One year ago today, I began this music blog, A Future in Noise. I wasn’t sure how long it would last, though I figured it might be a couple of weeks of fun, nothing serious…and then I realized how much I enjoyed writing about music! I promoted posts via Last.fm at first, where over time I encountered current AFIN contributors/team members Ian, Christian (who I met up with for the first time a few days ago!), Jonathan and Andy. In December, I was approached by MOG to become a part of the MOG Music Network. Knowing that a wider audience was checking out what I had to say was certainly inspiring- plus my posts on the Animal Collective leak and Jaydiohead landed on the front page of MOG (not to mention many other articles since)!

Now, A Future in Noise is part of the Hype Machine, Elbo.ws, and SoundWord too! Which brings me to the important points…what is this all about? What purpose does it serve? There are many out there who only equate music blogs as a place to fetch downloads, and on the opposite spectrum, those who question the intense artist hype via the NME and Pitchfork.

I saw an untapped potential, a gap, in the music blog format. There were already enough sites that deliver music news (general or artist/genre-specific), enough sites that are essentially spots for picking up downloads with little commentary on the material. What if the aim of A Future in Noise was simply to help readers find music that was worth listening to, I thought? That’s what my music-listening quest has been all about- absorbing and understanding all that I come in contact with, making what resonates with me the strongest the highest priority. I think our features here have always been opinionated to a certain extent (mine and those of the other contributors!), though that’s kind of our point- we wouldn’t try to steer you wrong. I know what it feels like to read an album review that sounds over-enthusiastic and insincere! I have been 100% honest in everything I have written about music here, which I hope readers find to be refreshing- I know I do when I read music criticism from other journalists and bloggers that comes from the soul, be it negative or positive!

That being said, I have often catered to writing about music that I enjoy, naturally- who would want to check this place out if I was yammering on about all the artists I couldn’t stand anyway? Well, that could have its merits…anyway, not only have I highlighted new albums that I thought were fantastic, but spotlighted favorite genres (like post-punk as coldwave) and artists (The Fall; I even got permission from Kevin Cummins himself via e-mail to use the picture in the post!), too. I think that understanding the music of the past is essential for the musicians of today to be forward-thinking, paradoxically enough, and tracing music history is fascinating as a music enthusiast anyhow. As many doors as the Internet has opened, it can be tricky to know where to go to get no-frills music opinions and recommendations, which is a big part of the A Future in Noise mission!

Another focus here has been in promoting brilliant independent musicians. Since January’s first Independent Music Discoveries issue, I’ve done special features collecting the best in independent music that I’ve found through searching, reader recommendations, and highlights from digital and physical copy submissions that I’ve received, and conducting some interviews too (Örnsberg, Shok, Hakim Callier). Don’t hesitate to get in touch if you’re looking for a ready ear for your tunes, and to get some extra promotion along the way! I’ve been able to make some great connections through running this site and I’ve heard some brilliant music because of it. As an independent artist myself, I understand the challenges that go into getting the word out on your music, and I’m always happy to help answer any questions on this!

Over the rest of the week, some additional goodies will be unveiled for you all to enjoy- one of which is already in place! There is a now a chatbox on the right hand sidebar (which was in use earlier, for about 6 hours for today’s AFIN Virtual Music Conference!), where you are free to leave messages in at any time, and for chatting when multiple people are logged in at once and future group events.

Thank you for visiting and reading, and blogroll support, along with your comments and criticism- it really means more to me than I could put into words! Music makes up the greater % of my life, and it is reassuring to know that there are others out there on a similar wavelength and that I’ve helped introduce some fabulous artists to. Let’s keep AFIN going strong for many years to come!