honestly sometimes young people ask me for music journalism career advice and if i can give you any it is this - don't expect a career. i'm personally shocked that i get paid to write about music full time and i've been writing since i was a teenager

write for yrself. write zines, write a blog, write a newsletter. listen widely and listen curiously. don't try to conform yr listening or thinking to what big publications are publishing because it will limit you in SO MANY ways

the worst advice, to me, is to immediately get embroiled in mainstream publishing or to copy yr favorite mainstream writers (something that is common enough advice) - develop yr own voice!! that is SO MUCH MORE important to me

read ALL KINDS of different work. FUCK a canon. don't be ashamed to do lots of different jobs because that's what you need to do to keep a roof over yr head and food in yr belly. i find real-world experience a lot more useful than a media internship (i never did one)

it is not going to be like FUN to do work on top of work on top of work but if you have it in yr blood you will figure out a way to write by hook or by crook even if it's just writing in yr journal every night

write for YOU write for yr friends write for yr community write because you will die if you don't

media is b r o k e n and has been for a long time and we're gonna have to build something new, and i believe that the kids just coming up are gonna be a huge part of building it

also re: developing yr own style - my own style started out fairly poetic and over the years has gotten efficient and utilitarian, but with personality; i find myself really hating Music Writer-y music writing. lots of people love that style and find it beautiful! i do not

yr style will change. there should be room for more than one way of doing things and more than one kind of voice. there should be room for a whole multitude of perspectives.

anyway I could lose my job tomorrow, never find another job in media (where else would I go honestly), never get paid again to write, and I would still do it

also one last thing: press cycles suck ass. we are beholden to them in some ways just like any other publication. I know it’s hard to seek out music that isn’t new temporally because of that but it really pays to do so

step away from the content firehose and spend some time with new to you artists and records, spend time digging - it is one of the great things about loving music, there are infinite worlds to discover

or revisit old favorites! listen to them in a new light and context! the idea of discarding older music is so odd to me