Noah Callahan-Bever, the Editor-In-Chief of Complex Magazine, sits down with allindstrom.com. In part 1 of the 3 part interview, they discuss his past. He first talks about what got him into the print game. Then he talks about his time at Ego Trip. He says that being in a place where the focus was more on putting out a great product, and less on making a huge profit, was a great moment in his life. Finally, they talk about Blaze magazine. He explains that at Blaze, the philosophy was to cover the new artists, instead of competing for the bigger named artists that the other mags would go for. He said that this taught him to create his own lane with Complex, instead of trying to do what the other mags were doing.
In part 2 of the interview with the great NCB, we talk about how his experience as an A&R under Dante Ross’ label Stimulated Records helped him as a writer. We then move on to the blogs. Noah explans how the blogs and magazines do not compete, rather work well with each other. He says that people are attracted to certain blogs due to having similar “world views” as the blogger behind the site. In the end, he says that even though you tailor information to certain mediums, the most important thing is to tell a good story.
In the third and final part of the interview with NCB, they talk about the internet. They talk about how familiar he was with the blog scene before the start of the Complex Media Network. Also about bloggers that would have a career in independent publishing, and how he’s interested in seeing how the bigger bloggers of today will be able to develop their careers. Finally about the creation of the Complex Media Network, and the internets impact on Complex Magazine (and vice-versa). He says that Complex made a conscious decision to focus their talents to the net, and that’s where they’ve seen their success.
