It’s nearing 3 am; Saturday night is now Sunday morning. Two Carnegie Mellon students are still about an hour’s drive from the Pittsburgh campus. Natalie Campbell (A’15) and Sandra Chen (CS’15) had driven to Cleveland to attend a concert by A Skylit Drive, which is a “post-hardcore” band whose two most recent albums, 2009’s Adelphia and 2011’s Identity on Fire, earned spots on the Billboard 200. Campbell and Chen found time to make the trip because they’re more than just fans.

But that’s getting ahead of the story. It all started with another A Skylit Drive concert months earlier. Campbell wanted someone to go to the concert with her, so she asked Chen, who she barely knew other than that they had similar tastes in music. Chen, a photography buff, gladly accepted and brought along her camera to take photos of the show. Campbell, a fan of A Skylit Drive since her young teens, brought artwork inspired by their music. After the concert, as the girls stood waiting outside the band’s RV to deliver Campbell’s artwork, the two realized that, in addition to sharing a passion for music, they also shared complementary skill sets. And during finals week of the 2012 spring semester, they decided to combine Chen’s computer savvy and photography knowledge with Campbell’s design background.

The result is Breakdown Music Press, an online magazine that provides an insider look at all aspects of the music industry. The issues are packed with interviews of artists from different genres as well as album reviews, industry news, and stunning photography. Although still in its infancy, the magazine is growing quickly. Since its inaugural issue in September 2012, the magazine has collected a dozen contributors, including eight CMU students. Chen and Campbell are hoping to turn the magazine, currently released at roughly six-week intervals, into a monthly publication.

Sure enough, the December 2012 issue’s cover story featured A Skylit Drive, which initiated that road trip to Cleveland, followed by a phone interview the next day, and a marathon week of 15-hour work sessions squeezed in between classes, homework, and shifts at Starbucks for Campbell.

The magazine cofounders, who say they are much more than just acquaintances now, don’t mind the extracurricular work or the fact that Breakdown Music Press doesn’t make any money yet. Both of them call it their “dream job,” and they hope to continue the dream well beyond their college years.
—Olivia O’Connor (A’13)

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