HM Magazine Intern Diary: 7.22.09

Looks like we’ll need more time to finish this issue so Friday won’t be the last day to work on it. Bummer.

I worked at Doug’s house today since he needed to be home for his wife, and it also helps seeing as I’ve blown up the internet at the Ranch twice this week. I spent most of the day tracking down and editing album covers for all the CDs we’re reviewing in this issue, minus a couple. I finished editing and laying out the Letters to the Editor section, and I’m proofreading all the copy in this issue.

It rained today for the first time in two months. I enjoy rain so I’ve been missing Miami and the daily rainstorm. Guess it won’t be long.

Work work work,
Corey Erb

“Poets are born, not paid.” – Addison Mizner

HM Magazine Intern Diary: 7.17.09

One week till deadline.

Finishing up my second batch of album reviews today. Castanets and Between the Trees were the easiest since I’d listened to each CD already, and I’m finishing Skillet and Hawk Nelson once I listen to them each another time. I’ll probably review The Glorious Unseen’s new CD on Sunday after I finish my gadget and book reviews. If so, that’ll make eight album reviews I did for this issue. So much for variety of opinion. I apologize in advance.

I filed a bunch of subscription cards while I was listening to music, and I came across one from my girlfriend’s relatively small birth town and one from a guy who lives on the same street as one of my good friends from home. No Rich Husbands today, though. Just thought you wanted to know that.

It’s been quiet around here with Doug gone so I’ve been quiet too, sorry. It’ll be down to the wire next week so I better get back to work.

Happy Birthday America,
Corey Erb

“Find a need and fill it.” – Ruth Stafford Peale

HM Magazine Intern Diary: 6.19.09

Crazy day. Doug and I started the day by showing Kelly the new intern around a bit. She’s nice. She’s from Ohio so she and I talked about Ohio stuff for a while since my dad’s side of the family is mostly there and I have a good amount of connections there.

Trevor McNevan from Thousand Foot Krutch called right at 10 as arranged and we had a good conversation about everything from NHL video games to Aerosmith to Taco Bell to the song “Blue Monday” by… well… a band whose name made him a little uncomfortable to mention in an interview, though we laughed about it and he suggested I listen to it when I related that I hadn’t heard it in probably 10 years. Good memories. Let me just tease you with the tidbit that there’s a song on TFK’s new record, Welcome to the Masquerade that’s a nod to that song’s industrial flair. It was a really insightful interview and I can’t wait for you all to read it. Check out their first single off the new album, “Bring Me To Life.”

I also talked to Matt Mullins, Memphis May Fire‘s new singer. I felt like I got a lot of good info from him as well, and I think their Trustkill debut, Sleepwalking, is going to sell. They’ve got such a diverse sound, which is something we discussed at length, and I love Mullins’ style when he screams, how he changes up his diction tempo within words.

One band that was supposed to be on Memphis May Fire’s upcoming tour, Oceana, whose album we reviewed in the last issue, broke up yesterday, just as I was starting to get excited about the band. These things happen though. You should still give them a listen. They’ve got a unique post-hardcore, experimental sound, sort of like a The Receiving End of Sirens with more screaming. (Hmm, that’s my second TREOS reference this week; I think I’ve reached my quota.)

Speaking of obscure broken-up band references, my comment about Justifide the other day made me curious to see if I still had any pictures of me in my old Justifide t-shirt. Sure enough, here you go – proof that I’m not all talk (just mostly):

Now, before any of you freak out, that’s not my girlfriend – it’s an old friend of mine – and it’s the only picture I had of me wearing that Justifide shirt. We went to grade school together and she actually played a role in my becoming a Christian since she invited and drove me to the church that I was eventually baptized at a couple years after her initial invitation.

Haha enough nostalgia for one post. It’s probably a good thing I’m staying here during Cornerstone Festival. I love the Cornerstone experience and I always feel conflicted when I can’t make it but I’ve got a ton of work to do with our mid-July final deadline creeping slowly up – and at least I get to go to Warped Tour in San Antonio, which is while Doug will be away at C-stone. I’ve never been to Warped and I’ll be able to take photos and maybe interview some bands that I’ve never seen live like Thrice.

Don’t be that guy,
Corey Erb

“Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.” – African proverb