"I want to make more people active listeners instead of passive listeners, and I hope that through everything we do, now and in the future, we can help people seek out good music instead of just accepting whatever's being pushed at them. Making money is the driving force behind a lot of things, and there's no way to separate that from music, but business should never dictate art."
I was recently blessed to be able to draw from the knowledge of Confusion, the founder of Pigeons & Planes, which happens to be my favorite music blog. They derive the name from the concept of including lesser-known, quality starving artists, “pigeons,” with quality mainstream names, “airplanes.” Note the inclusion of “quality” in both of those descriptions, which is exactly why I admire their site so much. Pigeons & Planes grew to be so successful that Complex Media Network offered Confusion a job, but he wouldn't accept until they allowed him to still run the site as part of his job. They’re one of the few sites at the top of the game who let quality be the main dictator of their musical selection, as opposed to politics. The blog is based in hip-hop, indie rock, and everything in between. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the founder of such a successful site, but Confusion revealed himself to be a passionate, principled, genuine man with a good sense of humor. Check out some of his words of wisdom and wit in the interview to follow.
I was recently blessed to be able to draw from the knowledge of Confusion, the founder of Pigeons & Planes, which happens to be my favorite music blog. They derive the name from the concept of including lesser-known, quality starving artists, “pigeons,” with quality mainstream names, “airplanes.” Note the inclusion of “quality” in both of those descriptions, which is exactly why I admire their site so much. Pigeons & Planes grew to be so successful that Complex Media Network offered Confusion a job, but he wouldn't accept until they allowed him to still run the site as part of his job. They’re one of the few sites at the top of the game who let quality be the main dictator of their musical selection, as opposed to politics. The blog is based in hip-hop, indie rock, and everything in between. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the founder of such a successful site, but Confusion revealed himself to be a passionate, principled, genuine man with a good sense of humor. Check out some of his words of wisdom and wit in the interview to follow.
What inspired you to create this site in the first place, seeing as how there are so many music blogs in the world?
When I started Pigeons & Planes I was pretty lost. I had just spent 4 years studying finance in college. I was applying for jobs and realizing that I was going to end up starting a career in something that I hated. I started P&P for no other reason than wanting to do something I like. I had no experience writing and no experience in the music industry, but I always loved to write and I was always passionate about music. I had no idea what P&P would become, no business plan, no idea if anyone would ever read it. I was just lost and I wanted to do something I enjoyed.
I would say that most of the bigger sites comparable to yours only post “planes,” or the more popular music put out by mainstream artists. Why do you think your site has been so successful despite not restricting itself to that short list of musicians?
It's not just one thing, I think it's a combination of a lot of things and the team at Pigeons & Planes really puts in effort to provide balance in a lot of ways. Whether it's the balance between genres, the balance between mainstream and underground, or the balance between thoughtful writing and complete joke posts, we always try to provide a mix. I've never been a person that fits cleanly into a certain group. Half the time I don't know where or if I fit in at all, but I think there's a little bit of that in everyone, so I think people can relate to a site that is slightly schizophrenic and doesn't get stuck into only covering popular shit, or only covering obscure indie shit.
Plus, the mainstream stuff may bring in views, but when someone comes to P&P and discovers some unknown new song that they fall in love with, they'll be a P&P fan forever. That's the best, and that person will stay with us for years. The person who came to listen to the new Jay-Z song could have gone a million other places.
If you could have dinner with one person, past or present, who would it be? What would you seek to learn or gain in your conversation with this person?
My friend Dave, who died when we were in college. I wouldn't want to gain anything from it. Or maybe St. Vincent, and I would want to gain a new girlfriend out of that.
You have a good deal of influence through your blog, considering how well known your brand is. Do you have a particular goal in mind to impact music culture through this influence?
I guess I just want to keep passion alive in music. I hate coming across as a disgruntled music snob, but mainstream music is so fucked in so many ways, and I think the business side of things sometimes ruins the art. I just want to promote artistic integrity and make sure that we remain a spot that people can rely on to find good new music. We don't support music just because other blogs are posting it, just because the label is pushing it, just because we've got some friend in PR who sent it over. We have never and will never accept payment for posts. I take that stuff really seriously, and I think it all ties in to what we're trying to do for music.
I want to make more people active listeners instead of passive listeners, and I hope that through everything we do, now and in the future, we can help people seek out good music instead of just accepting whatever's being pushed at them. Making money is the driving force behind a lot of things, and there's no way to separate that from music, but business should never dictate art.
What is the Pigeons & Planes manifesto?
Fuck bitches, get money. Just kidding, just kidding. I don't know. Probably something about good music.
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