In the past year, our Contributor Blog feature on PropertyOfZack has become one of our best. Today we’re beyond excited to welcome in Evan Lucy as our newest Contributor. Evan is a writer for some of your favorite magazines and publications and has written a wide-range of stories on many of your favorite bands. In his first blog, Evan discusses his background as a professional writer and begins to break down the wall behind being a writer in the industry and the question of whether or not you can be friends with your sources. Make sure to read the full piece and check back for more from Evan in the future!

Hello, Internet!

I am thrilled to be working with PropertyOfZack on this Contributor Blog series. I’ve been writing about music on a professional level for almost seven years now, and it’s still a bit mind-blowing that I can receive American currency for doing something I’d do for free. My work has appeared in publications like Alternative Press, Billboard and Spin, and I’ve been fortunate enough to write about and work with an amazing range of artists including Blink-182, Bon Jovi, Nas, Owl City, Taking Back Sunday, Panic! At The Disco, Butch Walker, Simple Plan, and Dropkick Murphys, as well as labels like Hopeless and Epitaph. I hope my blogs can give you a little peek behind the curtain of music journalism. 

I’m often reminded by a line from Almost Famous, spoken by famed rock critic Lester Bangs: “You cannot make friends with the rock stars. That’s what’s important. But you will get free records from the record company—and they’ll buy you drinks, you’ll meet girls, they’ll try to fly you places for free… I know; it sounds great. But they are not your friends. These are people who want you to write sanctimonious stories about the genius of the rock stars, and they will ruin rock and roll and strangle everything we love about it.” 

Even though Bangs famously made a living pointing out the inadequacies and failures of some of rock’s biggest names, his point still rings true. Couple that with a traditional journalism background that teaches students a healthy distance must exist between source and scribe, and an ethical question gets raised quite frequently: Can you be friends with your sources?

Entertainment writing is a unique beast, one that’s more of a symbiotic relationship than anything traditionally associated with journalism. Of course, there are still a few similarities. Like a government organization that can control the flow and distribution of its own news, in some ways music writers are held captive by label and press representatives, whom we depend on for access to advanced music and interview times. Piss off the wrong person in the industry, and you can kiss your access goodbye. The culture of leaked content has reduced this dependency a bit, but if you’re working on assignments with especially long lead times, say for a monthly magazine, the gatekeepers are your best friends.

But while watchdog journalists jump at the chance to “take down the man” and put the heat on their subjects, too often those tasked with writing about entertainers and celebrities have a tendency to back off. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to understand why: Unlike governors, city council members or even the country health inspector, it’s really cool to be friends with famous people—or at least people more famous than yourself. In fact, that’s why many get into the profession. That’s not to say everyone has dirt waiting to be exposed, but I’d like to think most fans want to know more about their favorite bands than what their press handlers want them to say. Push a little harder.

Don’t get me wrong: This job has absolutely afforded me the opportunity to meet—and in some cases befriend—countless artists along with label reps, publicity folks, and more industry workers. I idolized and revered many of these people growing up. But having the opportunity to tell stories about these people also comes with the responsibility to tell the truth, no matter how ugly it might be. There have been circumstances where I’ve written negative reviews about musicians I like and respect, and that’s one of the hardest parts of the job. (Dealing with the blowback from said musicians and their fans isn’t a walk in the park, either; that’s another blog topic). But being dishonest is ultimately disingenuous to the reader, the audience we as writers have an obligation to serve. How are you supposed to objectively report on something if you’re asking your source for autographs, photos, and voicemail messages? 

When writers produce stories and review music by the same people they namedrop at every turn, I cringe inside. It’s tacky and completely transparent in all the wrong ways. It’s disheartening to see writers resort to producing puff pieces that gloss over any uncomfortable moments in favor of accentuating friends’ strengths. To this cross-section of writers, I offer a challenge: Stop concerning yourself with adding new numbers to your phonebook, and concentrate on doing your jobs. You’re supposed to be a journalist. To the rest of you, keep fighting the good fight.