Writing is about balancing your own voice with the needs of the content. As such, I always aim to strike a balance between lucidity, entertainment value, and directness.
I’ve written and edited copy for newspapers, magazines, record labels, radio, video and press releases. This has made me versatile, and ever conscious of the delivery method of the writing, be it read, watched, or heard.
I’m a graduate of The University of Manchester, with a degree in English Literature & American Studies, and I have a Gold Standard NCTJ Diploma in Multimedia Journalism from News Associates.
Highlights:
Click on the images to read the pieces in depth!
BOOT Magazine – Contributions from 2025 onwards
NEWS REPORTING (2025)
I have written various articles for The Oldham Times, The Bolton News and The Messenger.
This article made the front page…
I have written multiple articles for Mancunian Matters including news, interviews, and reviews.
This article about music venues facing threats from developers in Manchester is one I’m particularly proud of:
There is A Light That Keeps Going Out
And this one about Arts Council Funding has some lovely graphs:
Manchester Tops Arts Council Funding List
I was one of the first on-site at the Hostpur Press Fire in Manchester, and put out this breaking news piece accompanied with videos, a live X feed and quotes from displaced residents:
BREAKING: Hotspur Press on fire as smoke fills the sky in Manchester
I completed a fast-track multimedia journalism course at News Associates Manchester in July 2025.
BREAD RECORDS – PRESS RELEASES (2023 – Ongoing)
Role: Writer, editorial assistant, consultant
Bread Records is a Manchester-based independent record label owned and managed by Michael Webster. Priding themselves on supporting rising local talent (as well as a plethora of other bread-based puns), their signees are carefully selected, varied in their output, and as such need the very best in bespoke press release writing.
I regularly write press releases for them, and act as an editor for features including playlist updates and reviews. I have also offered consultancy to artists involved with the label, giving advice on release strategies, artistic direction, and performance, drawing upon my own experience as a musician and creative (more on that here).
STABBED PANDA – LISTEN TO THIS (2019 – 2023)
Role: Writer, Researcher, Producer, Voiceover Artist
‘Listen To This’ was a feature I developed for Cambridge-based music blog Stabbed Panda, a subsidiary of Odd Creative Ltd. The idea was to cut through some of the stuffier artist profile pieces seen in newspapers and magazines, using video of the artists paired with their music and visuals to really showcase their personality and talent.
In essence, these videos were a video CV for musicians on the up and up. I’d approach artists to be featured, asking for some basic details such as press releases, photos and so on, then go away and do my own in-depth research, pulling from long forgotten articles, deep cut videos, and create an overarching profile of the artist, injected with touches of tongue and cheek humour and the occasional skit to keep things light-hearted and dynamic.
“We were thrilled to have (Jay) write most of our music reviews…I can throw Jay into any kind of creative project and I know I’ll be excited by what he provides”
Liam Taylor, Odd Creative CO
However, at the core of these features, we took the artist very seriously, and I wouldn’t work with any that weren’t worthy of the time. That’s what made the feature such a success, and I developed great relationships with a few of the musicians involved, working with them again on future projects.
Notable people I covered, who have gone on to do great things include Dilletante, Ellie Dixon, The Deep Blue, and Good Habits. During my time at Stabbed Panda, I was also their album and singles feature editor, writing regular articles about newly released music in a similar style.
BITTER SWEET SYMPHONIES (2015 – 2020)
Role: Writer
Bitter Sweet Symphonies (2015 – 2020)
I joined Bitter Sweet Symphonies as a volunteer writer during my university years to get more writing experience within the music industry. What I never expected was the sheer breadth of experience I would be getting! Over the course of my five years writing for Charlotte Holroyd’s excellent blog, I covered album releases, music festivals, and did interviews with incredible artists.
Most notably, I interviewed Sam Fender in 2018, shortly before the release of his EP ‘Dead Boys’, a record which would be the first stepping in stone in establishing him as a household name. This interview was incredibly candid and lively, and ended up being referenced by The Guardian’s Alexis Petridis in his article on Fender’s debut album ‘Hypersonic Missiles’.
It was the first publication I wrote for where I was able to really get stuck in, craft my own narrative voice, and hit the ground running as a features writer in the ever-changing landscape of underground music.
For a full list of the articles I wrote for Bitter Sweet Symphonies, click here.
ADDITIONAL WRITING CREDITS
Communications lead on internal, student and social media output for BIMM University Manchester. Edited and wrote brochure for BIMM University‘s 2025 Graduation. Also created all digital media assets and signage for the event, including animated murals and the script for speakers onstage.
Press Release writing for Tay Temple, Bonfire Tide and Scatterchild
Editing website and brochure copy for Waterside Arts Centre. I also created educational resource documents for schools attending our Christmas shows (2019-2025)
Writer for The Mancunion, the UK’s largest student newspaper, with various articles appearing both online and in print editions of the paper. Full list of my articles available here. (2015-2018)
Writer for Dead Good Music, reviews on artists such as Sylvette and The Deep Blue (2020 – 2021)
Writer for MCR Live (now discontinued) (2019 – 2020)
Wrote and researched features for FUSE FM radio show ‘Fairfax & The Cat’ which I co-hosted (2016 – 2018)
Wrote features for Cambridge 105 radio – most notably about the Tour De France coming to the city in 2014. (2014)