So, Why the Change?

Here is a transcript of a fake interview that never happened ...

Non Existant Interviewer : "So Joey, we've noticed that your blog is no longer called "The Litmus Configuration".  Why is that?"

Me :  "I'm glad you asked.  I started this blog in 2009, and at the time, I thought "The Litmus Configuration" was a catchy title.  It's a reference from my favorite movie, Midnight Run.  The fact is, I love the title, but it created some confusion with my readers, especially new ones.  You see, thelitmusconfiguration.blogspot.com already existed, so I chose to host the blog at joeyfugazzi.blogspot.com.  Often times, if I was telling people about the blog in public, they would end up at the wrong site.  And in the last few months, newgazzi has been the primary reason why people read the blog, so those readers were searching for it by the word newgazzi.  So, I decided to consolidate.  The new name of the blog is newgazzi, and can be found at newgazzi.blogspot.com"

Non Existant Interviewer : "How did the newgazzi playlist come about?"

Me : "Back in 2007, I started subscribing to Paste Magazine. It was a great pop culture monthly that featured great articles about music, television, movies, books, art, etc.  And each month, each reader got a free 20 track sampler of new music.  From December of 2007 through November of 2010, I always looked forward to my Paste samplers, and was able to get my hands on the samplers from 2002-2007, and created a nice little archive of my favorites songs over the run of the magazine.  The print version was discontinued, and went digital in the summer of 2011.  The sampler format changed from 20 songs a month to 7 a week, and I subscribed for about a year and a half.  Towards the end of 2012, I was starting to notice that I was liking a smaller percentage of the songs that were being provided, so I decided that I wanted to create my own playists, and share them with my readers."

Non Existant Interviewer  : "What goes into making the playlist each month?"

Me : "I've always spent a lot of time on Tuesday evenings listening to new music, whether it was the paste samplers, new releases on iTunes, what have you.  That hasn't changed, I just do it more often.  I spend at least an hour a night, whenever I can, checking out sites like NoiseTrade, Spotify, Bandcamp, etc, to check out new music.  I probably hear about 300 new songs each month, and end up featuring the 15 tracks I like the most.  I make an effort to include as many newer artists, or artists who are looking for more exposure, as possible.  I like to feature local musicians as well, spread the word about what I've heard, and what they are doing.  I also like to reach out to the artists on social media, let them know that I love what they're doing, and sometimes they share the blog with their fans, which is really cool."

Non Existant Interviewer :  "Which artists have shared with their fans?"

Me:  "The first newgazzi I did was in February, and I featured three friends of mine ... Gary Banach, Emily Forst and James Tristan Redding.  They were all really excited about being featured, and let their friends and fans know.  Then in April, three of the artists featured (Anna Vogelzang, Marriage and The Get Togethers) shared with their fans, and in a 6 hour period, they helped to make the post they were featured in the 3rd most read post in the history of my blog (which goes back to July of 2009).   Baby Bee featured the blog on their official homepage, and several other bands have been appreciative of the support I've shown for their music."

Non Existant Interviewer : "Tell me about Fugazzi Grand.  I heard there is a 3rd volume coming soon.  Is this true?"

Me:  "Fugazzi Grand was something I came up with in 2010.  I wanted to make a list of my top 1000 favorite songs.  Rolling Stone puts out volumes of the 500 Greatest This and That every couple of years, but for the most part, the list never changes.  They are best of lists, that a handful of artists and writers come up with.  I wanted to do something that was specific to my tastes, and get people to talk about what they liked.  I didn't want to produce the same old lists that I've already read several times.  It was a lot of fun, and I got a lot of nice feedback from people.  This inspired me to do it again, with Fugazzi Grand II : SNL, last summer.  It was a countdown of my top 1000 favorite moments in the history of Saturday Night Live.  Also a lot of fun to do.  On January 1, 2014, I will start unveiling Fugazzi Grand III : Albums.  This will not be 1000, as I only own about 700 records, but I will be counting down my top 500 favorite albums, and the list will take a full year to unveil.  I will be presenting 2 a day for 135 days , and 1 a day for the remaining 230 days of the year.  This will be my most ambitious project since the book I wrote in 2009."

Non Existant Interviewer : "Of course, you are speaking about Two Loves: The Story of a Baseball Polygamist".  Will you ever write another book, baseball or otherwise?"

Me : "I've actually made two attempts to write another book, but never really got too far.  Writing a book is a full time job on its own, and I don't want to sacrifice time with family, watching baseball, listening to a ton of great music and reading a bunch of great books.  It may happen some day, but right now, I like focusing on newgazzi, and seeing where that goes."

Non Existant Interviewer : "Well, Joey, thank you for your time.  We look forward to newgazzi Vol 5 at the end of the month".

Me :  "Thank you, it will be another fun volume to present.  Four artists that I'm really excited to share with my readers are Griffin House, Mother Falcon, Kate Earl and K.S. Rhoads. They were all recently featured on the NoiseTrade Summer Mixtape 2013.   I will also be interviewing local musician Dietrich Gosser, who will be featured as well.  Thank you for reading newgazzi !"