BeatPulse Magazine November 2016

Page 1

BeatPulse

November 2016

Boy Eats Girl's New EP Featured Artist

Jack White Oh shit, what did I just do?

David Gray Interview plus more

Boy Eats Girl's

EP


Content Highlights 4

10

Drive By Truckers American Band

Jack White

7

21

Before the decay of time

On song for sales

14 Truth behind the rage

Advertising

Contact Advertising Sales BeatPulse Media Limited Apt 3393 Chynoweth House Trevissome Park Truro TR4 8UN http://www.beatpulsemedia.com http://www.beatpulsemagazine.com Artists@BeatPulseMedia.com Editorial Contact: Jay. R. Charles Company Director of BeatPulse Media


24

Virtual Reality

28 Boy Eats Girl

25 Dream Recurring

BeatPulse Media embraces the perspective of bringing indie and major artists together on the same platform and the importance of “give and take” between artists and fans. Behind the Beat We believe in bringing indie artists and major artists together on the same platform. It’s an innovative approach that gives indie artists of all genres equal publicity and exposure, and offers our audience a chance to experience an exclusive mix of music unlike no other community. We’re still appreciating the current global music scene but making room for emerging artists that no one has been exposed to yet. Behind the Pulse The logo for BPM mirrors our perspective. You can see that by the hand reaching out to the heart. The beat in a song sends a pulse and a rhythm to the heart. The beat is the artist, and the pulse represents the fan. It’s all give and take, equal benefit, and, what we like to call, a love affair between the two.

It’s not “them” versus “us”. It’s all one pulse. Behind the Media Our team of music fanatics scour social media in search of indie artists and also fresh content for our online magazine. We’re providing a place for all artists to create and to gain recognition, which mainstream media can also benefit from. BeatPulse Media wants to create something memorable for music history, and all of us together as artists and fans can make it happen.


MUSIC Drive By Truckers American Band™

T

his could well be the most fitting album title you’ll ever come across. Depending, of course, what other album titles you have already, or are destined to, come across. Stupid points aside, with this outing everyone’s favourite Georgia-born road rockers have very much struck gold.

Not just a clever name then, we veer from the uptempo rock and rollers like Surrender Under Protest , to more journeyman fair like Once They Banned Imagine , poignant, not to mention relevant lyricism runs through every line and verse. Perhaps best shown at its most personal and intimate with When The Sun Don’t Shine , and at its most universal and far reaching on the references to murders of minorities at the hands of U.S. police in the epic, anthemic What It Means , the complete work delivers a powerful message.

Drive-By Truckers American Band ATO Records 30th September 4

without ever becoming preachy or self-righteous. At once a celebration of Americana, and a rejection of much of what the country represents today, it’s one of those rare beauties. And yet it achieves this without ever becoming preachy, self-righteous, or remotely unappealing. In an era wherein anything remotely political is seen by many corners of the music industry as outsider art, and to be treated as such, it’s reassuring if nothing else to see a straight up rock band making comments about the subjects that need comments.


MUSIC Khruangbin embark on UK tour You might not think that Thai funk is for you. You might not even know that Thai funk is even a think that could be for you. In both cases we’re delighted to make you stand corrected. Khruangbin, which is Thai for ‘Engine Fly’, are enough to evidence our point. Calling on heavy psychedelic influences, conjuring basslines seemingly from the very depths of the planet itself, and oozing a kind of surf rock cool, the sound has been taking them around the world for some time now, and has cemented their status as something of a (relatively) new festival favourite. From fields to beaches, the outfit have graced a plethora of choice, and highly revered events. Love International in Croatia, the Texan behemoth that is SXSW, intimate Welsh session Gottwood, and the mighty Glastonbury are amongst the bills this trio have appeared on in the last 12 months or so, with a U.S. tour rounding off summer 2016. Next up the outfitcomprising Laura Lee on

bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald ‘DJ’ Johnson on drums- are heading back to the U.K., with eight shows booked in between now and the end of October. Calling at some of the country’s biggest music cities, choice dates include legendary Leeds venue The Wardrobe, London’s historic Islington Assembly Hall, and hip Manchester hangout The Deaf Institute. With the likes of The Guardian, Mojo, Line of Best Fit, Loud & Quiet, and i-D all having sung their praises, it’s safe to say these are amongst the hottest tickets available in the towns the troupe hit, meaning acting now, rather than forever regretting, would be your best choice of action.

Tue 25th Oct: Islington Assembly Hall London Wed 26th Oct: Trinity Centre, Bristol Thur 27th Oct: The Workman’s Club, Dublin

Khruangbin UK Dates - October 2016 Wed 19th Oct: The Wardrobe, Leeds Thur 20th Oct: Broadcast, Glasgow Fri 21st Oct: The Deaf Institute, Manchester Sat 22nd Oct: The Bodega Social Club, Nottingham Mon 24th Oct: Komedia, Brighton

5


Until We Die N

iko created the idea for "Until We Die" in March, 2010. He was a young guitarist, but didn´t have the equipment to record anything, so he collected ideas. After being the vocalist and guitarist of multiple bands, he decided that he wanted to record his own music, so he went along and recorded multiple demo songs in his self build home studio with nothing but his laptop and equipment. He started learning how to record, mix, master and produce full songs by himself, and gained knowledge very quickly. Two years later he created the page for his project called "Until We Die" in March, 2015 and started spreading the word about his music. Since then, he started releasing all of his recorded songs for the people in the metal scene that love melodic, 6

inspiring, thoughtful, yet heavy music. After releasing the 2015 demo people showed him support immediately. He went along and released an EP called "A World In Flames" in April, 2016. The EP was physically printed by the label "Mid West Brutality" and sold out the next day they were online. Niko started recording the debut album "Before the Decay of Time" before releasing the EP in 2016. 3 singles off the debut record were released and made people ask for more. The highly anticipated album is set to release early November and will be released in cooperation with Chugcore.


Before the Decay of Time Until We Die's album "Before the Decay of Time" is a concept album which let´s the listener relive life through the eyes of different human and demonic beings taking place during the end of the world and of all life. It starts off with light, hope and love, but it ends with darkness, despair and hatred. Covering many issues of today's life by using metaphors and a lot of fantasy, this is sure to mesmerize the audience.

is. The guitar work is reminiscent of bands like "The Black Dahlia Murder", "Rose Funeral" or "And Hell Followed With". Everything on this record was recorded, mixed, mastered and produced by the man behind the band, Niko Apostolakis, who was 18 by the time of recording. It is set to be released in November, 2016 and will be available digitally and on CD distributed by the label "Chugcore". https://www.facebook.com/UntilWeDieBand

Listening to "Before the Decay of Time" is like a roller-coaster ride, because it combines the heaviness of Brutal Death Metal and Deathcore with the melodies of Melodic and Symphonic Death Metal, while maintaining an unbelievable but controlled speed. Technical riffs, solos, symphonies, but also breakdowns make this album what it

https://www.youtube.com/c/UntilWeDieBand https://untilwedie.bandcamp.com https://soundcloud.com/untilwedie

7


Interview with David Gray

David Gray needs no introduction, so let’s not waste any time. The acclaimed and awardwinning British singer-songwriter, arguably best known for the White Ladder album, has just unveiled his latest LP, Mutineers , and stopped by the office for a chat about sexing things up and working with Lamb’s Andy Barlow. Hi David, hope all’s well today. Having listened to the record, it is clear you’re presenting a different version of David Gray. Were you bored with where you at creatively before this record? Were you frustrated? Where’s this coming from? We’re sexing up the dossier. Is that what we’re doing? That’s why you’re wearing this revealing shirt? Project Sex Up. It’s the David Gray SexedUp Dossier era. That’s what’s going on. I think when you make records one after the other, obviously you finish one, you have ideas in your head, but every now and again you end up down a bit of a cul-de-sac, that’s inevitable. You learn ways of making music and you’re accomplished at doing that and so you fall into a rhythm but suddenly where I was at, on every level, the sort of crucified middleaged man posture. I was sick of that. I was sick of the usual path past the usual trees in my creative landscape; I had to find a new way. I think I’d said all I had to say. That’s how it felt. Was that a scary place to be in? It sounds like a scary place for a guy whose bread and butter is writing songs. 8

I was wary of the tortured artist, exhausted performer routine. Obviously touring and stuff does take it out of you, so trying to live a family life, trying to get this impossible balance all the time. I don’t know whether that was a part of it; I felt like I was at the end of something. It was a testing period and the record that I wanted to make had several false starts. I tried something different, then something more familiar. Neither of those felt right. Something again, that didn’t work either. It was about getting the right person. We can talk about my work but I guess it was me as a person as well. Tell us about the making of the record because apparently this was like World War Three, making this record. It’s a guy named Andy Barlow?


Yeah, he was in a band called Lamb, an electronic kind of band that did pretty well. He’s sort of gone off on the production thing now. He’s early in his producer career. And he’s not that well known as a producer. No. So why did you choose him? My manager’s instinct was something good could happen, I was looking at bigger name producers but you’re always fitting into someone’s schedule. I need someone who’s sort of going to spend some proper time and I could tell he had the keys to the city, the world of sound. He had a real take on things. He got me to double track everything, which I was a bit like ‘Oh God’. I literally yawned the first time he said that. What difference did Andy Barlow make

to the record stylistically? Andy made a huge impact on the sound of the record. Myself and the band provided the songs, playing and instrumentation, the sound was all his. An awful of the lot of the work that we did on the songs was about simplifying them musically and instrumentally; basically emptying them out and creating the space in order that something else could happen. What else is going on other than the record? Apart from the imminent release of Mutineers, the main things that are happening are huge amounts of promotional activity (press and radio interviews, filmed or recorded acoustic performances for various media partners, TV appearances) and live shows. I am just about to embark on a UK tour which includes some Irish festival dates. This is followed by a 5-week tour of the USA ending early September. Beyond that there is the iTunes festival at the Roundhouse in London and further tours of Australia and Europe currently being pieced together. Busy times. Any particular future plans for studio stuff/other projects? There were an awful lot of songs left over from the recording of Mutineers . I would love to steal a week or 3 at some point to try and record at least some of them with the new band. I also have a hankering to cut an alt country-style record out in Nashville. I would imagine that I might be busy Mutineering for quite some time though...... Will probably need to stop and breathe and catch up with family and friends at some point in the near-to-mid future too!

9


Jack White Is one of our generations

most innovative and creative multi faceted artists

J

ack White is one of our generation’s most innovative and creative, multi-faceted artists; a singer, songwriter and record producer. Let’s not forget a philanthropist who gave $200k to the National Recording Preservation Foundation of which he’s now a board member. (We’d like to back up here and stress the word “innovative”, which tends to get over-used, but in this case, it could be White’s middle name.) And you can’t define his music with one genre, because he’s a blend of country, rock, blues and punk and has collaborated with Beyoncé, Beck and even Loretta Lynn. Personally love watching him perform just to see the, “Oh shit, what did I just do?” look on his face afterwards. Like he had been caught up in the moment, the emotion of his lyrics and the rawness coming out of his guitar, and then a realization, almost a bit of embarrassment of showing such vulnerability. White has been called eccentric and controversial, but the man has had an incredibly complex career and an intense personal life over the past decade. So, we’ve highlighted a few several things about him 10

that we wouldn’t want to be label, Third Man Records which he’d formed in 2001. quizzed on later. (Actually, we would pass with flying red, black and white colors.) A couple of us have actually been there and In 1997, White founded the trust us when we say this duo, White Stripes, with his place is truly bad ass. You can tell White put everything wife, Meg White, although they portrayed themselves emotional and spiritual into the creation of it, because as siblings for privacy reasons. (On a naughty side you can feel his presence, like he might just be around note, I bet that made their the corner. And we can’t not private life feel a little mention The Record Booth, kinkier, yeah?) They which is a 1947 refurbished divorced in 2000, and Voice-o-Graph machine! after 11 years and multiple It’s not just for show or for albums, White Stripes bragging rights; you can “disbanded” in 2011. actually record in it, as he But during that time, White demonstrated alongside just couldn’t sit still. He Neil Young on The Tonight accepted a small but Show with Jimmy Fallon. poignant role in the 2003 movie, Cold Mountain, and In 2011, White pretty much wrote, produced and recorded 5 songs for the recorded his entire debut soundtrack, had a brief album, Blunderbuss, which romance with one of the was released in vinyl during lead actresses, Renee Zellweger, got re-married in the spring of 2012. Not surprisingly, he was 2005 to British model nominated for 4 Grammy Karen Elson (Meg was maid-of-honor!), played the awards that year. role of Elvis Presley in the satire, Walk Hard, in 2007, In 2014, his sophomore founded The Raconteurs in album, Lazaretto, was born after White dug around his 2006, and then The Dead attic and scored a bunch Weather in 2009. of material he wrote when he was only 19. The album, That same year, which has hidden songs, the 41-year-old Detroit grooves and even native made Nashville holograms that appear his permanent home and when you play it, earned bought a place for his him a Grammy for Best recording studio/record store based around his own Rock Performance.


This past September, we were ecstatic about his Double EP, 26-track album release of “Acoustic Recordings 1998-2016” and the intricate details of White’s stripped-down voice can’t be missed. (One of our interns just yelled out, “tell them to wear headphones the first time they listen to it!) And what’s coming next? Vault Package #30 from Third Man Records. Vault is the very cool membership that includes tons of not-so-typical stuff, like access to live streams of special events, chat room access where Jack and/or Third Man employees host live chats, and, of course, the quarterly Vault Package that includes both a 12” and 7” record and a “bonus” item. This might be the best Vault yet, with a compilation of live music from Jack White, The Raconteurs, The Kills, William Tyler, Dead Weather and White Stripes. There’s also some extras from the special event, Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown (Nashville episode) and, for the first time, TWO FULL LP’s! So while others call him eccentric and controversial, we call him humorous and original. Any dude who takes his wife’s last night name in marriage, starts out in a band called Goober and the Peas, and has a stuffed peacock? Exactly.

Article by Angelina G

11


Press Release Boy Eats Girl’s NEW EP

B

oy Eats Girl's Ep "The Answer to Infection" is a concept piece that takes you on a journey through the mind of a man captured in all the stages of a psychotic break. From a dark romance, to heavy abstract delusions, to a remorseless rage. With a complex and unusual storyline with multiple meanings behind it coupled with fast, heavy rhythms, technical riffs and aggressive voice to imprint every emotion of the character, this is sure to intrigue and captivate the listener. The Answer to Infection' is set to release at November of 2016 and will feature the singles 'She Shattered Like Glass' and 'The Ebony Curse' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2xyMGsHO3Q

12


BoyEatsGirl Biography: BoyEatsGirl is an Australian extreme metal project driven by one man. Rick ‘Cleveland’ Pinto created BoyEatsGirl in late 2015, and it had its first single release “She Shattered Like Glass” in April 2016. The first single rapidly gained attention and has built itself a solid foundation. Following many featured articles from magazines, groups and blogs such as The Circle Pit and Blank Tv, BoyEatsGirl released another single titled “The Ebony Curse” both singles set to feature on the upcoming 2016 Ep release “The Answer to Infection” https://soundcloud.com/boy-eatsgirl-785383792 https://www.facebook.com/boyeatsgirl https://www.youtube.com/channel/ UCCJPahLTFzj1_8sp0OVEpEA http://www.reverbnation.com/ boyeatsgirlband https://boyeatsgirl.bandcamp.com/releases http://www.purevolume.com/ BoyEatsGirlOfficial31284

13


Truth Behind The Rage Of

Boy Eats Girl BPM: Was it the old zombie movie of the same name that inspired you to choose “Boy Eats Girl” or is there another reason behind it? Rick: It was actually a play on the old saying ‘boy meets girl, girl meets boy,’ which is practically how every love story begins haha. I had already mapped out the basic draft of the story line to ‘The Answer to Infection’ well before i decided on the name. As well as a twisted, psychological tale of a man’s spiral towards delusion and madness, i knew they’d be fragments of romance and cannibalism. thus, Boy Eats Girl seemed to be a perfect fit. BPM: Can you elaborate on the multiple meanings of the story lines in your debut album, “The Answer to Infection”? Rick: The literal story behind ‘The Answer to Infection’ begins with ‘The Ebony Curse,’ which surrounds the protagonist in loss and betrayal, sparking his rage and guilt. 14

This progresses to ever increasing delusions that blur the lines of what is real and what is just in his head. As time passes he desperately tries to recover the feelings he lost, and soon realizes they are no longer there anymore. Feeling empty, unfulfilled and acquiring a seemingly unquenchable thirst, he now seeks out to destroy any and every surrogate that resembles that of what he once loved. Ii’ve written this in a certain way to fit certain types of individuals. Understanding the ‘who’ but not knowing the ‘why’ leaves the story wide open to speculation and debate, this was intentional. It could be seen as a unique and aggressive horror story, be used as a means to relieve personal pressures, a psychological mystery, or as a metaphorical puzzle. It all depends on how you relate to the character and filter though the balance how much is actually real and not just a delusion.


BPM: Would you consider those to be a collection of stories that are derived from personal experiences? (For me, “The Ebony Curse” is a painful love song for the angry but brokenhearted) Rick: The chapters of the story itself are purely fictional, however, the various emotions that occur throughout the record, i wanted to humanize as much as possible. The rage, hurt and frustration could’ve easily been taken from my own personal past experiences, but the more complex behaviors was from studying various disorders and psychopathic profiling. BPM: Boy Eats Girl has been in the music scene for about a year now, and with a growing fan base. What makes you stand out against other artists in your genre? (i.e., visually, lyrically, production) Rick: Lyrically, i wrote this record more like a film script, as opposed to a typical concept piece. There was a lot of thought put in behind the creation of the psychology and manifestation main protagonist. The story was also written in a very three dimensional way, not only to enhance the experience but draw the listener in further after the record has ended to replay it to see what they’ve missed. I wrote it all very carefully so each word has some meaning or clue behind it.

to Infection’ crosses multiple genres of metal. There’s elements of death metal, black metal, technical deathcore and even in parts, extended to classical orchestration that’s found in dramatic film scores. The instruments coupled with sampling from horror film scenes is truly unique to the genre or rare at the least, it can only be described as extreme metal. BPM: Some might say that the visuals/lyrics from Boy Eats Girl are disturbing or violent. If they peeled away the outside layers, would they be surprised to find a quiet, sensitive guy at the core? Or, how would you describe yourself?” Rick: Haha. Im a pretty normal guy. I wouldn’t say im overly aggressive or sensitive, somewhere in middle i guess. I suppose you could say, i have unusual interests towards the darker side of things. I’ve had a fascination with serial killers and criminal psychology as far back as i can remember. In a lot of ways its made me into the black sheep of society but it definitely helps with creativity and writing outside of the predictable realm of normalcy without actually being totally insane.

Iinstrumentally, ‘The Answer 15


B

oy Eats Girl Eats BeatPulse Magazine Alive

The day Boy Eats Girl came to us at BeatPulse Magazine is when the real story began. I personally passed the interview to another member, and they came back saying they couldn’t write the article. Found it too difficult, and since I hadn’t yet researched Boy Eats Girl, I watched a couple of videos. Debates began behind the scenes after that. The music’s message went against everything I envisioned for our mission of positive media. Everyone started having doubts then arguments between the staff were underway. Unbeknownst to the world, the magazine was facing difficulty, although, our staff did no wrong. They were only finding the subject matter difficult to write about. My own ideas for BeatPulse were in the balance and the staff became curious why the artist would be featured when the context of rape, murder and other aggressive and negative content was such a focus. The staff kept researching, knowing that there had to be more behind the artist. They knew the interview would uncover something deeper. After I sent the questions off to Boy Eats Girl and they were returned to me, I sat reading his responses for some time. It was amazing. Inspiring, even. I never showed anyone. The team had disbanded but not because of this. It’s just where it all began. The future of the magazine was now in the balance. I was left with three websites and no idea of how the new structure would work. I was so used to the old way of running things. I knew mainly the idea behind BPM was 16

positivity. Boy Eats Girl showed me how wrong one man could be, and how I had judged someone. As an artist, I should understand that to stand out and be noticed, it sometimes means taking on very creative formats. Indeed, that’s all it was. Learning more about the artist behind Boy Meets Girl unveiled the most kind, gentle, and honest man. And a great human being. When I announced my decision to shut down the magazine, he even took it like a pro, although he was our cover for November. But there is no end to this man and his music. Both sides told two different stories, and what might sound negative is just perception based upon no facts. It was a great lesson and a wakeup call that not everything is what it seems. To top things off, Boy Eats Girl offered to help in any way he could. He believed it was about money and offered to send more to help us survive. I thought, oh my god, this man is phenomenal. Of course, I never accepted as money was not the reason, but the offer was unbelievably generous. After doing 7 magazines solo and then having a team, then the site and magazine revamp, I found it overwhelming to deal with all of this along with managing our social media. The end was here, so I thought. I sat crying for such a long time wondering what went wrong with the magazine among many other challenges taking shape. Then I suddenly gave up fighting myself. The one thing I knew never to do was to judge anyone. The magazine needed revising and things had to change. I discovered a book by a magazine expert Lorraine Phillips it was like the heavens were speaking. I reached out to the magazine industry professional,


very much realizing I came into this side of the industry with no knowledge at all, apart from being married briefly to a magazine owner. Her reply shocked me back into action. I came into the industry with belief that I can do this and her email was the most inspiring email I had ever read from an expert. Lorraine’s Message to myself. “I looked at your magazine and all I can say is well done! It looks awesome. If you can put something like this together in 9 months then that definitely says more about you than the book. I am so glad that my book was able to give you the fire that you needed and yes, I think you are absolutely right...I would say that 90% of anything is belief. If there’s anything I can do please don’t hesitate and wishing all the best for the future, definitely keep me posted but in the meantime I have bookmarked the link. WOW! “ Lorraine Phillips Book Publish Your First Digital Magazine: Taking You from Concept to Delivery https://www.amazon.com/gp/ product/0988953501

I hope many can take inspiration from the story that nearly was the end. After revaluation, the mission was to help indie artists know their worth and give them the same opportunity as any other human being or artist. Some changes took shape on a level that was for the benefit of all artists. Is the magazine out of the woods? No. There’s no staff at present and the answer is not yet clear. Who was responsible? Only myself. Who helped save BeatPulse? Everyone who played a part. What did I learn? Never judge anyone or anything under any circumstances you don’t know what you don’t know. Perceptions ideas, and beliefs. They are all valid. Just because negative words, symbols, ideas. Does not mean the ones behind are negative. Creative expression where only positive humans choose to create their art. Communicate first, Learn to understand first. BeatPulse Magazine November is the last issue under music, fashion, entertainment. Until we return February 2017 with brand new format, vision, complete new meaning.

Then a friend posted a video on social media that resonated with me. I knew at this moment: “It’s not over until I decide it’s over.” Everything that led up to this happening, I realize now that everyone played such an awesome part in the history of the magazine. The message was clear: nothing is negative but only what one perceives. The meaning is true only to the perception given. As a spiritual person practicing daily for my entire life, I thought, WOW, this was groundbreaking insight I just learned. 17


Jay Connor The industry rising star you need to know about Jay Connor is a name you woudnt have heard off but one thing for sure he is about to take the industry by storm. Recently appointed as EssexTV’s Interim CEO the British executive is also set to oversee new lifestyle & entertainment magazine ‘Essex Mag’ being launched in October 2016. Connor hasn’t let recent professional success get in the way of his acting and producing dream as he is a panellist on men’s chat show Loose Lads as well as working on his own documentary dubbed ‘My First Fight’ which aims to document his journey towards his first Muay Thai fight. LooseLads is a place where the guys can let loose… say whats on there mind and be real! Women can watch to see how the male mind works and the men can watch to see there points of view being put across on TV. Following his EssexTV appointment Connor told a publication ‘Im putting a lot of work in this year, it wont be easy but I have a good team around me and I’m always eager to learn new things’. Connor is expected to take EssexTV onto the Sky screens as early as 2018 in a move reportedly backed by a £1.2m investment from the channel’s owners B.E Group, he is also tasked with the key challenge of preparing for a possible IPO with early 18

indications showing that Connor could become a millionaire overnight if he manages to sell the EssexTV brand to new owners. The Braintree native hasn’t let any of the contemplations and rumours get in his way as he still upholds one of his jobs managing a pub in Essex and still a devoted family fam. His wife Keri is expected to support her beau with reporters already calling them ‘The First Family of Essex’ in entertainment ofcourse! Find out more about Jay Connor: https://www.essex-tv.co.uk/board


Upon his return to the UK Fadil is expected to get straight back into work as he completes the filming of his anticipated TV series Burnt Toast written by Steve Ward in which he plays the lead role. David Ray 40 something, a ladies man with a fat wallet. Lives with his old school pal Shaun Shenk a 40 year old virgin in a Essex flat. Donna day lives next door, a party girl who loves the boys to bits. And is the only one who sees through David’s bull. Add to the mix the new weed smoking, pill poppers that just moved in the block and the two dodgy doorman at their local boozer. Fadil is also due to feature in a reality documentary series featuring Xfactor & CBB star Stevi Ritchie dubbed ‘Stevi Ritchie Takes On Essex’, in a trailer for the show Fadil is seen escorting the star around Essex and in scenes outside a vehicle Ritchie is captured taking a dig at Fadil as he says ‘lay off the chips’.

Actor Tony Fadil Turns up the volume as he stars in music video When Tony Fadil isn’t starring in blockbusters or producing films he has the tendency of dining at some exciting restaurants, well at-least that’s the message we got from his latest project as he featured in a music video for artist shot in what seemed to be an American diner. The recently released video comes as Fadil has been on a post summer break in Monaco as he spotted yet another colourful ensemble in a series of tweets as he took the sun in with his beau, he captioned images “Me and Kylie drinking champagne in Monaco at the yacht exhibition … This is life”

His 2016 releases have included 1603 a feature film about war torn Kurdistan which is a production by actor Danny Darren and this adds on to recent DVD release ........... which Fadil has a role in which reportedly sold out of various shop floors across the UK on release day, speaking out after the release of the film he said ‘I’m just so humbled by all the support of my journey so far, I have some very exciting projects coming up and I can’t wait to stick my teeth into them.’ Keep up with Tony’s future http://www.imdb.com/name/nm5366001

19


housewives every day pick up a tin of beans and say, ‘Beanz Meanz Heinz.’” There was the good, the bad and the downright appalling - remember the Shake and Vac song? - as the marketing juggernaut drove straight through our brains with unforgettable music that was designed to make us smile, wince or otherwise react so that we never forgot the products. And the artform of music to sell goods has become more and more sophisticated. Today’s advertisers can manipulate our mood and emotion through music far more effectively than a DJ at a south London rave.

On song for sales Music sells. No, not just sells itself, as in hearing it on MTV and rushing out to the record shop to buy the CD. It sells stuff, which is why shops and supermarkets got in on the act a long time ago. But even they were far behind TV. The programme producers have always known that a catchy little theme tune would create an indelible brand for a show. However, compared with all the above, it’s the advertisers that have the led in way in taking music that sells into a new dimension. There was the catchy ad jingle - the musical equivalent of the politician’s soundbite long before polititians had ever heard of soundbites that stayed in the head for ever and ever. “Now hands that do dishes can be soft as your face, with mild green Fairy liquid,” or “A million 20

It’s all become much more subtle. The name of the game is no longer to have us humming a catchy theme, it’s about taking a song that’s been lurking quietly in our long-term memory and slapping a mental bill poster for the product all over it. The really clever thing about that is there’s no need for the advertisers to create the mood from scratch any more - it’s already there by our own association. With the precision of a brain surgeon, they move into our heads and hijack a small mood-inducing section of our musical memory that we will then attribute to their product. With the average cranium storing enough melodies to fill a few hundred iPods, the choice for advertisers is vast. From classics to current chart-toppers, there’s something to get us feeling warm and cuddly toward any product, from cars to pile ointment. There are the nice homely associations of feet up in front of the fire with Dad coming home from th’mill and Mum making us dinner of tripe and onions when we first heard Ol’ Blue Eyes. Frank Sinatra is a perennial of the commercials. BT used Love and Marriage and They All Laughed ; That’s Life pushed Smirnoff; Bell’s whiskey had Young at Heart ; the Renault Laguna took Come Fly With Me ; and even Orbit chewing gum


weighed in with When You’re Smiling . And what better for furniture emporium DFS to create that cosy family ambiance than everyone’s favourite, Edith Piaf’s Non Je Ne Regrette Rien ? But of course, while cosy is fine for sofa sales, lots of products want to pull us back to the dynamic sexy sixties, seventies and eighties: a time of freedom of expression, the emergence of youth culture and living life to the full. That’s the historical perspective, at least. But even if it wasn’t quite so rosy in reality, it was a time when we think fondly of the music that kept us sane through the Bay of Pigs, the Cold War, Vietnam, the three-day week, the miners’ strike and economic depression. The kids of these times are the big-spending consumers of today, and the advertisers are playing on it for all they’re worth. The Age of Aquarius , from the controversial musical Hair (Ford), Popcorn , further immortalised as a hit ringtone (Nokia), ELO’s Mr Blue Sky and Fleetwood Mac’s Albatross (M&S), Be Young, Be Foolish by the Tams (Persil), Stranger on the Shore by Acker Bilk (Whiskas) and Thunderclap Newman’s Something in the Air (Talk Talk) all evoke warm feelings of trendiness among those who, in reality, stopped being trendy 30 years ago. But it’s a feeling they’ll still buy into. And there are occasional 100 per cent pearls, such as Ca Plane pour Moi , through which Toucan broadband restored Plastic Bertrand to his rightful place as the most famous Belgian of all time.

For advertising aimed squarely at the affluent youth of today, there’s plenty to choose from. The blunt approach has a lot to be said for it. Just take contemporary pop and apply it to your youthtargeted product. Simple but effective, as done by Apple, with The Caesar’s Jerk It Out , Gorillaz track Feel Good Inc or Vertigo by U2, or by Lucozade with Audio Bullys’ We Don’t Care . But the really clever stuff comes with crossover products - those that pitch to several markets at once. You can, of course, just make several ads with music to awaken different mindsets, which is fine for those with big budgets. But the holy grail is the music that is so exceptional it has universal appeal or can quickly achieve this with exposure. No one does it better than the carmakers. And no carmakers do it better than the French ones. Think Renault and you’ll think of Fatboy Slim’s remix of Groove Armada’s I See you Baby , taking funk to the over forties, or Nina Simone’s Sinnerman being directed the opposite way. And arch rivals Citroën aren’t going to be forgotten with Les Rythmes Digitales’ Jacques Your Body . There’s just no escape any more. Once you would go around trying to get the Shake and Vac commercial out of your head; now you want to get the Citroën ad in. It’s a marketer’s dream. The only way out is to turn off the TV and go live in one of those lifts that still plays muzak. Picture caption: A countless number of songs from Frank Sinatra’s fine collection have been used to help sell a variety of products.

21


Image credit: (C) Kevin Dooley

CHRISTMASChristmas 2016 cheat sheet Holidays are coming, holidays are coming, holidays are... No, seriously, holidays are actually coming, and when we say coming we mean coming faster than you can say ‘Haven’t managed to pay back what I borrowed to make Greece happen this summer’. It’s almost as if we’ve not all been here before, every year of our lives. Christmas- or the festive period at least- is just around the corner, with the shopping weeks starting to tick down. The problem being that when time flies like you’re having fun, even if you’re actually just spending most of your time at work/looking after the family/sleeping, it’s easy to completely lose track of the days and suddenly realise you’re fresh out of that most precious of commodities. Phew. Panic not. We’re still where we are in the calendar, meaning it’s not over yet. Even better, everyone in our office has put their heads together and come up with the following cheat sheet, as 22

the kids call ‘em, ensuring you definitely won’t (shouldn’t?) miss the all-important points of no return and wind up having to make up some apologetic excuse about why so-and-so got no card, she didn’t receive the whatever, and that guy was left wondering what happened to his thing too. Feel free to cut out and keep... Postal dates Monday 28th November - Airmail to to operational British Armed Forces Monday 12th December - Airmail to static British Armed Forces Saturday 3rd December - African and Middle East destinations Wednesday 7th December - Cyprus, Asia, Far East (Including Japan), Eastern Europe Thursday 8th December - Caribbean, Central and South America Saturday 10th December - Greece, Australia,


New Zealand

Advent

Wednesday 14th December - Czech Republic, Finland, Sweden, USA

4th December - First Sunday

Friday 16th December - Austria, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland Saturday 17th December - Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg Tuesday 20th December - all of UK 2nd Class and 2nd Class Signed For Wednesday 21st December - UK 1st Class and 1st Class Signed For Thursday 22nd December - Special Delivery Guaranteed

25th December - Fourth Sunday Christmas and New Year Sunday 25th December - Christmas Day Saturday 31st December - New Year’s Eve Sunday 1st January 2017 - New Year’s Day Monday 2nd January 2017 - Bank Holiday Monday

Friday 23rd December - Special Delivery Saturday Guaranteed Shopping dates 2nd December - You have three shopping weeks to go 9th December - You have two shopping weeks to go (stop stalling) 16th December - For goodness sake you need to start buying presents... 23rd December - Brace yourself for a shopping trip plucked straight from a horror movie School holidays (not including universities) Friday 19th December - Term finishes, Christmas holidays begin (UK) Tuesday 3rd January 2017 - Term begins, Christmas holidays end (UK) 23


Virtual Reality irtual reality equipV ment distributors have always been in-

credibly optimistic with their pricing and advertising campaigns, but the reality is that a lot of brands are getting thrown under the virtual bus.

controller until the HTC Vive introduced competition with their “millimeter tracking” system.

In terms of VR failing entirely, there was a point this year where PC developer Valve stepped in and essentially gave away free money to Surveys conducted show support the struggling that the Oculus Rift tops VR companies and to the charts in brand prevent competition via recognition, followed exclusivity. by Google Cardboard? You would expect to see This led to the popular belief that now wasn’t Microsoft HoloLens, or the time for the era of PlayStation VR here, given that consoles are VR. Oculus Rift was an exception to this whole more abundant than ordeal, as it was bought high end PCs, but that out by Facebook (Mark isn’t the case. Zuckerberg obviously It turns out that has well over significant consumers have heard funding to advertise efmore about a piece of fectively). cardboard that isn’t As of now, however, actually a VR device in sales projections remain and of itself, rather a shell meant to hold your high, and hopes remain high as well for the Android phone in. future of virtual reality The mere fact of this gaming as a whole. could be fatal to the sales numbers of other Maybe one day headsets virtual reality companies and accessories will be such as the HTC Vive or more affordable, less demanding of space, and Samsung Gear; Not to more unified for mention that the developers so Oculus didn’t even everyone can easily include a custom VR 24

enjoy the technology in their homes. By Alec


Only The Dead Know These Secrets “Dream, Recurring” is a ghost story unlike no other. A mystery that will leave you wondering until the very end. Lucy has been having a recurring dream. Night after night she finds herself driving on a winding road with her best friend Sam. She feels lost as this path seems to lead to nowhere. That is until she discovers a house. Curious, she goes up to investigate, discovering that the place is empty...

love and want to learn more! To check this exciting new book out on Amazon, go to: https://www.amazon.com/DreamRecurring-Island-River-Tales/ dp/1535560827 To learn more about the author and this new and exciting book, check out: http://www.markcanniff.com

This is the first novel penned by Mark Canniff. When he created it, his intentions were to write a story that his wife would love and an enigma that would leave her stumped until the last page. (Since she’s an expert at watching a movie/reading a book where she guesses “who did it”), he knew if he could confuse her, he might have something special. “I couldn’t get ahead of it!” - Lisa Canniff Mandie McLain reviewed Dream, Recurring (Island River Tales Book 1) September 3, 2016 I loved this book! Great story with a great storyline that keeps you hanging on. Characters that you will

25


26


27



Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.