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As Content Director for Revolver — North America’s premier rock and heavy-metal music and lifestyle outlet — I oversaw the long-running brand’s comprehensive rebranding and relaunch, and established and executed its new multi-platform vision. I directed teams in the creation and amplification of hundreds of written and video stories on a range of creators, from high-profile artists like Metallica, Tool and Judas Priest to emerging acts, grassroots influencers and lifestyle enthusiasts. Read my recent stories for Revolver here.
“New York, 30 years ago. F*cking hell … that was craziness!” It’s August 4th, 2021, when Revolver reaches Kirk Hammett at his home in Honolulu. And the Metallica guitarist has just realized that it’s been three decades, to the week, that his band took over Madison Square Garden to host one of the largest album-listening parties in history — for the record that would shatter mainstream music’s heavy-metal glass ceiling and change the Bay Area thrash crew’s lives forever. [Read more]
2020 is already a full-on dumpster fire — but Maynard James Keenan is preparing for even more flames. "I think we're going to head toward more chaos," says the Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer singer when Revolver reaches him in late August. [Read more]
It's a beautiful sunny February morning in New York City and Lamb of God's Randy Blythe is reminding me that "we're all gonna die!"
Blythe's exclamation — delivered in the gruff, sonorous tone that's made him one of modern metal's most distinctive vocalists — is a pitch-perfect response to the current, inescapable media coverage of the global coronavirus outbreak. Hyperbole aside, as the COVID-19 virus continues to spread, and its death toll rises, many people's daily lives are being seriously disrupted while others are left increasingly panicked by the constant news updates. Blythe is trying to parse the truth from the fear. [Read more]
Cannibal priests to Crowley: Behemoth’s Nergal on strange trips and dark spirituality [Read more]
During my 10+ years at Guitar World I received several promotions within the organization, and most recently held the title of Executive Editor.
My responsibilities included editorial strategy, managing teams and creating content across web, print and social. I wrote hundreds of stories and produced and directed video and photo shoots with celebrity musicians. I directed all editorial aspects of the brand’s best-selling biannual catalog: Guitar World Buyer’s Guide and was a key member in the development of Guitar World’s e-commerce platform.
I also directed the social team, including partners Twitter and Dick Clark Productions, during the on-site activation around affiliate brand Revolver’s nationally televised 2013 and 2014 Golden Gods Awards Show, resulting in #GoldenGods trending worldwide.
See more of my work here.
Annie Clark is officially one step ahead of us. We've always suspected as much, but this fact was confirmed the moment she emerged from hair and makeup for her inaugural Guitar World cover shoot holding a guitar...and wearing a dress that featured a print of a bikini body, just like the kind you'd find hanging in the window of a kitschy beach shop. [Read more]
“Benvenuto, bambini!” Roger Waters exclaims through his microphone to the line of children excitedly walking toward the stage inside Rome’s massive Stadio Olimpico. On this blistering afternoon in late July, the former Pink Floyd leader and his band are in the middle of the soundcheck for tonight’s show, at which they’ll perform Floyd’s classic 1979 double-album, The Wall, for 50,000 Italian fans. [Read more]
It’s hard to imagine a world without Slayer. But just two years ago that looked like a real possibility when the band was suddenly ripped in half. [Read more]
It’s rare that a band emerges and, with one inspired release, simultaneously launches and perfects a genre of music. Such is the singular case of Black Sabbath. [Read more]
We’ve been invited to Metallica's HQ to talk with Kirk Hammett about the 30th anniversary of their classic sophomore album, Ride the Lightning. [Read more]
The both started as cult heroes. Metallica's Kirk Hammett was a man of the people, and Tool's Adam Jones was a man of mystery. Join them as they compare notes on how they transformed their heavy metal into a worldwide religion... [Read more]
"Have you ever seen someone and the thought comes in your head that you just want to... kill 'em?” Coming from most any other human, this line of questioning might be surprising. But when the human in question is Slayer’s Jeff Hanneman, it’s par for the course. “But why would you do it? Why would I do it?” He continues, cracking open a second Corona. “I think about that more than I should.” [Read more]
2011 was well on the way to being one of the best years of Tony Iommi’s life. The guitarist was on a successful book tour to promote Iron Man, his revealing autobiography in which he talks about his life and his career with Black Sabbath.
At the same time, he was reuniting with the original Black Sabbath members—vocalist Ozzy Osbourne, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward—to write and record a new full-length album, the quartet’s first since 1978’s Never Say Die!
But celebration gave way to concern when Iommi discovered a lump in his groin. Doctors initially misdiagnosed the problem as nothing more than an infection, but when Iommi’s condition worsened, his doctor biopsied the mass. At a follow-up appointment, he told Iommi the result: We found lymphoma.
“Once I heard my doctor say that, my whole world changed,” Iommi says. “I thought, Bloody cancerous lymphoma? Well that’s it. I’ve had it.” [Read more]
In 2010, Harley-Davidson approached Vice Media’s Virtue Worldwide agency to create a young-adult focused social media campaign for H-D’s Dark Custom line of motorcycles. Harley-Davidson wanted to convey the broad, youthful appeal of the no-frills/high-thrills Dark Custom line.
As the editorial lead for that year-long campaign, I directed a team that created unique branded content (interviews, video features, photo galleries and blogs) which we seeded across H-D’s Dark Custom blog, Facebook and Twitter.
Through grassroots digital messaging and constant fan interaction we fed the core H-D enthusiasts in-depth and entertaining coverage of established bike builders and events, and engaged new young audiences by creating content across adjacent lifestyle categories including celebrity, music, kustom cars, skateboarding, graphic arts and photography.
In 2005, photographer Jimmy Hubbard and I noticed the emerging web trend of music outlets transitioning from print to video-centric artist coverage. While there was already a growing volume of quality video content for established high-profile bands, we identified the lack of coverage for up-and-coming, fringe acts.
To service that untapped audience, we launched the extreme music blog, MetalKult.com, with the goal to shoot video interviews, lessons and live concerts of some of the most exciting underground heavy metal and extreme bands.
As Editorial Director of that start-up site, my role was substantial: from setting the editorial scope to producing and filming video segments to managing budgets and freelancers. MetalKult was eventually acquired by Revolver magazine and added as a top-level channel to their website.
My obsession with tattoos intersected with my professional life when I got hooked up with the folks at Inked magazine. I've had the pleasure to speak with some interesting characters for that magazine, including diesel mechanic turned jewelry designer Rich Sandomeno, legendary lowbrow artist Coop, interior design star Antonio Ballatore, street artist Dan Witz and more.
My connection with Inked continued while I was at Revolver, where I produced a co-branded video series with New York City tattoo shop East Side Ink. Along with shooting short videos on the shop’s storied history, we also created a once-in-a-lifetime experience for superfans to meet their rock icons and get tribute tattoos. See more examples from that series here.
Local Theory’s campaign for Nokia’s sponsorship of the Young Lions Film Competition at Cannes Lions 2007 was built around an integrated concept of documenting the competition (in which teams of creatives had 48 hours to shoot a brief with only the Nokia Nseries smartphone) through online content, print-mobile activation, over 90 viral web/mobisodes, and a 30-minute branded MTV special, “Short Film Shootout: Cannes,” which aired in more than 150 countries.
As Senior Copy Writer for this branded content campaign, I conceived the main titles for the MTV special, and wrote the copy for the Nokia site, which included online bios and interactive mobile narratives. This content was integrated into an on-site, mobile-active, 80-foot installation and print ads that led viewers into mobile content about the teams and the phones on which they were shooting.
