For the latest instalment of our new Q&A series, we chatted to Mike of The Recommender. Read on below to find out more, and see which blogs could be up next. Tune in later this week for the next Q&A post.
Leading forward a group of emerging UK blogs, The Recommender is attempting to destroy the conception that US blogs are their UK counterparts’ bigger, better cousins. With a series of parties in Brighton, regular interviews and stalwart feature “The Recommender”, this is one blog which is always worth checking out.
Name
Mike Bradford
Blog
The Recommender
Location
Brighton, UK
When did you start your blog?
March 2008
First album you ever bought?
Copper Blue, by Sugar
Sound of 2011?
Tough question! I should probably suggest something like Odd Future, or Wu Lyf will own 2011, but personally I’d love something like Grimes, Alpines, oh and DELS has his debut album out real soon too, so it would be great for him to storm it this year.
Favourite record of 2010?
Sleigh Bells debut album, Treats, knocked me off my feet, as did Everything Everything’s Man Alive.
Best show you’ve been to recently?
Real Fur (at one of their parties inside a launderette).
What’s your view on blog record labels?
Blogs are in a great position to uncover and sign bands and act as feeder labels for the majors I guess. There’s not much money in blogs, so I guess it allows them to earn whilst still spotting and supporting new music. I treat a blog label as I do any other label when being sent their music though.
Regular stops on the festival circuit?
The UK is very good at putting on music festivals with the likes of Glastonbury being something like the Mecca of all festivals. I’ve been to 13 Reading Festivals, as I used to live near there for a period of time too. However, I find myself attending these things on a professional manner these days, so Camden Crawl and The Great Escape Festival are closest to my blog’s needs. The latter is in our home town so always turns out to be the biggest weekend of the year for us (we also try and host it’s biggest after party each year too). Lastly, I’ve not managed to reach SXSW quite yet, but we hope that’s all set to change next year.
You put on your own shows. What are the main challenges you face in bringing these together?
The time it takes up is relentless sometimes, with the bookings, the emails, the contracts, then that actual show itself, but we’ve worked in promotions for some time now, so it only gets easier with practice and experience. There’s always a feeling of achievement afterwards and getting the chance to hang out with the bands we love is also ace.
How do you deal with the inevitable onslaught of emails?
We don’t. It’s just impossible, so we scan down them and if we spot an address we know and trust then we will likely open it. If the header or the first few words, or the name of the artist they’re passing us grabs our attention then it avoids the delete button too. If they say “dear blogger”, or “hello everyone”, or something equally as impersonal then we ignore it. If they’ve sent us something that’s rubbish, or hand us the kind of music that clearly suggests they’ve never read our blog, then we will likely ignore their future emails. We have good relations with PR agents, so we will always check those we like and trust. Other music bloggers generally get our attention too, as we very much feel part of a wider global network. We also play something we call ‘Bloggers Email Lottery’, which is where we find a spare half hour in our day to can scan through the thousands of unread emails and randomly open one and listen to the suggested music. For example, we found TeV95 x Admiral Grey that way.
Guilty pleasures?
Perhaps early Madonna. Also, we don’t cover the genre of hip hop very much on our blog, but we’re partial to a lot of that too, particularly tunes from it’s origins, as well as a bit of gangsta rap. In total contrast we have a lot of Sam Cooke records.
Last book read?
Lonely Planet’s guide to Andalucia. A friend is getting married out there in September, so we are planning to visit the area for the first time.
Are you on last.fm? Who are your most listened to artists, or best new suggestions?
I am on Last.fm at OdelayBradford, although I don’t really use it that much. The most listened to artists for the last 7 days are listed as Alexander Ebert, Roxy Music and Arcade Fire, although my missus has an iPod so whenever she plugs it in it’s also scrobbled to my Last.fm account. Anyone know how to avoid that? Regarding my best new suggestions, just check out The Recommender! (oh and to help start you off I suggest you search it for Real Fur, Emika and Beat Connection)
Craziest perk or experience you’ve had as a result of your blog?
Press accreditation at all the festivals and gigs has been a handsome reward for all the hard work. Being taken out to dinner by major label A&R people has also been an unexpected perk. Regarding crazy moments, we recently previewed Real Fur’s launderette party in Brighton and as part of the post we mentioned that the show fell on The Recommender’s 3rd birthday, so we jokingly requested that we hope they sing us happy birthday and added on the bottom of the post a video showing Lesley Gore’s 60s hit, It’s My Party. To our astonishment, half way through the eventual gig, Real Fur had rehearsed the Lesley Gore song and proceeded to play it in dedication to our blog. That was a surreal ‘pinch me’ moment. In 2011 we’ve really enjoyed appearing on lots of radio shows too, from regional fm shows such as Juice or Amazing radio, to national ones like the BBC’s 6Music show on Friday nights. We’ve also had a few hand written letters from artists we’ve covered saying thank you. It’s made me think, if you really want to get through to someone that’s typically hard to reach, then perhaps hand write a letter and post it. Nobody does that anymore!
Any tips for our aspiring music bloggers?
Read The Recommender as often as you can! OK, more seriously, just try and be an authentic voice and be very picky about who you write up. If you post lots of songs but zero editorial, then I probably won’t visit your blog much. Originality helps, but don’t get caught up in the blog race to be first to post something - focus on your voice being original instead. If you’re a UK blog you probably won’t get as many visitors as American blogs. It shouldn’t be the case, as the Internet is global, but sadly it is. Make sure you blog because your passion for music comes bursting out of you, rather than to get free gig tickets.
Who should we interview next?
Ollie at My Bands Better Than Your Band, Anthony at The Needle Drop and Niall at Nialler9 all have very authentic voices. Carl at Illegal Tender is pretty on top of it too.
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