High Bias #12

NAME: Chuck Bettis 

BIO: Raised in the fertile HarDCore soil, nourished within Baltimore's enigmatic avant garde gatherings, blossoming in NY's Downtown Musical tribe 

WEBSITE: www.chuckbettis.com 

Do you read reviews of your work?
 
Unfortunately, i do.

Do you reread them? Save them? Quote them?
 
I am disgusted that i read them at all, never save them, never quote them.

Have reviews ever had an effect upon the way you approach your work? For better or worse? How?
 
Only serves as a reinforcement to my belief that you should not care what other people think of your art.    

Are there writers you hope will (or won't) write about your work?
 
Nope, bring it on, i will fight you all! 

Have you ever written to a reviewer or publication in response to a negative review of your work? a positive one?
 
No, since i believe that once you put something out into the public sphere, it is no longer yours, it belongs to the public.   i guess i passively subscribe to the notion that there is not such thing as bad press.  Also, i'm am a strong proponent of the philosophy that actions speak louder than words.   

Are there reviewers who you consider to be your friends? Do they write about your work? How does that make you feel?
 
I am friends with a couple of reviewers, very few whom dared to write about my work. I am glad they took the time to write about my music and hope they could do so without our friendship tainting an honest response.  

Have you ever been told by a writer that they feel too close to you personally to write about your work? What was your reaction?
 
Not directly, but yes that is a factor.   Knowing who the artist is ALWAYS changes your reaction to their work, be it listening to or writing about. 

Have you ever felt that a writer was trying to get something out of you, or get back at you, or had some other ulterior motive in what they wrote about you? Please explain.
 
Yes, i have dealt with many asshole journalists, most whom i have confronted and literally called them an asshole.  i did an interview for [an arts weekly] where the conniving writer twisted my words and pitted me against my friends in the musical community, plus for some reason he decided to write about my shoes too, what the fuck!

Have you ever published anything you wrote about someone else's music? How often? Do you continue to write about music?
 
Yes, almost weekly, Yes, but i try to make reviews interesting for me to read instead of being a cookie cutter template.

Do you think there was a time in the past when music journalism was better or worse than it is now? Why or why not?
 
No nostalgia here, time always tells who does their homework and who passionately cares about the artists. 

Anything you'd like to add?
 
Stop writing about music, go listen to it!

Anything you want to ask me?
 
How do you feel about auto-tune?