By Madison Guerrera

Journalists are not often talked about in rock and roll, as that distinction favors the musicians being interviewed. Though the name Susan Masino may not be familiar, perhaps some of her interviewees may ring a bell: Van Halen, Aerosmith, Cheap Trick, KISS, and AC/DC (with whom she is still friends with to this day) among others. She has written six books, five of them about music, but she has also devoted one to her interest in the paranormal. The career she has built for herself did not come easy for a young woman writing in late 1970s America, but through a passion for writing and an unwavering determination, she found herself in a position that most of us would give anything for. I was fortunate to sit down with her and glean some advice from one writer to another, as well as any Echo readers who may be writing majors themselves.

Where did your passion for writing begin? Was it always music-centric?                        I was born with parents that owned venues, so when I was first born, they owned a ballroom, and then they had a hotel and a couple of restaurants throughout the years. They always had live music. I fell in love with music because it was all around me at the time. It wasn’t until I was 21 that my girl friend started taking me to see bands, and I wanted to be part of the business, but I didn’t know what I would do. I wasn’t a performer. I wasn’t going to get into a band. I went to a party with roadies, agents, and photographers, and I met a couple of guys that had a local music paper called the Madcity Music Sheet. Even as a kid in school I liked to write; I’ve always had an ability to write, if you will, so I decided that I wanted to write for this paper. It wasn’t easy because I was a girl. I weaseled my water into this paper.

In your memoir, Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy, you mention that the first piece of writing you ever had published was an anonymous letter, written about a local band you had recently seen, to the editor of the Madcity Music Sheet. For someone outside of the professional writing field, could this straightforward approach still help them get their foot in the door? Or would someone who isn’t a working journalist simply fly under the radar?                                                                         If you want to write for a paper or magazine, if you something that is well-written, and they’re open to adding new people to write for them, there’s millions of possibilities. You can write your own blog and comment on other things you see online. I definitely encourage anyone that wants to break in to write something. Show that you can do it. With my career, I have almost never had anyone come up and offer something to me. I have always gone to them and said, ‘I want to do this. What do you think?’ That particular letter was proof that I could review bands just like the guys were doing.

You were the sole female writer at your publication, and considering the sexism present in the late 1970s, were you ever painted as a groupie looking for a handsome singer than a professional writer?
       Constantly. I would come back to the paper, and even though they would give me an assignment, I would still get picked on. The guys would say, ‘Oh how did you get this interview? I bet you had to do something to get that.’ When I started doing national or international bands, I was the only one backstage that wasn’t a groupie, and they were dressed so much better than me! I was in my jeans and T-shirt with my Panasonic tape recorder. I got confused more than once of why I was back there, but I got used to it, I guess.

As someone who has gotten to interview high-profile musicians, it must have been an exciting, yet nerve-wracking experience. What advice would you give to writers when they interview a notable figure, especially in a field (i.e. music or sports) that the writer is passionate about?
       It’s harder if you’re a super big fan. It’s harder to keep that within yourself, but the more that you can present yourself as respectful as well as a fan—that’s why you want to interview them. The more grounded you are and tell yourself, ‘I’m here to interview you. I have a lot of respect for you’ they appreciate that. It’s weird with my relationship with AC/DC because I started when they were unknown in the US, so it was easy to hang out, talk, have a beer. Over a 45-year period, even with a hundred people on their crew, it’s not intimidating because I’ve known them for so long. It’s hard when you walk into that sort of situation and see people doing whatever they ask, bowing down. I would just try to be as grounded as possible. They’re just a person. They may be filthy rich and extremely successful, but just be respectful and go at it.

In the 90s, you started your own music newspaper called Rock Central. What was the experience of going from an employee to running your own paper?
       It was a lot of work. So much work. I did it for 6 years, and I would never do it again unless I had millions and a huge staff of people. I had other people that worked with me. I was the one that assigned articles, sold advertising, made sure the paper was distributed, and made sure the printer was paid. That kind of stuff that was a lot of work, but a lot of fun too. I’m proud of it, still to this day.             We started Rock Central because the editor from the Emerald City Chronicle [another Wisconsin-based publication Masino previously wrote for] passed away in 1991, and he worked his way up to having an article in the Wisconsin State Journal that covered local music. When he passed, myself and some people around me that worked with me felt that if we didn’t do something, there’s not going to be any coverage for local musicians. That’s why we started it.

How would someone go about making connections with people in a field that they want to write?
       Go after what you care about and what you really love. Mine was rock and roll. You never know where that might lead to.