We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Krystal McRae a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Krystal, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.
When “Scenes From the Underground” started in July 2017, I had two very important ethos that I hold dear to my heart. 1. “Good Bands, Good People,” and why that matters is I personally don’t care how popular a band is, but rather I want to write about, and cover artists who stand for something, be it using their platform to call out racism, homophobia, or sexism, giving to social justice causes, or even giving back to their communities locally. I want to know where a person’s heart stands outside of music, and not on stage with folks watching.
My 2nd ethos is I refuse to waste my time writing mean, or negative reviews about an artist’s music. Even if I don’t like a person’s music, I just won’t cover it. I won’t be cruel to someone’s art.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
So I am a born, and raised New Yorker who has had a love of music from a very young age. I was exposed to Gospel, some Hip-Hop. and pop music growing up, and once I hit junior high school, and got ahold of MTV, and Fuse, my love of Rock music was born. As I went through high school, and watched folks like Steven Smith, and Sway interview artists, I knew I needed to combine my love of music with current events, and wanted to be a music writer. I studied Communication/Journalism in both college and grad school, and started writing about music in college for my school newspaper, as well as having an earlier music blog.
Also around this time, I didn’t know another seed was being planted, and that was my love of live events. I did my senior year internship for college at a music venue on the Lower East Side, (S/O to the Living Room), and that introduced me to the special event world. I started then doing CMJ, Northside, Taste Talks, and other conferences, festivals, activations and the like. And in 2018, I threw my first showcase here in NYC to celebrate scoring 8 local and DIY bands on the final cross-country Vans Warped Tour. To say I did that as a Black woman in a rock scene that hasn’t always been super diverse across the board, is a HUGE accomplishment, and one I don’t take for granted.
Fast forward to now, and I am gearing up to celebrate 7 years of “Scenes From the Underground” next month with my 7th showcase, as well as having not only interviewed festival organizers, bands and the like, but continually fighting for more Black and Brown bands on tours, shows, and even behind the scenes. I have been very blessed to do what I do, and I want this for folks who look like me who want to be in the music scene or industry as well.
With that being said, what sets SFTUG apart is the fact I have been very fortunate to approach the live event aspect with a lot of care thanks to being an event freelancer for over a decade. I have never believed in being one dimensional, and have had always had a strong work ethic. so if I am writing a piece, or booking bands for a show, I take great care in everything that I do.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
For me, being a writer, I love digging deeper with the folks I write about and interview. I love talking song writing, song meanings, and even getting personal when the time calls for it. That is part of the human connection, and taking things beyond surface level.
With that, I also make it my duty to not ask about a person’s traumatic event. I think you can get some awesome storytelling without re-opening painful wounds.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish I knew of more women music journalists, especially Black or BIPOC women in the rock scene specifically who I could have picked their brains on, and heard their stories too.
Sharing stories is how we learn.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/kammie1217
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/scenesfromtheunderground/
Image Credits
Photo 3 taken by Jen Meller