Anthony Fantano Talks Music, Hate Comments & Growth

Tate: “Alright everybody what is going on my name is Tate Canyon and next to me is Kyro, this is Round Two Magazine and today we are here with a special guest, Anthony Fantano. Please introduce yourself to the people who may or may not know who you are!”

Fantano: “Internet's busiest music nerd. I do a lot of reviews on Youtube.. You know I don’t even need to introduce myself. Everyone on the internet is either aware of me, or hates me and wants me to die.. Uh no I am just kidding”

Tate: “You have a really big opinion this year more than ever..”

Fantano: “A big sad opinion.”

Tate: “Yeah haha.. A whole lot of big opinions and a whole lot of big news going on with the channel, but to start off how did you start the whole music review thing? What were the early stages and how did you get into it?”

Fantano: “The Needle Drop kind of started as a music blog and as a podcast to start. I used to do a lot of college radio and had a music show and I was working at an NPR station after I got out of college where I studied journalism and broadcast communications and just thought I was going to work in radio. That was basically my plan to do reporting and that sort of thing and I just missed doing a music show and so I pitched a music show to the director of the radio station and I didn’t get paid or nothing for it right off the bat but it was something they let me do. They allowed me to do it and I enjoyed doing it and that sort of gave me the ability to get my foot in the door with some other places where I could write about music on a week-to-week basis. To have an NPR podcast and you know I could talk about music over there. I would be like “Can I write for your column, can I write for you paper, blah blah blah..” to get the ball rolling for me. While all of that was well and good and it was definitely a good place to start and get my bearings for what I was trying to do, it wasn’t going anywhere career wise. That is why I started the Youtube channel. It was kind of like an experiment. I thought if it wasn’t going anywhere with me talking about music in text or over a podcast then what if I took it to Youtube. There was a lot of Youtubers I was watching at the time who like just talked about their passions, covered certain things or just threw their opinions out there on whatever topics they followed closely but there wasn’t anybody really that I knew of or watched on a regular basis when I started my channel who talked about music all the time. Maybe every once in a while here or there, like if their certain favorite band is of a certain genre and they were just really into that one style but I never really saw anyone who was a true dedicated music reviewer and I wondered like how far someone could take that sort of thing if you tried it and that was in 2009.”

Tate: “And that was way before a lot of the old Youtube push, before early formats like ‘Kids React’ on the FineBrothers channel back in the day which is one of the main forms of reaction on Youtube. So early on–”

Fantano: “Big youtubers I remember from back then, and I am sure there are others, but I remember one of the only big Youtubers that I remember doing their thing at that time and is still pretty big and relevant today was SexyPhil. Of course there were other huge Youtubers who were his size or bigger at the time but a lot of them have come and gone you know? He is one of the only people and faces who I can remember back then still doing their thing in a pretty big way on Youtube. In a way that is super consistent for the most part is like kind of unchanged from how he used to do it but he still you know sticking to the same thing, doing the same show in his usual format and much in the same way of which I have my format and I have been able to make it continue working throughout the years.”

Tate: “Nah that is super true. Moving on from there, as time goes on the Youtube channel started taking different forms. There were livestreams there were live reactions on listening to younger indie artists on stream..”

Kyro: “Yeah I mean what was it like seeing different people like you, Sean C, and Dante kind of transform that space and kind of create the breaking of the 4th wall in a sense where you know some of the fans of yours became people who you were reacting to and interviewing and things of that nature, how was that?”

Fantano: “I think it kind of speaks to what we’ve done and like slowly replaced the platforms where artists would normally be doing those sort of reactions with their audiences and stuff. Usually back in the day they be trying to lobby for that Rolling Stones interview or that Pitchfork interview or whatever you know and now these days it’s like all these different podcasts and influencers and streamers who have become the platform for those sort of interactions and you know it has just been cool that it has changed and that it has shifted. Obviously every change in that way has its upsides and its downsides, growing pains and everything, but it is definitely a sign of a new paradigm for sure when it comes to music culture and music journalism.”

Kyro: “And I guess as a follow up, for someone that is an independent artist like myself, what are the steps people take to get to yourself or other people like that? How do they get the music in your hands? How do you start to review those types of things?”

Fantano: “People pass me music all the time that I end up trying or reviewing or sort of talking about in some capacity be it through my Twitch chat or social media or even just from sending an email through my website. I mean unfortunately just being one guy and having a team of people that also go over that stuff with me here and there, we can’t catch everything and I also am not going to like everything. It is hard to, because of the position I am in with the platform that I have, I have to pick my battles. In most cases it doesn’t make sense to talk about a project from a smaller artist if I think it is horrible. You know? It is like I don’t want someone’s first review off the bat when nobody knows who they are and where I am just like shitting on their stuff.. That doesn’t really benefit anyone. You know they will DM you and be like, “Come on man, I promise I don’t care if you hate my music and think it is the worst thing ever just please review it!” And I have to tell them like nah that just wouldn’t benefit anyone. It won’t benefit you in the way you think it might. As much as I would love for people to mostly consume or focus on my content where I am trying to put them onto some stuff they never heard of before. Sadly most of the focus on my content is more towards the artist and albums people are aware of. Even when people are trying out some of that smaller stuff, sometimes people take my opinion a little bit to heart and they don’t go out of their way to try or explore certain things in themselves. So if I am going to review a smaller artist or project I definitely want it to be something I am personally excited about, something the audience should spend some time trying out. I try to be as reachable as I can again through social media, through emails, so on and so forth. Even if I can’t hear at all.”

Kyro: “Right. So I guess what is it like from a smaller artist to someone as big as Drake getting upset with your opinion and having as big of a moment as that? What was that like? As even a Drake fan I have to say it was good trolling. Once I saw that and realized I was like damn that was good.”

Fantano: “You know it is what it is. The artists are just people at the end of the day. There isn’t that much to it like we imagine it to be the case. They are often good about how they handle themselves and present themselves on the internet. There isn’t really much that separates the average artist from a music fan that is passionate about their opinions on social media. Some people are smart enough to know and to understand that showing the internet that side of themselves isn’t going to benefit them. We all no matter how experienced, whatever we are, we all find ourselves angry when we read something online, or we are pissed off or upset about something someone told us on Twitter or what not. What is important is that you realise there is some stuff on the internet that is worth sharing and saying and there is some stuff that is just not. At the end of the day no matter how much something someone said pisses me off, unless I can turn it into a discussion that actually means something to anyone outside of me just getting pissed, unless I can turn it into a discussion or point or shift it to something that I actually sort of like that benefits people in some way shape or form then there is no real reason to gauging or melting down or whatever you know? It is probably better to just go about your day and just figure out something constructive to say.”

Kyro: “Well said, well said..”

Tate: “Transitioning a little bit let's talk about your favorite group, Brockhampton.”

Fantano: “Sure.”

Tate: “Haha.. he said SURE. Starting early on that was one of the first groups you introduced to the world to but was also intertwined within your show. A recurring guest, a recurring group, that was putting out music so consistently, can you speak on that time when they were around? How was that for the show?”

Fantano: “My show? Or them? Or what do you mean?”

Tate: “Both. You guys really did work hand and hand.”

Kyro: “Like Tony Fantano. (Lyrics from the song ZIPPER off the album Saturation 3)

Fantano: “That is like the perception.. Because the thing is like.. And I understand why it would be because there is obviously definitely like a simultaneous sort of like there is a symbiosis there in the way to a certain extent in the same way some people perceive to be on the same level as like other things that I promote really heavily simultaneously take off or get really popular at the same time that I am endorsing them or sort of just telling people like hey this is pretty cool, could be worth your time and you should check it out. There are artists and examples of records that came out long before that people have kind of viewed in a similar way. For a little bit that was like Death Grips as I am sure a lot of people know and are aware of them who are watching this interview. I don’t know how much you guys are aware of their work but there have been a lot of artists over the years that I have reviewed that have either blown up or I am perceived to have something to do with their blow up, or they got signed immediately after I reviewed them positively. It happens but you know the thing is there wasn’t really anything in terms of what I was doing and what they were doing that was like you know planned or engineered in any way. Outside of the couple of interviews that I have done with either Brockhampton, Kevin Abstract, there hasn’t really been sort of like a whole lot of contact between us you know. And I feel as if that was definitely like.. As much as I feel like we, like with a lot of artists, mutually appreciate what one another does, like I appreciate what they do, but we would appreciate what each other did as much if we were friends you know what I mean? The thing is, if I know you on a level that is so intimate and kind of understand everything going on with you personally with your music, then I am not going to get the same thing out of it compared to being an outsider where everything is new to me. Like if you become so close to me, that we are like buddy buddy, and we have this intimate working relationship you can’t then expect me to give an honest assessment of your work. At the end of the day, every review that I have ever done of anything that they have ever done, comes from a real place. Like the original “Saturation” records, or how things kind of fell off with “Iridescence”, and then kind of bounced back in that sort of emotional way with “Ginger” immediately after and then you know tumbling to the very unfortunate end that I think things met with the last couple of records that it seems like they just pushed those out to get their whole deal done. While I think it was cool to kind of have that sort of moment where things were sort of working in tandem and they were putting out some really great stuff that I think was groundbreaking and super;.. And you know it is proving to be influential like it was a really cool moment in time. Simultaneously I feel like things sort of hit a wall with them unfortunately and they.. You know I feel like that is sort of the nature of just running a really big group. Very few groups of that size in any genre tend to last for very long because you are just working with so many different moving parts that it can be difficult to keep up with it all going in the same way. I am glad it happened, it is truly exciting. It is awesome to have met them and have celebrated their music when it was really awesome and at its peak. I definitely look back on all that stuff and it most definitely still holds up in my opinion. But it sort of came and went and I guess at this point we are all kind of just sitting here trying to see where it goes. Kevin is doing his thing, Joba is doing his thing, and that record wasn’t quite where I was hoping it was going to be when it dropped. Matt Champion has been doing some really interesting genre-fusion stuff with his latest work. Merlin dropped a single here and there, kind of wondering where that is going to go. Dom has had some stuff out that I was kind of mixed on. You know I guess we are just going to see where it goes from here.”

Tate: “And for the future of the Youtube channel can you speak about what you plan on doing with that? Is it going to be you? Are you going to continue to bring on your other hosts to continue to have their outlooks? What are your thoughts on that and what were you planning on doing there?”

Fantano: “You know I feel like there won’t be any super major changes in the immediate future however I do want to continue to incorporate different voices and perspectives from people in the music reviewing space as I see them pop up and I see people doing cool stuff. I feel it is important to remind people that there are other perspectives and opinions out there and my opinions are not not gospel, other points of view are just as valid. Often when I am bringing out other people it is also an opportunity to kind of push them to review something that maybe I wouldn’t have otherwise or that I know they are going to bring a different perspective back into it than if I reviewed it. So I mean that is usually what I am trying to do or trying to achieve when I have a guest on. Again I am going to continue peppering here and there in the following year.”

Tate: “Sweet. Alright, well we talked about the live show, we talked about the Youtube channel, is there anything else to tie up the end of this you can let people know about?”

Fantano: “I guess that would be it for now. I guess we will kind of see.. I have been doing a lot of short form content over the past couple of years. I guess we are going to see where that goes, if the Tiktok thing gets banned because obviously they just kind of upheld that decision in court. While it is true that Instagram and Youtube have been gearing a lot of their platforms towards short form content and vertical stuff. I feel like Tiktok has been a huge reason for this. They have been focusing on that in the first place and if that competition goes, will that be something that they push as hard or sort of focus on as much? I guess we are going to see. Or will Tiktok end up getting sold to somebody or will someone in the wake of Tiktok getting banned come up with some sort of TikTok rip off app to sort of replace it who the hell knows, I don’t. I feel like as long as that is up in the air, the amount of focus that we give on that format in the future will also be kind of up in the air. Outside of that just expect more reviews, expect more website updates, expect more industry commentary, expect more of new music Fridays, streams, expect more interviews, More of all of the stuff that I am doing month to month.”

Tate: “Awesome. One final question, if you had to listen to one album on repeat for a week straight, no stops, who would you choose? Dave Blunts? Nettspend? Or MGK & Trippie Redd?”

Fantano: “What was the first one again?”Tate: “Dave Blunts.”

Fantano: “I guess I would go with Nettspend..”

Tate: “NETTSPENDDDDDD!”

Fantano: “Nettspend.”

Tate: “Good answer. Anthony Fantano, internet's biggest music nerd, Round Two Magazine, lets go.” 

Fantano: “Thank you for having me.”

Tate: “Appreciate it man.”