It's not going to write itself

I'm not into New Year's resolutions, but...

For someone who regularly likes to say how they’re not into making New Year’s resolutions, I sure seem to have set myself up with a few for 2025.

There’s the specific and wildly unrealistic: my plan to read a book every week; there’s the less specific and more manoeuvrable: my intention to do more consistent Muay Thai training.

And then there’s the podcast. Well, it’s not exactly about the podcast, but it kind of is.

Before Whatever Comes Next became a podcast, it was essentially a blog/ newsletter. I think in fact I started using Substack because I came across what Eugene S. Robinson was writing (Look What You Made Me Do).

I had this idea that I would write a book about music and I guess (because I don’t really remember anymore) I thought the Substack posts could be a launchpad for that.

In my very first post, on the 16th of August, 2021, I set out my book writing aim—partly to make writing the book a promise that I’d be held accountable for.

[Incidentally, I also wrote that I’d make an album that year, which I then did, so go me for following through on that.]

As to writing a book though, I soon learned how naive I was to think I could just dive straight into that.

At this time I was regularly writing reviews and doing some email interviews for Blessed Altar Zine (an underground metal website). Good experience for sure, but limited.

I’d been given Out of Thin Air by Michael Crawley, a book about Ethiopian runners—a totally different subject, but it gave me some ideas for how to approach my book.

Crawley had spent months in Ethiopia, training with elite long-distance runners and conducting a series of interviews, as he investigated why so many top-level runners originate there.

Through the course of the book Crawley also pursues his own personal goal to run a marathon in under two hours and twenty minutes.

I thought to myself, ok I want to explore underground, independent music making (what the key topics are and the main challenges people face). I could spend time with maybe half a dozen different music makers, label owners, engineers etc.

Alongside these personal accounts from various interviewees, I could have my own story of making music myself, with the ultimate aim of recording with Steve Albini in Chicago.

[Of course now that Steve Albini is no longer with us, that component of the book will have to be modified.]

I contacted Michael Crawley asking for some insight into how he got a publishing deal and he very generously shared the proposal that he got his book deal from.

I’d naively thought that Crawley got himself a book deal and then went to Ethiopia to do his research. In fact he’d done his research in Ethiopia as part of his PHD, which he then adapted into a book.

Michael Crawley also has a lot of writing credits to his name.

It was here that I decided I needed to get more writing credits, which in turn got me to the conclusion that I should take a course in feature writing (which I did).

The course I ended up doing (with The London School of Journalism) was very practical—all geared around getting published as a journalist. It was through the course that I ended up writing for Ghost Cult Magazine and New Noise Magazine.

I also started doing research for the Every Album Ever with Mike & Alex podcast (and started doing a few email interviews to give them content for the show).

Some other writing gigs followed, but unsurprisingly there were a lot of failed pitches along the way.

Oh so many failed pitches.

Someway down the line I started doing audio/video interviews for Ghost Cult (the first being with Oxbow), something I’d been pretty nervous about.

Having overcome that mental hurdle, I got an opportunity to do a follow up interview with Pete Stahl of Scream (I’d first interviewed the band for New Noise) to use for an EAE episode. What if, I thought, I made an audio interview out of this instead?

Once the interview was recorded, I had to decide where to put it. I noticed that you could upload audio conversations onto Substack (i.e. as a podcast—though I hadn’t made that connection, for some reason).

And so Whatever Comes Next the podcast was accidentally born.

It took a few episodes before I remembered the original book idea and realised that the podcast could function as some kind of background research.

Over time, largely from what I’ve learned in interviews, I’ve honed in on what I think are some of the most relevant and useful topics (like how bands book shows—I’ve had a number of interesting insights on that topic).

During the course of the 50 episodes I’ve done up till now, some episodes have been particularly significant for me, for different reasons.

Episode 9: John Wright (NoMeansNo, Dead Bob) & author Jason Lamb—this episode came via another New Noise piece.

Photo credit: Ray Auffrey

I remember thinking to myself after doing the interview: This is it. This will propel me into the big time. It did not. I do think it was a good interview though.

Episode 18: Neezy Dynamite (FOX MEDICINE) and Episode 24: Tommy Meehan (Squid Pisser, GWAR, Cancer Christ)—although these episodes were released several weeks apart, the interviews happened within a few days of each other.

These were the first interviews where I shared my book idea in any great detail.

Both Tommy and Neezy were so enthusiastic and encouraging about my ideas, it gave me a big boost of confidence that this was something worth pursuing. Thank you Neezy and thank you Tommy.

Neezy in fact gave me a recommendation, a book about writing (The Book You Were Born to Write by Kelly Notaras).

It was several months before I bought an audiobook version, but having finally done so, that book has already given me a working title, some more concrete ideas for chapters and clearer idea of who I would be writing for.

And no, I’m not going to share the working title, yet. It’s not that I’m scared someone will pinch the idea. Well, actually yes, that is what I’m afraid of.

Episode 19: Fabien W. Furter (Death Whore, Wheelfall)—this episode was a big deal for me.

When I’d first thought about subjects I could spend time with, to form the foundation of my book, Fabien was one of the people I’d had in mind.

I’d already interviewed Fabien a couple of years earlier for Blessed Altar Zine (via email), but I had no idea if he’d be interested in guesting on an obscure podcast in its infancy.

I’m a big fan of Fabien’s work. I was excited when he agreed to do the interview, just from the perspective of getting to ask questions as a fan, but this also felt like a kind of manifesting: I’d decided this was someone I should talk to and I made it happen.

[That principle has so far failed to bear fruit with Matt King of Portrayal of Guilt, but that’s another story (which I’ve written about elsewhere).]

Episode 26: Gregory Jacobsen (Lovely Little Girls)—this episode came via Tommy Meehan asking Gregory on my behalf.

Photo credit: Gregory Jacobsen

As well as being a really fun interview, it made me realise that some interviews could come about via referrals.

Also Gregory didn’t have something in that moment to promote. I’d got into this mindset that I would only be interviewing people who were promoting a new release. This interview made me realise that doesn’t always have to be so.

[As a side note: Most interviews for WCN have come about thanks to publicists—there are several in particular who’ve been very supportive when it’s come to setting up interviews. The world of publicists is something I’ve grown to appreciate more and more over the past couple of years and a number of these people have been hugely important to Whatever Comes Next. That’s a whole other topic for another piece, but sincere thanks to all of the publicists who’ve helped facilitate interviews for me.]

Episode 36: Nick Sakes (Upright Forms)—this interview came about thanks to Jarrett, a patron of the EAE podcast.

Jarrett linked me up with ex-members (and Mark from SKiN GRAFT records) to get content for a Dazzling Killmen episode (one of Nick’s old bands) that Mike & Alex were doing.

It was very gratifying that Nick would want to talk to me again for the podcast.

Nick’s also been an enthusiastic champion of the podcast and when you’re operating in a realm of deep obscurity these little gestures make a big difference.

While I’d covered SKiN GRAFT records bands before (whether for interviews or reviews), I’ve also really valued getting to know Mark a little bit. Having him come to me on a couple of occasions to propose coverage of bands on his label has been another boost for me.

Episode 42: Veilburner—the second band I ever interviewed for Blessed Altar Zine, this was the fourth time I interviewed the duo, but the first time not via email.

With Veilburner being a masked, highly conceptual musical project I’d always known Mephisto and Chrisom only via their avatars.

This episode was doubly exciting for me—the fact they were interested in talking to me again was great in itself, but I also got to talk to the real people behind the masks.

So where is all of this leading? Well it feels about time to put down another marker in the progression of this blog/newsletter/podcast, to continue what Whatever Comes Next was born to be: a catalyst for writing a book about underground, independent music making.

I don’t know how much further I’ll be on that path this time next year, but I’m expecting some significant developments and now having read this piece you can expect something too.