PAST

Even before NeverMindTheBuzzkills.com started, there was a WordPress-hosted predecessor of this blog. One with a different and – let’s call a spade a spade here – way too complicated name. No, seriously, I could barely remember it myself. But then came NMTB, and the initial music blog got an upgrade in the form of new features and a more frequent posting schedule.

The motivation stayed the same: As a music journalist of (then) ten years, I had long been fed up of hearing editors tell me that certain artists were not famous, successful or big enough to be featured in the magazines I was writing for, or that without a current release there was no reason to write about a band. In the end, it often came down to the promise – or lack – of advertising money. A lot of good stories, a lot of intereting artists and a lot of great music got left along the way because one editor or another was playing it safe. A frustrating process if you don’t just write about music for the paycheck but because you love it. So I took to the web, to write about artists whose work fascinated me – whether they had a million, ten thousand or only ten fans. Never for the money. Not even hunting clicks. Only for the love of music.

NeverMindTheBuzzkills – part of the idea behind it was also that it does not matter what others think about the music you like. Music is there to be enjoyed. So what if your friends are into rap, while you are into acoustic rock? Why shouldn’t you be able to enjoy heavy metal and electro pop? Don’t let anyone tell you that the music you like isn’t ‘cool’ enough. Do I personally like every type of music? Hell no. Do I think some performers should not be allowed to use the terms ‘artists’ or ‘musician’ or call what the stuff they’re selling ‘music’? Hell yes. But if you are into one of those, more power to you. Don’t let anyone spoil the fun. Not even me … when I occasionally rant about common-denominator-pop, cheap plastic products made for a quick cash-in, without soul and passion. Never mind the buzzkills.

After three years and hundreds of posts with videos, reviews, a series about album cover art, interviews, music trivia and some charming, music related oddities, the initial run of NeverMindTheBuzzkills came to an end. Life happened, and I had to face the fact that I no longer had the time to continuously update the blog. In order not to let NMTB die completely, I created a kind of static ‘best of’. And so it existed for years, until February of 2019, when that feisty little music website came back in yet another, kind of similar, kind of different way. Which is where we are now.

So welcome, to NeverMindTheBuzzkills.

– Ewan McGee

Never mind the buzzkills – you like the music you like, never hesitate to enjoy or share.