Interview, Pitchfork Style

Pitchfork Media broke out in the 2000s as a sharp music-review publication amongst a backlog of blogs. Today, the site is one of the most popular websites of its kind, having the privilege of presenting fresh and new bands to the public, and strangely but adequately fulfilling the old roles of MTV.

Zach Kelly, 24 years old and a semi-recent college graduate, is one of the select American journalists who writes for the coveted publication. He’s a freelancer who has now written over 100 reviews on the website, covering bands like Major Lazer, Dr. Dog, Miniature Tigers, Deer Tick, Murs, and Dum Dum Girls.

I spoke with Kelly about his writing and his love for music.

How long have you been reviewing music?

Since high school I guess. I’ve been with Pitchfork for about two years almost now, which is actually the first professional freelance gig I’ve ever had, which has been a really great experience. But unprofessionally, yeah, it’s been since high school and then through college. To be honest, I kind of lost interest in it after high school, and really didn’t get back into it until I had to do some extra-curricular journalism stuff in college.

What made you interested in reviewing music?

I don’t really know. I developed an interest in music and writing pretty early. I think I figured I’d be doing several different kinds of writing at this point in my life, but I was never terribly good at any thing that wasn’t music related, and I’m not sure why. It just comes easier for me. I used to have serious qualms about it, having never been much of a musician. But being an avid listener was sort of a compulsion, and the writing helps me organize those thoughts. Plus, it’s great fun. My mother used to come into my room and give me a hard time about blowing all my money on records–I would just tell her to look at it as an investment. It kind of worked out that way, luckily.

What was your first album? First concert?

First concert was R.E.M. on their Monster tour. Luscious Jackson opened. Very 90s. As for records, that’s kind of hazy. Of the things my parents listened to, aside from the soul stuff, I really had things for Simply Red, Terrence Trent D’Arby, Fine Young Cannibals. I think my first cassette was Counting Crows. First CD was a Japanese import of a Beatles best-of thing. It didn’t take me long after that to realize I was a Stones guy.

What was the first publication you wrote for?

My high school newspaper, if that counts. When I was a senior, I was the editor of the ‘Features’ section so I had more free range on what I could cover–QOSTA, Interpol, Strokes, Blood Brothers. And fun lists, profiles of bands–all of which were friends of mine. Needless to say, I wasn’t really challenging myself.

You majored in journalism at Penn State–do you think your experience during college prepared you for the real world of journalism?

Well that’s actually half-true. I was in the journalism program for 3 of my 4 years, then switched my major over to Integrative Arts, which is a sort of choose-your-own-major type of deal. Penn State has a super good journalism program, but not necessarily for what I was interested in. I think the first time I took a journalism class I was interested in was during my senior year. It was magazine feature writing, and my professor was this great guy who would bring in tapes of interviews he’d done with David Lynch for Esquire. Needless to say, I tried buddying up to him as much as I could. But I had difficulties with the program’s restrictions. One evening, I told a professor I couldn’t cover a town council meeting for a project because I had to work, waiting tables. She told me I could fail the class or quit my job. I think I switched my major the next morning.

How did you get involved with Pitchfork? Did your opinions of the publication change once you started working there?

Paul Thompson is a former PSU grad who had been writing for them (and still is), and a mutual friend got us in contact, and I moved out to Chicago to intern. They usually use three editorial interns out there, but I was such a big fan of the site–in college, it was my start page–I asked if I could do the intern thing full-time. Fortunately it worked out and I grew to really like everyone there. And so over the course of my time, I would slip my editors pieces I was working on for fun, seeing if they could provide me with some pointers. Eventually when my time was up, they let me help out with Forkcast, and then let me do some track reviews, and eventually had me on as a full-on contributor.

It’s funny how little my perception of the site has changed. I’m still basically just a fan, the only difference is I get to communicate with the writers now, and contribute myself. I’m constantly amazed at how damn sharp these people are.

Can you explain how the ranking system of reviewed albums works? Does someone have to approve your decision?

I’m going to go ahead and point you to a quote from Pitchfork’s managing editor Mark Richardson here, when he was asked a similar question last year: “I’m speaking more from my position as the guy who reviewed the album than as a representative of Pitchfork as a whole.”

What do you believe is your best piece of writing to this date? Can you provide a link to it?

I really enjoyed doing track reviews before we began doing those in-house, so a lot of those pieces I look back on fondly. But it depends. You can now search the site by writer, so I guess you can make that call, for better or worse.

What do you think is the most important characteristic of a good writer?

You always hear this, but I’d say a good reader. When I was interning at Pitchfork, I had to fact check every single review, which meant I was reading over a hundred music reviews a month. Being connected to what other people are saying and thinking is a great way to help flesh-out your own ideas.

What’s the craziest feedback you’ve ever received from a reader?

People are usually pretty respectful and just want to chat about a review or a record or something. Some people get really, extremely pissed off–including artists–but it’s kind of heartening in the sense that people really care about this stuff, which I think is important. And as a critic, if you’re on the wrong end of it, that’s just something that comes with the territory. But this being the internet, it’s always cool hearing from people all over the world. Even if they only want to tell you what an asshole you are.

Who are your favorite writers?

My favorite music writer ever is Nick Tosches, hands down. Though he’s not a person I emulate in my writing at all, because what would be the point? As for people working right now, this is a really good time for music writing, and most of it isn’t happening in print, unsurprisingly. At Pitchfork, I always love reading Ian Cohen, Joe Colly, Paul Thompson, Larry Fitzmaurice, Mark Richardson, Tom Breihan. I could go on.

Any funny Pitchfork stories?

At my first Pitchfork Festival, I got to watch part of the Flaming Lips set with GZA from the Wu-Tang Clan. Unfathomably surreal.

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Check out Kelly’s Pitchfork work here.

About Jennifer Brown

Jennifer Brown (COM '10) is a music writer for the Quad. She started working with national indie music acts and booking shows/interviews during her sophomore year of high school at Penn State's WKPS. She then traveled to Germany and explored the techno/HAUS scene and her love for all-things German. After that she worked at WKPS some more before finding her "home" at Boston University where she was a music director at WTBU. She has since added to her resume Pirate Promotion and Management, On A Friday, and the Cambridge Chronicle. Jen is now in Germany, taking some classes and booking shows.

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