Since his life in music journalism began in 1989 with a job in Melody Maker, the London-born journalist has discovered several techniques which enable him to derive the best responses from an interview subject. "It's best to get eye contact with the person you are interviewing" he explains, "as they tend to open up more." Simple though it sounds, the reviewer also emphasises the importance of "listening to the subject", in order to make the most of the interview.
Surprisingly, Mr Selzer advises against taking a list of questions. "It can make the interview feel detached if you just read questions off of a list; I like to just go in with a brief idea of what the interview theme is in my head."
When it comes to writing features, the 38-year-old recommends that writers catch a balance between being in-depth and concise. "It's always hard structuring a feature so that it tells a story, but it's important to do so."
Mr Selzer currently writes for the "Subterranea" portion of Metal Hammer, which is dedicated to the underground side of the metal scene, following seven years as Editor of extreme music magazine Terrorizer. During his time at these publications, he has interviewed such musicians as Justin Broadrick of Godflesh, and Michael Gira (founder of Swans), as well as writing a wealth of features on the genres of Death metal and Black metal.
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