Tuesday, 12 July 2011
Monday, 9 May 2011
Abandon Evaluation - Technology
Blogger - "Blogger is a blog-publishing service that allows private or multi-user blogs with time-stamped entries. It was created by Pyra Labs, which was bought by Google in 2003. Generally, the blogs are hosted by Google at a subdomain of blogspot.com." - Source: www.wikipedia.org
This was my first time ever blogging. I know what you're thinking, "a teenager that doesn't know how to blog!?" but yes, sadly it's true. It was entirely new to me. It was strange watching my class mates excel instantly at something I knew absolutely nothing about. After a while I caught up but it did and has slowed me down at points, however now I feel fairly comfortable with the process and feel I have achieved a new attribute through blogging for Abandon, a skill which will definitely come in handy in this ever evolving online world.
Samsung Pixon 12- I purchased this Samsung beauty nearly 2 years ago and it is honestly one of the best purchases I have ever made. I basically bought this phone for it's practical media application. It's impressive 12 mega pixel camera allowed me to shoot all my photos for abandon on the move and in stunning quality. The fact that the photos then instantly came out as A4 size also aided me in formatting and editing my pages. Every photo in my magazine came from this phone along with the voice recordings for my interviews.
Photoshop CS4- Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated. As I am an avid fan of photography and photo editing I was fortunately fairly familiar with photoshop before starting the production process. However as my photography flame has dwindled so has my skills with the editing program. During the editing process I constantly found myself forgetting simple editing tasks that would have previously come as second nature such as creating borders for my scrapbook style photos. I used photoshop for every inch of my magazine and I am really grateful to own this product at this time.
Acer Aspire 5735- This is the computer/laptop that I created everything on. The computer is advertised as a media laptop therefore certain features such as the impressive display really came in handy when producing my media text.
After reviewing the Technology involved I can say I am extremely grateful for all the professional equipment I have been able to use during the creation of Abandon.
Abandon Evaluation
In what way does my media product use and develop on existing conventions?
Abandon very much so draws upon influences from the magazines I read such as NME, Kerrang!, Rocksound, Q and Total Guitar. How each section is influenced by existing conventions is shown below along with how it challenges these conventions.
Front Cover
My front cover is probably the most influenced section of my magazine. Firstly focusing on the header, it is clearly very much influenced by Rocksound. The layout is very similar, the lettering for the name is bold and instantly catches the eye of the viewer. The tag line "Britain's Loudest Music Mag!" is also a familiar characteristic of teen based rock magazines, however they are more often applied to the brands themselves rather than the actual magazine. For example Kerrang!'s is "Life Is Loud" however they use this for their TV channel and Radio station rather than for the actual magazine. In terms of images, my magazine is pretty unique. The photo's themselves are similar to those which may be included in Rocksound, in the way that they are casual and are of things relevant to the genre of music. However, as with my contents page, on the front cover I have Incorporated a more rough and casual scrapbook style. The photo's are also pretty basic and are not edited to an extreme extent, which means that the audience will be able to relate to the images on a more personal level. The incorporation of a very different style at the bottom is due to band representation which I will explain more in the double-page spread section.
Contents Page
My contents page is more influenced by NME more than anywhere. The way that the bands are alphabetically listed, with page references, is typical of The New Musical Express. Even though the format and layout is influenced by NME I tries to make the contents page much more influenced by the genre and Pop-Punk artwork than anywhere else.
This is why again a scrapbook style is used and the varsity fonts come in (originating from the genre being American based). The informal captions under each story headline and the use of familiar icons (e.g. the caution sign) is adapted from the magazine Front, which is an all round lads mag. The serif font and and faded background image are more influenced by Q and Uncut. These are the only features of my magazine that make it seem formal. Finally, like the majority of music magazines I have applied a colour theme, made up of Red, Black & White, which I kept for both my cover and contents page. In this way I have not challenged conventions as I feel it is appropriate and less visually confusing for the reader if you keep a general colour theme.
Double-Page Spread
As I mentioned previously some of the artwork is completely centered around how the band wants to be portrayed. My fictitious band 'The Warhol Look' have opted for a more 60's dark feel.
Much like bands such as Panic! at the disco and Angels & Airwaves. Kerrang! and Rocksound both produce their articles like this. They are keen to please the bands and represent them in the way they wish to be represented. This is the reason that the artwork and colour theme have both changed drastically for my double page spread. I wanted to show that there are many sub-genre's within Pop-Punk such as power pop, dark pop, emo and crunkcore. However you can still clearly tell that the double page spread belongs to the same magazine. This is because of the fonts, relaxed interview style, format and use of a tag line. These are constant and work as a sort of signature for the magazine.
Who is the target audience for my magazine?
There is a mass audience for Abandon, many teenagers across the UK read magazines similar to it such as Kerrang! and Rocksound. Followers of Pop-Punk also tend to be very dedicated to music and will often follow their favourite bands religiously. However, due to the genre being much more dominant in North America the mass target audience will be made smaller by limiting the magazine to the UK. For this reason Abandon could be sold online to reach a much wider international audience.
Age- 13-24 (This is a rough estimate and is likely to expand on both ends)
Gender- My magazine is not intended to be gender specific however NRS shows that the magazines that I have taken my influences from have slightly higher male readership bases. This difference however is in my opinion not wide enough to be influential over the production of the magazine.
Interests- The interests of my target audience are very typical of many teenagers. They are likely to enjoy such things as gigs, festivals, parties and also will probably have very hectic social lives. Basically charismatic and friendly music lovers.
Lifestyle- My target audience's lifestyle is likely to revolve around education and part-time employment.
Socioeconomic Group- There is no economic group bias to Abandon in the slightest. Trying to categorise my audience by this would completely go against the message that the genre is trying to portray. The idea that anyone, no matter what their class status, can enjoy & unite over their troubles and the instant gratification that the music provides.
Penumbra Effect- Many people will indirectly consume my magazine as it has such a social audience. Many of the ideas and articles will often be discussed in social circumstances. This can have both a negative and positive affect. Negatively it may cause the magazine to be shared between people, directly lowering sales. On the other hand the social discussion works as a form of advertising via word of mouth.
How did I address/attract my target audience?
My audience is catered for very well with this magazine. As my interviews and public reviews will show you. I achieved this through using casual and relatable themes for my target audience, Casual interviews, eye-catching colours, vibrant photos and references to the artists personal lives. The pictures also represent my target social group and the activities that they partake in. As previously mentioned the language is informal, unlike my influences however I have not used direct address as I want the info and articles to appeal to a large group and be shared rather than have the reader think it is all about their views and interests. To further attract my target audience it has been suggested that Abandon includes a free gift each month such as a CD.
How does my magazine represent a particular social group?
The preferred reading of my magazine will represent my target social group in a positive way. The social group that my text represents consists of what is knows as greb, emo and scene kids. There the ones you see in town where they're all hugging each other and you're not sure which ones are which. However, even though personally I show some distain towards this social clique my magazine should represent them as social, active and charismatic.
What media institution would distribute my magazine?
My magazine has a mass appeal similar to Kerrang!'s therefore using the same distributor as them would have a very positive influence. Bauer should be able to effectively make sure that Abandon is reaching it's target audience via selling location and geographical area. Because of the mass appeal, Abandon can be sold almost everywhere; High street stores (such as WHS), Supermarkets and even small news-agents. However, as previously mentioned, the magazine would suffer if it was not distributed online to try and reach it's entire target audience.
Preliminary vs. Full product
Since the prelim my understanding of the production of a media text has grown immensely. The main point that I have learnt is the importance of the target audience. With my prelim I just dug my claws straight in and threw out random ideas that I thought looked cool; there was no actual acknowledgment of a target audience during production. However with my real product, the target audience were identified before anything else, the features of my magazine were then based around the target audience. My editing skills have also improved, the images on my prelim are a lot less polished and look extremely unprofessional. One idea that carried over from the prelim however was the constant colour theme, I knew that this idea would be Incorporated into my magazine from a very early stage. There are also slight visual influences that can be seen on the contents page, the layout has similarities and the scrapbook/straight edge picture style is also used in both. Finally, the amount of detail and care that went into my full product was at least quadrupled. With the full product I had to play the part of writer, editor, photographer and CEO (I managed to keep busy) going through the processes of each of these roles such as taking and writing up the article, editing the article, taking appropriate photographs and then handling how the finished product would be sold, really opened my eyes to the world of journalism and publication.
Abandon very much so draws upon influences from the magazines I read such as NME, Kerrang!, Rocksound, Q and Total Guitar. How each section is influenced by existing conventions is shown below along with how it challenges these conventions.
Front Cover
My front cover is probably the most influenced section of my magazine. Firstly focusing on the header, it is clearly very much influenced by Rocksound. The layout is very similar, the lettering for the name is bold and instantly catches the eye of the viewer. The tag line "Britain's Loudest Music Mag!" is also a familiar characteristic of teen based rock magazines, however they are more often applied to the brands themselves rather than the actual magazine. For example Kerrang!'s is "Life Is Loud" however they use this for their TV channel and Radio station rather than for the actual magazine. In terms of images, my magazine is pretty unique. The photo's themselves are similar to those which may be included in Rocksound, in the way that they are casual and are of things relevant to the genre of music. However, as with my contents page, on the front cover I have Incorporated a more rough and casual scrapbook style. The photo's are also pretty basic and are not edited to an extreme extent, which means that the audience will be able to relate to the images on a more personal level. The incorporation of a very different style at the bottom is due to band representation which I will explain more in the double-page spread section.
Contents Page
My contents page is more influenced by NME more than anywhere. The way that the bands are alphabetically listed, with page references, is typical of The New Musical Express. Even though the format and layout is influenced by NME I tries to make the contents page much more influenced by the genre and Pop-Punk artwork than anywhere else.
This is why again a scrapbook style is used and the varsity fonts come in (originating from the genre being American based). The informal captions under each story headline and the use of familiar icons (e.g. the caution sign) is adapted from the magazine Front, which is an all round lads mag. The serif font and and faded background image are more influenced by Q and Uncut. These are the only features of my magazine that make it seem formal. Finally, like the majority of music magazines I have applied a colour theme, made up of Red, Black & White, which I kept for both my cover and contents page. In this way I have not challenged conventions as I feel it is appropriate and less visually confusing for the reader if you keep a general colour theme.Double-Page Spread
As I mentioned previously some of the artwork is completely centered around how the band wants to be portrayed. My fictitious band 'The Warhol Look' have opted for a more 60's dark feel.
Much like bands such as Panic! at the disco and Angels & Airwaves. Kerrang! and Rocksound both produce their articles like this. They are keen to please the bands and represent them in the way they wish to be represented. This is the reason that the artwork and colour theme have both changed drastically for my double page spread. I wanted to show that there are many sub-genre's within Pop-Punk such as power pop, dark pop, emo and crunkcore. However you can still clearly tell that the double page spread belongs to the same magazine. This is because of the fonts, relaxed interview style, format and use of a tag line. These are constant and work as a sort of signature for the magazine. Who is the target audience for my magazine?
There is a mass audience for Abandon, many teenagers across the UK read magazines similar to it such as Kerrang! and Rocksound. Followers of Pop-Punk also tend to be very dedicated to music and will often follow their favourite bands religiously. However, due to the genre being much more dominant in North America the mass target audience will be made smaller by limiting the magazine to the UK. For this reason Abandon could be sold online to reach a much wider international audience.
Age- 13-24 (This is a rough estimate and is likely to expand on both ends)
Gender- My magazine is not intended to be gender specific however NRS shows that the magazines that I have taken my influences from have slightly higher male readership bases. This difference however is in my opinion not wide enough to be influential over the production of the magazine.
Interests- The interests of my target audience are very typical of many teenagers. They are likely to enjoy such things as gigs, festivals, parties and also will probably have very hectic social lives. Basically charismatic and friendly music lovers.
Lifestyle- My target audience's lifestyle is likely to revolve around education and part-time employment.
Socioeconomic Group- There is no economic group bias to Abandon in the slightest. Trying to categorise my audience by this would completely go against the message that the genre is trying to portray. The idea that anyone, no matter what their class status, can enjoy & unite over their troubles and the instant gratification that the music provides.
Penumbra Effect- Many people will indirectly consume my magazine as it has such a social audience. Many of the ideas and articles will often be discussed in social circumstances. This can have both a negative and positive affect. Negatively it may cause the magazine to be shared between people, directly lowering sales. On the other hand the social discussion works as a form of advertising via word of mouth.
How did I address/attract my target audience?
My audience is catered for very well with this magazine. As my interviews and public reviews will show you. I achieved this through using casual and relatable themes for my target audience, Casual interviews, eye-catching colours, vibrant photos and references to the artists personal lives. The pictures also represent my target social group and the activities that they partake in. As previously mentioned the language is informal, unlike my influences however I have not used direct address as I want the info and articles to appeal to a large group and be shared rather than have the reader think it is all about their views and interests. To further attract my target audience it has been suggested that Abandon includes a free gift each month such as a CD.
How does my magazine represent a particular social group?
The preferred reading of my magazine will represent my target social group in a positive way. The social group that my text represents consists of what is knows as greb, emo and scene kids. There the ones you see in town where they're all hugging each other and you're not sure which ones are which. However, even though personally I show some distain towards this social clique my magazine should represent them as social, active and charismatic.
What media institution would distribute my magazine?
My magazine has a mass appeal similar to Kerrang!'s therefore using the same distributor as them would have a very positive influence. Bauer should be able to effectively make sure that Abandon is reaching it's target audience via selling location and geographical area. Because of the mass appeal, Abandon can be sold almost everywhere; High street stores (such as WHS), Supermarkets and even small news-agents. However, as previously mentioned, the magazine would suffer if it was not distributed online to try and reach it's entire target audience.
Preliminary vs. Full product
Since the prelim my understanding of the production of a media text has grown immensely. The main point that I have learnt is the importance of the target audience. With my prelim I just dug my claws straight in and threw out random ideas that I thought looked cool; there was no actual acknowledgment of a target audience during production. However with my real product, the target audience were identified before anything else, the features of my magazine were then based around the target audience. My editing skills have also improved, the images on my prelim are a lot less polished and look extremely unprofessional. One idea that carried over from the prelim however was the constant colour theme, I knew that this idea would be Incorporated into my magazine from a very early stage. There are also slight visual influences that can be seen on the contents page, the layout has similarities and the scrapbook/straight edge picture style is also used in both. Finally, the amount of detail and care that went into my full product was at least quadrupled. With the full product I had to play the part of writer, editor, photographer and CEO (I managed to keep busy) going through the processes of each of these roles such as taking and writing up the article, editing the article, taking appropriate photographs and then handling how the finished product would be sold, really opened my eyes to the world of journalism and publication.
Friday, 22 April 2011
Abandon Logo
I have finally designed a logo for my magazine. After several failed attempts I decided simplicity was the key so I have decided on the image you see here. It doesn't look very affective on here but on my contents page it looks pretty epic.
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
Slam Dunk Festival
Coviniently a festival has just been launched called the Slam Dunk festival. This will be the only pop-punk festival in the UK and the bands that are playing clearly represent the pop-punk masses. Here is a picture of the tour poster which includes all the bands logo designs.
Thursday, 14 April 2011
Cover Update
I've almost finished my cover, the only thing holding me back has been the actual lettering for my logo. I have designed 7 now, once I have chosen one of these and added it on to my page, my cover will be complete.
Tuesday, 5 April 2011
The Name: Re-Visited
After a lot of consideration I have officialy decided to name my magazine 'Abandon' instead of 'Reckless Abandon' this is shorter and much easier to use for such things as article puns. The name is also snappier and rolls off the tounge.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Thursday, 24 March 2011
The Logo/Lettering
The Lettering of 'Reckless Abandon' will have an american college or 'varsity' style to it. This is used very often in the genre and will appeal to my audience. These are the ideas for my logo/lettering so far, however it is still possible I might shorten the name to either just 'Reckless' or 'Abandon'.
Tuesday, 22 March 2011
My Contents Page Concept
I have decided that my contents page will follow roughly the same format that NME uses each week; with a long list of bands down the left-hand side (like an index) and a few pictures to show the main articles. This will involve taking a couple of photos of other artists to go into my contents. I will also have to decide on a colour scheme before starting and then stick to it.
My Photo Shoot
I have 2 ideas for my photo shoot. The first of these is to re-create an iconic album with the members of my band. However, this will probably be hard to pull off as if it isn't done accurately it will most likely turn out quite sloppy. I do like this idea though so it remains an option. My second idea was to do 2 separate shoots using my actual band. The first shoot will be a posed one using the general pop-punk band characteristics and in a urban environment. Whereas the second shoot will involve taking live shots whilst performing. I will then mix the photos for different parts of my magazine.
Some of the iconic albums I was thinking of re-creating:
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Oasis - Definitely Maybe
Patti Smith - Horses
The Clash - London Calling
David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
Ramones - Ramones
T-Rex - The Slider
Some of the iconic albums I was thinking of re-creating:
The Beatles - Abbey Road
Oasis - Definitely Maybe
Patti Smith - Horses
The Clash - London Calling
David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
Ramones - Ramones
T-Rex - The Slider
Thursday, 17 March 2011
The Pop-Punk Evolution
It is not clear when the term pop punk was first used, but pop-influenced punk rock had been around since the mid- to late-1970s. An early use of the term pop punk appeared in a 1977 New York Times article, "Cabaret: Tom Petty's Pop Punk Rock Evokes Sounds of 60s". In the mid-1990s, the California pop punk bands Green Day and The Offspring really kicked the genre as a seperate entity off to a start.
power pop bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s helped lay the groundwork for the pop punk sound, which emerged at the onset of punk rock around 1974 with the Ramones. The Ramones' loud and fast melodic minimalism differentiated them from other bands in New York City's budding art rock scene, but pop punk was not considered a separate subgenre until later. Several UK bands of the late 1970s also played what can be considered pop punk. The music of the Buzzcocks, Generation X, The Jam, The Rezillos, The Undertones and The Toy Dolls (to name a few) featured catchy melodies, as well as lyrics that sometimes dealt with relatively light themes such as teenage romance. The US band Bad Religion, who started in 1979, were another band that helped lay the groundwork for contemporary pop punk.
By 1981, hardcore punk had emerged in the United States, with louder, faster music than punk bands. Vocal harmony, melodic instrumentation and 4/4 drumming were replaced with shouting, discordant instrumentation, and experimental rhythms. A few bands, such as Descendents, Screeching Weasel, and The Vandals, began to combine hardcore with pop music to create a new, faster pop punk sound, sometimes referred to as popcore or skatecore. Their positive yet sarcastic approach began to separate them from the more serious hardcore scene. In the 1980s, the term pop punk was used in publications such as Maximum RocknRoll to describe bands similar to Social Distortion and Agent Orange.
power pop bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s helped lay the groundwork for the pop punk sound, which emerged at the onset of punk rock around 1974 with the Ramones. The Ramones' loud and fast melodic minimalism differentiated them from other bands in New York City's budding art rock scene, but pop punk was not considered a separate subgenre until later. Several UK bands of the late 1970s also played what can be considered pop punk. The music of the Buzzcocks, Generation X, The Jam, The Rezillos, The Undertones and The Toy Dolls (to name a few) featured catchy melodies, as well as lyrics that sometimes dealt with relatively light themes such as teenage romance. The US band Bad Religion, who started in 1979, were another band that helped lay the groundwork for contemporary pop punk.
By 1981, hardcore punk had emerged in the United States, with louder, faster music than punk bands. Vocal harmony, melodic instrumentation and 4/4 drumming were replaced with shouting, discordant instrumentation, and experimental rhythms. A few bands, such as Descendents, Screeching Weasel, and The Vandals, began to combine hardcore with pop music to create a new, faster pop punk sound, sometimes referred to as popcore or skatecore. Their positive yet sarcastic approach began to separate them from the more serious hardcore scene. In the 1980s, the term pop punk was used in publications such as Maximum RocknRoll to describe bands similar to Social Distortion and Agent Orange.
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Media Theories
The hypodermic needle model is the theory that the media 'injects' messages to their audience which they play a passive part in and are unable to resist. This theory is now discredited as it is simplistic and out dated. It is suggested that people are not as passive anymore. Although to some extent, peoples opinions are influenced by what they see or hear through media.
Cultivation effect (Drip, drip, drip effect) is when the repetition of a message or opinion has an effect on an audience; causing them to believe the opinion that the media source is putting across. Music magazines often use this as a means of advertising albums and live events.
Two-step flow. Step 1 - media introduces an idea. Step 2 - these ideas are discussed with friends and we reach an opinion. This definitely applies to music magazines. Music magazines introduce an audience to artists, albums, events and a whole list of other things. And from this people will always start discussing what they've read; mainly because people like to seem knowledgeable.
Limited effect - the idea that we are not at all affected by the media as we are 'media literate'. However, in modern times it can clearly be seen that media affects everyone. Whether it's the radio jingles someone hears in the morning or the adverts on a roadside bus stop.
Media Dependency is the belief that media becomes a need. So is it an addiction or a choice? In my eyes it's an addiction. The majority of people spend a large amount of their day either watching TV, on the internet or reading magazines. Without having these media sources people would have no means of obtaining current news or be simply entertain themselves.
Diversion is the theory that people use media as an escape from reality or problems, to distract themselves. This can be applied to the majority of media and works for a lot of people
Personal relationships is using media as topic conversations with friends and using media as a substitute for real contact. This theory applies as magazines offer opinions and often new music which you will then discuss with your friends; however I doubt very many people use media as a substitute for socialisation.
Personal identity is the idea that people use media to define themselves. I think this is true to all media especially things like music magazines. Who people are friends with, how they dress, how they act is all influenced by their interests which are made evident through the media they use.
Surveillance - finding out about the world. This is one of the main appeals of a music magazine as the entire point of reading one is to find out about artists.
Cultivation effect (Drip, drip, drip effect) is when the repetition of a message or opinion has an effect on an audience; causing them to believe the opinion that the media source is putting across. Music magazines often use this as a means of advertising albums and live events.
Two-step flow. Step 1 - media introduces an idea. Step 2 - these ideas are discussed with friends and we reach an opinion. This definitely applies to music magazines. Music magazines introduce an audience to artists, albums, events and a whole list of other things. And from this people will always start discussing what they've read; mainly because people like to seem knowledgeable.
Limited effect - the idea that we are not at all affected by the media as we are 'media literate'. However, in modern times it can clearly be seen that media affects everyone. Whether it's the radio jingles someone hears in the morning or the adverts on a roadside bus stop.
Media Dependency is the belief that media becomes a need. So is it an addiction or a choice? In my eyes it's an addiction. The majority of people spend a large amount of their day either watching TV, on the internet or reading magazines. Without having these media sources people would have no means of obtaining current news or be simply entertain themselves.
Diversion is the theory that people use media as an escape from reality or problems, to distract themselves. This can be applied to the majority of media and works for a lot of people
Personal relationships is using media as topic conversations with friends and using media as a substitute for real contact. This theory applies as magazines offer opinions and often new music which you will then discuss with your friends; however I doubt very many people use media as a substitute for socialisation.
Personal identity is the idea that people use media to define themselves. I think this is true to all media especially things like music magazines. Who people are friends with, how they dress, how they act is all influenced by their interests which are made evident through the media they use.
Surveillance - finding out about the world. This is one of the main appeals of a music magazine as the entire point of reading one is to find out about artists.
Tropes & Memes
Tropes are recurrent figures, images, patterns which organize a way of thinking. The repetition of a trope tends to reiterate or at least carry traces of it's historical meaning and function. They circulate as convention, but also as shorthand tactics for conveying meaning. Memes however were pitched by Dawkins as the cultural, semantic equivalent of a gene. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena.
Monday, 14 March 2011
My Title: Reckless Abandon
After a lot of thought and consideration I have settled on the name 'Reckless Abandon' for my magazine. The phrase itself means to do or say something without regards for the consequences. Firstly, this is a relevant to the attitude of my chosen genre as the music often takes this approach. Secondly, the phrase could also be seen as a reference to a relatively unknown blink-182 track. As seen below it also came out as my participants favourite name in my survey. It is also an option that I just shorten the name to 'Abandon'.
Monday, 7 March 2011
Deconstruction Of a Pop-Punk Band - Hey Monday
Hey Monday was formed in March 2008 after Cassadee Pope and Mike Gentile's former band Blake broke up. Pope and Gentile wanted to continue playing music and began holding auditions for a new band around their local Florida music scene. Pope and Gentile quickly recruited rhythm guitarist Alex Lipshaw and drummer Elliot James. Soon afterward they enlisted bassist Michael "Jersey" Moriarty and Hey Monday was formed. They were discovered when Fall Out Boy's Pete Wentz heard one of their demos while he was in the Crush Management office. Wentz wanted to sign them to his label, Decaydance, but Columbia Records was also interested so the band ended up signing a joint deal with both labels.
Hey Monday are an up & coming female fronted pop-punk band. And frankly, they opitomise the genre. They way they sound, the way they look and simply the way they go about their business just screams POP-PUNK. In terms of dress sense they are all pretty casual most of the time. Even though they make a fair amound of money, the majority of the time they look like they've just been picked up from a skate park.
"Alternative Press: You’re debut record ‘Hold On Tight’ hasn’t even been released in the UK yet. You have fans every night singing along to every word. How does that make you feel?
Cassedee Pope: We feel accomplished but have a long way to go but really surprised how kids have taken our music so far and how soon it’s all happened. We owe a lot to Pete (Wentz) promoting us and to our label Columbia and Decaydance. It’s insane!"
This is an extract from an interview Hey Monday did with Alternative Press. Like most pop-punk bands interviews tend to be casual and quite personal. How many Rock bands or Pop acts do you know that would use the term "It's Insane!"?
Their artwork tends to be extremely simple and blunt with the odd attack of colour. Like many pop-punk bands, Hey Monday have kept their visual appeal to a minimum and chosen to focus on portraying their songs and charisma as reasons for people to like them.
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
Bio Of 3 Pop-Punk Musicians #3
DAN "SOUPY" CAMPBELL
Dan 'Soupy' Campbell is the lead vocalist of the rising Pop-Punk band "The Wonder years." The Wonder Years are an American pop punk band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that began in June of 2005. Since then, they have released 2 full length albums, 2 EPs, and several splits/compilation contributions. The band are basically unknown to most people, however by many followers of the genre they are viewed as the rising stars of Pop-Punk.
The Wonder Years' first two years of existence amounted to two relatively unknown split EP's with Lansdale bands that are no longer together. Their first split with Emergency and I was released in 2005 and featured two songs that would later be included on their first full length Get Stoked on It!. ("I Fell in Love with a Ninja Master" and "Buzz Aldrin: The Poster Boy for Second Place").
The Wonder Years quickly followed up their 2005 release by putting out another split, this time with a band called Bangarang! In a similar fashion to their split with Emergency and I, The Wonder Years' split with Bangarang! featured two songs that would later be on Get Stoked on It!. ("My Geraldine Lies Over the Delaware" and "Let's Moshercise!"). The bands first full length album, Get Stoked on It! caused their then-small fan base to grow significantly. Get Stoked on It! was released on October 30, 2007 and featured 12 songs, all playfully titled.
Like many Pop-Punk bands a large sense of comedy is expressed in their work. Looking at rising stars such as The Wonder Years and comparing them to bands such as Paramore, who are around the same age, show the many directions that Pop-Punk has split of into. Bands such as The Wonder Years tend to be less commercial and focus more on the roots of the genre.
" Everyone moves in with their Girlfriends, In one bedroom apartments, in the towns they grew up in, and are happy in bar bands, and can just afford the rent. I couldn't go back to that again!"
Soupy like many Pop-Punker's before him had quite a troubled up-bringing and has constantly had financial troubles which are the topic of many of his lyrics. He describes being in The Wonder Years as a dream which he never thought would go this far; and is clearly grateful for this oppurtunity. The band have recently signed to Hopeless Records which is a rather small label that aims to propel Pop-Punk bands to further stardom.
Dan 'Soupy' Campbell is the lead vocalist of the rising Pop-Punk band "The Wonder years." The Wonder Years are an American pop punk band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that began in June of 2005. Since then, they have released 2 full length albums, 2 EPs, and several splits/compilation contributions. The band are basically unknown to most people, however by many followers of the genre they are viewed as the rising stars of Pop-Punk.
The Wonder Years' first two years of existence amounted to two relatively unknown split EP's with Lansdale bands that are no longer together. Their first split with Emergency and I was released in 2005 and featured two songs that would later be included on their first full length Get Stoked on It!. ("I Fell in Love with a Ninja Master" and "Buzz Aldrin: The Poster Boy for Second Place").
The Wonder Years quickly followed up their 2005 release by putting out another split, this time with a band called Bangarang! In a similar fashion to their split with Emergency and I, The Wonder Years' split with Bangarang! featured two songs that would later be on Get Stoked on It!. ("My Geraldine Lies Over the Delaware" and "Let's Moshercise!"). The bands first full length album, Get Stoked on It! caused their then-small fan base to grow significantly. Get Stoked on It! was released on October 30, 2007 and featured 12 songs, all playfully titled.
Like many Pop-Punk bands a large sense of comedy is expressed in their work. Looking at rising stars such as The Wonder Years and comparing them to bands such as Paramore, who are around the same age, show the many directions that Pop-Punk has split of into. Bands such as The Wonder Years tend to be less commercial and focus more on the roots of the genre.
" Everyone moves in with their Girlfriends, In one bedroom apartments, in the towns they grew up in, and are happy in bar bands, and can just afford the rent. I couldn't go back to that again!"
Soupy like many Pop-Punker's before him had quite a troubled up-bringing and has constantly had financial troubles which are the topic of many of his lyrics. He describes being in The Wonder Years as a dream which he never thought would go this far; and is clearly grateful for this oppurtunity. The band have recently signed to Hopeless Records which is a rather small label that aims to propel Pop-Punk bands to further stardom.
Bio Of 3 Pop-Punk Musicians #2
HAYLEY WILLIAMS
Hayley Williams is arguably the most well known pop-punk star of all time. As the lead vocalist and pianist for the hugely successful band Paramore, at the age of only 17 she found herself as part of what was to become one of the biggest bands on the planet. In 2002, at the age of 13, Williams moved from her hometown, Meridian, Mississippi, to Franklin, Tennessee, where she met former band members Josh Farro and Zac Farro in school. Shortly after arriving, she began taking vocal lessons and while still in school, she tried out for a local funk cover band called 'The Factory' where she met Jeremy Davis.
Paramore was created in 2004, with Hayley Williams alongside Josh Farro, Jeremy Davis and Zac Farro. Prior to forming Paramore, the other members of what was soon to be Paramore had been "edgy about the whole female thing" of having Williams as singer. As any Pop-Punk band would be; having a beautiful female front person was unheard of in the genre. But as they were good friends she began writing with them and eventually became a member. The fact that they had a female singer was basically the foundation of why they became as big as they now are. The band has released three studio albums, "All We Know Is Falling", "Riot!", and "Brand New Eyes" as well as two live albums and three EPs.
Williams and Paramore evolutionised the genre in more ways than one. Firstly the most obvious thing is that having a female singer was extremely rare at the time of their formation. Secondly another interesting aspect of Paramore is that they were all privately educated and were not 'short of money' as some would say. Due to the roots of Pop-Punk coming from a broken home and being raised in a working class enviroment, this was also pretty much unheard of and caused the band to be looked down upon by many other bands of the style. A lot of followers of Pop-Punk give bands such as Paramore, All Time Low and You Me At Six a hard time because they are not from the same background as most people in this cliqué; they are also often seen as too commercial and it is not un-common to hear them called 'sellouts'. But hey, they make millions, do you really think they care?
"Sometimes it takes a good fall to really know where you stand."
Putting aside the labels she is given, Williams maintains a look which still encaptures Pop-Punk but does so in an almost cleaner way. She still wears artsy clothes, skinny jeans and skate shoes but also manages to wear them in pristine condition. If this is not POP-Punk by nature then I don't know what is.
Hayley Williams is arguably the most well known pop-punk star of all time. As the lead vocalist and pianist for the hugely successful band Paramore, at the age of only 17 she found herself as part of what was to become one of the biggest bands on the planet. In 2002, at the age of 13, Williams moved from her hometown, Meridian, Mississippi, to Franklin, Tennessee, where she met former band members Josh Farro and Zac Farro in school. Shortly after arriving, she began taking vocal lessons and while still in school, she tried out for a local funk cover band called 'The Factory' where she met Jeremy Davis.
Paramore was created in 2004, with Hayley Williams alongside Josh Farro, Jeremy Davis and Zac Farro. Prior to forming Paramore, the other members of what was soon to be Paramore had been "edgy about the whole female thing" of having Williams as singer. As any Pop-Punk band would be; having a beautiful female front person was unheard of in the genre. But as they were good friends she began writing with them and eventually became a member. The fact that they had a female singer was basically the foundation of why they became as big as they now are. The band has released three studio albums, "All We Know Is Falling", "Riot!", and "Brand New Eyes" as well as two live albums and three EPs.
Williams and Paramore evolutionised the genre in more ways than one. Firstly the most obvious thing is that having a female singer was extremely rare at the time of their formation. Secondly another interesting aspect of Paramore is that they were all privately educated and were not 'short of money' as some would say. Due to the roots of Pop-Punk coming from a broken home and being raised in a working class enviroment, this was also pretty much unheard of and caused the band to be looked down upon by many other bands of the style. A lot of followers of Pop-Punk give bands such as Paramore, All Time Low and You Me At Six a hard time because they are not from the same background as most people in this cliqué; they are also often seen as too commercial and it is not un-common to hear them called 'sellouts'. But hey, they make millions, do you really think they care?
"Sometimes it takes a good fall to really know where you stand."
Putting aside the labels she is given, Williams maintains a look which still encaptures Pop-Punk but does so in an almost cleaner way. She still wears artsy clothes, skinny jeans and skate shoes but also manages to wear them in pristine condition. If this is not POP-Punk by nature then I don't know what is.
Bio Of 3 Pop-Punk Musicians #1
TOM DELONGE
Tom DeLonge is the guitarist, and one of the two lead vocalists, for the American pop punk band blink-182. as well as the guitarist and lead vocalist for the alternative band Angels & Airwaves. He was also the guitarist and lead singer for the post-hardcore band Box Car Racer. Raised in Poway, California, DeLonge developed an interest in punk rock during his teens. After being expelled from Poway High School for drinking at a basketball game, he attended Rancho Bernardo High School where he met both Mark Hoppus & Scott raynor, who as a trio went on to form blink.
Delonge has also pursued non-musical endeavors; he created a social networking website called Modlife, as well as two clothing companies. In 2001, he started Atticus Clothing and Macbeth Footwear with Mark Hoppus. DeLonge sold his shares in Atticus Clothing, and is currently the sole owner of Macbeth Footwear.
Finally he has also released two signature guitars that are meant to be 'perfect' for playing the pop-punk genre. They are extremely simple and leave out many things that regular guitarists would hate to not have. However, the simplicity just reflects the musical ethics of pop-punk. I own one of his signature guitars and I love it.
"I knew exactly how hard I had to work in school. As long as I got that C, I wouldn't try one minute extra to get a B. I just cared about skateboarding and music."
As an extremely well know pop-punk pioneer Tom DeLonge has managed to capture and help to create the aspects which make up the attitudes of the genre; both musically and generally. He is now admired by people worldwide and is seen as an idol & role model to many, including myself. (We even have the same birthday)
Tom DeLonge is the guitarist, and one of the two lead vocalists, for the American pop punk band blink-182. as well as the guitarist and lead vocalist for the alternative band Angels & Airwaves. He was also the guitarist and lead singer for the post-hardcore band Box Car Racer. Raised in Poway, California, DeLonge developed an interest in punk rock during his teens. After being expelled from Poway High School for drinking at a basketball game, he attended Rancho Bernardo High School where he met both Mark Hoppus & Scott raynor, who as a trio went on to form blink.
Delonge has also pursued non-musical endeavors; he created a social networking website called Modlife, as well as two clothing companies. In 2001, he started Atticus Clothing and Macbeth Footwear with Mark Hoppus. DeLonge sold his shares in Atticus Clothing, and is currently the sole owner of Macbeth Footwear.
Finally he has also released two signature guitars that are meant to be 'perfect' for playing the pop-punk genre. They are extremely simple and leave out many things that regular guitarists would hate to not have. However, the simplicity just reflects the musical ethics of pop-punk. I own one of his signature guitars and I love it.
"I knew exactly how hard I had to work in school. As long as I got that C, I wouldn't try one minute extra to get a B. I just cared about skateboarding and music."
As an extremely well know pop-punk pioneer Tom DeLonge has managed to capture and help to create the aspects which make up the attitudes of the genre; both musically and generally. He is now admired by people worldwide and is seen as an idol & role model to many, including myself. (We even have the same birthday)
Monday, 28 February 2011
My Survey
My survey which I am going to post on various forums and social networking sites can be found below:
CLICK HERE FOR SURVEY!!!!!
CLICK HERE FOR SURVEY!!!!!
Wednesday, 16 February 2011
Tuesday, 15 February 2011
Band Examples
Below I have put some info on the type of bands that my magazine would cover. This will help me to aquire an overall style for the magazine...
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK:
MCS are quite a new band to hit the mainstream pop/punk market. Even though they have been going for quite some time, it was only whe they called in the assistance of Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus to produce their most recent album, that major sucess came to them. Their graphic style is very common to the genre and doesn't really push the boundaries in the slightest. Their main theme now focuses around a cartoon dinasour and his little mishaps. Like many pop/pumk bands MCS tend to use very busy and loud images and a wide range of colours. Simply by opening their webpage you get hit with a wave of colours spanning the entire screen. This style isn't unusual in this genre of music but the 'In Yer Face' colours tend to grasp the intended audience.
(Web Page - www.motioncitysoundtrack.com)
A DAY TO REMEMBER:
Until their third album, A Day To Remember remained somewhat unheard of. Now however, they are one of the most Iconic bands to hit the Genre. The release of 'Homesick' in 2009 propelled the band to a new found fame. This was largly due to an old technique used by many previous pop/punk bands: covering a pop song, in this case 'Since U Been Gone' by Kelly Clarkson, and making it louder and faster. This captured the ears and minds of millions and since then the band can't put a foot wrong. Because of the fact they found fame later on in their career many fans found themselves going back and buying the old albums. Jeremy McKinnon (the lead vocalist) said "We didn't really make that much money from our music until Homesick. I mean, we made enough to be happy with but nothing dramatic. Not that we do this for the money but After Homesick though we made more from our old albums than we ever had in the past." Due to this, the band then re-released their first album with the title 'The Old Record'
In terms of graphic representation; ADTR until recently applied a high school yearbook feel to their artwork. Most of the backgrounds were royal colours (mainly red) with silver or gold writing over the top. With their most recent album 'What Seperates Me From You' and with the release of 'The Old Record' ADTR have again applied a comic book illusration syle to their artwork. No photography is used and their is always a wide range of colours in their images. Again the illustrations are very loud and their tends to be a lot going on in all of them.
(Web Page - www.adtr.com)
BLINK-182:
We've looked at the new & rising and the current kings, but where did it all start? With bands such as Green Day, NOFX, Millencolin and Less Than Jake. However these bands, in the early days, were either playing punk-rock or ska-punk; the first band to really transition punk-rock to pop/punk were Blink-182. Their songs were the first to be fast, loud, catchy and appeal to argueably one of the biggest audiences in history. They were pretty big soon after they started out, writing songs about everything teenage life involves. Chasing girls/guys, getting dumped, partying, getting drunk, skating, listening to music and even eating m & m's. They soon found themselves playing in the big leauges. However it was the introduction of drummer Travis Barker when things really started to pick up. Their sound was tighter and with the release of 'All The Small Things' they were propelled overnight to super stardom.
As pioneers of the genre, Blink-182 set the template for a lot of artwork to follow. All their ablums employ a comedic twist and this is always clearly visible. Again their albums are bright and include a mix of colours. However, something that has now been altered is that at the time bands such as Blink used photographs rather than illustration, but this didn't stop them from gaining exactly what they wanted. The attention of teens all over the globe.
MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK:
MCS are quite a new band to hit the mainstream pop/punk market. Even though they have been going for quite some time, it was only whe they called in the assistance of Blink-182 bassist Mark Hoppus to produce their most recent album, that major sucess came to them. Their graphic style is very common to the genre and doesn't really push the boundaries in the slightest. Their main theme now focuses around a cartoon dinasour and his little mishaps. Like many pop/pumk bands MCS tend to use very busy and loud images and a wide range of colours. Simply by opening their webpage you get hit with a wave of colours spanning the entire screen. This style isn't unusual in this genre of music but the 'In Yer Face' colours tend to grasp the intended audience.
(Web Page - www.motioncitysoundtrack.com)
A DAY TO REMEMBER:
Until their third album, A Day To Remember remained somewhat unheard of. Now however, they are one of the most Iconic bands to hit the Genre. The release of 'Homesick' in 2009 propelled the band to a new found fame. This was largly due to an old technique used by many previous pop/punk bands: covering a pop song, in this case 'Since U Been Gone' by Kelly Clarkson, and making it louder and faster. This captured the ears and minds of millions and since then the band can't put a foot wrong. Because of the fact they found fame later on in their career many fans found themselves going back and buying the old albums. Jeremy McKinnon (the lead vocalist) said "We didn't really make that much money from our music until Homesick. I mean, we made enough to be happy with but nothing dramatic. Not that we do this for the money but After Homesick though we made more from our old albums than we ever had in the past." Due to this, the band then re-released their first album with the title 'The Old Record'
In terms of graphic representation; ADTR until recently applied a high school yearbook feel to their artwork. Most of the backgrounds were royal colours (mainly red) with silver or gold writing over the top. With their most recent album 'What Seperates Me From You' and with the release of 'The Old Record' ADTR have again applied a comic book illusration syle to their artwork. No photography is used and their is always a wide range of colours in their images. Again the illustrations are very loud and their tends to be a lot going on in all of them.
(Web Page - www.adtr.com)
BLINK-182:
We've looked at the new & rising and the current kings, but where did it all start? With bands such as Green Day, NOFX, Millencolin and Less Than Jake. However these bands, in the early days, were either playing punk-rock or ska-punk; the first band to really transition punk-rock to pop/punk were Blink-182. Their songs were the first to be fast, loud, catchy and appeal to argueably one of the biggest audiences in history. They were pretty big soon after they started out, writing songs about everything teenage life involves. Chasing girls/guys, getting dumped, partying, getting drunk, skating, listening to music and even eating m & m's. They soon found themselves playing in the big leauges. However it was the introduction of drummer Travis Barker when things really started to pick up. Their sound was tighter and with the release of 'All The Small Things' they were propelled overnight to super stardom.
As pioneers of the genre, Blink-182 set the template for a lot of artwork to follow. All their ablums employ a comedic twist and this is always clearly visible. Again their albums are bright and include a mix of colours. However, something that has now been altered is that at the time bands such as Blink used photographs rather than illustration, but this didn't stop them from gaining exactly what they wanted. The attention of teens all over the globe.
Magazine Influences: Spin
In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard. It pointedly provided a national alternative to the Rolling Stone's more establishment-oriented style. Spin prominently placed newer artists such as R.E.M., Prince, Run-D.M.C., Eurythmics, Beastie Boys, and Talking Heads, on its covers and did lengthy features on established figures such as Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Miles Davis, Aerosmith, Lou Reed, Tom Waits, and John Lee Hooker.
Tuesday, 8 February 2011
Pop/Punk Ideology
Pop punk is generally described as a fusion music genre that combines elements of punk rock with pop music, to varying degrees. However more recently it had become much more of it's own genre due to the specific traits that are used by pretty much every Pop/Punk band; typically merging
pop melodies with speedy punk tempos, chord changes and louder guitars & percussion.
In the mid-1990s, the California pop punk bands Green Day and The Offspring, who were later followed by Blink-182, would all achieve
worldwide commercial success. From the mid-1990s onwards, some bands associated with the genre have been described as "happy punk", "Skate-rock", "faux-punk", "mall punk", "pseudo-punk" or even "bubblegum punk". In the United States the genre underwent a resurgence in the early- to mid-1990s. Many pop punk bands retained a 'do it yourself' approach to their music, and a number of independent record labels emerged during that period; often run by band members who wanted to release their own music and that of their friends. The independent labels SST/Cruz Records, Lookout! Records, Fat Wreck Chords and Epitaph Records were about to achieve mainstream success.
February 1994 was when Pop/Punk really started to gain commercial success. It was at this time that Green Day released Dookie. The first single, "Longview", instantly became a hit on MTV and modern rock stations across America and the United Kingdom. Following the success of their first single, Green Day released "Basket Case", which became an even bigger hit. Dookie sold over 10 million copies in the United States and over 20 million copies worldwide. They then went on to win a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album. Soon after the release of Dookie, The Offspring released the album Smash on the independent label Epitaph
Records. The first single, "Come Out and Play", had a pop punk sound that differed from their earlier work, and it became popular first on radio and later on MTV. Other singles, "Self Esteem" and "Gotta Get Away", sold well. The album sold over 14 million copies worldwide, setting a record for most albums sold on an independent label.
In 1999, Blink-182 released Enema of the State,
which sold over 15 million copies worldwide. The album had three hit singles, including the #1 single "All the Small Things" and the #2 singles "What's My Age Again?" and "Adam's Song". It was from this time onwards that Pop/Punk became an extremely popular style. Teenagers across the globe started forming bands simply so they could be a part of the genre.
Between the late 90's and now Pop/Punk has faded in and out of popularity; many Pop/Punk fans followed the same bands they did when they were younger, therefore it has become march harder for new bands in this genre to get recognized.
I have chosen to base my magazine on Pop/Punk purely because it was the genre of music that I grew up listening to, blink-182 have been my favourite band since a very young age and the genre has almost seemed to mature with me. I am also in an unsigned Pop/Punk band called 'The Umbrella Academy', so as you can see my entire musical interest pretty much revolves around the genre.
Visual Representation: Loud, colourful, fun, busy & 'In your face'.
Audience Pleasures: Gigs, parties, skating, generally any times peoplefind fun! (It's a personal thing)
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