Feature / One Question Interviews
Razorcake

Words: Loren • March 12, 2014

Razorcake
Razorcake

Sean Carswell (Razorcake)

SPB: How has working on a zine changed how you listen to or value music?

Carswell: When I first started doing record reviews for Flipside back in the '90s, I learned to really listen to music in a way I hadn't before. Doing reviews taught me to sit down with an album and do nothing but listen, to consider what the band was doing, to pay attention to the lyrics, to hear every instrument, to trace influences, to think about the packaging, everything. It taught me to experience the complexity of punk rock. I know it's basically three chords and eighth notes and a lot of screaming, but that's way too simple of a view of the music. That's like saying that Moby Dick isn't all that original because Herman Melville only used twenty-six letters when he wrote it.

When we started Razorcake, I got first dibs on the records for review, so that exponentially increased the number of reviews I did. After doing well over a thousand of them, reviews started to weigh too heavily on the way I listened to music. I found myself reviewing everything in my head. It was no fun. I finally stopped doing reviews and started just buying the records I wanted. Now, I have the best of both worlds. I've learned to really listen to music, and I don't have to tell anyone what I think about it.

Loren • March 12, 2014

Razorcake
Razorcake

Related features

Razorcake

One Question Interviews • June 6, 2014

Chris Pepus (Razorcake) SPB: What is your favorite thing about working with print media? Pepus: Most of my writing appears on the web, but I still prefer to read, and write for, print. When I get a zine or a book from an independent press via U.S. Mail, the communication … Read more

Related news

Razorcake writer Chris Pepus passes away

Posted in Obituaries on July 31, 2015

New 7-inch from The Chantey Hook

Posted in Records on June 8, 2014

More from this section

Unseemlier

One Question Interviews • June 27, 2025

Mike Assatly (Unseemlier - guitar/vocals) SPB: Do you have a preferred model of van for touring? Assatly: Chevy G-20 Gladiator! It was my first van, I got it from my uncle with 115,000 on it. He got rid of it for a new van because it was "old" and would … Read more

Dollar Store

One Question Interviews • June 26, 2025

Dave Slaverave (Dollar Store - bass) SPB: This band hits a lot of styles, all kind of overlapping at the same time. How hard was it to find “your sound” when bringing these influences together? Slaverave: Not very hard at all actually. We're all old-ass adults who've soaked in a … Read more

Golden Shitters

One Question Interviews • June 25, 2025

Matt (Golden Shitters) How nervous were you the first time you played a show? My first show was around 2002. I was 15 years old and it was a basement house party in my hometown of Welland, Ontario. I’d just proved myself to my high school buddies by singing The … Read more