Tag: Anniversary

Apu Celebrates: One Year at Nobodies

by Apu

apu3

Unfortunately, I’ve been a little busier than I expected to be this month. I was supposed to put something out last week and have this close the month, but it didn’t end up like that. Exams, trying to find work, and biology projects have gotten in the way of it. I should have known it would have been too good to be true for me to have more than one piece out in a month. So, instead, I thought I would write something quick about this site, since this month marks the one-year anniversary of Extraordinary Nobodies.

This site has grown at a rate that I would not have expected in the slightest. When we started, I was expecting it to just be something we contributed to occasionally and got a couple of views from here and there. I did not expect to get so many looks that we could actually set a goal something like three times and meet it each time, and then continue growing to where this year seems like it’ll be substantially bigger than last year was. I did not expect that there would be interviews from artists that we’re actually fans of, or that artists would notice what we were writing about them and actually share our writing on their Twitter and Facebook pages every once in a while. It makes no sense to me but we appreciate it.

Last February I was still coming out of the darkest, lowest place I had ever been in my life. I was trying to learn how to communicate again. When Dustin brought up the idea of the site and asked if I’d want to do it, I agreed. More than anything else, I felt like this would be a good way to get out of my head and get some thoughts down. They weren’t even thoughts that really pertained to my situation, it was still nice to have some sort of outlet for something.

I think it’s pretty clear that my pieces for the first few months weren’t the greatest. Like I said, I was still learning how to communicate again. I think around the time of my writing about Kuniva’s first History of Violence project is when I realized “oh, I don’t have to swear a lot and shoehorn cynicism into my pieces for them to be good” and my writing gradually got better. If I compare my latest piece, about hip hop groups, to the one I did about charisma almost a year from today, I see some real progression and growth. I’ve learned how to express my viewpoints more effectively. Hopefully that trend continues.

In the short time that we’ve been doing this, we’ve run into some really good guys who have given us looks that really helped our growth. I would like to send some special shout outs to Prof and Fatt Father. Prof was my first big look, and helped elevate my very first piece to a higher level than I thought imaginable at the time, and I’ll always appreciate that. Fatts has consistently shown us the utmost love since we first started interacting. It’s almost overwhelming to think about sometimes. I, like Dustin, will forever appreciate the support.

Speaking of whom, I’d also like to thank Dustin for thinking to include me as a co-writer when forming the idea for Extraordinary Nobodies as well as being one of the best friends I’ve ever had. I’d also like to thank our editor Emily, who deserves at the very least Bernie Sanders’ idea for minimum wage for having to edit my pieces.

Hopefully I can have a more consistent schedule in 2017 than I did in 2016 with the hiatus I went on after burning out for a time in April or May. In any case, I’m looking forward to the future of this site.

A Thank You: One Year of Extraordinary Nobodies

by Dustin

1yr

It’s not often I step back from writing and approach the blog in a first person narrative. I usually leave that to my awesome co-writer and his (sometimes) monthly column. It’s just not my style; however, this is the kind of special occasion that calls for it. Exactly one year ago we went live with our first article. Since then we’ve published dozens of articles, interviews, reviews, and editorials entirely self-funded. Though it has been mentally tiring and an absolute grind at times, being able to look back on what we’ve accomplished over the past year is so incredibly fulfilling. More importantly however, it is also very humbling. Without the support of some incredible people, we would have probably just fallen by the wayside as another failed music blog. Our success may seem small to many, but to myself and the rest of the team here is an absolute thrill. I don’t think any of us really knew how to project goals onto this site, but somehow it still blew our expectations out of the water.

Anyway, before I get carried away I’d like to thank some people for their support and contributions over the past year. We strive to produce high quality content, but without these individuals none of that would have mattered.

First and foremost, thank you to the artists and individuals who’ve shared their voice with us on interviews: Kash, Swish, MCrv, Lightning Pill, and Michael J. Collins of FilthyBroke Recordings. You were all incredible to work with and I cherish those interviews dearly. I wish you all the best of luck in your careers, and I do hope that we get to work together going forward. You all had a brilliant lack of apprehension when speaking with us, and it was very much appreciated. Once again, thank you.

I’d also like to give a very special thank you to Fatt Father and his management team for providing us with our first ever interview just over a month after we started as a website. As fans of your music, you lending some time to us was a massive motivator to pursue further interview opportunities and continue to grow as a blog. Really, I can’t even begin to describe how much that meant to us. It was like being a kid in a candy store, only I got to interview one of my favourite underground rap artists. I don’t think myself or Apu will ever forget how exciting it was to get the answers back for that interview.

I’d also like to thank some individuals who regularly show support by spreading our work or putting us in contact with artists. In particular, everyone at IHeartNoise, Nick at Darling Recordings, Michael at FilthyBroke Recordings, Qualchan, and many others who have shared our articles. You are all truly the best.

Thank you to both Walter Gross and V8 for trusting us with your projects before they released to do some early press. This is something I hope we get to do more of in the future, and it was very genuinely a lot of fun.

Of course I have to thank my team here at the site as well. Apu, your articles are great – stop being a little shit about the quality of your own work. I’m glad you write here, and that I get to work with one of my only friends who likes hip-hop on this site. Emily, you’ve been an amazing friend for as long as I’ve known you and you’re equally good as a part-time site editor. One day we’ll pay you for your work. Maybe. If you ask nicely (and if we’ve, y’know, turned a profit ever). I’m truly fortunate to get to do this with two people I like so much.

And most importantly: thank you to everyone who regularly reads this site. Some of you have commented, emailed in, and contacted me on twitter, and it’s always a blast to interact with you. We hope you continue to rock along with us, and that our content quality can continue to improve for you.

Here’s to another great year!