I know, I know. This doesn’t seem like the best opening post for a website that, by all indications, will be writing about music. But the good news is, this isn’t a rhetorical question. I obviously think there’s a point to this, and I think it’s important for the millions of you reading this to understand where Off Pitch is coming from.
Before I dive in, let me give a little background info on myself. My name is Lyle, and by day I work for an entertainment business management firm. Basically, I’m a numbers guy. Definitely not a “writer.” Even growing up, I never had much interest in writing. I mean sure, I was killing it in AP Lit back in high school, but I just never really caught the bug. Hell, a career in catching bugs would have made a lot more sense given my interests as a kid. But here’s the thing: writing is just about the easiest way to get involved in a creative medium. So about a year ago, hungry for a creative outlet, a friend and I started writing mini song reviews for an Instagram account called The Pick Me Up (get it?). It didn’t take long for me to realize how much I loved writing about a subject I was passionate about. Eventually, The Pick Me Up fell by the wayside, but I still felt that creative hunger. The next logical step was to take a stab at more in-depth articles, and thus Off Pitch was born.
“Now that’s all well and good, Lyle,” you’re probably thinking. “You seem like a cool and smart guy and I look forward to reading your work religiously. But you didn’t answer the question!” Don’t worry, I’m getting there. That thing I said about low barriers to entry? It’s the reason I’ve been skeptical about this kind of writing for most of my life. Seems like everyone and their mother has a blog/podcast/YouTube channel dedicated to explaining why In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the greatest album of all time. I knew that by doing something like this, I’d just be another voice adding to the noise. And let’s be honest, a lot of that noise is redundant. That’s why I firmly believe that we don’t need more music nerds like myself just echoing Pitchfork’s latest opinion every week.
Right about now, you should be thoroughly confused as to what my point is. And that’s fine, because so am I. I’m basically just sitting here ranting to Microsoft Word. But in a way, that’s kinda my point. I want to try and keep things interesting. I think there are plenty of great writers out there doing the heavy lifting when it comes to music journalism, both at the professional and amateur level. And that’s awesome. But over here at Off Pitch, we’re gonna get weird with it. You can expect some hot takes, some dumb jokes, and at least one Pulitzer for journalism.
So, what’s the point of writing about music? I have no idea (oh yeah: expect plenty of disappointment too). Just kidding. Here it is: the point of all of this to me is to get you engaged in and excited about music, one way or another. I just hope on this website, it ends up being a lot more “another.” Either way, it’s gonna be a lot of fun. At least for me.
So. Welcome to Off Pitch. Tune in next week for THE definitive explanation on why In the Aeroplane Over the Sea is the greatest album of all time.
Lyle B.