SMILEfest Interview - Laura Snapes

I spoke to Laura Snapes, features editor of NME, about female musicians, how to deal with entitled males and how to break into the music journalism world.

You said in the conference about the Reading and Leeds Festival line up that there were hundreds of other bands that have more credibility, what were some of that bands that you were thinking of?
Don’t make me name 100 (laughs)! There is so many! Slater-Kinney, Warpaint, St. Vincent and Wolf Alice.. I mean, maybe they are playing. Paramore! There are many, I am really bad at thinking of things off the top of my head. But the thing in these situations is when the bookers of these festivals are getting defensive, ‘yeah, well who could we book?’ and when people say that then it is evidence to me that they are just not looking very far and trying very hard. They are pretty happy with the way things are because their festival will sell out regardless of who they put on.

Do you believe that as a music journalist that it is harder to get into or do you believe that there is more equality and that it is based on how well you can write?
Yeah, I think that it is all about being good basically. I feel lucky in that I have never really come across any, or very few entrenched, chauvinistic editors or anything like that. I mean, to the contrary, I was really lucky when I was nineteen I started writing for The Quietus, which is run by two guys: John and Luke. And John was in his early forties and he was such a champion! If I ever got any bad treatment, I don’t know if you saw the thing in there, but the guy who gave me abuse, he was one of the editors that I meant, and I said ‘John, this guy has just said this to me’ and it was John who emailed around the other editors like ‘never commission this guy again!’. And there was a couple of times where people would be aggressive towards me and people like him are just such champions. It is such a good positive reinforcement to have people like that on your side and I know that not everyone is lucky enough to have it, but those are the kind of people that make it worthwhile. But no, I positively discriminate. Like a man, this dick, emailed me the other day asking for advice on a live review that he had written and I didn’t have time to do it, but he sent me about five more emails and I eventually got to the point where I was like ‘I haven’t got time’ and then he started having a go at me. I was like ‘get your male entitlement out of my inbox’ and he was like ‘Oh, you’re being sexist now are you?’ and I was like ‘what? To be honest with you if you were a woman then I would have read your review so probably I am sexist.’ But I don’t know, I feel more predisposed towards helping people who are not entitled young white boys. And also I think that all of the best young music writers are mostly women. If you made me name them then it would probably be ninety seven per cent women and three per cent blokes!

What advice would you give to anyone who wants to break into music journalism or feature writing?
I would say first of all to make sure that it is something that you are really, really, really dedicated to and passionate about! It is the kind of thing where I go to work, I work in an office and I work 10am to 6pm, but your work never stops because music is a thing that you are into all of the time. I have a friend that works at a financial magazine and she comes home and she is like ‘Oh, I don’t have to think about that shit anymore!’ So yeah, first of all make sure that you are super passionate and dedicated to it and just think about ‘what is it that I want to say about music and why do I want to say it?’ This is such vague but important advice: just work really hard at being the best that you can possibly be. In order to do that read the best music writers that you can. Read new stuff, old stuff in all different formats. Really study it and take it apart, sit and read something that you think is amazing and then think ‘what is it that is making this amazing?’ Pull it apart like you are in a school English lesson and think ‘this is how they are using adverbs’ and ‘this is how they are constructing arguments’. Look at the technical side of it and pull it apart a bit, because if you study that you will come to absorb it a bit as well. So yeah, just read loads and figure out what you think is smart. Do your best to not necessarily emulate it, but there was definitely a period where I emulated what I thought was good and then just off doing that you get into the rhythms of writing and  then you can kind of go off and fly! Do it your own way. You just need to have a ferocious appetite for music. If I get to the end of a year and I see music journalists saying that is has been a bad year for music, and you are like ‘really? You just were not looking hard enough’. It has to kind of be everything. I am not saying that you should work all hours by any means, I go home and watch House Of Fools like everybody else does, but it is kind of more than just a job.

What inspired you to want to become a journalist and write features?
It was a couple of things. I always loved listening to Radio One and I loved pop music as a kid, and then I would get to hear Jo Wiley and stuff when I was like ten/eleven, and I thought that I would really love to do what she does and interview people. I didn’t even know that the word was journalist or whatever! I was just like I want to interview people, I want to ask people who make music about how they do it and stuff. And then a few years later there was this musician that I was really obsessed with and I was like I want to meet this person, how can I do it in a way that is not just like ‘hi I think you are great’, but like a professional excuse to have a conversation. I was like maybe I could interview her or something? And then I just really liked doing it and it was just a way of like, using careers advice, young people are not given enough as it is and figure out how to make your hobby your job. My little brother is sixteen and there was definitely a time where he wanted to be a footballer, and it is like face facts, you are never going to play for Manchester United, unless something amazing happens! That does not mean that your dream is dead, because if you look at that one footballer and think about how many hundreds of people work in the industry around them. I mean, I only ever wanted to be a music journalist, I never wanted to be a musician or anything, but figuring out how to make your hobby your job, that is a thing that everybody can do pretty much, and I think that is a piece of advice that people are not given enough.  

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SMILEfest 2015 - Vinyl Revival

Music industry legends Tony Crean, Anya Strafford and Mike Smith gathered in JM315 on Wednesday, March 11 for the first SMILEfest conference of 2015, entitled ‘Digital Witness: The Future of Music?’.

One of the most common similarities between the three guests was that they have all changed job roles throughout their career, which indicates that to get into the music industry you need a wide variety of talents and skills.

Despite the conference being about the future of music, the main focus was on vinyl records, which could indicate that vinyl is increasing in popularity.

All three of the panelists shared a love for vinyl records: Mike Smith believes that vinyl is a ‘wonderful and romantic experience to share’, Anya believes that vinyl ‘helps to tell the story of an album more than a CD could’ and Tony believes that there is definitely an ‘emotional engagement’ involved with vinyl.

As vinyl is becoming increasingly more popular, the three guests all agreed that there needs to be more vinyl pressing plants in the UK. There are only two pressing plants in the UK and even major labels can struggle with an eighteen-week wait for releases.

When asked whether vinyl is more of a gimmick than a revival, Mike Smith said that he can easily get songs on Spotify, but he can remember where he was and when he bought every vinyl that he owns, proving that there is more of a connection with vinyl records.

The hour long session was concluded with the musical guests all agreeing that the best way to manage artists is to take time to build up good acts, and that bands need to have connectivity with social media and their fans.

Record Store Day is fast-approaching, with many bands releasing exclusive vinyl copies of their records on Saturday, April 18.

SMILEfest 2015 - Music and Misogyny

Last week some of the biggest female names in music took to the stage to talk about the problems that women face in such a male dominated industry. NME’s Laura Snapes, Mute Press’ Zoe Miller, BBC Lives’ Mel Lewis and tour manager Tre Stead joined forces on Wednesday, March 11 for the second SMILEfest conference of 2015, entitled ‘Blurred Times: Music and Misogyny’.

One of the big hot topics at the moment is the Reading and Leeds line-up being only 10% female, and it is safe to say that all four of the guests were horrified at this statistic. Zoe believes that there are whole sections of the music industry that have a problem with the number of female acts, but other genres such as electronic music have many women in a position of power and strength. Laura believes that many of the males in the music industry are discriminating and not even realising that they are doing so.

Another shocking fact that was mentioned was that females who work in the music industry feel the need to dress down to escape their femininity so that they can be taken more seriously by men. Tre spent years wearing jeans and no make up to try and look like the rest of her male colleagues, but now wears what she wants as she feels more comfortable in her job. Zoe also mentioned when she has worked with female artists and they feel the need to dress down because of sexism.

All four of the females have experience sexism in the work place. Mel has been called patronising names, such as ‘babe’ and ‘darling’, Zoe mentioned that when males come into the office for meetings they direct their questions straight to the other male members of staff, Laura has been talked down to due to her gender and when Tre first starting working with bands people would assume she was a girlfriend or groupie.

Despite many horror stories being shared, one of the most important lessons to be gained from this conference was that women in the music industry stick together and that people will be there to help you out when you are faced with sexism in the work place. 

Headstone Down, In The Absence Of Light, Nervous Endings and Spytfyre at The Firehouse 8/3/14

Southampton-based progressive rock band Spytfyre were the first band on, and they certainly did not disappoint. Instantly grabbing the crowd’s attention with their mellow yet powerful music, they were able to set a high standard of music for the other bands to compete with. Spytfyre’s live performance proved that they are an extremely versatile band: singer Peter Aubrey’s vocals worked well with both fast-paced and slower songs. Their performance of ‘Cry of the Innocent’ worked well with the tone of the concert as it related well with the charity message of the evening. Despite stepping in at the last minute, they managed to keep the crowd entertained and happy.

Hardcore/metal band Nervous Endings made a huge impact with the audience the second that they burst onto stage: their bass-heavy and fast-paced songs instantly made the crowd go crazy. Their energetic and intense performance demonstrated that metal music is still alive and kicking in the South Coast.  Performing songs such as ‘Larcenists in Authority’ and ‘No Lesser Evil’ from their recently released EP, ‘Heavyweight’, it’s easy to see why they are quickly gaining fans across the UK. They certainly made a huge impression on everyone who attended The Firehouse and it’s highly unlikely that this will be the last you hear of them.

The penultimate band, In The Absence Of Light, provided the crowd with incredibly catchy songs and heavy screaming vocals. They interacted with the crowd well, taking full advantage of the intimate venue. Forming in 2007, the Swindon-based metal band have previously toured with Malefice, Exit Ten and Trigger The Bloodshed. The fast-paced thrash-like riffs and impressive guitar solos had the crowd hanging off their every move. The amount of energy put into their live performance was easy to see, and their sound matched their efforts.

Headstone Down are one of the most exciting metal bands in the South, and their performance definitely proved this. The crowd instantly took a shine to them, starting to mosh the exact second that the heavy guitar riffs started. Lead singer Robin Evans impressed Southampton with his aggressive and hard-hitting vocals, putting pure energy into every scream and growl. Keeping with the charity vibe of the evening, they offered
to donate money to charity if a member of the audience came up on stage and head-banged with them, which they did. Headstone Down also proved their professionalism: before the last song there were some technical difficulties, and instead of an awkward silence bassist Joss played a funky bass-line to keep the crowd entertained. Despite their wild and frenzied playing style, they managed to sound both tight and well-rehearsed, proving exactly why they were chosen to headline this impressive metal-filled show.

As well as it being a fantastic evening showcasing musical talent, it was also a successful night for charity. With a staggering £305 being raised for Warchild, the proceeds of this concert will go towards transforming the lives of tens of thousands of children. Tonight was proof that metal music and concert-goers can help to change the world.

Check out Spytfyre here: https://www.facebook.com/spytfyreband 
Check out Nervous Endings here: https://www.facebook.com/NERVOUSENDINGSUK 
Check out In The Absence Of Light here: https://www.facebook.com/ITAOL 
Check out Headstone Down here: https://www.facebook.com/Headstonedown