You may have noticed the name and branding change. Welcome to This Must Be…Pop.
I’m never one to put a timeline on goals. I’ve been writing this little newsletter for almost a year and a half, and now that I’ve finally passed 100 subscribers, I think I’m starting to figure it all out. When I originally started, I wasn’t sure what kind of things I wanted to write about, so I kept everything vague while I figured it out. But the more I sit with myself and think seriously about things, I know what it is I’m good at, what people respond to, and more importantly what I want to write about. Writing about parenting was something I fell into, and it’s never been my passion, even though I keep getting sucked into it.
If you know me, it should be no surprise that pop culture is the thing I find myself gravitating towards the most. Not just current pop culture, but pop culture from the 90s and 00s. That’s the time that raised me and made me the person (and writer) I am today. As a kid, I always thought I was going to be an actor. I did children’s theater, I went to a magnet middle school for drama, I went to a performing arts high school for drama, my bachelors is in acting. But what people didn’t know for a long time was that my other dream was to be published in Rolling Stone. When I got into boy bands in the 90s, I started reading copious magazines, and something sparked in me. I wanted to write a feature about my favorite artists one day like I read about *NSYNC or Britney Spears in Rolling Stone. I was so serious that in 7th grade when we had Career Day, I attended the session with a journalist from Rolling Stone. It’s still a dream of mine, so if anyone has any suggestions as to how to make that happen I’m all ears.
Anyways! Pop culture is the thing that makes me…well, me. I remember reading my mom’s Soap Opera Digest when I was a kid, and pouring over articles in the TV Guide. Then, like I said, I started reading teenybopper mags like TigerBeat, Teen Beat, Popstar! and others. That was soon followed by Teen People, YM, and Seventeen. There were probably more, but it was 25-ish years ago so forgive me. All this to say, I was very up on what was happening. When my friend worked at a dentist’s office, she would save all the copies of the newsstand magazines like PEOPLE (which was my favorite) and Us Weekly. I knew who was dating who, who was breaking up with who, and everything in between. In college, when I started spending more time online, I became obsessed with Oh No They Didn’t on LiveJournal (which is apparently still around!). I was just a voracious consumer of pop culture.
Getting older and becoming a mom has slowed me down a bit, but I do still spend a lot of time on social media, so I’m usually privy to what important pop culture conversations are happening.
I didn’t intend to write about 90s and 00s pop culture for this newsletter, but then it became relevant again. “This is my time to shine,” I thought to myself. I had been training to talk about these topics since I was a literal teenager — I was glad to share my opinions with people who weren’t my mother or my wife. After I wrote a few of those pieces, friends started pitching my Substack to others by mentioning my critiques on 90s/00s pop culture. While it wasn’t what I set out to do, of course I was thrilled. It may not have been Rolling Stone, but I was finally fulfilling the goal I made when I was in middle school.
But don’t worry. If you like my current takes on pop culture conversations, those aren’t going anywhere! And if you like my parenting writing, the only way you’re getting it is if it’s pegged to a pop culture moment, sorry. When stuff comes up that I want to talk about, I will absolutely be weighing in. In fact, I’m working on something about Taylor Swift and her new album that I hope to get out this week, but it might not be until next week because I have work deadlines! Another thing I really want to do is work in the occasional review, and I really want to do some celeb features.
Last month, I got the absolute pleasure to interview television icon and comedian Marsha Warfield for Autostraddle. When I turned it in, our EIC Carmen said that it was one of the best things I’d ever written. Features are something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, and that was the ego boost I needed. It wasn’t the first feature I’d written, but I’m at a place where I want to do more, there and here and anywhere I can honestly. I already have a few ideas of people I want to do features on for this Substack that range in genre — they’re people I really want to sit and talk with without the confines of an angle for a publication. Those will take time, since I need to build up a bigger follower base to make it worth their while.
One of the other main reasons for the rebrand is that I’m gearing up for something big. Ever since I can remember, I’ve wanted to write a book about boy bands. The idea has changed over the years: originally I conceived it as a study of the evolution of the boy band, from The Beatles to One Direction. Then I narrowed that focus to the more modern concept of the boy band, from New Edition to One Direction. But then someone wrote that book, and I pivoted. What I really know best is the litany of boy bands who came about in the late 90s and early aughts. America was churning them out like candy, but other countries were as well. I didn’t know every single one of them, but I knew enough, especially the ones who came to the States.
I don’t want to give away too much, but if you want to know more, you can message me and I’ll tell you. I want to get as many people who were directly involved with the creation of these groups for this project, so I’m starting to write about this time so that when I pitch them the idea I have a portfolio of pieces I can share. Also, Johnny Wright, the manager of both *NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys, is working on a documentary, and I am hell bent on being an expert for it. So that’s where we’re at.
If you’ve been here for a minute, or you’re just jumping on this crazy train, just know that I’m super grateful you’re here! I’m really excited for the future, and I hope you are too!
excited for this pivot!!
“It’s still a dream of mine, so if anyone has any suggestions as to how to make that happen I’m all ears.” If you need editor contacts to pitch lmk