Want to Write About Music?

I know it seems possibly dangerous to do this, given that we here at SCR are generally desperately in need of talented writers ourselves (high turnover and a slacker publisher/editor are a bad combination, y’know), but we recognize that, um, people need to eat. And since we’re a broke-ass bunch, we fully get that people who want to write about music may be forced to — gasp! — go elsewhere than here to do so & kinda-sorta make some cash. (Anybody who becomes a music writer thinking they’re going to be rich and/or famous is delusional. Just ask Marc.)

So, if you’re one of those folks who wants to write about music, get some free shit (I think, anyway; no guarantees), see your name up in the byline, & maybe even make a bit of $$$, Houston’s very own Houston Press is looking for contributors. Music Editor Chris Gray is looking for people to write about things musical for both the print paper and the blog/e-zine/Website/etc., esp. if you’re into/knowledgeable about metal, noise, and Latin music (and apparently maybe hardcore, too). If that sounds like your thing, I’d seriously encourage you to check it out & drop Chris an email. I’ve only met him once (and very briefly), but he seemed like a good guy, and I like his writing quite a bit.

Now, while I’ve been known to rag our local “biggie” media crews here for not covering The Scene as well as they should, I personally think the Press gets far, far too much shit for it. Being a “real” paper, they’ve got restrictions us small-timer electronic deals don’t have, particularly when it comes to covering Big Band X over Small Band Y. Their audience, in reality, probably gives much more of a damn about Big Band X than Small Band Y, and nobody can talk about everything, especially in a city like ours where there’s music literally bleeding out of the walls in half a dozen clubs/venues on any given night. I don’t envy Chris (or Lomax, his much-maligned predecessor) some of the decisions he surely has to make about what to cover and what gets missed. Being that I run what’s basically a labor-of-love-type deal, I know I have a ton more leeway in choosing to skip stuff I don’t care about.

All this is meant to say that the Press, for the most part, is a good paper, and their Music section is especially good, particularly in recent years. They get a lot of flack, and I think some of it, at least, is misguided. But hey, if you’re not real happy with how and what the Press writes about, well, now’s your big chance: send in writing samples, talk to Mr. Gray, and who knows? Maybe a year from now you, too, could be That Guy Who Dissed Cool Band Z and Whom All Good Little Scenesters Hate. (Ah, the things we aspire to…)

If, on the other hand, you don’t like the direction the paper’s going but you don’t step up and try to be a part of that direction, well… It’s a lot harder and cooler to at least attempt to take part in something and make it what you want it to be than to sit on the sidelines and bitch about it.