Rocksound: Mode of address

Me Vs Hero
Irrepressibly perky pop-punkers out to put the 'fun' back into 'fundamentally catchy'

You can't have failed to notice Me Vs Hero's ascent in the UK scene over the past few years. Through a combination of hard work, the use of a lot of bright colours and, of course, playing pop-punk that sounds like fun boiled down and turned into soundwaves they've deservedly won themselves boatloads of fans.

Sitting firmly within the raft of bands in the lineage of the likes of New Found Glory, Blink-182 and Fall Out Boy, MvH are on a mission to bring the smiles back to music. Want to moan about not being liked by a girl or boy? Fuck it, slam down some energy drink and run around in circles listening to choruses. Trust us, it helps.

Name three albums that made you want to be in a band...
"I was a huge Green Day fan back when I was younger, so listening to 'Dookie' was a huge influence on my life. Then Blink came along and I couldn't stop listening to their self-titled album over and over again. Fall Out Boy's 'Take This To Your Grave' had a huge impact on me as well, it was the first album I'd heard where I could listen to and enjoy every single song on it, not just a few hits, plus Patrick's voice made me scream like an 8-year-old girl."

When was the point you realised being in a band wasn't just something fun to do but a viable way to spend your life?
"Ever since I joined my first band (coincidentally with Mike, we used used to practise in his garage; we were terrible!) I had aspirations of making band life my career. Eight years on I'm still trying to get there, but we seem to have something good going with MvH so hopefully it pays off and the dream becomes a reality."



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As a genre of music Pop/Punk has mainly blossomed from 90's Skate Punk. Bands such as Green Day, blink-182 & NOFX were pioneers of the genre. Rocksound perfectly mirrors everything that these bands stood for; simple, fun, uncensored, yet meaningful teenage anthems. As the members of these bands matured so did their music and their fans, making way for a whole new generation of angst ridden teens.

You can clearly see from the above article that the magazine is very informal. "Want to moan about not being liked by a girl or boy? Fuck it, slam down some energy drink and run around in circles listening to choruses. Trust us, it helps." This basically sums up the genre and exactly what the magazine represents. All the articles in the magazine tend to relate to the band members more than other mags. Their personal lives and previous experiences are a key aspect of the magazine. All the information that is put out through the magazine is blunt and straight to the point and generally tends to be as carefree as the music itself.

Rocksound ticks all the boxes allowing itself to be called a modern Pop/Punk magazine. Even though this is a recent revolution for the mag (with it covering heavy rock until 2010) it has definately transformed itself perfectly.

Magazine Influences: NME

The New Musical Express (better known as the NME) is a popular music magazine in the United Kingdom, published weekly since the 7th of March 1952. It was the first British paper to include a singles chart, in the 14 November 1952 edition. In the 1970s it became the best-selling British music magazine. During the period 1972 to 1976 it was particularly associated with gonzo journalism, then became closely associated with punk rock through the writing of Tony Parsons and Julie Burchill.
During the 1960s the paper championed the new British groups emerging at the time. The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were frequently featured on the front cover. By the early 1970s NME had lost ground to the Melody Maker as its coverage of music had failed to keep pace with the development of rock music, particularly during the early years of psychedelia and progressive rock. In early 1972 the paper found itself on the verge of closure by its owners IPC. The punk movement however brought NME back into popularity by the late 70's. In 1981 the NME released the influential C81 cassette tape in conjunction with Rough Trade Records, available to readers by mail order at a low price. The tape featured a number of then up-and-coming bands, including Aztec Camera, Orange Juice, Linx and Scritti Politti, as well as a number of more established artists such as Robert Wyatt, Pere Ubu, Buzzcocks and Ian Dury. A second tape, C86, was released in 1986. The start of 1990 saw the paper in the thick of the Madchester scene, and covering the new British indie bands. From the issue of 21 March 1998 onwards, the paper has no longer been printed on newsprint, and more recently it has shifted to tabloid size: it has full, glossy, colour covers.

In 2002 the NME started publishing a series of themed magazines reprinting vintage articles, interviews and reviews from the NME archives. The magazine special editions were called NME Originals, with some featuring articles from other music titles owned by IPC, including Melody Maker, Rave and Uncut magazines. Notable issues so far have featured Radiohead, The Beatles, Punk rock, Gothic rock, Britpop, The Rolling Stones, Mod, Nirvana, and the solo years of The Beatles.

Magazine Influences: Kerrang!

Kerrang! is a British rock music magazine. The magazine's name is onomatopoeic and refers to the sound made when playing a power chord on an electric guitar. Kerrang!'s first successful period came under editor Paul Rees circa 2000 when the nu metal genre, featuring bands like Papa Roach, Slipknot and Linkin Park, became more popular. Later on, they started covering other bands, like Foo Fighters and Metallica. Rees went on to edit Q Magazine and Ashley Bird took over as editor from 2003 to 2005. However the magazine's sales went into decline and Paul Brannigan took over as editor in May 2005. Brannigan took the magazine into its most commercially successful period with a record ever ABC for the title of 80,186 copies. Brannigan left Kerrang! in 2009 and Nichola Browne was appointed editor.

Kerrang! is now one of the most popular music magazines in Britain and covers a wide range of music. Kerrang! tends to mainly cover whatever style/bands that are big in Rock at the time and only generally includes mainstream rock; there is rarely a mention of any 'underground' or unsigned bands. The magazine now also sponsors many tours and and events. Kerrang! has both it's own TV & radio stations and also hosts it's own award ceremony.

Magazine Influences: Rocksound

Rocksound is a British magazine which champions alternative music. The magazine aims at being more "underground" and less commercial, whilst also giving coverage to more well known acts. The main focus of Rocksound is covering such styles as Pop/Punk, Indie Rock, Hardcore & Power Pop. The magazine is released monthly priced at £3.90, it also includes a 15 track CD each week with either unsigned bands on or tracks from rising artists.

On a side note the magazine has recently set up the 'Rocksound: Exposure' tour which features bands that are trying to gain a fanbase and exposure.

(Rocksound has an ABC figure of 20,011 and readership of 74,000.)

Preliminary Magazine Cover

This is the cover for my school magazine prelim task. Firstly the fonts which I have chosen are typical varsity fonts; giving the magazine an informal look which will hopefully make it more appealing to the students. The smaller font is a simple typewriter font that aids the informality and again helps it appeal to my target audience. The picture is a photograph which was taken of three students. They were posed for the photo, it wasn't taken while they were working. Clearly this magazine is not intended for adults or any members of staff that are looking for crucial statistics on the School, it does however present itself in a Teen-friendly way. etting across the school news without being boring.

Target Audience:

Age: 11-18
Gender: Male & Female