Jamie Collinson has worked in the music business for over twenty years, primarily for two iconic independent record labels; Ninja Tune and Domino. Having worked with Arctic Monkeys, My Bloody Valentine, Franz Ferdinand, Wiley, Wet Leg and Roots Manuva, he's lived in London and Los Angeles, where he founded Ninja Tune's US HQ. He's been backstage at some of the world's most famous venues and festivals in the company of the artists he's worked with, navigated colourful characters, A & R'd albums and directed marketing campaigns to sell them. Along the way, he's seen success and failure, heartbreak, joy, addiction, violence, terrifying egoism and stunning generosity. Throughout it all he's done a lot of writing, including journalism for the Guardian, Spectator, Evening Standard and many music magazines. He published a novel, The Edge, with Oneworld Publications in 2020.
Infectiously passionate, spiced with insider's savvy and autobiographical asides, The Rejects threads a sequence of compulsively readable vignettes on popular music into a highly enjoyable study in one of life's painful, universal experiences The Rejects is very entertaining and full of those ""I never knew that . . ."" snippets of trivia that make a pop-culture book really pop. * Irish Independent * [A] lively compendium . . . Collinson's book shows what a strange psychological experiment bands can be, harshly self-regulating when saleable craziness tips into ""utter liability"" * The Times * Being in a band is all about trust, until it's all about betrayal . . . The Rejects offers a new history of pop told from the perspective of the ones who got left behind, often on the very brink of the big time * Guardian * The book hits its stride with some first-hand journalism . . . Fascinating' * New Statesman * A refreshingly insightful, entertaining and, at times, poignant read * List * Offers useful insights- into creativity, the unpredictability of fame and the dynamics of group belonging * Week * Enjoyable * Choice * A compelling celebration of uncelebrated figures * TLS * Very readable . . . the history of the late 20th century empire music business -- Bret Easton Ellis