Andrew Kiraly
Photos And Interview by Jorge Lara. (IG: @world.of.jorge), Editor In Chief of VIM Magazine
Born and raised in Las Vegas, Andrew Kiraly is a writer and editor who has covered Las Vegas from every angle. From 2010 to 2022, he served as editor of Desert Companion, Nevada Public Radio’s award-winning city-regional magazine. Prior to that, he was a writer and editor at local alt-weeklies The Mercury and Las Vegas CityLife. An MFA graduate from UNLV’s Creative Writing program, he’s also published numerous short stories, one deservedly out-of-print novel, and countless punk and skate ’zines. He started TheList.Vegas as a way to keep track of all the fun things he likes to do in his hometown.
VIM: What drew you to the world of magazine journalism in the first place?
Andrew Kiraly: I grew up as an eastside suburban skate rat. As a skater, I was, quite honestly, a supremely subpar talent -- technically proficient enough at street skating the curbs, stairs, ditches, and parking lots of Vegas, I suppose, but I totally lacked the physical courage for vert ramps, concrete pools -- the heroic stuff of double-page spreads in Thrasher magazine. I still wanted to fit in sooo badly with my fellow suburbo skatepunk brethren, and that's kinda why I started publishing skate 'zines. If I couldn't distinguish myself as a skater, I could make myself stand out as a skate writer. I graduated from skate 'zines to punk 'zines to freelance scribblings in the alt-weekly scene in the '90s. So, writing and journalism were a way of leveraging storytelling to build community -- or, in the most basic sense, a way to make friends and impress people! In my "adult" career since, I still love making publications as a way of fostering public conversations about issues, people, and events.
“So, writing and journalism were a way of leveraging storytelling to build community — or, in the most basic sense, a way to make friends and impress people! In my “adult” career since, I still love making publications as a way of fostering public conversations about issues, people, and events.”
VIM: During your time as editor-in-chief at Desert Companion, what was your proudest moment or issue?
Andrew Kiraly: The Oct. 1 2017 shootings shattered Las Vegas, and, of course, we're still bearing the scars. For Desert Companion, the tragedy also presented a journalistic challenge: Our latest issue just hit the streets on Oct. 1, which meant that we wouldn't be publishing anything in print about the shootings until Nov. 1. It forced us to really think through and anticipate where the collective conversation and state of Vegas' would be a month out. We realized the community would be looking for ways to heal, and so for our November issue, we compiled a resource guide, and put together a series of profiles of first responders, faith leaders, mental health officials, and victims-turned-heroes who were helping Las Vegas to heal. I'm still amazed at the strength and resilience of these people who really embody the meaning of the otherwise-cliche phrase "Vegas Strong."
VIM: How do you think the role of city/regional magazines has changed in the last decade?
Andrew Kiraly: In one way, they're confronting the challenges that all print media is facing -- the decline of interest in journalism, the radically changing way people get information, the incursions of the corporate internet onto public-interest journalism. In another way, I think city/regional magazines -- when done right -- are more important, because the distinct sense of place they celebrate and the personality they exude is a nice antidote to the eerie, unsatisfying "nowhereness" of the internet.
VIM: What were some of the editorial challenges unique to publishing in a city like Las Vegas?
Andrew Kiraly: Persuading people to read in the 20th century is challenge enough, ha, but in a working-class city such as Las Vegas -- where the mythical valet parker can make a mint without a day of college -- it can be particularly challenging. Vegas' transience is another factor, in that it can be hard (and sometimes feel pointless) to encourage people to embrace their city, their community, their local culture, when they're not sure they're going to be around long enough to invest in it.
“Persuading people to read in the 20th century is challenge enough, ha, but in a working-class city such as Las Vegas — where the mythical valet parker can make a mint without a day of college — it can be particularly challenging. ”
VIM: Was there a particular story or writer you worked with that changed your perspective on the city?
Andrew Kiraly: For me, our annual Fall Culture Guide -- generally published in August or September -- was my favorite. Not so much that it changed my perspective, but it fertilized my perspective when I'd find fresh faces in visual arts, music, theater, who were making real culture happen in the Las Vegas Valley.
VIM: What inspired the creation of The List Vegas, and what gap do you think it fills in the local media landscape?
Andrew Kiraly: I started The List because I missed the old alt-weekly events listings that would be just these big gray pages packed with events and ads that just sort of exploded with a sense of cultural energy. You'd open it and be like, "Holy shit, there's so much happening in my city!" The List is my small stab at recreating that in a lively, pun-rich wall-of-text format. I also wanted to counter the rise and reign of algorithmic chum on the internet with a decided philosophy favoring human curation and human writing.
“The violent torrent of noisy information constantly shooting into our faces from the internet is such that I like to think of The List as a trusted friend who cuts through the chaos and personally recommends fun stuff.”
Andrew Kiraly and Kim Trevino
VIM: How do you decide what makes “the list”? Is there a philosophy behind the curation?
Andrew Kiraly: Beyond leaning toward local creators and independent outlets instead of corporate promoters and big-box venues, we don't have a settled or defined curation philosophy -- we pick stuff that just piques our curiosity on an instinctive level. When I'm curating, I sort of softly role-play a person who's recently moved to Las Vegas and is curious about the goings-on that are distinctly Las Vegas -- and events where I'm likely to meet cool people.
VIM: How do you balance coverage between mainstream attractions and hidden gems?
Andrew Kiraly: The events we list are probably about 95 percent off-Strip, but we hit Strip stuff too if it's unique, interesting, and maybe under-promoted. I don't personally mentally wall off the cultural scene in Vegas as "on the Strip" and "off-Strip." With each issue of the newsletter, I do try to manifest a nice mix of events -- geographically and genre-wise -- so each issue has its own personality. The violent torrent of noisy information constantly shooting into our faces from the internet is such that I like to think of The List as a trusted friend who cuts through the chaos and personally recommends fun stuff.
“To be sure, it’s all short, blurby content, but I pour an embarrassing amount of sweat, heart, and soul into blurbing. It’s an unsung art form! I like to say each pun is artisanal and hand-crafted.”
The List Las Vegas website at https://thelist.vegas
VIM: Do you see The List as a digital evolution of the city/regional magazine format?
Andrew Kiraly: Yes and no. It's certainly not as built out as a magazine with features, columns, and so forth, but I try to create each one so that it has a certain rhythm and personality. To be sure, it's all short, blurby content, but I pour an embarrassing amount of sweat, heart, and soul into blurbing. It's an unsung art form! I like to say each pun is artisanal and hand-crafted.
VIM: What’s been the most unexpected reaction or feedback you’ve received since launching?
Andrew Kiraly: So, when a premium subscriber cancels their paid subscription, they can leave a reason why they canceled. I read every piece of feedback (sometimes furiously). Sure, some people cancel because of money or because they're not into the type of events we recommend, which is fine. But quite a few people end up canceling because they're moving away -- and they write the most heartfelt cancellation messages! They're like, "I canceled because I'm moving to Washington for a job, but thank you soooo much for The List. You've introduced me to so many cool events and I was able to make some great memories with my husband/wife/family that I'll never, ever forget! You made Vegas such a cool place for us!" That's just so rad to hear. It's why we do what do!
VIM: What are some of your all-time favorite magazines and why?
Andrew Kiraly: I love The Baffler for its scorching intelligence and excoriating cynicism. Just amazing writing and thinking all around. I love New York magazine for its sense of "mix" -- that bristling sense of energy that reflects the fizzy urbanity of New York. Texas Monthly is another fine magazine that really captures the big mood and big personality of Texas in multiple dimensions. It always boggles me that these chunks of words and images on paper can do that. That's what I tried to do with Desert Companion, using plenty of inspo stolen from those magazines!
VIM: What do you think makes a truly great magazine—something you’d want to keep on your coffee table for years?
Andrew Kiraly: It's a convergence of so many tangibles and intangibles -- strong art direction, great writing, a sense of rhythm and pacing.
VIM: Do you collect any magazines or have a “holy grail” issue?
Andrew Kiraly: I don't, but, actually, I never thought of a "holy grail" issue. I'm sure I could get into that!
“As for the future of magazines, I admire how many of them have realized that they can’t just do a magazine, and they’ve branched out into things like events, which I think holds a future path — the magazine as a portal to a lifestyle and a community.”
VIM: Print vs. digital—what are you nostalgic for, and what are you excited about in the future of magazines?
Andrew Kiraly: Ha, I'm sort of doubly nostalgic. I definitely miss the reign of print -- its tactility, its portability, its messiness and charm as an artifact, a form. But I also miss the old internet of personal blogs, quirky websites, the weird asteroids of the pre-corporate internet. I hear rumblings that people are turning away from corpo social media and turning back to the indie web, which I hope is true. As for the future of magazines, I admire how many of them have realized that they can't just do a magazine, and they've branched out into things like events, which I think holds a future path -- the magazine as a portal to a lifestyle and a community.
VIM: What’s your process like when working on a new editorial idea or project? Are you more of a brainstormer or a slow cooker?
Andrew Kiraly: I'm a slooooow cooker. I worked for half a year on a prototype of The List. Thing is, once I'm done slow-cooking, I still tweak the recipe. So I'm also of the philosophy that you can always be tweaking and improving. When I feel like I'm getting stale or staid, I ask myself, "How can I break this?" Sometimes you have to fundamentally break things to discover a new way or method. The List was an old-school website before we went full-on as a newsletter only in 2024. We definitely broke it!
VIM: Has living in Las Vegas shaped your editorial voice or aesthetic?
Andrew Kiraly: I like to think so -- it makes for a nice origin story, as it were -- though I can't back it up. But I like to think my twitchy, clackety, fizzy prose style (which I realize I'm hardly manifesting in this interview, ha) reflects the restless visual champagne that is Las Vegas. I certainly write for short attention spans!
VIM: What keeps you creatively inspired these days—especially in a city that never stops moving?
Andrew Kiraly: When it comes to creative inspo, my philosophy is to steal upward -- that is, I take inspiration from writers, artists, creatives who are way smarter than me. In an era when there's really no such thing as high or low culture, I still have fun cross-pollinating styles or words from, say, a an essay anthology I'm reading into a riffy blurb I'm writing about a food festival.
VIM: What would your dream magazine look like, if budget and resources were no issue?
Andrew Kiraly: I've been so systematically bludgeoned by the economic realities of publishing that my bloodily mushed mind can't even conceive such a thing!
VIM: What’s something about the media or magazine industry that you wish more people understood?
Andrew Kiraly: One thing I'm realizing is that the whole narrative about the "unsustainability" of print journalism -- or even digital journalism -- isn't because of some inherent feature of journalism. The unsustainability has a lot to do with historic corporate structures that feature wildly lopsided pay scales. A lot of that "unsustainability" has to do with structural greed.
VIM: What’s on your current personal “list”? Any local spots or upcoming events you’re especially hyped about?
Andrew Kiraly: Stoked to check out The Dustland, a new downtown bar - has a dusty desperado aesthetic I find intriguing. The Fallout Fringe Festival June 3-13, the brainchild of the evil geniuses at TSTMRKT. Love the eclectic and surprising shows they keep slotting into Swan Dive. I feel like the Vegas culture EKG is on a definite upswing!
