JJ Koczan is a music journalist of international renown who has worked professionally in the music industry for over 15 years. He began in 2004 as the Managing Editor of The Aquarian Weekly in his home state of New Jersey and graduated to work at the glossy magazine Metal Maniacs in 2007. His experience in print media led him to found the website The Obelisk in 2009 and for over a decade, it has been a vehicle for exploring underground music, culture and experiences, as well as writing critique with an eye toward a multigenre context and a focus on creative progression in and out of various styles.
He has been invited to and covered international festivals from Roadburn in the Netherlands (2009-2019), to Desertfest in the UK (2012-2013) and Høstsabbat in Norway (2016, 2018-2019), as well as US-based events like Psycho Las Vegas (2018), Maryland Doom Fest (2016, 2017-2019), the inaugural Desertfest New York (2019), and many others, conducted well over 300 interviews, and on average, produces 5,000 words of content in a given Monday-through-Friday span. His dedication to this purpose is a singular and defining element of his work.