompasses the spirit of rock 'n’ roll and metal. Tell me what these two worlds mean to you and how you were able to mesh these genres together perfectly.

I don’t know about “perfectly” because that’s in the eye of the beholder [laughs] and thanks so kindly. I really don’t like to sub-categorize everything like that. All the genre adjectives nowadays are really ridiculous to me, especially now.

You have to remember I’ve been writing songs for over 50+ years (and performing that long also with Pentagram, in particular), but when I was coming up in the era I did, music had a much more fresh as well as new onset and ideas (to me, at least) weren’t yet stale and/or used. At least that’s my viewpoint.

How was the rock 'n’ roll era for you when you were growing up? Any memorable stories or concert moments you would like to share with us?

There are too many memorable moments to remember [laughs]. Imagine spending 57 of one’s 68 years on stage professionally. Not too easy to highlight! [laughs]

Where do you get your dance moves from, Bobby? Have you always enjoyed dancing?

I won a couple of dance contests when I was in my younger years. James Brown and Mick Jagger (who got his moves from James anyway, as is now documented) were of course, and later Iggy (who also got them from the same place) [laughs]. They were all super big influences to me in feet shuffling and hips grinding! But that’s all I’ve ever done on stage anyway.

Once I got in a band, it started looking stupid to me when I saw people dancing, and since there’s no one to dance with up on a stage I can’t, plus never dance (and won’t) anymore!

What would you like Pentagram fans to know about what you’re currently up to and any future plans you’re coming up with.

I don’t really know what to tell Pentagram fans except thank God for them (10 times over, because they’re the other half of the show) and please never stop listening. The pandemic kicked the shit out of the whole entertainment industry, and I’m praying that there are few more years to rack up more time to spend out there with Pentagram!

Big time major thanks to you, for doing this interview, and God bless everyone. Thanks and love to all!

What can I say about ‘Arrows’ (2021) by Red Fang? Well if you expect Murder the Mountains you can go jump off a roof. Arrows is a back to roots style record. Is it polished? No. Red Fang did what Red Fang does. What they want.

To anyone shitting on the production of this record needs to get over themself. Quit crying about the sound quality. We are in the middle of a pandemic. Be glad they were able to even put something out. So many bands out here have been forced to call it quits. Tours ruined. That means no money. Me personally. I love this record.

I’m fairly newish to Red Fang. They have been around a while. I’ve heard a few tunes here and there. Got to see them in 2019. They melted fuckin’ face.

This was my first whole-record listen. Thru and thru front to back. Back to front. I’ve dedicated time to listening to it in its entirety eight times before sitting down and writing this. Twice in the car. Twice on the Home Stereo of Doom and the other four times in the fones. It passes all these tests.

Right off the bat, it breathes that Pacific Northwest noise. This screams Melvins. It Grooves. Its got an ambiance. Its slows down, it blasts off. It even has strings a la Led Zeppelin. Even has airplane noises in the background of the opening. That is how epic this piece is.

Are they not artists? Shouldn’t artists be able to do what they want? There’s a lot of turmoil going on nowadays. I mean its been so bleak that people are resorting to gasps going to public parks, recreation facilities, and to national forests in droves.

Maybe these guys were channeling the current climate, both political and economical. Brass balls on them for putting out a record during a pandemic with no source of income via touring. Can’t sell merch but so much online. Especially not when everyone shit on their release near immediately. Shame on you for wanting “Wires pt. II,” which they seem to allude to with their lead video. Red Fang blew it out the park on this one. Kept me pumped the entire time. Doom on!

One of the things I hear the most, and which is one of the most depressing things that you can hear from an artist is, “No one cares about my band and I don’t know why.” And I get it, that shit sucks and often it can feel like there’s no way out. But this is an important question – if you have good music then shouldn’t it all come together?

Well, no. There’s actually a whole swathe of reasons why people might not care about your band. These boil down to three key points. In brief – you probably aren’t posting enough, you aren’t giving people a reason to care, and scariest of all – maybe your music isn’t that good after all.

You Aren’t Posting Enough

This one drives me fucking bananas. Bands all the time will say, “Oh, no one cares about our music” or “Social media doesn’t work for us” when they only post once a month. How is anyone supposed to find out about you and care if you are never fuckin’ around? Seriously, this should not be complicated.

What you need if you want to grow is what Jesse Cannon calls constant sustained promotion. If you don’t have that, then you are putting yourself at constant risk and essentially guaranteeing that people are not going to see what you have to offer.

You Aren’t Telling Your Story

Here’s another one that drives me up a wall. Bands will post a bunch on social media, but their Instagram captions are just like “Us playing live” or their Tiktoks are just randomly uploaded videos with minimal context. People need to understand who you are if you want them to give a shit.

It really doesn’t need to be complicated. All you need to do is make sure people understand who you are and why you do what you do. This can take the form of long Instagram captions, TikToks where you directly address your audience, or really any manner of tools, but the story needs to be there. If it isn’t then no one will care.

Maybe Your Music Needs Work?

This is a brutal one, but one that I see rear its ugly head time and time again. Sometimes people go for it, but their music still needs work. They don’t want to accept that people just don’t like their songs. They could not like their songs for any number of reasons, but if they don’t have music people care about they’re kind of fucked.

This is why it’s important to have honest friends – or better yet a good producer. You need people to tell you when your songs are too long (the biggest issue with rock bands), your mix flat, or any other number of issues. I know this really sucks to have to admit to yourself, but having that level of honesty and self-awareness is really important.

These are all insights that it can suck to hear, but they are important things. You need to make sure that you are consistently posting and that you are telling a story that people genuinely want to hear. Beyond that, if you realize your music needs improving, then go in and do that. It’s only going to benefit you in the long run!

Matt Bacon (IG: mattbacon666) with Dropout Media is a consultant, A&R man, and journalist specializing in the world of heavy metal. You can read other articles in the series by clicking the “Bacon’s Blog” hashtag below. Matt can also be heard on the Dumb & Dumbest podcast, which he co-hosts with Curtis Dewar of Dewar PR. Matt has contributed over 100 articles to Doomed & Stoned.

One of the things that I see bands continually screwing up, despite reams of good advice about this subject available throughout the internet, is interviewing. So often artists get an amazing opportunity for an interview and they just screw it right up. I wanted to talk about how to fix that.

The cardinal sin most artists make is that they simply don’t talk enough. They don’t give the journalist enough to work with, making it awkward for both parties. Then, of course, in written interviews they don’t view that as the opportunity it is. Finally, realize that by being good at interviews you actually open the door to more!

Why You Need to Talk More

This is one a lot of people mess up. They give short responses to the interviewer and the interviewer doesn’t know what they are supposed to do. An interview is supposed to be a conversation, not just you providing one or two word answers to questions that were hoping to reveal something new about you as an artist.

When you are being interviewed, try your best to tell stories and bring everything around to what you are trying to push. That’s what I see a lot of the most talented interviewees doing. They let people into their lives and share more around the music. They do more than answer the question, they elaborate on it.

Written Interviews As Guest Posts

When someone offers you the opportunity to do a written interview, then treat it as a guest post on their blog. A lot of the same rules apply here as do to interviews: do your best to talk more, tell stories, and elaborate. One thing I routinely suggest to bands for all of your answers, no matter how long: add another two sentences to the response.

One of my favorite hacks for this is what my dear friend Tucker Thomasson of Throne of Iron does. He simply uses text-to-speech on his answers for written interviews and then goes in and edits them for clarity. This lets him easily and quickly handle these interviews without it being an ordeal.

Being Good At Interviews Can Open The Door For More!

Whether you are scoring your own interviews or you are getting a PR person to do it for you, realize that word gets out. If you’re fun to interview and people have a good time talking to you, then you will have more opportunities. If you’re only doing 1-2 word answers, then people won’t be as interested in talking to you.

You see, it happens all the time. The artists who have charisma and who are fun to talk to end up getting cred within the close knit world of music journalists, who will want to interview them again and again because it’s fun. Shocking how that works. So be a fun interview and it will lead to more down the road!

Interviews don’t have to be like pulling teeth. Rather they are just another step on a crazy heavy metal journey we are all on. Just focus on giving good long answers, treat your written interviews as guest posts, and realize that by doing this well you open yourself up to even more opportunity!

Matt Bacon (IG: mattbacon666) with Dropout Media is a consultant, A&R man, and journalist specializing in the world of heavy metal. You can read other articles in the series by clicking the “Bacon’s Blog” hashtag below. Matt can also be heard on the Dumb & Dumbest podcast, which he co-hosts with Curtis Dewar of Dewar PR.