This Could Be Us (But You Ain’t Paying)
(sorry)
One of the joys of freelancing is getting to focus more on stories that I want to write, whether the ideas come from me or from one of the editors with whom I work. Yes, there’s still lots of other pieces that are done strictly for rent/insurance/bill money, but there’s also a freedom to write about what I want for any publication that will have me.
The downside: On occasion, finding a home for a story can be difficult. For me, a double-digit number of story ideas go unwritten each year, including some of my favorites. Here are five from 2015 that I wish I had written – and why I didn’t.
Behind the Scenes of the Live Read
Elevator Pitch: “But more than being just a cineaste’s dream, the Live Read is one of a series public performances and performance spaces around the country that is benefiting from a required, complete focus on the stage and away from hand-held devices. Whether it’s the near-universal condemnation of jerks on Broadway taking photos during performance or the continued success of no-phone venues like the Largo in Los Angeles, public opinion has created enough of a backlash to the constant Instagramming of life that the Live Read’s you-had-to-be-there atmosphere is a relief for many attendees.”
Why: A combination of star power and a trend usually can get an assignment. In this case, the pitch came a short while after the phone-shaming antics on Broadway.
Why Not: I get somewhere around 200 emails a day – and I’m a freelancer. Editors of publications get many, many more, meaning that the most common response from a blind pitch is silence. (In this case, I actually DID have a personal connection, having met the editor at a party, but I clearly did not make enough of an impact to be remembered.)
Kathryn Calder
Elevator Pitch: “She put together much of her debut while her mother was battling with, and eventually succumbing to, ALS (she would later record a TED Talk about the experience, and a Kickstarter-funded documentary called “A Matter of Time” will document her and her mother’s battle). She released her second solo album after the death of her father. Now, she’s back with her third, a self-titled effort out in April (that also features a guest list – Dan Mangan, Hannah Georgas, Jill Barber – that highlights the incredible folk-rock scene in Vancouver), and a chance to, for the first time in her decade as a professional musician, slow down and enjoy.”
Why: Calder was playing Los Angeles on a solo tour for her latest album, and the idea of a musician who has always recorded from a place of personal tragedy finally getting a chance to feel something resembling peace appealed to me.
Why Not: I got a simple “no thanks” to this one. It might be that Calder’s not a big enough name; she’s a part of the New Pornographers, which is big enough, but it seems that pitching the solo projects of members of popular bands doesn’t get you that far.
Ten Years of Bootie
Elevator Pitch: “Bootie L.A. turns 10 in the month of June (celebrating with a bash on June 6), and while the all-mashup dance night at the Echoplex (and, occasionally now, the new Regent Theatre downtown) is often celebrated for its lack of pretension, bottle service and velvet ropes, it also is known for its smart, sly and almost subliminal comments on the state of pop music.… the state of pop music in 2015 from their unique perspective: When so many of the top 40 songs sound the same, what’s the point of mashing them together? And what can the art of mashup, or “bootleg pop” (hence the Bootie name), tell us about current pop music?”
Why: Anniversaries are popular, of course, and local nightlife rarely makes it to ten years. In addition, the duo at Bootie L.A. could speak to the state of pop music in an interesting way.
Why Not: I was told that the publication wasn’t taking pitches from freelancers. (Freelancers were writing for the pub, but they seemed to be already “in” with the outlet.)
Matthew Koma
Elevator Pitch: “Over the last three years, Matthew Koma has been on radios around the country. He has written with nearly every EDM superstar imaginable … His partnership with Zedd produced three of the DJ/producer’s biggest hits … But what might surprise the EDM fist-pumpers is that Koma is as influenced by rock as much as house, and guitars more than laptops. Born in Brooklyn and raised a Long Island punk-rocker, Koma is one of a set of dance music singers that revels in blurring lines between genres, adding soul and depth to four-on-the-floor beats.”
Why: Tailored specifically for this publication, it was about giving a dance music artist a guitar background in order to appeal to its older-skewing readers, while still allowing the outlet to look “hip” by chatting about a newer artist.
Why Not: They liked the idea, actually, but thinks it’s “too early” to run a feature on Koma, who does not have a solo hit.
Jean Michel Jarre/Air
Elevator Pitch: “On his new album, he collaborates with everyone from Boys Noize to Pete Townshend and Armin van Buuren to Laurie Anderson. But what I’m most interested in telling you about is his song with Air, “Close Your Eyes.” According to a preamble he delivered during a listening session in July, “Close Your Eyes” was made by utilizing electronic instruments from throughout history, starting all the way in the 1940s and through to modern pieces. It shows an evolution of a way of making music, and the song reflects it, too: To listen closely is to hear an audio rendition of, say, a slow-loading JPEG get sharper and sharper after each pass.”
Why: A techie/geeky pitch, it’s an interesting way to trace the evolution of dance music with someone who’s been there nearly since the beginning.
Why Not: Unfortunately, I’ve found that either dance music is not in love with its history, or editors are underestimating the appetite for said history. And since Jarre wasn’t name-dropped by Daft Punk like Giorgio Moroder was, you’re left with an underrated artist talking about an “underrated” topic. It’s hard to sell any idea with more than one use of “underrated.”
