A row of band posters are hanging slightly askew in the living room of Brent Ritzel’s apartment, barely hinting at the twisted philosophy he applies to music.
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“I’m not the kind of person who sits down and listens to music for enjoyment, which is kind of weird,” admits the 27-year-old publisher and editor of Tail Spins, a bimonthly magazine dedicated to the local rock scene. Ritzel says nowadays the music press and other media determine how the public perceives bands even before hearing them play. For example, he thought Helmet sounded like Pavement just because he read it. Perversely, bands may then get caught playing to these preconceptions. So Ritzel devours press releases and newspaper clippings for local bands, maps out their musical influences, divines their marketing strategies, and tries to forecast how specific outfits will fare in the days ahead. “Music has always been about culture more than music itself, anyway,” he says with a smirk.
The most recent issue of Tail Spins boasted 128 pages, a glossy color cover, interviews, feature stories, and 237 record reviews. The magazine can be purchased at 1,500 newsstands in the U.S. and Canada for $3, but 7,000 free copies are available at “about 100” locations in Chicago and Evanston. Ritzel distributes it himself out of his 1988 Ford Escort station wagon. Through it all he’s remained clear about his ultimate goal: “I want to help the local scene.”
