Founder & Editor | The Riff Report Blog
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud. Zero Apologies. ๐๐ค
Some people start blogs because they enjoy writing.
Michael started The Riff Report because apparently going to gigs, standing in muddy festival fields, obsessing over bands, collecting rock stories and talking about music at ridiculous hours wasnโt enough.
So he built somewhere to put all that chaos. ๐ฅ
Welcome to The Riff Report.
๐ธ Who Is Michael?
Michael is the founder and editor of The Riff Report Blog, an independent Welsh rock and metal publication built around one very simple idea:
Music should be fun.
No corporate waffle. No pretending every gig is a deeply intellectual cultural experience.
Sometimes you just want massive riffs, ridiculous guitar solos, a pint, a burger of questionable structural integrity and several thousand people screaming the same chorus.
And thatโs absolutely fine by us. ๐ค
Michael created The Riff Report as a place for fans who genuinely love music โ whether thatโs discovering a tiny band playing to 40 people or watching rock royalty headline a festival in front of thousands.
If itโs loud, interesting, ridiculous, emotional or powered by a dangerously good guitar riff, thereโs a decent chance itโll end up here.
๐ Born in Wales. Raised on Riffs.
The Riff Report is proudly Welsh, and Michael makes absolutely no attempt to hide it.
Why would he?
Wales has produced some phenomenal bands, musicians, venues and festivals, and supporting the Welsh music scene remains a massive part of what The Riff Report is all about.
From established names to bands hauling their own gear into tiny venues on a rainy Thursday night, the grassroots scene matters.
Support the bands.โจSupport the venues.โจBuy the merch.โจGo to the gigs.โจMake some bloody noise.
Tidy. ๐ธ
๐ช Usually Found in a Festival Field
Thereโs a very good chance youโll find Michael somewhere in a festival field.
Probably carrying too much stuff.
Probably checking the weather forecast despite knowing perfectly well itโll change twelve minutes later.
And almost certainly wondering why the walk back to the tent appears to have doubled in length since lunchtime.
Festivals are a huge part of The Riff Report.
The bands are obviously important, but festivals are about much more than whoโs standing on the stage.
Theyโre about the people you meet.
The campsite conversations.
The random band you discover at 2pm and canโt stop talking about afterwards.
The ridiculous outfits.
The food.
The weather.
The aching legs.
The questionable decisions.
And that glorious moment when thousands of complete strangers scream the same lyric together.
Thatโs rock โnโ roll community, mun. ๐ค๐ฅ
๐ฐ Editor-In-Riff
As founder and editor, Michael is responsible for a fairly sensible list of jobs that somehow became completely ridiculous.
That includes:
- ๐ธ Rock and metal news
- ๐ค Gig reviews
- ๐ช Festival coverage
- ๐ค Band features
- ๐ Book reviews
- ๐ฟ Album reviews
- ๐ง Music history
- ๐ฅ Interviews
- ๐ Lists and rankings
- ๐๏ธ Festival guides
- ๐ธ On-the-ground coverage
- ๐ Championing Welsh music
- โ Consuming whatever caffeine is required to get the article published
Basically, if something interesting happens in rock and metal, Michael will probably be somewhere nearby furiously typing about it.
๐ฅ Why The Riff Report Exists
The Riff Report isnโt interested in pretending to be some gigantic faceless media empire.
Weโre independent.
Weโre fans.
And thatโs the whole bloody point.
Michael believes music journalism should still have personality.
You should be able to read a gig review and feel what the room was like.
You should understand whether the crowd went mental.
Whether the guitars sounded enormous.
Whether the singer had everyone eating out of their hand.
Whether the pit exploded.
Whether the weather tried to destroy the festival.
And, most importantly, whether you should get yourself to that bandโs next show.
The Riff Report isnโt written from an ivory tower.
Itโs written from the crowd, campsite, barrier, press area and occasionally a slightly battered camping chair.
๐ค Supporting Bands at Every Level
Huge bands are brilliant.
But todayโs tiny support band could be tomorrowโs festival headliner.
Thatโs why The Riff Report loves discovering new music.
Michael wants the site to be somewhere emerging artists can be heard alongside the legends.
Because every legendary band started somewhere.
There was once a time when Metallica werenโt METALLICA.
Iron Maiden werenโt IRON MAIDEN.
And some poor promoter probably had absolutely no idea what theyโd just booked.
Finding those bands early is half the fun.
๐ค The Best Part of the Job?
The people.
Bands.
Fans.
Photographers.
Promoters.
Festival crews.
PR teams.
Venue staff.
Security.
Traders.
Volunteers.
And every other slightly unhinged soul keeping live music alive.
The rock and metal community can be wonderfully chaotic, but when it matters, it looks after its own.
Thatโs something Michael wants The Riff Report to celebrate.
โก Away From The Riffs
When Michael isnโt running The Riff Report or standing somewhere dangerously close to a loudspeaker, thereโs another side to life entirely.
His professional background spans more than 30 years in IT, working across technical support, infrastructure, desktop systems and enterprise environments.
Which basically means when The Riff Report website inevitably decides to throw a tantrum at the worst possible moment, thereโs at least somebody in the building who understands why.
Whether that stops the swearing is another matter entirely.
๐บ Michaelโs Festival Survival Philosophy
The unofficial rules are fairly straightforward:
Never underestimate Welsh weather.
Always take a decent waterproof.
Comfortable boots beat fashionable boots.
Support the merch tent.
Watch the smaller bands.
Talk to people.
Donโt be a knob.
And if someone says:
โFancy watching one more band?โ
The answer is obviously yes.
Even when your knees strongly disagree.
๐ Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud.
The Riff Report exists because rock and metal deserve coverage from people who genuinely give a damn about the music.
Michael built the site to celebrate the bands, festivals, venues and fans that keep this glorious noisy circus alive.
From Welsh grassroots gigs to massive festival stages, classic albums to tomorrowโs breakthrough bands, there will always be another story worth telling.
So stick around.
Discover something new.
Support your local venues.
Buy some merch.
Get yourself down the front.
And when the riff kicks inโฆ
MAKE SOME BLOODY NOISE, BUTT! ๐ค๐ฅ๐
๐ธ Michael
Founder & Editor โ The Riff Report Blog
Proudly Welsh. Proudly Loud.
Louder. Weirder. Always Backstage. ๐ค
