AMP (magazine)

Defunct American music magazine

AMP

The cover art of issue #12, featuring Green Day.

Editor-in-Chief| Lisa Root
Editor| Brett Matthews
Design Editor| John Joh
Categories| Music
Frequency| Monthly
Circulation| 80,000
Publisher| American Music Press Magazine
Founder|

* Brett Matthews
* Lisa Root
* John Joh

Founded| 2002
First issue| September 2002; 22 years ago (2002-09)
Final issue
Number| November 2012; 12 years ago (2012-11)
112
Country| United States
Based in| Martinez, California
Language| English
Website| ampmagazine.net
OCLC| 64709668

AMP Magazine (short for American Music Press Magazine) was an American music magazine founded in 2002, by Brett Matthews, Lisa Root and John Joh.[1][2] It featured interviews, album and live reviews and band journals. Online, it featured exclusive videos and audio, as well as video game reviews. It closed its doors on February 26, 2013, with its 112th issue having been published in November 2012. Root went on to form New Noise Magazine.[2][3]

## History

[edit]

AMP was published monthly by American Music Press, with a print run of 80,000 copies.[4] It focused primarily on punk, hardcore and metal music. Some of the prominent editors were Lucas Andrews, John Joh, Johnathan Marshall, Lisa Root, Jake Round, Tony Shrum, Sean Stepp, Chris Taravella and Nick White.[5][6][7]

Matthews' beginning in music journalism started in 1996, with a fanzine he wrote titled Hit List. It lasted three years. AMP Magazine came together in 2002,[8] when he partnered with Lisa Root and John Joh.[1][2] The trio eventually formed the sister publications Loud Fast Rules! Magazine (covering old school punk music) in 2005, and Hails & Horns Magazine (covering heavy metal music) in 2007.[2][3]

AMP broadened focus from the underground music scene, which allowed for coverage of bands not featured in its contemporaries Maximumrocknroll and Alternative Press. He notes in an interview with Metro Post-Telegraph, that eventually "AMP started getting out of its sector and started getting too big."[9]

In 2012, NOFX lead vocalist and bassist Fat Mike funded the magazine.[citation needed]

AMP ceased publication in 2013.[10] An official notice from Matthews read, "we thank you for your more than a decade of support, and undying love and celebration of that which is our underground. It has been an amazing ride, and we can't wait to see what awesome magazines arise to tell the story of the shape of punk to come."[6]

## AMP Magazine Presents

[edit]

Between 2002 and 2011, AMP released over two dozen CD samplers, as well as five genre compilations titled AMP Magazine Presents, including material from Atreyu, Every Time I Die, Madball, New Crash Position and Sick of it All.[11]

A review by AllMusic for the first compilation, Hardcore, Vol. 1, says "it's a solid mix of tracks all the way through, perfect as a mix tape for scene veterans, but even better as an introduction for newbies," adding that "for them, it probably should have come with earplugs."[12] Two DVD video albums were also released.

Albums

* Hardcore, Vol. 1 (2004)
* Street Punk, Vol. 2 (2004)
* Metal, Vol. 3 (2004)
* Pop Punk, Vol. 4 (2005)
* Psychobilly, Vol. 5 (2006)

Video albums

* Video Archive for the Ages, Vol. 1 (2005)
* Video Archive for the Ages, Vol. 2 (2005)

## References

[edit]

Citations

1. ^ a b Pohl, Andy (December 9, 2020). "Question the Answers Podcast: Episode #16 - Lisa Root". Bad Copy. Archived from the original on February 6, 2023. Retrieved February 6, 2023 - via YouTube.
2. ^ a b c d Sullivan, Jim (August 6, 2019). "Lisa Root on Keeping DIY Print Media Alive via New Noise Magazine". Hard Noise. Archived from the original on August 27, 2022. Retrieved February 6, 2023.
3. ^ a b Boyardi, Jake (October 8, 2022). "Lisa Root Interview". Intruder Green. Archived from the original on February 11, 2023. Retrieved February 11, 2023 - via YouTube.
4. ^ Gaebler Staff 2015.
5. ^ Shrum 2015.
6. ^ a b Mastrogiacomo 2013.
7. ^ Rodgers 2011.
8. ^ "AMP Magazine coming soon". Amp Magazine. September 2002. Archived from the original on September 21, 2002. Retrieved February 16, 2023.
9. ^ Lambert 2013.
10. ^ Verbacide Staff 2013.
11. ^ Sarasota Herald-Tribune Staff 2005.
12. ^ Loftus 2004.

Bibliography

* Gaebler Staff (2015), "AMP Magazine - Magazine Advertising Costs", Gaebler, retrieved March 1, 2019
* Lambert, Aaron (May 5, 2013), "The Shape of Punk to Come: R.I.P AMP and Hails & Horns", Metro Post-Telegraph, retrieved March 1, 2019
* Loftus, Johnny (2004), "AMP Magazine Presents: Hardcore, Vol. 1", AllMusic, retrieved March 1, 2019
* Mastrogiacomo, Angela (February 26, 2013), "AMP magazine closes its doors", Infectious, retrieved March 1, 2019
* Rodgers, D. Patrick (November 22, 2011), "Jeff's Jake Talks to AMP, The Ryman Seeks Potential Interns, Taylor Swift Talks to 60 Minutes and More [Interview-y Bits]", Nashville Scene, retrieved March 1, 2019
* Sarasota Herald-Tribune Staff (August 5, 2005), "New Crash Position gets Warped", Sarasota Herald-Tribune, retrieved March 1, 2019
* Shrum, Tony (May 14, 2015), "Interview: The Story So Far – From High School To Headliners", New Noise, retrieved March 1, 2015
* Verbacide Staff (February 26, 2013), ""AMP Magazine" and "Hails & Horns" to Cease Publication", Verbacide, retrieved March 1, 2019

## External links

[edit]

* Official website
* AMP discography at Discogs

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz label
* MusicBrainz series

|