Andrew Harrison (born 1967) is an English music journalist. In 2008, he coined the term "landfill indie" which VICE described as referring to the "procession of homogenous [guitar] bands" that dominated the UK charts in the mid-2000s.Akinfenwa, Jumi. "The Top 50 Greatest Landfill Indie Songs of All Time". VICE, 27 August 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2021

He has worked as a staff writer for NME, Select, Mixmag, The Word, and Q, and freelance for Rolling Stone, The Face, The Guardian, The Observer and Mojo.

Early life Harrison was born in Liverpool in 1967 and entered music journalism as a teenager in the mid-1980s, at first publishing live reviews in local press before becoming a staff writer for the NME in the late 1980s and for Select in the early 1990s. He joined The Word in the mid-2000s, which he edited until February 2012, when he left to become editor of Q until April 2013, during a period when print magazines were undergoing double-digit year-on-year decline."Andrew Harrison appointed editor of Q". Press Gazette, 9 February 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2021"Andrew Harrison". The Guardian, October 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2021

His father, Stan Harrison, was a butcher who owned a premise on Blessington Road, Anfield, Liverpool, where Andrew worked from 1979 until 1984, beginning on a wage of £1 per day. He did not seek to follow his father into the trade, although it did give him a lifelong interest in preparing food.Harrison, Andrew. "I Was A Teenage Butcher". Esquire, 24 January 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2021 He has three brothers, the youngest of whom, Ian, is news editor of Mojo."Word Interview #6 – Andrew Harrison". wholehoggblog, 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2021

Career

1980s-2000s Harrison began his career covering live gigs for the Liverpool Echo and Daily Post in the mid-1980s. His break came in 1988 when a piece of his was featured in the NME. He wrote for many titles and was editorial director of Mixmag and Smash Hits.Cardew, Ben. "Q editor Andrew Harrison steps down". The Guardian, 11 April 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2021 He wrote extensively for NME in the late 1980s and early 1990s and interviewed Madonna, U2, Stephen Fry and others while later working freelance for titles such as Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The Observer and GQ."Andrew Harrison is new editor of Q Magazine". 10 February 2012. InPublishing. Retrieved 17 January 2021

Harrison is credited with coining the 2008 phrase landfill indie to describe then popular bands such as Snow Patrol, McFly, Razorlight, Maxïmo Park and The Futureheads.Robinson, Peter. "All killer no landfiller". The Guardian, 17 January 2009. Retrieved 16 January 2021Power, Ed. "How landfill indie swallowed guitar music in the mid-Noughties". The Independent, 28 July 20. Retrieved 17 January 2021Rafaeli, JS. "The Definitive History of Landfill Indie in Seven Songs, Narrated by Johnny Borrell". VICE, 4 April 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2021 The term was later described by the journalist and author Simon Reynolds as "one of the decade's great memes ... it captured that sense of alarming overproduction, the gross excess of supply [of music] over demand. All these bands! Where did they come from? Why did they bother? Couldn't they tell they were shit?"Simon Reynolds. "Notes on the noughties: Clearing up the indie landfill". The Guardian, 4 January 2010. Retrieved 16 January 2021Beaumont, Mark. "The term ‘landfill indie’ is pure snobbery from people who don’t know how to have fun". NME.com, 1 September 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2021

During 2008, he and Nick DeCosemo co-edited the dance-music monthly Mixmag,Harrison's official title was "editor-in-chief". See "Dispatches: Last mag standing, The Guardian, 14 April 2008 which two years earlier had been acquired by David Hepworth's independent publishing company Development Hell from the EMAP group."Dispatches: Last mag standing". The Guardian, 14 April 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2021Morris, Sophie. "My Mentor: Dominic Smith on David Hepworthl". The Independent, 28 January 2008. Retrieved 17 January 2021

2010s-2020s Harrison wrote and published the 2011 book Love Music, Love Food: The Rock Star Cookbook to aid the Teenage Cancer Trust.de Villiers, Patrice. "Love music love food: pop will eat itself". The Guardian, 15 July 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2021 A coffee-table cook book with photographs by Patrice de Villiers, each dish was selected by rock stars such as Noel Gallagher and Matt Bellamy.Love, Emma. "Don't look back in hunger: Musicians reveal their favourite foods in Rockstar Cookbook". The Independent, 23 October 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2021 Harrison was hired in February 2012 as editor of Q magazine during a period when, according to the Guardian, "print music magazines continue to endure torrid times", and even free titles were failing to compete against blogs and platforms dependent on online advertising. He replaced Paul Rees after the title's circulation was forecast to decline by 17% in the first half of 2012. As Harrison took over editorship, Q readership fell to 64,596 copies; a reduction described by The Guardian as "the worst performance of any music magazine in the period".Sweney, Mark. "NME and Q suffer sales declines to the tune of 20% year on year". The Guardian, 16 August 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2021

Directly reporting to publishing director Rimi Atwal of Q'''s parent Bauer Media Group, Harrison's brief was to "refocus" and revive the magazine; to that end, he took on a number of new journalists and launched its iPad edition, but decided against rebranding. Under his tenure, the magazine failed to halt sales erosion, although Q was named "Magazine of the Year" at the 2012 "Record of the Day" awards."Record of the Day Awards for Music Journalism and PR 2012". Record of the Day. Retrieved 16 January 2021 Nonetheless, he was forced out in April 2013.

He was a contributing editor at Esquire Weekly between September and December 2014. He hosted the podcast "Bigmouth" (2016-2021, with the writer and illustrator Sian Pattenden)"Bigmouth". Google Podcasts. Retrieved 16 January 2021Harrison, Andrew. "Inside the cosmic struggle of glam rock". New Statesman, 12 October 2016. Retrieved 16 January 2021 and "Remainiacs",Dann, Trevor. "Podcast: Writer and commentator Andrew Harrison". Radio Today, 13 August 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2021"Podcastology episode nine: Political pods". BBC, 4 March 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021 subtitled the "no-bullshit Brexit podcast"."Remainiacs: a Brexit podcast." remainiacs.com. Retrieved 17 January 2021 He continues to publish as a music critic and hosts the "Oh God, What Now?" (a relaunched version of "Remainiacs"), and "The Bunker" podcasts.

Bibliography Love Music Love Food: The Rock Star Cookbook: In Support of Teenage Cancer''. Quadrille, 2011. Maconie, Stuart. "Wednesday – with writer and journalist Andrew Harrison". BBC, 10 August 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2021

References

External links

Bigmouth podcast Archive of Guardian articles