Nuclear Blast Internship - Day 2

Tuesday 27 October 2015 

I arrived a little later and felt worried about being late but Claire, the press officer, told me I wasn’t expected until 10 so I was still early.

What a relief.

First of all, I filed away a few more magazine cut outs. As I leafed through the folder I was happy to see some of my published works in there. My review of Behemoth in Devolution Magazine and my Blind Guardian write up in Metal Monthly were just a few. Made me rather chuffed to know something I wrote had been read in this office.

Then Nik told me to put about 40 copies of the new Anthrax single ‘Evil Twin’ into envelopes and sticker on the radio station addresses. This felt like good manual labouring fun as I made up a routine of packaging and filing. It felt good using my hands as it beat staring into a computer screen all day.

Once that was done, I was shown how to use a franking machine to put the postal payments on the envelopes. Doing the mail might not have seemed like a typical music industry role, but it showed how big the logistics of getting new music out there can be and how much manpower it requires.

Lisa and Claire then discussed the Cradle gig last weekend. Apparently the band played well but the dancing girls didn’t know what to do. Someone covering that gig had already told me they were a letdown so I wasn’t surprised.

Whilst I can see the appeal of dancing girls, and I am not against them being used in any art form at all, I do sometimes find them cringe worthy. And I do wonder how many young people go to those sorts of gigs just to see a sexy woman waving her breasts around to the music.

In the afternoon I filled out more radio and TV airplay spreadsheets. Slayer had the most plays with their new single ‘Repentless’ and I posted more social media links about the new Suicide Silence video and what Dani Filth makes of Halloween in general. 

It was a typical day at the office,  but the most interesting part was when I was on my way home and Claire had accompanied me to post the singles I’d packaged. She told me how she’d come straight into PR from the world of Art and Sarah, the other press officer, had studied journalism before getting into the music world. 

According to her, PR appealed as what a journalist would do without all the hassle of research and interviewing people. Now that could come across as spiteful to all the hard working journalists I know, but I do get what she means. Being someone who likes to work backstage and give others a helping hand, I can see the world of PR beckoning me closer and closer.

Music PR is definitely a worthy encounter if you love music but aren’t sure if you could be a professional music writer. But always keep your options open as this is my first proper experience of this world.