Contributors
Eric Snider - Senior Editor
Eric Snider has been called “The Dean of Tampa Bay music critics,” which basically means he’s been around longer than everyone else. Snider’s been at it since the early 1980s, when he helped found Music Magazine, our area’s first music rag. He was the St. Petersburg Times music critic for six years, and has been at Creative Loafing for 12 years as a staff writer, music columnist, entertainment editor, senior editor, and, throughout, music editor.
Over the years, he’s written for Rolling Stone, Downbeat, Billboard,
Jazziz and a laundry list of major daily newspapers.
email: eric.snider@creativeloafing.com
Leilani Polk - Events Editor
Leilani’s been writing for CL since she was an intern back in ’03, before she earned her Mass Communications degree at USF and used it and her wits to get a full-time position at the paper. She is quiet and unassuming, except when it comes to food (chocolate and sushi), travel (the farther the better), sci-fi (books, movies and some TV), dancing (the girl can tear a rug) and music (from pleasant to dissonant). These diverse interests collided for her in the perfect storm of ear-opening music otherwise known as Phish. This has been both a blessing and a curse – the knowledge that she is superior in her musical evolution is counterbalanced by the fact that she is mocked by most who consider themselves critics. Persevering through this musical McCarthyism has left her confident, however, that she has an unfiltered, all encompassing love of sound and she’d like to spread it ‘round.
email: leilani@creativelofing.com
Stephen Hammill - Online Producer
Stephen joined Creative Loafing as its online producer in 2008 after a two-plus year stint at the Tampa Tribune.
He’s an engineer and former on-air programmer (The 11th Hour) for WMNF 88.5.
His band, Life of Pi, has called Tampa home since 2002.
He’s also an accomplished giftwrapper.
email: stephen.hammill@creativeloafing.com
Stephen’s Myspace | Stephen’s Facebook
Joran Oppelt - Marketing + Promotions Director
Joran Slane Oppelt is the Marketing + Promotions Director for Creative Loafing and Media Producer for CL Studios. He is also the founder of the Southeast Music Alliance and before being hired by the Loaf, he was a 10-time Best of the Bay Award winner. He has toured and recorded with his own bands (Auditorium, The Gita) and was a regular contributor to FOCUS magazine from 2000 - 2002. Joran also hosts the monthly SMAsh Radio podcast (available on SMAflorida.com and via iTunes) and has produced hundreds of concerts, showcases, conferences and workshops throughout the Tampa Bay area.
email: joran.oppelt@creativeloafing.com
Joran’s Myspace | Joran’s blog
Lorna Bracewell - Contributor
The St. Pete-based singer, guitarist and songwriter has released six albums on her own label Braced Well Records and has toured throughout the United States and Europe. In addition to her musical performances, Lorna lectures at colleges and universities nationwide on topics ranging from folk music and the civil rights movement to constitutional law. To bring Lorna to your campus, coffee shop, community event or house concert, hit her up at lornabracewell.com.
email: lorna@lornabracewell.com
Lorna’s Myspace | Lorna’s Facebook
Ivan Pena - Contributor
Ivan has an Advertising degree from UF, 8+ years in corporate and consumer marketing, 10+ years in graphic design and promotions. He’s also the leader of the group Soulfound and runs his own independent record label, Mohawk Bomb. In 2008, Ivan was named one of the Top 30 Under 30 by the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
email: ivan@mohawkbomb.com
Nicole Kibert - Contributor
Elawgrrl is a legal eagle shutterbug bringing music photography to you through her “only music has the answer” Flickr site, blog, and Myspace. Her photography has been found in gallery exhibits, CDs, music publications, websites, blogs, and of course, Myspace pages. In past lives, she has been a music director and DJ for WRGW (GWU college radio station), a show promoter, zine writer, music reviewer for really, really swank publications and an undefeated Ms. PacMan champion.
email: Elawgrrl@gmail.com
Autopsy IV - Contributor
Autopsy IV is the owner of the music blog ninebullets.net. He lives in a nondescript house in Southeast St. Petersburg with his wife and 2 bulldogs. He can regularly be found with a whiskey in hand in a multitude of Downtown watering holes and music venues. When sober, he is better at Guitar Hero than any self-respecting 35 year old should be.
email: autopsy4@gmail.com
B.Treotch - Contributor
B.Treotch grew up in Texas, but was born on the Supertramp tour bus somewhere between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Having played in enough bands and seen enough shows to make him a real asshole about music, he now spends most of the daytime sciencing things at USF. B.Treotch is also one of the contributors to the Coventry Music Blog.
email: BTreotch@gmail.com
Christopher Nadeau - Contributor
Practically tactless and often sweaty, cnadeau writes songs, sings, contorts and guitars in the band Blast and the Detergents. Besides sometimes changing nouns into verbs on a whim, he reads a lot of books (mostly science fiction), supports third-party non-corporate politics, dj’s rock n roll voodoo magic about once a month at Cafe Bohemia, just got a history BA from USF and fights for every other losing/unreasonable cause he can find. Cnadeau lives with his wife Susan Dickson above someone’s garage in up-and-coming St. Petersburg.
email: sonicnadeau@gmail.com
Gabe Loewenberg - Contributor
Gabe has called Tampa home since 1980; the previous five years were spent in Pittsburgh, PA. Since 1993 he has been heavily involved in the local music scene, playing in bands of varying genres such as The AmeriCar Underworld, Allison With One, and Space Program. Currently, he plays bass in Blast and the Detergents and occasionally makes noise with The Billfolds. Though he was completely put off by the music program at USF, the local music scene has yet to leave a bad taste in his mouth (though it sometimes smells really bad). He likes to calls himself a “practical socialist” but most of his harebrained ideas are not very practical at all. Gabe enjoys PBR as much as he does Saint Somewhere and hates it when people leave out the first “e” in his last name.
email: gabe.loewenberg@creativeloafing.com
Infinite Skillz - Contributor
Infinite Skillz started writing lyrics while attending high school in Virginia. While in college, he joined an Atlanta based crew called Unparalleled Sound (UPS). This four-man consortium went their separate ways after graduation but remain friends. Infinite left Atlanta after graduating from Morehouse College and moved to a small town named Searcy in North Central Arkansas for grad school. After finishing his 2-year program in 16 months, Infinite started channeling his considerable drive into his many hustles. Music is one of them.
His debut album, The Anomaly, dropped in 2007 | baseincmusic.com
Joel Weiss - Conributor
Joel joined CL as a Tampa Calling contributor in 2009. After earning a radio degree from Emerson College in Boston, Joel moved back home to the Tampa area and has spent time DJ-ing at local stations since 2003. Through his ten years of radio experience, Joel has hosted metal, local, and old-school alternative shows.
e-mail: efuneral@hotmail.com
Mark Warren - Contributor
