A year ago I wrote my first column about living my life like the movie "Almost Famous." I figured, if Jesse Camp could be a V.J., I could certainly be a rock journalist. I write this column after all, how much harder would it be to write for an actual rock publication?
Being suffocated by piles of unreviewed CDs and little time to think about what I want to write was not what I expected when I signed on to write for a new online music magazine, Crusher.
When I spoke to my new boss on the phone I had normal levels of intimidation running though me. When she opened one of the drawers from one of many filing cabinets and pulled out stacks of magazines with her cover stories on them, my once normal levels of nerves surged to an "orange" level. I write a music column for my school paper, how am I supposed to impress and work for a woman who had a story in CREEM magazine?
Christine, the editor-in-chief at Crusher, told me how she dreamed of being like infamous rock journalist, Lester Bangs. For those of you who don't know, Bangs was a CREEM magazine legend and both him and his magazine were featured in Almost Famous. So now I've even had a Band-Aid moment.
A few weeks back, The Signal published an article that I wrote about my interview with The All-American Rejects and how I was perceived as a groupie. It was complete with a back stage door scene. It could have been the perfect moment to interject the "just blow jobs" speech made by Bijou Phillips. But I had to restrain.
Sitting on the old couch with the guitar player made me feel like William Miller sitting down with Russell Hammond for the first time. I was nervous, star-struck and stupid all at the same time. Later, when I interviewed Tim from the punk band AVAIL, I felt like I had gotten so "professional."
I've been in this business for a month and I'm already jaded. Life is not like the movies. Rock journalism is more like the end of the movie. You realize that no one is your friend and learn to ask people questions just as if they were students in a sixth grade class.
This is not a 600-word brag. It is more like a reflection or memoir to commemorate the one-year anniversary of my column. Look how far we have come. When I first came here there was no music in The Signal at all and now there is an ENTIRE music section. I feel like I barely contribute anymore - Dan Brady is keeping it together. To think it all began in the mind of a small south Jersey girl with a sparkle in her eye and song in her heart. Really, I just wanted to use the phrase "sparkle in her eye and song in her heart."
There is a moral to this madness. Look how much can change in a year that feels like an eternity, yet goes by so quickly. One year from now I will be ready to graduate and become the closest thing to being an adult I can become.
