Music careers

YM: How did you become a music journalist - did you study? 
AH: In my year off before university I hopped on a plane to Hong Kong to live with my uncle for 5 months. I wrote to every media outlet I could find: TV & film companies, radio stations, magazines and newspapers. I was going to study media at uni and I didn't know what area I'd eventually end up in. I got A LOT of rejections. But the South China Morning Post - Asia's biggest-selling English language daily paper - decided to give me a break. I was working in the editorial library, just faxing, filing and photocopying, but I got the chance to do some writing too. My first interview was with an American jazz singer called Maria Muldaur who had a hit in 1973 called ‘Midnight at the Oasis’.
I did a media degree, which covered everything from film production and print journalism to punk rock and 'different readings' of Arnold Swarzenegger movies! Very eclectic. Then I did a National Certificate for the Training of Journalists. So I did study to become a journalist but I was an all-rounder who had an interest in music. I still am really.
 
YM: Did you have to work for free at first?
AH: I was lucky in that I was paid when I worked at the South China Morning Post. Not for writing, mind you, but I was paid for working in the library.
 
YM: What was your first paid job? 
AH: After uni I managed to persuade the elderly editor of a local paper in the New Forest to employ me as a news reporter. I covered the usual: court stories, crime, obituaries, etc, even got the chance to go to Romania to cover a local charity's distribution of aid to orphanages. But I started championing local bands too. At the time I was singing in a band in Southampton so I was really into music.
 
YM: How did you get the job as rock and pop editor on the London Evening Standard? 
AH: I worked on the Standard for four and a half years, working most of the time as a staff writer on the features desk. The rock and pop editor at the time let me write some stuff for those pages and when she left I took on the role for a while.
 
YM: How did you come to manage the Von Bondies? 
AH: While I was editing the pop pages of the Standard I'd commissioned the first ever White Stripes feature to appear in a UK magazine or newspaper. We even beat the NME. It was by a brilliant music writer (and very good friend of mine) called Stevie Chick. I have never met anyone who is as dedicated to championing new bands as Stevie. As part of my job I'd go to about 3 or 4 gigs a week and eventually I got the chance to go to Detroit to write a feature for our travel pages on the music scene out there. That's where I met the VBs. They're a lovely bunch and they were planning a tour of the UK. They had no one to liaise with their record company and booking agent and organise the tour, so I said I'd do it. They stayed on my floor and we had a ball. Eventually it got more serious and I started trying to get them a deal for the next record, hawking their demos round the big labels like Universal and Sony. In the end I got them two offers - one from Mercury and one from a subsidiary of Beggars. But they ended up doing the deal in North America.
 
YM: Did your industry experiences like managing the Von Bondies, driving tour buses, worked as a talent scout and being in bands yourself help your journalistic career?
AH: It gave me a lot of material for a future novel!! Loads of industry dirt!! Seriously though, if anything it just de-mystified the whole industry. I know how it ticks now.
 
YM: Did you ever get nervous when you were interviewing famous musicians? 
AH: I've never been nervous in an interview yet. Although I remember being a little worried when the first musician I ever interviewed - the jazz singer Maria Muldaur that I mentioned earlier - asked me up to her hotel room to interview her there. She'd just come out of the shower and her hair was all wet. Luckily she was fully clothed (she was in her 50s). That was a bit nerve-wracking, but luckily she just thought it would be quieter up there. Hang on, Youth Music's for under 18s, right? (Ahem… yes! – Ed) I think I'd be nervous if I interviewed one of my heroes, like Neil Young.
 
YM: Are there any tricks to getting a good interview out of someone? 
AH: Yeah - spend as much time doing the research as you can; read as much as you can find, then write down a list of questions. And then put the questions in your bag and forget about them. They'll remain in your head, but it'll relax both you and the interviewee. I just like to have a good old natter. The best quotes are usually nothing about the music.
 
YM: What/who have been your best and worst interview experiences 
AH: Hmm, best was either getting drunk with The Coral in Paris (they were hilarious), or with Tim Burgess from the Charlatans - he's a star. And Coldplay are always lovely. I've honestly never had anyone walk out on an interview yet, or throw a pint over my head. I guess there's always a first, but so far I don't have a 'worst interview experience'.
 


YM: Can you earn good money as a music journalist? 
AH: I can't really answer that because I write a lot of different stuff for a lot of different people. I was based in Texas for a year last year and I was writing about the death penalty. But music journalism has always been the one constant in my career. Freelancing is not the best paid job in the world, but I love working for myself.
 
YM: What are the best perks? 
AH: Free CDs and gigs.
 
YM: What are the downsides? 
AH: Primadonna artists and lack of £££
 
YM: How did you make the jump from journalist to author? 
AH: I met Valentina Artsrunik one afternoon for coffee. She runs a publishing company called Artnik with her husband John. We initially met to see if there were any articles I could write about her books. And in the end I became one of her authors.
 
YM: Tell us about the series you've done for Artnik.
AH: I've written four books for Artnik so far: Coldplay, Green Day, The White Stripes and Scissor Sisters. The idea was to produce something that was a collector's item - something fans would love to have. Lots of pictures and a really good yarn about their favourite band. Out of all four bands I love the White Stripes the most, but that was probably the hardest to write.
 
YM: Which artists have been the most interesting to profile? 
AH: I think Green Day have the most rock 'n' roll story: drugs, divorce, mayhem. It's all in there. Coldplay are just nice lads.

YM: What advice would you give to budding music journalists? 
AH: Be persistent. I am, and it works for me.


Later in the year, Artnik will also be publishing books in the series on The Killers, Pete Doherty and Franz Ferdinand.
www.artnik.org

WORDS: TRISH THOMAS

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