August 11th, 2020
The first ever Death By Algorithm post was published. I wrote it over the course of a few weeks by myself in my room. We were deep in lockdown at the time.
After moving across the country to Los Angeles in the fall of 2019, both the recording studios I had been working at cut their staff in March 2020, leaving me unemployed. In what felt like a real life Catch-22, California was (repeatedly) claiming that I needed to apply for unemployment benefits in Maryland because the majority of my work history was there, while Maryland in turn would (repeatedly) say I have to file in California because that’s where I was living. Both their helplines were so clogged with calls I could never talk to a person despite calling dozens of times per day. I was out making deliveries on food-service apps every night to get by, while hoping the unemployment offices and the world would get their shit together (neither did).
The initial idea to start a music blog way too late started before I moved, with some friends/coworkers at a DC music venue. We never got on the same page to all put in the work and make it happen, but it got the gears turning in my head. Now in 2020, it felt like the time to just go for what you wanted and not wait for the opportunity to present itself. When I wasn’t delivering richer people their dinner or getting placed on infinite hold by the unemployment offices, I was just watching movies, shaving my head, trying yoga for the first time, painting my nails, still scouring for new music, and playing Fortnite among various other unproductive shenanigans. It’s not like I didn’t have the time, and I needed something to focus my energy on.
It wasn’t yet clear to me how it would be structured, what it would look like, what I would write about, or what the name would be. All I knew was I listened to a lot of music, people often came to me to get recommendations, and I knew having a platform to share it all on was something I wanted. With this in mind, I started brainstorming and putting out feelers to see if people would actually take the time to read it. I had a long list of name ideas, but nothing I was particularly excited about. Until one day while driving around listening to an album from Chris Crack called White People Love Algorithms. I appreciated the title, but it kicked off a train of thought that had me thinking about the inefficiencies in the algorithms powering the delivery apps I was driving for, music streaming platforms, dating apps, the job application process, and seemingly everything else at the time. The conclusion I came to was that I didn’t just not like algorithms, I felt like they’d be the death of me. The thought stuck, and the name was born. I’m sure subconsciously I was also inspired by my favorite album ever, Because the Internet, which has an interlude titled Death By Numbers. It’s an important reminder (even more so in the time since as AI has reared its ugly head) that keeping a human element in music goes for all facets, including recommending and curating. No algorithm will ever beat our ears, as long as we’re good listeners.
On this day five years ago, the first post was published. I wrote about projects I had been listening to by Genevieve Artadi, Thanya Iyer, Liv.e, BLACKSTARKIDS, Chris Crack, Sir E.U, Dua Saleh, & baby bari. The post went out to < 50 of my friends. I truly had no idea what it would turn into from there. I did not think that this post would inadvertently set in motion me becoming BLACKSTARKIDS’ tour manager a year later, both launching me into a new career path and seeing me work every tour and show they would perform before their eventual split in 2024. I didn’t expect the blog to surpass my circle of friends and friends of friends, getting the attention of listeners across the country, and reaching a point where there are more subscribers I don’t know than ones I do. I didn’t expect people to read this overseas until I got an email from an artist in Berlin that had been following for a while and wanted to tell me about how he was rolling out his album, leading to one of my favorite features I’ve written about Valentin Hansen. I didn’t expect I’d land a guest feature writing for Pigeons & Planes. That blog helped shape my taste in music back in high school and influenced what I wanted this blog to be. That lead to an interview on New Zealand public radio. And now I have my own DBA radio show here in Los Angeles. Death By Algorithm has come a long way since I hit send on that first email, and only as I look back at it all now can I fully see how it’s changed my life.
And yet, 5 years later I wish I could say things were more realized. Despite everything I listed above, I have loftier goals with the blog that I wish (at least some of) had happened by now. We’ve been hovering close to crossing 500 email subscribers for over a year now, but these days there are more unsubscribers than new readers. I’ve wanted to put together a live showcase here in LA for some time, but struggle to find the time, funds, and sometimes motivation. I wish I felt like my career had more direction than it did at this point in 2020, though I’ve built up solid clientele and experience in my new life as a tour manager, I still bounce around from gig to gig with uncertainty.
Today though, I’m focusing on the good that’s come from this. Ultimately this blog is still just a reflection of the passion. I’ve never tried to make money off this by making different subscription tiers, charging artists for submissions, working to run ads, or anything of that nature that would defeat the purpose. I was able to pour more time and energy into this during quarantine when I hardly had work, and though I wish I could still dedicate that amount of effort, it’s nice to always have it here as a well I can return to when I’m struggling to recall what I love about music. It’s a reminder of everything I care about, and it’s a reflection of me. Which is everything I could have hoped for five years ago. As long as that passion is met by any amount of like minded people, I’m going to keep this going in any form that I can.
5 years of DBA playlist
Had to celebrate with a little playlist, 50 of my favorite finds from the past five years. Give this a listen if you’re feeling nostalgic like me, or want to find something that you missed. Every song on this playlist can instantly take me back to my first times listening to it, where I was when I was writing it’s entry into DBA, and how excited I was for other people to hear it.
I also was trying to find some pics of the blog’s early days, but I don’t really have pictures of me sitting alone typing newsletters on my laptop, because why would I? I did pull some photos from both my library and Instagram story archive to capture that moment of late summer-early fall 2020 when this all came to life. In the process of doing so I also uncovered posts/stories/words of encouragement from friends, artists, and others sharing the early posts that made me smile a lot.
Thanks for indulging on this trip down memory lane, and for being good listeners the past five years. Here’s to many more.