Memorable...
Q: Any advice? Is it a move on and forget it or stick it to them via power of the pen, for lack of another cheesy cliche? I am hurt that I have to go around "undoing" what they and their manager did, which was, for the last week and a half, tell various Chicago music people in the know that I am a "stalker" who acts "unprofessionally"--and due to the fact that I am fairly young and am building my credibility, I take this personally and professionally and want to unravel this to gain not pride necessarily, but a clean slate. I'd like to still write music and what not but at this rate, I just don't know what is the best and most efficient way to handle this.
A: Cherie: More b.s. from the record biz....the publicist tried to have the story killed because she said you were unprofessional and a stalker? ha ha ha ha. unfortunately, i'm not surprised. you of course are not unprofessional or a stalker, but i'm not surprised at any of the tactics the music-industry machine employs to further the careers of its precious products (i.e., Kill Hannah) . it's not unusual for a major label publicist to try to bully a young writer, or to put pressure on the young writer's editor to kill a story, especially if the publicist senses that the story will be not entirely favorable to their client. so the key here is not the publicist's behavior, but how you and your editor react to it.
three key questions:is your editor killing the story? or won't print it unless you write something positive? or stringing you along to make you believe she's really on your side, but doesn't want to cut ties with a major label and a major band, and would rather sacrifice you and your story than piss off the powers that be?if your editor has killed the story, or wants a more "positive" story, it sounds like your editor is the person you should be having a conversation with, not the publicist.In the meantime, you should feel like you're doing your job, and you should care less what some publicist thinks about you, no matter how many lies she tries to spread. music people in this town are smart enough to figure it out, and they know enough not to trust anything some person in New York tells them about somebody else on face value. there are plenty of other stories to write that don't involve that publicist or any of her bands, and you'll do just fine writing those stories.
and also know this and hold it dear: if the major labels are patting you on the back, that's when you should be worried. it sounds like you explained your position to your editor, and that your editor agrees that they're trying to screw you, and still won't print the story because it ain't "positive" enough. if i'm you, i don't work for this editor ever again, i wash my hands of kill hannah (but keep all your notes, because when and if their second album comes out, you're going to have the makings of a dandy music-biz 101 expose for Esquire) and continue to pitch other stories to publications that have as much integrity as you do.
::: He is the nicest writer in the world. I go back to that because, well, that was some of the best advice I ever got, and after that, I stopped writing about music. I took his advice and stopped writing for any publication like that, who would rather appease a publisher and a publicist than a reader--and I find no fault in that as a theory but in practice, and with the newspaper journalism I have, I couldn't swallow it. I felt like a tool. But it was such a good story, and although there were some errors I see now, I mainly finished it to get it out of my system...not my best work in its entirety (that Atmosphere piece that won that ICPA accolade is still tops in my book) but it was my first feature length piece, and I feel horrible that I broke in, and then broke out, with that. Perhaps thats why Kill Hannah always sticks with me: they were the group to shatter the innocence I had in musicians that I liked first, and then wrote about second. I never knew such a group of selfish and self righteous assholes could exist and be so damn two faced. As a fan, this hurt, and as a writer, I grew out of it I guess.
And in fact I am still curious to who lied about my intent as a writer--that is still a fucking mystery that has seemingly gotten lost in a wrinkle in time. Probably some girl or something, who knows.
Also, that experience sucked any type of faith or hope I had left in writing about people who make money off of their "art" for good...my idealist stance I groomed in college is leaving me, and even with this job, I am seeing how cyclical and methodical politics are, and am beginning to wonder just what it is that I want: it used to be writing, it used to be this or that...now, I am not so sure.
I am sitting at my desk amidst hundreds of applications, media to do lists, and random other tasks one of my two directors gives me. My head is pounding and I just want to get through this hiring process, so if I do decide to quit, I can do so with a clean conscious and know that what I was evidently "asked" to do in coming up here, is now wrapped up nice and tidy.
However, with my newfound hate, I do leave no later than 630 each day...no more 730 nights.
Not like i have alot to do back at the hotel...the new Economist came out and I am finding new ways to cook tofu and brown rice, daily.
What a life I lead...
Q: Any advice? Is it a move on and forget it or stick it to them via power of the pen, for lack of another cheesy cliche? I am hurt that I have to go around "undoing" what they and their manager did, which was, for the last week and a half, tell various Chicago music people in the know that I am a "stalker" who acts "unprofessionally"--and due to the fact that I am fairly young and am building my credibility, I take this personally and professionally and want to unravel this to gain not pride necessarily, but a clean slate. I'd like to still write music and what not but at this rate, I just don't know what is the best and most efficient way to handle this.
A: Cherie: More b.s. from the record biz....the publicist tried to have the story killed because she said you were unprofessional and a stalker? ha ha ha ha. unfortunately, i'm not surprised. you of course are not unprofessional or a stalker, but i'm not surprised at any of the tactics the music-industry machine employs to further the careers of its precious products (i.e., Kill Hannah) . it's not unusual for a major label publicist to try to bully a young writer, or to put pressure on the young writer's editor to kill a story, especially if the publicist senses that the story will be not entirely favorable to their client. so the key here is not the publicist's behavior, but how you and your editor react to it.
three key questions:is your editor killing the story? or won't print it unless you write something positive? or stringing you along to make you believe she's really on your side, but doesn't want to cut ties with a major label and a major band, and would rather sacrifice you and your story than piss off the powers that be?if your editor has killed the story, or wants a more "positive" story, it sounds like your editor is the person you should be having a conversation with, not the publicist.In the meantime, you should feel like you're doing your job, and you should care less what some publicist thinks about you, no matter how many lies she tries to spread. music people in this town are smart enough to figure it out, and they know enough not to trust anything some person in New York tells them about somebody else on face value. there are plenty of other stories to write that don't involve that publicist or any of her bands, and you'll do just fine writing those stories.
and also know this and hold it dear: if the major labels are patting you on the back, that's when you should be worried. it sounds like you explained your position to your editor, and that your editor agrees that they're trying to screw you, and still won't print the story because it ain't "positive" enough. if i'm you, i don't work for this editor ever again, i wash my hands of kill hannah (but keep all your notes, because when and if their second album comes out, you're going to have the makings of a dandy music-biz 101 expose for Esquire) and continue to pitch other stories to publications that have as much integrity as you do.
::: He is the nicest writer in the world. I go back to that because, well, that was some of the best advice I ever got, and after that, I stopped writing about music. I took his advice and stopped writing for any publication like that, who would rather appease a publisher and a publicist than a reader--and I find no fault in that as a theory but in practice, and with the newspaper journalism I have, I couldn't swallow it. I felt like a tool. But it was such a good story, and although there were some errors I see now, I mainly finished it to get it out of my system...not my best work in its entirety (that Atmosphere piece that won that ICPA accolade is still tops in my book) but it was my first feature length piece, and I feel horrible that I broke in, and then broke out, with that. Perhaps thats why Kill Hannah always sticks with me: they were the group to shatter the innocence I had in musicians that I liked first, and then wrote about second. I never knew such a group of selfish and self righteous assholes could exist and be so damn two faced. As a fan, this hurt, and as a writer, I grew out of it I guess.
And in fact I am still curious to who lied about my intent as a writer--that is still a fucking mystery that has seemingly gotten lost in a wrinkle in time. Probably some girl or something, who knows.
Also, that experience sucked any type of faith or hope I had left in writing about people who make money off of their "art" for good...my idealist stance I groomed in college is leaving me, and even with this job, I am seeing how cyclical and methodical politics are, and am beginning to wonder just what it is that I want: it used to be writing, it used to be this or that...now, I am not so sure.
I am sitting at my desk amidst hundreds of applications, media to do lists, and random other tasks one of my two directors gives me. My head is pounding and I just want to get through this hiring process, so if I do decide to quit, I can do so with a clean conscious and know that what I was evidently "asked" to do in coming up here, is now wrapped up nice and tidy.
However, with my newfound hate, I do leave no later than 630 each day...no more 730 nights.
Not like i have alot to do back at the hotel...the new Economist came out and I am finding new ways to cook tofu and brown rice, daily.
What a life I lead...