On a day that would appear to be like no other in the Blender magazine’s offices, the illusively witty Rob Tannenbaum leaves his technology laden cubicle and enters the conference room to be interviewed about his own career as a freelance writer and now Music Editor at Blender Magazine.

Dressed in a suit and with a new hair cut to boot, he is willing to be the subject for once. Tannenbaum has seen all sides of the industry as a journalist on the entertainment magazine circuit as well as expert pop culture critic and musician. He has the type of advice on hand that any young journalist would covet. “My first piece of advice is make sure the tape recorder works, he said, “But, the most important thing is to write every opportunity you get.”

At this very moment, Tannenbaum is at a place in his career, both journalistically and musically, where he can be happy as a writer, artist, and editor. He has found comfort in his editorial rank at Blender, “The Ultimate music magazine”, as well as playing shows with his current band What I Like About Jew. After spending nearly 20 years as a freelance entertainment journalist, he decided to join forces with Blender magazine in 2002 to seek out the satisfaction that freelancing no longer gave him. After a recent regime change and promotion at the magazine, Tannenbaum has found the type of success any entertainment journalist could wish for.

Working alongside seasoned entertainment journalists that include ex-staff members at Spin, Q, and Rolling Stone, Tannenbaum knows what it is like to be on both sides of the staff hierarchy. He has seen what it’s like to write stories and experience changes to those he hadn’t expected. As well as, make those changes. Like those he has written for Details, Rolling Stone and countless other entertainment magazines finding that several years back freelancing was a fulfilling experience allowing him to write long feature articles. But, as time passed the industry changed and so did his love for it. He found that he could no longer write 3000 word articles on punk rock in China. Now, his stories were reduced to fractions of what they used to be. He said, “The biggest difference for me has been the amount of input you have in the magazine [on staff]. When I was a contributing editor at Details, for the most part, the ideas were half mine and half the editors assigned and the amount of contact I had was maybe once a week.

So I was a small part of the magazine and the magazine was a small part of my life. Now, Blender is a big part of my life. My commitment to Blender is substantial.”

The transition for Tannenbaum was not an easy one, but one he felt was necessary to continue to feel challenged by the craft. He jokingly said, “When you’re on staff you have to wear pants. That was the first difference I needed to get used to.“

But, after a short stint as reviews editor in early 2002, which he claims he was tricked into, he realized this was just the change he needed to continue loving writing about music. “I looked at the 5 weeks in 2002 as a good opportunity to see if I enjoyed it and much to my surprise I liked being on staff-having colleagues, wearing pants, and even going to meetings.”. Now two years later and an ever growing readership of 600,000 people Tannenbaum is a key player in the magazine’s popularity.

Though it’s not always fun and games. Tannenbaum has occasionally struck people’s nerves. Earlier this year he wrote a cover story on Atlanta hip hop act, OutKast. When one member, Big Boi, caught wind of the piece he was not pleased with the way he was made out to look compared to his partner Andre 3000. Though Tannenbaum claims it was a change of heart on Big Boi’s part. On top of a challenging and successful journalism Tannenbaum has fronted two critically acclaimed, successful bands, White Courtesy Telephone and his current gig in What I Like About Jew, who are actively playing shows in the New York area this fall and winter. Like Big Boi there have been times when Tannenbaum has seen the lack of professionalism, whether it be conscious or not, on the part of journalists. “It’s disappointing. Often I find people have misquoted or even gotten the facts wrong. It’s just disappointing that a lot of writers and editors are sloppy and don’t take the time to check.”

At the end of the day, Tannenbaum knows where his heart really lies, and that is with writing. After twenty years he cannot give up the fulfillment that completing an assignment gives him. “It seems a lot easier then going to law school,” he said, “The only trade I learned to do in college was write and at some point disaster struck and it turned into a career. A large part of it is an excuse to get free records and get paid. It’s sweet.”

And, he has one more note of advice for young writers everywhere who hope to enjoy the type of career he has. He adds, ‘Learn different kinds of writing. I’ve written reviews, Broadway comedy, TV shows, personal essays-the more skills you have then the more kinds of work you can do and get. But, write every chance you get.”