Mark is simply a good guy. He works his tail off for Curtis Dewar, who we all know is also a nice guy. Mark also runs Broken Amp. With all this selfless dedication to metal, his thoughtful insights and his assistance and dedication to helping people expand their musical horizons, we here at Nine Circles thought it would be nice to give something back and ask Mark about his own life. As I said, he’s a terrific guy with a passion for social justice and killer metal. Maybe the two don’t always intertwine but Mark is one of the few people I have spoken with that has some actual thoughts on how to intellectually separate the two. If Metal is to take a step forward, ideologically, it’s guys like Mark that will be leading the way. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @markanglebrant.

How did you first get into writing and reporting and have you achieved all your wildest dreams that you set out to achieve?

I first got in like many other people, by having a blog, which is still somewhere on the Interweb with my first neanderthal attempts at stringing sentences together. There are some series I was quite proud of though, including a series exploring metal scenes in different countries (Malta, Mongolia and Syria come to mind). In a stunning lack of awareness at the notion of SEO, I used to cross-post my reviews onto Metal-Archives, and the editor of a power metal site called Black Wind Metal picked up one of them. He extended the offer for me to write for the site, which I gladly accepted, and I began taking a lot of the fringe genres that the other writers didn’t cover (black metal, death metal etc.), which forced me to do a lot of background digging to become familiar with areas of music I had only casually enjoyed in the past.

Since then I have jumped around a variety of websites, including some high profile ones like an article posted on Metal Hammer this year, and even been paid for some of my articles, which is a wonderful feeling. I am definitely far from having completing my wildest dreams in this realm though, and my own site Broken Amp is just getting started with my vision for the future.

What’s the most you have ever debased yourself to get a promo, guest list or interview that you really cared about?

Nothing X-rated, mercifully. I managed to interview three members of Boysetsfire by being extremely polite to venue security and having the devil’s own luck on my side (I was only scheduled to interview one). On another occasion I managed to interview Alan Averill (Primordial) for an hour just because the conversation kept rolling and rolling, although thankfully the interviewer waiting next wasn’t too fussed that I usurped her slot as well as mine, as she’s an old friend of Alan’s.

You work as both a PR guy and you write about metal/run a website. How do you reconcile the two and where do you draw the line for covering those things that you promote?

There are definitely some questions of ethics that are raised when someone works promoting and writing about bands which are in the same genres, and it can on occasion be a fine line to tread. I won’t lie, I am still defining the boundaries myself on occasion, but fortunately I’ve not hit any moral quandary of that nature yet.

The one line I will never cross concerns writing about my own bands. That is an absolute no-no, and if such a situation were to arise, I would either pass the opportunity onto another writer or respectfully decline. If, however, one of my writers for Broken Amp wants to cover a band I’m working with, I see absolutely no issue with that and will happily accommodate any promo or interview requests, just like with any other media outlet.

What are some of the most important issues (social/political/humorous/etc.) for you and how do you insert those issues into your podcast?

There are plenty of issues that I consider extremely important, and whether/how they get inserted into my writing or podcasting depends a lot on the topic in question. I’m a strong proponent of promoting discussions in this scene, and there are some discussions that desperately need to be had. Discussions regarding sexism and female objectification. Homophobia/transphobia. Racism. The blasé nature of some extreme metal fans towards their bands spewing right-wing messages and saying ‘it’s all about the music.’ But I certainly don’t want to feel like these topics are shoehorned into unrelated conversations. We can bring up the last topic I mentioned if we’re discussing NSBM bands, but there’s not much point discussing it if we’re talking about bands far removed from NSBM.

In terms of humor, there’s definitely a place for jokes in an article, but again, timing is key. And when every sentence is some dumb joke or pun, then my patience wears thin. There are a few writers I can think of who try so hard to turn their music journalism into comedy pieces, and it comes across as hackneyed and puerile. However, for a great example of humor in writing, my friend Cameron Piko’s article on Coil drops a beautiful pun on scatology and eschatology, end times vs. rear end times. That is how you make a joke.

What, or who, got you into metal and how old were you?

I was 12, and fully immersed in the world of rap and hip-hop – which I still listen to regularly – when a friend of mine in school loaned me the first two Linkin Park Now, make what you will of their music genre nowadays, but at the time, to my young and inexperienced ears, this was heavy. It had the rap elements I was familiar with, plus the bite and crunch of the guitars and some harsh vocals, and it appealed to the angsty teen I was turning into.

Fast-forward 6 months, and I’m on the music discovery website last.fm, engaging in some discussions online. One guy on there took one look at my music taste, told me it was shit, and recommended to me a handful of metal bands. The three that stuck with me were Insomnium, Arch Enemy and Persuader. I was hooked on the incredible sounds I was hearing from these bands, I dove headfirst into metal from that point on, finding the most extreme stuff possible. So in the space of about a year, I went from listening to Linkin Park to extreme metal (thanks to discovering the internet radio station Death.fm), and I’ve been filling in the gaps in my metal knowledge ever since.

What’s the stickiest you have ever been?

I’m going to interpret this question liberally as “what’s the last band you went crazy over?”, and give a shoutout to the new Slugdge album Dim and Slimeridden Kingdoms. How those two people make such incredible music is utterly beyond me. If you dig on Anaal Nathrakh, these guys come highly recommended.

What advice do you have for aspiring music critics out there?

Don’t be afraid to state your opinion, but back it up with evidence. Too often I see articles where a writer has either tried to tiptoe around a point or apologize on behalf of the band for something negative about a release. Or alternatively they slam an element of the music but don’t really qualify what’s wrong about it. You cannot just say “this song is good/shit,” you need to clarify why it’s good or shit.

Secondly, on a more general note, take pride in your work and check it thoroughly before submitting it. Read it out loud, print it out, whatever you need to do to make it the best piece possible. Two reasons: 1) Many places don’t actually edit articles before they publish them, and if you make errors which aren’t caught before publishing, those will be on the internet for a very long time afterwards, with your name attached. 2) The entire race to be the first to get something published is a complete lie. There is no need to rush through 400 words of drivel just so you can be the first to have covered the release. Readers appreciate a well-considered and researched article a lot more than the page fillers that pass for a lot of reviews nowadays.

And thirdly, find a site you’re happy with and stick to it. There are some excellent sites out there with people who know what they’re doing and can nurture talent, so find one and you’ll be in good hands. If I may give a completely unrelated plug, Broken Amp is currently looking for writers.

Do you have any embarrassing stories about Curtis Dewar that you can share with us? What’s it like working for a guy who is only interested in late 1980’s power, speed and thrash metal?

I have a lot of time for Curtis, he’s an excellent guy and his knowledge/expertise in this field is damn near unparalleled. We may not always agree musically, but we certainly work well together, although if we’re not concentrating we can end up chatting for hours about music and this industry. I can forgive his dubious taste in music 😉

Finally, what are some of your favorite not-metal listening favorites?

Ooft. This could be a very lengthy essay, as I listen to – what feels like – almost every genre under the sun. I often immerse myself in post-rock/shoegaze, with a particular love for Hammock, and this year’s albums of Caspian and God Is An Astronaut are stellar. Coming back to the rap influence I mentioned earlier, I’ve recently picked up Raptor‘s new album which is extremely good. And just last night I had on the new Chvrches record which is gloriously catchy synth-pop. Other genres such as blues and punk rock I don’t keep up so much with new releases, but I’ll definitely jam some old favorites, and if I really need to mellow out, then either ambient (Steve Roach) or classical piano (Debussy, Chopin). And somehow in all of this I’m discovering noise and industrial. Phew!

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Thanks so much to Mark for his time! Be sure to follow him on Twitter @markanglebrant.

– Manny-O-War