With Dorset Rock Online about to celebrate its first birthday we thought we’d catch up with the site’s founder, all round top guy and good egg, Dan Renton. With Dan’s marketing skills clearly in evidence it would be fair to say bh one has learned a thing or two about how to network and promote from DRO. Whilst to a certain extent we’re attempting to attract attention from a similar audience, our friendship and mutual respect means that both sites have, and always will enjoy an amicable co-existence.

Q. Hi Dan. How’s life treating you?

A. Good thanks, Tone. It’s really hectic but it’s good to be busy… right!?

Q. Congratulations on the recent family addition, how are you finding fatherhood?

A. Cheers! Yeah it’s demanding, exhausting but totally amazing. My daughter is starting to interact with us more & more each day. It’s really rewarding. It’s harder to do everything I need to do, so it’s resulting in lots of very late nights.

Q. So, Dorset Rock Online is imminently one year old. It certainly seemed to hit the ground running. Are you pleased with how the site has progressed so far?

A. I am. The support has been overwhelming. It’s grown far quicker than I anticipated.

Q. What is the primary reason for the site’s existence?

A. Dorset Rock Online ticks many boxes for me. Ultimately it’s about supporting our local rock music scene, connecting people and inspiring readers to get involved. I guess you could call it scene building.

Q. Do you think the site will continue to evolve and change? Are you still finding out which features work and which don’t?

A. Totally. I have so many ideas that I haven’t been able to put into action yet. We’ll see some of those ideas come into play in our second year. Much of DRO is a learning process for me though. I’m still pressing buttons to see what happens! Every time I get too precious with the website I remind myself that it doesn’t pay any bills, after that things relax up a little.

Q. If the site’s musical preference generally veers towards the heavier end of the music scene, is this something you’re constantly evaluating? Do you think DRO has found its true identity?

A. I think identity is a hugely important. You need to know what you are before anyone else does. It’s why the genre we cover is in the name. We know where our musical boundaries are now but as far as what we cover within that, it’s in constant fluctuation. There’s been a lot of Metal lately because we’ve been covering the Bloodstock: Metal 2 The Masses competition. I’d really like to include more acoustic rock/folk on the site though.

Q. To what extent do you want the site to mirror your own tastes? If one of your reviewers sends you something that you completely disagree with, would you publish it?

A. The reason there are a group of people writing for DRO is that I didn’t want it to be my personal blog. We all have slightly different tastes in music and this is an advantage. It means we can cover more music with more authority and it’s not always the same voice. Some of my favourite articles have been those where we each give our thoughts on a single gig or release. We often disagree. That’s music for you though! If I didn’t agree with what someone had written, it would still get published. There has to be a line though and we all know where that is.

Q. You have quite a large team writing for you. Did you have an interview process where candidates had to submit reviews for your perusal? Did you advertise or did you find your writers quite easily?

A. Everyone joined the team in different ways and at different times. There were a couple of guys I knew and I approached them to get involved, others sent me reviews and asked if they could contribute. I’m really happy with the team we have right now, everyone gets along really well too. Things haven’t always worked out. A couple of guys have left for various reasons and some people have sent me an email asking to review shows (read: get free tickets) without actually sending me any examples of their work, no matter how many times I ask. I like to receive a contribution to the site before anything else is discussed.

Q. And Rob Whetton has done a fair bit of photography for you – he’s a bit good isn’t he?

A. Bob is awesome. The level of service the guy provides is incredible. He really goes out of his way to make things happen and the results speak for themselves.

Q. How important are Twitter and Facebook for the success of Dorset Rock Online?

A. Social networks are a huge part of it. A large portion of our web traffic comes from shared links on Facebook. It always disappoints me when bands don’t embrace these networks – almost brushing them off as silly gimmicks. It’s getting harder though. Places like Facebook are becoming swamped. It’s like going into a room and shouting your message, only there are 1000 people all doing the same thing.

Q. What has been the most satisfying part about the site so far?

A. Running Dorset Rock Online is hard work. A few things that come to mind – I realise that we’ve made a positive difference to the local scene. A big name promoter or PR representative gets in touch – we know we’re onto something then! Receiving feedback of any kind is rewarding. If someone thinks enough of the site to give it any thought at all, it’s good. It’s also flattering when someone thinks that the website is a full time job. They try to contact me in the day or ask me where the offices are. There’s still a long way to go but it’s some of these things that make the late nights easier!

Q. And what has been the most frustrating?

A. Apathy! It’s all around us. I see so much of it and I believe it is the biggest problem in our music scene. Hearing of people who can’t be bothered to travel a short distance to a venue. Those who announce their boredom when there’s a free gig on, that sorta thing. People are sitting on the sidelines, watching it all go by. It frustrates me. Another thing that baffles me is that hundreds of people read Dorset Rock Online daily but rarely comment or give any feedback.

Q. When did you first start watching local bands?

A. I guess when I hit the drinking age. I used to go to Mr Smiths and The Gander. Before that I remember seeing a Grunge band play at a school disco/Christmas party! It really made an impact on me. I still remember parts of it now.

Q. Where do your musical tastes lie? All-time top five bands please, and current top five local bands…

A. This is the hardest question you’ve asked me! I find it easier to list my favourite albums.

Top Five Bands – Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Kyuss, Clams.

Local bands – The Longest Day, The Neon Tigers, Nion Abeo, Deltorers, The Skinny Skulls…. Voodoo Vegas, Rapids!, Western Sand, The Otherhalf, C-30s! I can’t narrow it down to just five!

Q. Looking back on The Gander & Metropole and your time there with In Rock We Trust. Sum up your feelings on what went on during your time there…

A. I was by no means one of the ‘original Gander crew’ but it was still heartbreaking to see The Gander turned into a trendy wine bar. You can imagine how good it felt having a hand in turning The Metropole back into a rock venue and seeing bikers come back. We had some amazing In Rock We Trust nights and I forged some lifetime friendships during our time there. I was there behind the DJ booth so much in the end, it was like a second home. It’s tragic that things went the way they did. We only just started to see the fruits of our labour before the place disappeared.

Q. You’re celebrating your first year with a fantastic event at Champions. What’s going to be happening? Not just a run of the mill gig…

A. I’ve tried to make it more of an event than a gig. I’ve taken inspiration from those guys at Devils Music and we’re setting up a second stage. We’ve got six bands performing – they’re all bands that we’ve covered over the last year and we’ve been really impressed by. We also have the very sexy pin up model Scarlet De Beau performing a burlesque routine. I hope to DJ afterwards at JD’s below and the event will be filmed and recorded. I’m hoping we’ll have some tasty looking live videos afterwards!

Q. Congratulations on a great looking site Dan and good luck on Saturday. All the best for its future success and all the best to your family!

A. Thanks, Tone!