Music Magazine - Final Draft!

Drafting update 25/11/13

 

Here you can see my music magazine well underway. I have outlined the contents page and have begun inserting the text. The bottom picture is my full bleed image - a high quality photo I took taking up two pages as an introduction to my magazine.

Article Text

It’s not every day when you get to interview one of the greatest breakthrough acts in recent years – Unless of course you work for a music magazine. We’ve opted to pass the reins to one of you (details on the contents page) to speak to the uprising revolution that is Nicholas DECRUZ.

The first time my path crosses with DeCruz is in Brighton. He had arranged a meet up on the beach through Twitter, and I, like many of his followers took this opportunity to meet him. This was when I realised what appeal he had. People of different genders with an age range from eleven (with their parents nearby) to early twenties had turned up, some bringing their own instruments.

This was never going to be a prophet and his disciples, before long DeCruz was playing instruments with everyone there – he and I did a wonderful rendition of The Rolling Stones’ Street Fighting Man with him managing to find an accompanying harmonica melody while I played his guitar.

It’s a Testament, then, that seven months later, soon after his album’s release on ITunes and subsequent rise in the charts (almost unheard of from someone who’s previous primary output a year ago were just acoustic covers of Imagine Dragons) that the first thing he asks after I enter the coffee shop we arranged to meet – ten minutes late – was if I was “The Rolling Stones guy from Brighton”.

“Why wouldn’t I remember people from that day?” He says. “It was fantastic being with everyone on that beach. I remember loads of people.” Nick smiles, remembering. “I had never done anything like that before. I was worried no one was going to turn up.” Unlikely to happen now, since his sudden rise in fame. Nick nods in bewildered agreement, as if he isn’t quite able to believe it himself.

“All I did was start posting videos on YouTube. I had a guitar, I was practising with it and when I heard songs I liked I played them myself and put them on YouTube. I just wanted to see if anyone would listen.”

And they did. So what caused the jump from covers to writing your own songs? I asked him.

“I had never found it easy to write songs,” Nick admits. “I just felt I was trying to force them to be something they weren’t. Then… I didn’t. I just decided to write, play and sing and I never looked back. I just devised them naturally. From the…” He stops himself with a grin before he unleashes a cliché.

“Sorry, I’m pretty new to this interview thing.” I remind him that I am too. I have to steer the conversation back to him as he attempts to ask me how I got to write this interview, reminding who people want to read about.

“That is unbelievable too.” He adds. “It’s gone from listening to my music to wanting to know things about me! I’ve never been in that position before.”

On his first album release, The Light at The End, Nick has this to say: “Well, some friends bought me a session in a recording studio for my birthday. They all pitched in together and it was one of the best things I’d ever got. This was when I started writing songs so I spent the rest of the holidays working on producing the best songs possible that I could record. It was intense, but great fun. With the digital copies it was just the matter of pressing a few buttons to release some of my songs as free podcasts before the reception offered me the possibility of selling an album.

In this time, it is so incredibly easy for musicians to put out music. Unfortunately it means that the Small Fish in a Big Pond finds himself in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, you know? And it’s just the hope that people will fish you out and serve you with chips.”

So why did people take to the music so much? Nick pauses, considering this.

“I already had people who would listen to my music.” He notes, “I was releasing my covers on SoundCloud and YouTube. I suppose word of mouth had something to do with it.” He suggests. “And, I guess it is just proper old-fashioned music. I love Pop Music; Lady Gaga is a god amongst us, but you don’t get as much music with people just… playing.”

Contents Page Text

 

Index: 40: DECRUZ 54: Splat 38: Overtones 29: Atlantis 10: Danny Brown 49: OutKast 11: Visuals 29: Zak Labiad Arcade Fire Daft Punk Jake Bugg Minor Alps WoodKid Neutral Milk Hotel The Prodigy Waves Beck Plumtree Two Door Cinema Club David Bowie Rolling Stones Fireworks Old 97’s SoundGarden Icona Pop Bruce Springsteen The Mountain Goats Azealia Banks

Cover Stars:

40: DECRUZ

54: Splat

38: Overtones

29: Atlantis

10: Danny Brown

49: OutKast

11: Visuals

29: Zak Labiad

 

Features:

Reviews 54-60

-          Arcade Fire

-          Daft Punk

-          Jake Bugg

-          Minor Alps

-          Scott Pilgrim Colour Editions

-          Pacific Rim DVD

Previews: 60-65

-          Glastonbury

-          Download

-          The Lego Movie

-          Muse album

23: How to be big on YouTube

You:

17: NewTube

21: Reader’s contributions

25: SoundCloud

27: UnSung Heroes

26: Fan Mixes

Index:

DECRUZ

Splat

Overtones

Atlantis

Danny Brown

OutKast

Visuals

Zak Labiad

Arcade Fire

Daft Punk

Jake Bugg

Minor Alps

WoodKid

Neutral Milk Hotel

The Prodigy

Waves

Beck

Plumtree

Two Door Cinema Club

David Bowie

Rolling Stones

Fireworks

Old 97’s

SoundGarden

Icona Pop

Bruce Springsteen

The Mountain Goats

Azealia Banks

 

Production Diary: 11/11/13 - Progress

This is a draft of the cover I have been developing. As you can see, there are a few examples of placeholder texts but due to having taken my photos already I was able to select the image I wanted to use and work around that.

The image I went for was a rather plain close up, which means all the attention is drawn to his face and the text so there aren't many distractions - this is regularly done on music magazines and by doing the same I've created a professional look, meaning it wouldn't seem out of place on a newsagent's stall. I'm very proud of my front cover and I'm enjoying developing it.