JR Moores Interview (Electric Wizards: A Tapestry of Heavy Music, 1968 to the Present)
JR Moores is a freelance writer and author, resident psych columnist at The Quietus and Record Collector magazine, and part-time lecturer in music journalism. Last year, he published the excellent Electric Wizards: A Tapestry of Heavy Music, 1968 to the Present.
How did you get to where you are today, professionally?
When I was about 19, my friend Shelly told me I should be a music journalist. That was very nice of her. She’d clocked my knowledge and enthusiasm for music which I, being me, had assumed was an unremarkable level. As a young fool, I didn’t listen to her at the time. Only about a decade later did I realise she was right. Perhaps I should have heeded Shelly’s advice and started earlier. Mind you, few people would have wanted to read my thoughts on why Green Day’s Warning was a more radical and riskier departure than Kid A by Radiohead, both released on the same day in the year 2000. (Or would they?)
Instead, and to cut short a long and boring story, I worked in bars and shops and, with lofty aspirations to become a historian or art historian-slash-university lecturer, I studied for a PhD on the niche subject of Georgian-era satirical prints. I had a few works published. Those are some deep cuts for the Moores fans who are desperate to know how I might interpret caricatured depictions of George Canning (1770 – 1827). While I am proud of those, I did have imposter syndrome most of the time and never really felt like I fitted in with other historians and academics.