Saturday, 28 January 2012

Production: Playmakers Interveiw

This is the Audio Footage from the Playmakers Interveiw outside of the Cavern Club In Liverpool. The band were still ecstatic from their set at the prestigious venue, and so were the people by the club.

Friday, 27 January 2012

Production: Double Page Spread Article

We got to talk Exclusively to the members of The Playmakers outside their prestigious gig at The Cavern Club, where they told us all about their chance meeting, what its like playing on stage and what we can expect from them in the near future.
The Playmakers are a three piece band from Cirencester, Gloucestershire made up of Charlie Cooper (Vocals/Guitar), Will Jones (Bass/Backing Vocals) & Joe Arthur (Drums) who together have made a lasting impression on audiences with a series of breathtaking yet back to basic gigs in the South West and London, and a showcase gig at the prestigious Cavern Club In Liverpool.
We got fter playing their breathtaking set at The Cavern Club - one of the most iconic places in music history - The Playmakers seemed just as relaxed as at their first ever meeting...in a pub. Charlie and Will spent their younger years together in school played in the same local football team, and shared the same love for music so it was only a matter of time before they began to write songs. Basing their sound on the work of Bob Dylan, and running into problems with the lack of a deep American Voice &  the two man set up,  they wanted a drummer, Joe Drummer.
After meeting them on a music forum, skipping college and meeting up in their local     pub Joe Arthur (Later Re-named Joe Drummer by his bandmates), then brought something unique to the band. His Cozy Powell influenced drumming. This teamed with Charlies driven chord based guitar, and Will’s unique Bass that makes The Playmakers sound so unique in todays musical environment.
But that’s not all of the band influences, the boys told us “There’s not really a lot of modern bands that we like, or listen to for that matter, so we’re always looking back to the 60’s and 70’s stuff, like The Jam, The Clash, Joy Division, and The Stone Roses too were a big part of our lives too” with musical influences like this, there’s no wonder the band are creating a      hype wherever  they go. 
There inspirations don’t just end there though, the band told us what it was that inspired them to get into music in the first place, and it wasn’t just the shows, the bands, and the lack of effective modern music, Charlie told us exactly what it was: “uhm the dole probably, unemployment I think that’s the biggest thing when we met we (Charlie & Will)  were both on the dole so we needed something to fill our days up with really, we are sort of angry young men going through different experiences so it was something to take our frustrations out on, and that gave us something to write about” 
After writing some of their back to basics songs, such as ‘Shes a Mystery’ which is currently being used on a BBC Pilot show that is still in production, the band also love to do some covers at their live gigs, we wanted to get an idea of the types of ways that certain bands influence their music onto The Playmakers, and by listening to their covers you can hear the links. The members all have a different cover they love to perform, and their own reasoning’s aswell: “Will: well we practice in the garage so when we play Garage Land by The Clash it just feels right, we sometimes we play it live aswell” but for Joe, its a different story: Trouble You is my favourite one, it’s just mental drumming.
 Playing gigs is something that the band are doing a lot of at the moment, with gigs set up across the south in the next few weeks, we will be seeing a lot more of them, but we wanted to know about how they feel when they are onstage, what it is that they enjoy, and what goes through their heads when they are onstage.
The band are now continuing a string of 50 gigs mostly in the South West, but are willing to travel anywhere to please their fans, for today’s meeting outside The Cavern Club the band have travelled for 3 hours, and this is just the start. Using Ed Sheeran’s determination as an example, Charlie says: “were at the   stage now where i think we have good songs so its just about getting tiogehter,  its just getting the gigging experience, i mean with each gig you do you get more experience than in 100 practices, we’ll see what were like after 50 gigs, do some recordings and were sorted, its just being able to get the money and getting it all organised- but theres nothing you can learn more from than playing gig”
The Boys Brand new single “The Boys From Up The Hill”and all the rest of The Playmakers Tracks are now available to download off  their website:
http://theplaymakers.get-ctrl.com/#/
Dont foget, watch out for the band touring somwhere near you!

Tuesday, 10 January 2012

Article Research

My main article's focus will be 'The Playmakers' below is the band Biography, along with some reveiws of their work and some clips of their music.


Biography
From way out west in Gloucestershire Charlie Cooper and Will Jones met at school in Cirencester and played for the same local football team. They shared the same passion for music and it was no surprise when they eventually got together and began to write songs. They later recruited drummer Joe Arthur (his name was soon changed to Joe Drummer by his band mates) after a chance meeting in a local pub where his was instantly hired on the basis of being a ‘good bloke’ and owning his own drum kit before they even heard him play. Efforts then went towards agreeing on a band name and after endless suggestions of things that happened to be in the room they agreed on ‘the playmakers’. They began the summer of 2011 on getting some songs together and retreated back to the garage where they wrote and played relentlessly. The dedication of practising paid off with a superb debut gig at the Fleece in Bristol on Sunday 31st July. They have since played at various venues in London and the southwest as well as a gig at the prestigious Cavern Club in Liverpool. They already have a sound of their own – It is back to basics, stripped down, lo-fi with the songs being able to breath and speak for themselves. Charlie’s chord based driving guitar sound works together with Joe’s inspired drumming, which is tight and carry’s the songs with colour and variation that lifts the rhythm. It is Will Jones’s bass that plays the melodic part, taking on a totally different twist to the standard guitar, bass and drums approach and lending itself completely to their own sound and songs. Charlie’s voice is distinct and different and the sum of all these parts make’s them very special and unique in today’s music landscape.

Reveiws

Formed in the summer of last year, this Cirencester trio look to be an exciting prospect. “The Boys From Up The Hill” and “She’s A Mystery” reveal sharp pop sensibilities, with the overall sound echoing traces of Three Imaginary Boys-era Cure and Franz Ferdinand, underpinned by bass lines paying homage to the great Peter Hook. Immaculately structured, immediately accessible, and definitely a band to keep your eyes on.
Lee McFadden


The Playmakers are a three piece band from Cirencester in Gloucestershire. Newly formed and young - they are playing locally, Cheltenham, Swindon, Bristol and have some gigs in London - The Hope & Anchor, Camden Rock and The Brixton Jamm.

They claim to be more like the post punk/new wave scene than the present indie scene and their influences are many and include The Clash, Dr Feelgood, The Jam, Libertines, Joy Division.
They love British comedy - Steptoe & Son, Dad's Army and even do a version of the 'Only Fools and Horses' theme tune. Basically they are three down to earth lads who want to go back to basics musically.

Listen to some of their music below and watch a video of their first ever live gig. I think you'll agree there's much naivety about their music which is very rough around the edges and yet there's something compelling and addictive about their sound. I hope they stick at it, working the circuit and building up a following as I've a feeling that they've got the attitude and determination to be very successful.
My Dad Rocks

Clips of their music

I looked into the reveiws and biography of the band before choosing them and by listening to their music, I decided they were a good fit for my Magazine.

Monday, 2 January 2012

Planning Production



Planning Production

Images on the front cover:

Connotations of Indie or Rock:

Jumpers

Checked Shirts

Skinny jeans

Natural

Guitars

Intimate

Melodic

Meaningful

Acoustic



Coverlines for my front cover:

Looking into winter with The Decemberists

Opening Doors with Two Door Cinema Club

Lights, Music, Songs...The Switches

Plug In – get involved

Shout it OUT!



Images for my Contents page:

Image of a male singer playing guitar

The Switches: A Light switch with Musical Notes

Matt Costa: Costa coffee cup – written Matt ontop

Picture Of The Playmakers

Text for contents page:

Regular content:

Shout it OUT!

Breakthrough – The tracks to listen to

Subscribe

View Review

Fans Forum

Plug In – get involved

The Month In Pictures



It will also consist of feature articles including:

The Big Music Guide

Death Cab for Cutie – Picture Exclusive

Opening Doors with Two Door Cinema Club

Joe Brooks –  Is he the next Superman?

Jacks Mannequin – how it all started

Looking into winter with The Decemberists

Songs from the Scots (Kevin McGuire)

Conor Maynard...One Step Closer.

This month – Breaking Out

Lights, Music, Songs...The Switches

Matt Costa – On The Road.

Good Shoes...Rise to the top.

Songwriter Showcase

She Wants Revenge-Tactics for success

Living in the present with Maritime

The Perishes – Behind The Scenes Exclusive

Exploring the island with British Sea Power





Double page spread article:

Interview with a new band – The Playmakers

There will be a photo from the gig on the contents page, with a caption to show
I beleive that i will have about 150 pages in my magazine, but this may become more depending ion the content.