Life in the Industry: Nick Ruskell - Senior Commissioning Editor of Kerrang!
I took a trip down memory lane with Nick Ruskell, one of Kerrang!'s longest serving members and author of the new book Kerrang! Living Loud
After twenty years at Kerrang!, Nick Ruskell, Senior Commissioning Editor, has published a brand new book ‘Kerrang! Living Loud: Four Decades on the Frontline of Rock, Metal, Punk, and Alternative Music.’
Full of anecdotes, bad puns and even worse hair, the book looks back on the forty-year history of the beloved magazine and captures how it influenced a range of rock fans across multiple generations.
I spoke to Nick before Download Festival to find out more about his own personal history with the magazine, how the idea of the book came about and how despite the declining publishing industry Kerrang! has still managed to uphold its reputation within the music industry.
Now, with a porter cabin and a well-equipped base backstage the process of capturing Download for Kerrang! readers, as and when it happens, is slightly different from what it used to be:
Nick: Years ago, when the mag was weekly, we used to do pages of the mag on site and have it sent off ready to come out on Wednesday […] A guy would come on a motorbike and get a burnt DVD of all the pages to take to the printing house.
It used to be quite interesting to do it like that because it was really intense. It’s kind of a shame things aren't done like that anymore, but at the same time I'm really glad they're not [because] you can't correct or take things out you’ll later regret.
There was one in 2006 with Guns’N’Roses — not the reunion Guns’N’Roses but Axel Rose and other people — and the reviewer came back and he didn't even give it a K rating. He gave it 0 instead. The editor at the time had been entertained all day […] so he was quite drunk and he just let this thing go through.
He thought it was hilarious and then when we got the mag on Wednesday morning and he was just sitting there at his desk holding his head.
L: I mean, Kerrang! was known for that sort of honesty, right?
N: When I did the book, I read through the whole archive [and] there’s a point where the humour is just absolutely brutal. There are a good ten years where nobody was safe. But it meant that when we said something was good we really meant it.
There were some where it’s like there's a joke to be made here that's really obvious, we have to make it. I like to still do that now, even if it's something terrible. Not so much with nasty reviews, I’ll say, "I've got this really crap headline idea, but we have to do it before someone else does”.
L: You're like, “I've got a whole notebook of these”
N: Sometimes I look at magazines and there’s none of those silly things […] when I was growing up that was what Kerrang! was and that was where I learned to write.
[The] idea that no band was safe from a funny picture caption was part of what made the Kerrang! world feel like it did. You had these giant bands: Metallica, Green Day, Iron Maiden, Deftones, Korn and then you had all these bands who were playing in pubs, but nobody was immune to having the mick taken out of them. I always thought they were really funny. It’s one of those things when the crappy a joke is, the funnier it is.
Most people find it pretty funny, especially if you're doing it to everybody. New bands in their first introducing things are always really jazzed about it, they feel part of the club.
L: Is that a lot harder to do online?
N: Yeah, we don't really caption stuff online that's one of the cool things about the mag; you have all this stuff that doesn't work on the internet like page captions and headlines, and more sensibly, page design. So you haven't just got a lot of really good photography, you've got how it's all set up on the page.
We just did an “On the Road” piece with Mimi Barks and the designer really went to town on making it look like it was torn out of a fanzine with torn up edges and barbed wire all over the place. It doesn't really look that great online but in mags it’s brilliant.
Having spent most of his Saturdays rewatching recorded episodes of the American cartoon, Beavis and Butt-Head, Nick explains it was the two socially awkward, rock/metal-loving teenage delinquents, that introduced him to the world of rock:
N: They were the best critics in the world because they were cartoon characters. They could say whatever they wanted, and they were incorruptible because they had no axe to grind. And if you complained about it, what's the big deal? It's a cartoon. But they were also really good at saying what was good and what was bad in a really funny way.
There was the video for ‘One’ by Metallica on there and I just sat there and spent all Saturday rewinding and watching it again. […] After I’d got a couple of takes of Metallica and Nirvana I found Kerrang! and it had a cartoon of KISS on the front cover. I bought it immediately and just devoured the whole thing.
L: Apart from recognising the bands on the cover what was it that drew you to Kerrang!?
N: It was a world of exciting music, exciting bands and there seemed to be travel constantly. I used to just read everything in it, whether or not I'd heard the bands or heard of them. It really excited me every single week just getting it and seeing who was on the cover. I would just be obsessed with them, I'd have to go and hear them.
By the time I started [at Kerrang!] that was the point when it was at its biggest. It was all pervasive — everyone was reading it. I remember being at college and everyone being a kind of 2000 ‘mosher’.
L: That was around the time of Kerrang! TV as well wasn’t it?
N: Yeah, so it was all: Slipknot, System of a Down, Blink-182, Sum-41, Jimmy Eat World. All of that stuff had sort of coalescence into this one big Kerrang! world.
After about 6 months of me sending them letters, eventually, someone sent me some records to review, and that was my way in. When I got my first commission I was still just totally excited by everything that was going on.
Things had changed from when I’d started reading — bands had changed and some had split up, and the type of rock fan had changed as well — but the whole vibe was still the same.
L: You’d have grown up with the bands featured in the eighties/nineties instead of the Nu-Metal bands of the 2000s. Did that change how you felt about Kerrang! when you first joined?
N: Some things had changed but the core thing hadn't, which was that it was all about having a laugh with rock bands. Kerrang! by that point was such a broad church. In ’94 when I started reading it people on the cover were KISS, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Nirvana, Soundgarden. A couple of years after that, around ’96, there were bands like Korn and Marilyn Manson and in ’99 Slipknot were on the cover for the first time.
By 2003, you had proper extreme bands like Emperor, and Napalm Death and at the other end of it you had Bowling for Soup, and I loved all of it. It was selling so much you could do Napalm Death because you really liked them, even though it’d sell 10,000 fewer copies. But that doesn't matter when you're selling 80,000 copies. You could do that one week then put Blink-182 or someone on the cover the next to make up the difference.
This really weird mix didn’t really happen at any other point […] I don't think there's really been a point where both of those extremes have been so strong. In 2003 absolutely anything with a guitar just sold a million copies. It’s weird to think that at one point a band like Tool or Deftones were selling as many tickets as Madonna.
L: Is that what you mean when you say the rock fans changed between the 80’s & ’00s?
N: Yeah, I mean as much as a lot of people were quite open-minded in the eighties, the thrash fans were not into Mötley Crüe and when grunge came along a lot of the people who were into that were not into Poison, Wasp and the glam metal stuff. [Whereas] in that period in the Millennium there was just this sort of ‘mosher blob’ of everything.
Kerrang! really was a window into this weird world where things that would not normally have co-existed actually seemed to fit together quite nicely.
As one of the longest-serving staff members, Nick had no reason to turn down the opportunity to write about the magazine’s history. But pulling together a book was no mean feat, especially one with so much history. With boxes of the magazine’s archive staked up in his office, it was like tidying your room opening up a memory box and rediscovering everything you loved as a teenager.
N: There were some things that I knew I was looking for, like the arrival of bands like Metallica and their first mentions. I was also aware that I was going to stumble across tons and tons of forgotten things that were worth re-looking at.
I mean it took forever.
L: What was your favourite thing about writing the book?
N: One of the really cool things, was getting up to the bit in the research where I came in as a reader and rereading a lot of those old issues from like the nineties that I knew inside out, and just getting to see him again. I reminded myself of bands I haven't thought about for years and finding them on, you know, Spotify Youtube and stuff, and putting them on in the background.
It was great speaking to so many of the bands and just getting their memories. One of the good ones was Jacoby Shaddix from Papa Roach. He didn't really know what it was when he was growing up. He knew that it was a magazine, but he couldn’t really find it anywhere where he lived but he said the first time he came to England in 2000 he suddenly realised why it was different, and why it was held in the regard it was.
He said in America the press was very straight and serious […] Kerrang! was like a zoo. But also when we've done more serious features with him, there’s been that level of seriousness actually given to it when needed.
L: It definitely brought up a lot of memories for me too and I can definitely pinpoint when I started reading it.
N: Part of the reason the book is constructed the way it is, why it’s split into the decade chapters, is because most people probably fit their Kerrang! into one of those. People have said, “I remember that Nu-Metal explosion in early 2000. That was my time” or there are people in the eighties going “Man, I haven't seen these for thirty-five years”.
People have their Kerrang!: where they come in and then when they leave, and that's the music that's really important to them.
L: It’s like a history book, especially when bands get back together. Like more recently if you think about Blink-182, it’s cool to be able to look back and see where they came from.
N: It's like the rock music magazine of record.
If something happened, certainly in the eighties and nineties when all news went in there, you can find it and that's magic.
I can remember [Blink’s] first features and reviews, seeing them get ginormous a couple of years later, and then when they got back together the first time.
It's weird to think that for some people that Blink reunion is what Black Sabbath performing again was for me.
L: I think that’s the beauty of the magazine having lasted so long, all those key moments are in there. It’s still continued to capture those big moments for popular bands, but it’s also shone the light on a lot of smaller bands too.
N: If the editor tells me we're putting such and such on the cover and it's a bit of a curve ball that will get me really excited and I'll go and check it out. When we did Poppy for the first time I went down this Poppy rabbit hole and it suddenly made total sense to me.
The good thing about doing stuff on the Internet now is we're not beholden to sales figures, which basically gives us a much longer leash to do whatever we want. Before you'd have to think about the 52 issues. You’d have to think really hard about some sort of strategy — how you're going to keep things moving. You couldn’t really freak people out too much.
L: How is that different now?
N: I mean, we did Mimi Barks before Christmas, which was me banging on the table for about 6 months that we have to do it. She's incredible and is constantly taking pictures of herself all spooky and the interview was about her just being this kind of super freak.
The feedback we got from that was really good […] her people said it opened a lot of doors, which made me feel pretty great because there was no reason to do it [and] there wasn’t really a reason not to do it. We did it because we liked [her] and that means various promoters and festivals have looked at [her] twice since and given [her] a chance, which is why we do it.
L: People suggest Music Journalism is losing some of its influence, do you think Kerrang! still has sway in the industry?
N: I think being on the cover, even if it's digital, is still a mark of a band being of a certain size and I think that still has a lot of credibility with festivals and people who buy for record shops who get the stock in and stuff like that.
[When] there's been a decision made to put whoever on the cover and then we've shot it and we've written it, and designed the cover, I think that kind of dedication to actually making it happen means that there’s still credibility behind it.
If a band have loads of good numbers on Spotify, and they've got good social numbers [then] Kerrang! putting them on the cover just underlines all that.
L: Do you think that influence still applies even though streaming services and social media make it easier for people to find new music?
N: In the 80s, 90s, and early 2000’s people still needed reviews and the press to get a bit of a steer on whether or not it was good and that was really important. If you gave something a one K! rating fewer people were going to go and check it out. It really did mean an awful lot because it could affect sales big time.
Now, as soon as something comes out, you can hear it at midnight on release day so in one sense the importance is less. But I think if a band is on the cover of Kerrang! that points people who might not have already checked them out in a certain direction.
L: Would you say the role and style of a Kerrang! writer has changed?
N: We're not running twenty reviews a week anymore so it's more important to be excited about things. You don't want to pick the bad one just so you can make fun of them. You want to do the two that you actually like.
Part of the vibe these days is people want to celebrate music more than they want to bash the stuff they don't like […] It also comes back to fans and artists as well there's such a connection and a slightly more positive relationship between them.
L: You mentioned the connection between fans and the artists — more people seem to be willing to be themselves because they can find artists they relate to and with that, they can find a community to belong because the internet makes that possible.
N: It’s like with Pupil Slicer, Kate their singer is a Trans Woman, there’s not really a lot of metal singers who are trans and so they’re like, “I don't really think of it as a big deal. But also I'm really proud that people can come to a Pupil Slicer show and feel really comfortable […] they can be themselves completely without having to sort of look over their shoulder about it”
There's been a few bands like that and the feedback you get from it — as an old straight white man — I don’t really consider would be the feedback. Comments on Facebook like 'It’s nice to see someone like me. I don't know this band […] but I've checked them out.’ There’s a really nice feeling that comes from supporting people and celebrating things that we like.
Kerrang! should be full of cool, vibrant people, who you might be able to really relate to, or who at least make you think.
L: Do you think that’s why there are fewer ‘negative’ reviews?
N: The rock scene isn't what it was, it’s a lot smaller now and there's no reason for bands to be doing this other than for the music. No one's making any money anymore unless you’re Bring Me The Horizon or Ghost Size. So, if a band has dedicated their whole lives to it and they're still living at home with their parents, and all the other things in their lives like getting married are all being put on hold to do the band. Then you know what? They've given everything to do this.
L: So when you’re writing a profile piece how do you balance being honest about the person that you've met without being too harsh?
N: Most people are kind of as I find them, my expectations of people are pretty much correct. I tend to find that like if it's a band I really like, or someone big, generally you can describe them as they are and you know that’s the truth.
When I go and do someone who I'm not that into, or someone's music I'm not particularly jazzed about it’s sort of easier to build a picture of someone for the piece, because you're just taking them as you as you have them.
L: And have you ever had any fallouts?
N: Not really, I’m quite glad as well, I want to get along with musicians and people you know…maybe I'm just not pushing their buttons, I don't know, or not asking the right questions…
I've always found that when you’re asking people about their music and about them in a respectful way most people are quite good. Then if you need to write that they do something peculiar you can do that.
There was one with Mörat, this guy went go out on the road with them for two days and just had the shittest time. And he said at one point in the pieces ‘“by this point it's clear that we don't like one another” but that makes a really good piece.
L: Must mean people enjoy talking to you…
N: There was one with Jared Leto ( from 30 Seconds to Mars). The first piece on them had been very like this guy is just an actor playing a rock star, it was pretty sort of cynical and they wanted to do another one.
So I went to Texas […] and we’re doing the interview on the bus and suddenly halfway through he got up and said, ‘Excuse me’, and went to the toilet and he was in there for like half an hour. I was like is it some sort of test if I stay here, if I leave? Do I go and check on him? And then he came back, and I just carried on.
I put that and a few other bits in the piece, and he emailed me afterwards to thank me for the piece even though it wasn't entirely complimentary. I did see him again a little while after that and he was nice as hell […] That's the closest I’ve come to having somebody really act out. And that was just bizarre.
L: In a Kerrang! interview with Black Bear he said that the idea of a rock star doesn’t really exist anymore and it's more about looking after your mental health — do you think that's true? Do you think the rock star image has completely disappeared?
N: I do to a certain extent. First of all, people haven't got enough money to be as irresponsible as they used to be. In the 70s and the 80s bands would be flying around in private jets […] these bands didn't even have to think about damage because their management just paid people to tidy up the hotel room that they destroyed.
Also, there’s not as much schooling as there used to be on what it is to become a massive band. In the nineties, you had Metallica and bands like that who were taking smaller bands out and it was like Boot Camp on how to be a big band. These days those opportunities are sort of less and less, so I think when bands do get bigger they’re kind of on their own a bit and they’re having to work really hard to keep it.
They’re also busier, they're all having to do social media, merch, or deal with some other thing other than just writing and playing music.
L: I totally agree and the understanding of mental health and looking after yourself has become a lot more transparent.
A good leader of that sort of thing is Hayley Williams from Paramore. They became massive, really, really, quickly. She was really young and by the time she was 23 she'd already started to say no to doing a lot of things and they eventually stopped talking to the press entirely.
You actually see how important that was to do that because otherwise, she might have lost her mind. […] Now when you see them live, they've really learned how to deal with it. But to do that you have to sort of remove yourself from it, get your head together, but also then come back, knowing how to keep on top of it and not let it get to you now.
I think she's one of the coolest and a very positive person who's become quite strong.
L: These days when she’s on stage she looks so comfortable and free
N: I think the other thing is the idea of being a rock star is changing into this idea of connecting with people. Now, a rock star can now be anyone, like Pupil Slicer — Kate, the singer, she's an icon already. There’s something about them that makes them very special and worth putting on the cover of magazine. It’s nothing to do with record sales or money, or how many tickets they sell, or anything like that. It's purely them.
Buy Kerrang! Living Loud: Four Decades on the Frontline of Rock, Metal, Punk, and Alternative Music
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Brilliant interview!