HH 085: Critique Is An Act of Storytelling (JJ Koczan/The Obelisk)

Joining me this week is JJ Koczan, founder of The Obelisk, an online publication focusing on desert rock, stoner and doom metal.  JJ and I both found our way into the music industry around twenty years ago through college radio and journalism. JJ became Managing Editor at The Aquarian Weekly and Associate Editor at Metal Maniacs Magazine in New York before creating The Obelisk thirteen years ago.  I wanted to understand how JJ negotiates being a fan of heavy music in addition to someone who covers it daily; does his profession color his listening experience? Does the pitch an artist, label, or publicist makes color his perception of the music? I think about these same questions a lot when it comes to event curation and even programming for this podcast. Before jumping in I’d like to give a shout out to Esben Willems who edits, mixes and masters these episodes weekly for inspiring this episode. If you’re listening and have a guest idea, feel free to reach out and share it.  Find JJ Koczan: The Obelisk Twitter Find Heavy Hops: Website (Listen to all episodes and access detailed show notes!) Facebook Instagram Twitter Support The Show By Donating Episode Art and HH Logo By: Bryn Gleason Audio editing, mix and mastering: Esben Willems/Studio Berserk Music by: Sam Cangelosi Please Subscribe to our podcast via your preferred listening platform. Rate and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts to help others find us! Support The Show By Donating. Give the gift of HH by sharing our episodes on social media! Small actions such as these go a long way in helping others find us!