Promo-loving owner/editor in chief/career-maker Ryan Schreiber stopped by the Fine Print SoCal offices to shed a little light on how and why he ended up calling the Indie Rock Bible of our era “Pitchfork.” The common myths range from a nod to the San Diego punk band, an allusion to the “Grab your pitchfork” mob mentality of music lovers or a stupidly obscure reference to Tony Montana’s tattoo in Scarface. We wanted to get the the true story behind the process that resulted in the most recognizable name in indie music today.
- Unlike removable Save Ferris review, the name “Zine Like Jehu” didn’t provide enough plausible deniability.
- Pretentiously Couched Opinions.com was already taken.
- So was Anorexicsex.com
- WritingWeStandByAndBelieveIn.com hard to sustain when reviews only have a one year shelf life before they inexplicably disappear. Wouldn’t have worked for three-quarters of our festival’s lineup, either.
- “Shit-Shower” was somehow TOO obscure of a pop-culture reference. And if you don’t get that reference, shame on you.
- Calling it “Mob Mentality” would have meant we’d have a range of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and nothing else. Was on a heavy Coltrane kick at the time.
- Lacking originality, writing ability or tact, my next best option was pretty clear: take the name from someone else who had all or some of those.
- Pötchfürk means “self-indulgent twat” in German.
- The name for a tool used to sling bullshit among other things seemed pretty spot-on.
- That asshole Henry Owings ensured we couldn’t use a physical description of ourselves. THANKS HANK. We were all set to get PaleBeanpole.com or IndieCutter.net
- Took the name from what was thrown at me after trying the Lloyd Dobler technique with a Bonnie Prince Billy tape.
- Looked up “pretentious” in the dictionary, then flipped back a few pages.
- Really? It’s an anagram of “Crotch Pork”
Thanks for stoppin’ by Schreib!
