AN INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS FRENCH (PR TRAIL)

1. Would you please introduce yourself—where you’re from, what you do, and some of the bands you work with or have worked with?

Hi there! I'm Chris and I'm just starting my eighth year of PR Trail. I'm a publicist from Manchester in the UK, and I've always had other jobs in the music industry, including working in record stores and at gig venues around the city. I feel fortunate to be living in one of the world's most thriving places for live music. There are so many great venues here, and most touring artists will make a stop in Manchester, so us Mancunian music lovers are really spoiled for choice. It goes without saying that there's a rich music heritage that still permeates and breathes through Manchester daily living, the likes of The Stone Roses, Joy Division, New Order, The Smiths, Oasis, Happy Mondays, The Fall, BeeGees et al. But if you ask me, the real treasures of Manchester are Autechre, Oceansize, Pijn and WU LYF.

Often I work with newer artists who may just be putting out their first major releases, and it's always so rad to see many of them grow and go on to work with bigger labels and do bolder and better things. Some of the bands I've worked with over the years include Hidden Mothers, Underdark, Wallowing, Din Of Celestial Birds, TORPOR, Still, Orme, Row Of Ashes, Vacuous and plenty more. In 2025 I worked with seasoned sludge legends Ghold and Trudger, as well as relative newcomers Indifferent Engine, IAN, Why Patterns and Praetorian. I tend to work with small boutique DIY labels too, including APF, Church Road, Floodlit, Human Worth, Surviving Sounds, Trepanation and more.

It's weird, even though PR is my line of work, it's not very often I get to actually talk about it publicly. I guess it's a bit of a niche and hidden part of the music industry that doesn't really get highlighted at the forefront. Publicists are like ninjas, working in the shadows, but can be an essential cog to keep the gears of the music industry oiled and turning. I still don't even really know how to advertise my own services, so hopefully I can say something interesting about PR.

2. Are there some prerequisites for your line of work? What of your background and/or experiences did/do you pull from?

For much of my twenties I was an aspiring music journalist writing for a few print magazines and online publications. I've also played in some bands and done a little bit of touring. I got my big start writing with Terrorizer magazine. A much beloved monthly print mag that had been running since the early '90s. It was THE go to magazine for finding about the more extreme subgenres of metal, with a healthy dose of industrial, noise and post-rock on the side. I miss that magazine very much, it had the best writers, really great reviews and interviews, and something about the layout and photography was just so spot on. Through Terrorizer I got to meet some artists I love including The Melvins, Aaron Turner [of Isis, Old Man Gloom and Sumac], Gnaw Their Tongues, Pharmakon and more, and I was also able to shine a spotlight on upcoming artists from around Manchester. I feel like the bigger names of extreme metal were given just as much coverage as the smaller artists, so it was a great source for finding new bands and hidden gems.

Anyhoo, writing for Terrorizer meant I got hooked up with a big pool of label employees and other publicists filling my inbox. Without even realising it, I got into the rhythm of reading press kits every day, and I guess it got me curious about the whole PR process. I discovered some of my publicist heroes – namely Lauren Barley at Rarely Unable, Becky Laverty at Pioneer Music and now Roadburn Festival, and Si Glacken at For The Lost, all of whom do exceptional work, and I've got to meet in person. I still look up to them today as the absolute gold standard. But without naming names, I remember I also got plenty of really poor press kits through from other PR companies that felt rushed, or were straight up sloppy, had basic and important information missing, band members' names spelled incorrectly, missing tracks, old photos, and plenty of poorly written fluff pieces with ridiculous levels of hyperbole.

For every bad press kit I received for an album I'd been commissioned to review, it just made my job take longer having to look up the correct information or chase up for key information. I remember thinking, I could do a much better job of this. And eventually I decided to go for it. Shout out to the bad publicists I suppose!

But to answer your question more directly, having a good network of contacts is so essential. Writing for Terrorizer, and later on Zero Tolerance and Astral Noize certainly gave me a leg up when it came to getting to know other publicists, journalists, artists and label folk.

3. Tell us a little about the job description and some of the things PR Trail does.

There is such a wide variety of work that makes up being a publicist, and every project or campaign I take on is different and invites new challenges. Sometimes I get to do out of the box projects too. Wallowing came to me for advice on how to promote their own graphic novel and line of action figures; Possessor had their own line of beer, and Indifferent Engine were working on a retro video game to tie in with their album promo.

There are some methods that stay the same with each campaign I take on. First off I like to really try and get to know the artists I'm working with and get a sense of their personalities. I want to try and know as much as I can about their latest record, what it was like in the studio, what the writing process was like, the themes and influences... Everything and anything that could be relevant. Then I like my press kits to be very thorough and leave no stones unturned. I go into them with my critical eye. I always think back to my time as a journalist, and I want everyone who receives my press kits to have absolutely all the relevant info they need, so that they won't have to chase me up with a list of things. I help artists set up premieres for their singles and music videos, run news stories, pitch to radio stations, podcasts, playlist makers, YouTubers, and more recently I've even been sending press kits out to influencers too. I've also guided unsigned artists to hook up with their desired record labels, which is a whole process in itself. I help artists organise their guestlists, press lists, interviews and press photos when they are touring or playing festivals too. There's lots of scheduling, chasing up and admin work.

Oh and did I mention, E-MAILS! Hundreds and hundreds of e-mails! There's a myth that all publicists do is just click the send to all button and then put their feet up, but that is not true at all; just one record campaign contains months of hard work and spinning lots of plates. Fortunately, I always have multiple group chats on the go to keep things fun and keep me sane. I always like it best when a PR campaign feels like a collaborative effort. Even though I'm there to take care of the grueling parts, and the nitty gritty, I often find that the artists and label are pouring in their own ideas and passions into the record release process too.

I can't really nail down my work as a publicist to just one or two things, but that's what keeps it interesting. There is a sort of crossover with journalism and artist management. I do love it when I get to go out and meet clients too, hang out with them in the studio or on tour. It never ends!

4. Are there any career highlights or campaigns you are particularly proud of you’d like to share?

Oooh, that's a question! PR Trail isn't my sole form of income, which means I can afford to be picky about who I work with and which projects I take on. My rule of thumb is that when I hear the advance of a record, if I like it so much that I want a physical copy in my collection, then I'll usually want to work on it too. It has to be something I feel very passionate about otherwise I won't be able to get enthused, and it won't be worth the stress, or any fun for me either. Everyone has that one friend who hears a song or discovers a new artist that completely strikes them down, and they won't shut up about them, recommending them to all their friends. That's the spirit of PR, just on a bigger and more structured scale. But it all starts with that exciting feeling. It's also important for me to gauge whether the artist is actually ready to be putting money into the PR process, and whether there is enough scope for me to add my input. Usually if the record is ticking my boxes, I'll start thinking “oh I can't wait to send this to so and so, they'll love this!”

So with that in mind, most of my collaborations have been pleasant, even if they often have stressful parts. But of course, there have been some extra important ones and some milestones that stick in my mind too. Hidden Mothers' debut EP back in 2020 is one I always think back to. A beloved British blackgaze, post-hardcore hybrid band. I'd caught their very first live show supporting Pijn, and their debut single 'The Longest Journey Yet' felt so fresh and exciting at the time. They're a really funny and passionate bunch of lads too, so the whole thing felt like a big laugh, with spatterings of actual work here and there. I just knew in my bones that I had to work with them and that they would go on to do even bigger things, which they indeed have, later hooking up with their dream label Church Road Records, and playing ArcTanGent and Damnation festivals.

Another big one for me was working with Orme. I've now worked with three of Tom Clements' bands, bless him; Everest Queen and Praetorian too. This one was special because the drone metal trio presented me with a debut record that was a double album, only contained two tracks, and ran just shy of two hours in length! I thought this was totally mad, and that no modern audience or any of my fine list of journalists would have the patience for something so audacious. I was expecting to be blacklisted. But I was up for the challenge, and I was so happy to be completely wrong in my assumptions. Many of my contacts absolutely loved the record, and we were hit with a wave of very positive reviews, particularly praising their bravery and dedication to such mammoth track lengths. And rightly so. They later went on to become the first ever drone metal band to play at Bloodstock Festival, managing to perform one song in their 30 minute set. I'll be happy to work with them on whatever they do in the future, the more absurd the better!

I could go on, but I'll leave you with one more really special one, and that was TORPOR's Abscission album. Usually all my collaborations come from my submissions inbox, but I was already a TORPOR fanboi – for those that don't know them, they were the UK's most crushing sludge metal band, still untouched to my ears – so when I discovered that they had hooked up with Human Worth, I hit up Owen [Gildersleeve, label owner] straight away and told him that I HAD to work on this record! I didn't know at the time that Abscission would be their grand finale. It's a very heavy, powerful and emotional record that came out of real pain and hardship, so I was so glad to see the album receive such a wide positive reception. TORPOR had a wonderful send off with a lengthy UK tour, and then performing the album in full at Roadburn Festival in the Netherlands... Twice!

My favourite part of any campaign is when all the reviews come in. I love reading and sharing them all. I especially love it when I can tell a journalist has read my press kit properly, but the best ones will also put their own spin on it and find an interesting observation that myself or the artist hadn't even considered. I don't even mind negative reviews, as long as they are well justified and constructively written. Sometimes only seeing a wave of positive reviews can get a little much. Let's see someone slate it to mix things up! Shout out to all the amazing music writers out there who keep making my job worthwhile.

5. What are some of the challenges you have to navigate in your field and what is most rewarding about your work?

There are many, and the challenges are always changing. Because I've worked as a publicist, a journalist, a musician, at record stores and at gig venues, I've been able to observe how the industry has been changing first hand from varying perspectives. Journalists are having to work harder than ever to make any money from their craft, and so I like to follow my favourite ones as they tend to move around a lot. Publications cease, new ones crop up. Print magazines are having a particularly tough time as most people get their information faster online, and I'm sad to say that for many people buying physical magazines, as much as I adore them, isn't as essential, convenient or on trend as it used to be.

The pandemic was a particularly difficult time from a publicist perspective, because it felt like the whole music industry had to change and adapt very quickly. Ever since the pandemic, I feel that the music scene has become more saturated than ever before. The sheer vastness of music being released every Friday, whether they are through labels, or independently funded, is overwhelming. Journalist inboxes are more clogged up than ever before, and I feel that publicists, artists and label owners have to shout even louder to get their music noticed. And this is in a time where social media platforms keep shrinking the reach that creatives have. I'm a music lover and physical record collector myself, and even that has become a more challenging feat. As a music lover, I'm finding it harder and harder each year to hear every record I'm interested in. Most of my spare income goes on buying records and gig tickets, and I still get to the end of year thinking I've missed out on loads of great records from artists new and old. People's attention spans are becoming shorter too, and it's really hard to give a record any longevity these days, unless it's a stone cold instant classic like Charli XCX's Brat, which had one of the best PR roll-outs I've ever seen. People will rave about a record one week, but then the next week even more great music will come out, and that album you couldn't put down a week ago will end up getting neglected or forgotten about in place of something new and more exciting. Rinse and repeat. Album of the year lists now feel more like, here is a list of all these interesting records that you didn't get time to check out the first time around.

My challenges as a publicist are nowhere near as tough as what small artists and independent label owners are going through. In the UK now, postage costs double or sometimes triple the price of the actual record itself for international buyers, often with customs charges on top. I've witnessed labels have a huge decline of international sales; it's really sad. Costs keep rising and margins keep getting tighter and tighter. I predict there will be even more hardships in the near future too as the music industry navigates their use of AI. I particularly worry for the great album cover designers, graphic artists, photographers and videographers, as I don't want to see them being replaced by AI, or finding themselves with less commissions. I also feel like the ethics surrounding streaming platforms and their artists payouts, as well as large venues and ticket platforms squeezing every penny out of touring musicians have reached absolute breaking point. Something's got to give. It should not be the norm that artists are making huge losses on tour, even when they are packing out venues. Because the music industry is so multi-faceted, problems in one area of the industry often have knock-on effects to other areas. It's an entire ecosystem.

Another sad thing is that I feel that the physicality of PR work has diminished too. Compared to when I started, I get out of the office - or should I say my home – much less. Everything is more online, more instant, more digital. Sometimes I think I was born in the wrong era of PR. I'd love to be scheduling lunch dates, picking up the phone, putting up posters, handing out fliers, doing footwork, going on road trips, staying in hotels and meeting people face to face. But it often feels like it's all emails, text messages, social media posts, and feeling fatigued from staring at my laptop screen for hours on end. And because of that it's much easier for the anxiety and existential dread to creep up on me. Something as trivial as my internet connection going down, or my emails landing in the spam box could end up being crushing. That's something I actively hope to change going forwards. I want to find more ways to get physically creative with my PR work and get out there and meet people face to face more often.

6. What’s some practical advice you have for anyone looking to get into public relations?

That's a hard question. I never had any formal training for the work I do. I didn't get a degree, and I don't know if music PR is a course that's even on offer. I'm a self-taught guitarist, and I'm a self-taught publicist too. The early days had a lot of trial and error, and really I only learned how to do it by observing others, studying press kits from other publicists, and thinking about what I would want from a publicist back when I was working as a journalist and a musician too. I'm still learning new tricks all the time. And just because one idea worked great with one record, doesn't mean it will for the next one. One publication might really get behind one artist, but that doesn't mean they'll do the same for the next one either. That's what keeps it interesting though. Every project and campaign I take on has a uniqueness to it, and there are no rules.

But to be more direct. If you want to get into the PR game, being a creative and passionate writer certainly helps. Having a great network is essential too. Go to lots of local shows in your city and surrounding counties. Always watch the support acts. Get to know the bands, the writers, the photographers, the label owners, the gig promoters, the podcast hosts... Like I said, it's a whole ecosystem of different types of creatives all pulling together that makes a music scene work. If you have publications or music writers you love then follow their work; write to them and let them know that their words matter. Buy records and merch from small independent artists and labels on Bandcamp and from record stores. Send artists a DM or share their work on your socials and let your friends know how good they are. Have great e-mail etiquette, because you're going to write a lot of them. Try and avoid doing mass mail outs. Learn about good eye catching graphic design or hire someone who can. Make sure whoever you are sending an e-mail to can access the music instantly with one click. Make sure you know how to file a tax return properly. Be prepared to make it all about the artist.

I'm sure I'll think of many more things later, but my number one piece of advice is, be passionate, and your passion will guide you.

7. What was it about heavy and experimental music that attracted you to it in the first place?

I've never considered myself a metalhead, as I'm more just an all around music head. I love rock, folk, electronica, hip-hop, jazz, pop and funk as much as I do metal. But I've had a strong love for metal since my early teen years. I started getting into music slap bang at the tail end of Britpop and the peak of Nu-metal. My love for the more experimental and leftfield music came pretty quickly though. I got massively into '70s prog as a teen, especially bands like Pink Floyd, Yes and King Crimson, which soon led me to discovering progressive metal bands like Tool, Opeth and Dream Theater. I still get a bit of a nostalgic kick out of Dream Theater to this day!

By the time I reached my college years in the mid '00s I got really into post-rock bands like Godspeed, Mogwai, Sigur Ros and MONO, which I discovered mostly through being nerdy on the internet. And that soon led me to discovering post-metal, or atmospheric sludge as they called it at the time. I remember my first proper exposure to this was when my old housemate Alex made me listen to Pelican's Australasia album. It sent chills down my spine and I got really hooked into it. The tones they captured on that record are just mesmerising and sound absolutely massive to this day. Discovering Pelican soon lead me down a wonderful rabbit-hole where I became obsessed with bands like Neurosis, Isis and Cult Of Luna. I ended up checking out loads of releases on the Hydra Head label off the back of it too, discovering Jesu, Dalek and Khanate. Post-rock and post-metal still very much run through my veins, and over the years I played a few shows and tours performing synths and electronics in a few different post-metal bands. I just love that these artists have very little restrictions and boundaries, encompassing many other subgenres into their sound. I always enjoy working with post-rock and post-metal artists, because it's close to my heart, and I guess I can really communicate these sounds effectively. I've always responded more to texture, atmosphere and feeling in music, which to me seem even more important than hooks, melodies and riffs. So when I meet like-minded souls, it usually just clicks and flows.

8. Who were some more of your foundational influences?

Well I can't discount Nu-metal. A lot of the major players and records from the peak of that era haven't really aged well, but the nostalgia element still gets me. Deftones are a band who have stuck with me since my teen years, and it's great to see that they keep evolving and are still so good live. I saw them this past summer play an outdoor show in the small Yorkshire market town of Halifax. The heavens unleashed and it poured down, but it was really warm out so it just made it more special. I can still appreciate a bit of System Of A Down, Incubus, KoRn and early Slipknot too, even though I've not really gone back to any of their records in a long, long time.

The first proper classic metal album I heard was Metallica's The Black Album. But yeah, I've always had a journalistic instinct to explore as much music and different subgenres as possible. I quite dig black metal, from Emperor's Nightside Eclipse right up to Deafheaven – I totally think they count as black metal, with a modern twist. I like a bit of grind, noise, sludge and death metal too. I finally saw Blood Incantation a few months back, which was ace. I think they managed to squeeze in four tracks into their hour and a half set! Converge, Dillinger Escape Plan, Discordance Axis, Nine Inch Nails, Orchid and Wolves In The Throne Room are some more of my all time fave heavy bands.

9. What were some of your favorite releases of 2025?

I just managed to squeeze in a list of my 25 favourite records before the new year. I've posted it on my PR Trail website and socials. My heavy picks for the year included Pelican's Flickering Resonance; their most blissful and uplifting sounding album to date. I was really impressed with Deftones' Private Music, packed with glossy and dreamy textures with hard hitting, punchy songs. A big shout out to Wren's Black Rain Falls too. They're one of the UK's very best sludgy post-metal bands and I think it's their best studio work to date. You can tell they are influenced by Isis and Sumac, but they do their own thing with those blueprints. A super crushing yet cerebral experience and I can't recommend them enough. They're a smaller band and I don't think they've ever made it across the pond, but they deserve to be so much more widely appreciated.

10. Last question: if you were stranded on a desert island by yourself and could only have five albums with you to listen to, what would they be and why?

Oh jeeeeeez! That's a real killer... My answer would probably change completely on any given day.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor – Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven. A perfect album. God tier post-rock, and a beautiful work of art.

Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness. I continually come back to this masterpiece. It's just so satisfying, and much like the Godspeed album, it's a real feast for the senses. I feel like I'm being spoiled by the Pumpkins with so much versatility and finesse. My partner Katie kindly gifted me the new 30th anniversary CD boxset for Christmas, which has two unreleased discs of fantastic live material from their 1996 tour. This is now the fourth variant of the album I own, so hopefully I've managed to grab all the different versions for my desert island life.

DJ Shadow – Endtroducing..... Another lengthy album full of versatility. The whole album is constructed out of samples of other recordings, and it's one I can never get tired of. It tends to get filed under hip-hop, but it covers so much ground musically. There's a real vastness to it that you can get lost in. There are even Metallica and Twin Peaks samples buried in there.

Bob Dylan – Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Live 1966. The best live album ever made. I've always had a bit of an affinity for live albums. The good ones can act as a great snapshot of a time and era. The first disc is just Bobby, an acoustic guitar and his trusty harmonica. On the second disc he brings out The Band and they play really loud, heavy and noisy bluesy rock'n'roll. It's like Dylan just threw a grenade into the audience and some of the crowd clearly hated it. Both halves of the concert have their own kind of intensity and power. This one was recorded in Manchester too, so it will remind me of home. It's the famous concert where someone in the crowd yelled “JUDAS!” at Dylan. To think there was a time where an artist exploring a different genre was very controversial. In 2025 I saw a live recreation of the entire show performed by Cat Power.

Autechre – NTS 1-4. Well this album is 8 hours and 8 discs long of the best electronic, drone and ambient music ever made, and yes it's all new studio recordings. It comes in a nice, lightweight CD boxset with cardboard inserts, easy enough to grab and hold onto when the plane drops. Though I would have had to pay the extra cabin fee to squeeze in all my Smashing Pumpkins variants! Probably the best music to come out of Manchester. If you know, you know. These are all pretty economical choices too, since they're all lengthy records and I don't want to get bored. I sure hope this desert island has access to a nice turntable and CD player!