After a successful and storied tenure (ten-year) establishing the editorial department at one of our most respected peers, JamBase, the site’s longtime, esteemed Editor-in-Chief, Aaron Kayce (aka Kayceman), recently announced his decision to step down from that position.
As everyone here at Hidden Track can attest, we’re saddened to see him leave JamBase, but meanwhile impressed by how long he managed such a stressful role. From coordinating the gigantic team of contributors and responding to hundreds of emails daily to scheduling a massive amount of content and somehow finding time to write, the task seems nothing short of monumental. Hence, we’re excited both for Kayceman to embark on the next phase of his writing career as well as to keep tabs on what’s next for JamBase.
Hidden Track: To the extent you feel comfortable talking about it; what led to your decision to part ways with JamBase after ten years?
Aaron Kayce: For starters, as you mentioned, I had been at JamBase for almost ten years. I built the editorial department from the ground up and I more or less had done all that I could there. Things change a great deal over the course of a decade and as my life and dreams evolved it became clear that I needed a new set of challenges. It was the right time for me to enter the next stage of my career.
HT: What did a day in the life as Editor-in-Chief of JamBase typically entail from start to finish?
AK: A lot of emailing and content creation. I had a very small editorial team, myself and the wonderful Dennis Cook, but we pumped out a ton of content. A lot went into making that happen and it wasn’t the same every day. But there were certainly some consistencies.
My day generally began by publishing fresh news on the site and scouring the web to be sure I wasn’t missing any breaking stories that would be pertinent to JamBase users. Then I’d be in touch with Dennis to be sure the schedule (show reviews, features etc) I set was still on track for the day. Sooner or later I’d have to start dealing with emails, of which I’d get between 100-200 a day from publicists, bands, writers, and photographers about various things.
READ ON for more of our Writer’s Workshop with Kayceman…
