Old Fart Journalism
Back in the day, before the internet, streaming services and social media, when you wanted to pick up a new album, you either had to quite literally judge the album by its cover, or you resorted to your favorite metal magazine where you could read a review of an album that peeked your interest written by a non-biased journalist that stuck more to the facts rather than their opinions. Through a story weaved from a trusted reviewer who hasn’t steered you wrong, you could immerse yourself in the words and imagine what this album sounded like and make an informed decision to take a chance.
Things are quite different today. It’s quite easy to just listen to albums before taking the plunge. Some might say that journalism, as a result, has switched to more opinionated reporting rather than fact-based. As a result, artists these days can have great success if deemed “trending”. Our panelists range from the old school mindset to the newer methods of journalism. Be it print, video, social media platforms or exclusively online publications.
Friday 18. April 15:00 - Room: Central Park
Mod: Birgit Wolters // Oktober Promotion (DE)
Birgit Wolters started her career as a management assistant in audiovisual media, taking care of video production for festivals and artists. After finishing her Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations she started working for Century Media Records (later part of Sony Music Entertainment) and became the Head of European PR & Marketing in early 2019. Today, she works as a publicist for the PR agency Oktober Promotion from Hamburg, handling mainly album release campaigns for metal & rock artists European wide.
Chris Maric // Maric Media (AU)
Chris Maric of Maric Media has been in PR since 1998 and has worked with some of the world's biggest music companies and artists over the years.
Staring out in Television and then onto Artist Relations roles at Sony, Universal and EMI during the 2000’s before moving predominantly into working with heavy music labels.
Today, Chris is The Australian rep for Arising Empire, Better Noise Music, Ear Music, Metal Blade, Napalm Records, Peaceville and contracts to BMG and Warner Music on specialist projects.
Chris also works on PR campaigns for Australian tours for promoters including Destroy All Lines, Live Nation, Select Blue Murder, The Phoenix, Teamwrk and others right down to independent bands including Wardruna, King Parrot and hundreds more, plus Chris also manages the legendary comedian, Steve Hughes. In 2020 Chris launched a Consultancy Service to help new bands understand the intricacies of the Music Industry, which has led to many bands levelling up their skills and allowed them to self manage their way to international festivals and more.
Jonathan Selzer // Metal Hammer (GB)
Frighteningly, at least to himself, Jonathan Selzer has been working as a music journalist now for over 35 years. Starting off at the weekly Melody Maker and monthly Lime Lizard magazine in the late 90s, where he was nurturing his love for metal and arguing for an hour with Peter Steel while also writing about industrial, the more leftfield realms of indie and pretty much anything else that would fuck with his head. He also spent a short amount of time freelancing for Metal Hammer before moving on to become the editor of the extreme music monthly, Terrorizer, in September 2000. After seven years spent navigating a dynamic, constantly evolving landscape and pursuing a financially ruinous love of Norway, he moved back to Metal Hammer as reviews editor and took over the reins of their own extreme section, Subterranea. Subterranea and Terrorizer are alas no more, but Jonathan remains at Metal Hammer 18 years in, still sworn to the dark – and the cheesiest of AOR – and still firm in the belief that songs that aren’t about Satan, swords or witches are a bit silly.
Pedro Almeida // A&P-Reacts (CA)
Co-Founded A&P-Reacts YT channel in July 2017 and what started as a reaction channel quickly grew into a metal channel that provides reviews, interviews, vlogs, and all-around metal coverage. Not having a journalism or music degree was never a handicap in the growth of the channel and the coverage provided, having established himself as a respected voice in the metal world and a knowledgeable interviewer. Featured in Metal Hammer Germany 2022 Nov edition as one of new voices of metal in the new media world with interesting and engaging interviews with bands like Sepultura, Mayhem, Nightwish, Sabaton among others, has allowed the channel to be in the forefront of what metal in the digital world looks like.
Gunnar Sauermann // Metal Hammer (DE)
Gunnar Sauermann is well known in the dark music scene as a freelancer for Metal Hammer Germany, for which he has been writing since 2001. His focus has been on the Norwegian and other Nordic black metal scenes as well as on bands from Britain and Romania. He joined Season of Mist in 2008 and worked eight years in France and two more from the Netherlands as head of promotion for the renowned French label. In 2018, Gunnar was offered a position as senior press officer of the Wacken Open Air and moved to Hamburg. Two years later, he returned to promotion, as head of the department of the acclaimed German label Prophecy Productions and others under the umbrella of SPKR Media. In another life, the dedicated European from Germany has studied iron age and early medieval archaeology, and comparative linguistics with a focus on Celtic and Germanic languages at the universities of Marburg and Dublin. When Gunnar is not at work or reporting from studios and festivals across Europe, he can often be found visiting friends or going fishing in Bergen, Norway.