Sound of Pen
In my first year of University, I was welcomed into the world of music journalism by Sound of Pen. Created and run by JC (Johnny K of Kerrang!, Rocksound, The Fly, etc), Sound Of Pen aimed to support ‘the next generation of rock journalists’, with a strong community of student writers covering everything rock-oriented. It was with SoP that I covered my first gig, album release, and only a couple of months in led my first interview too – as well as becoming their fastest ever writer to accumulate enough articles to become a Senior Correspondent.
After a year at SoP as a writer, I took on editorial responsibilities including sourcing releases to cover, liaising closely with both JC as Editor-in-chief and PR companies to arrange advance copies, guestlist places and interviews. I was also responsible for running a team of other student writers ranging from GCSE to University age, editing their work and providing feedback, posting content according to a tight timescale, and running and maintaining SoP’s social media and online engagement.
Following Sound of Pen’s dissolution as a student review site, the skills I cultivated under JC gave me the confidence to go forward and launch my own websites to continue doing the work I’d loved doing – and so The Phonograph and Bittersweet Press came about.
Sound of Pen portfolio available below – due to dissolution of the site this is a sample of my SoP portfolio as PDFs.
Lippy
As I started to explore music journalism, I took advantage of the vibrant Leeds scene by getting involved with the University’s student magazine, Lippy. I reviewed a selection of releases and live shows, working closely with the Music Editors to create features for deadlines.
Lippy Mag portfolio available on request – due to site migrating from .co.uk to .com articles are unavailable on the web.