The online resource for Dom Smith Journalism - Blog

Why we've decided to release both print issues of Soundsphere magazine online for free

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 05:48:13 -0800

Aside from the fact that most of the copies (apart from a select few promotional ones that I use to go into schools, colleges and universities to talk to students with...) have gone, we (as a group) decided that it'd be nice for everyone to have access to our hard work over 2010 and 2011, completely freakin' free.

The fact is, I am very lucky to be in this position. I am able to work with dedicated professionals from all walks of life in the music industry every day. I am also incredibly fortunate to have Jamie Mahon (our awesome print magazine designer) and Kieran Schlechter (who handles management of this lovely site) behind me, and a 40+ strong team of contributors from around the globe (you guys are all amazing). And so, with that in mind, I/we didn't want to limit the reach of our special printed issues anymore. Also, I've been wanting to change a mistake that is forever set in the print run of issue two (for a very long time), and unleashing this digitally has given me the opportunity to do that.

I want to personally take this opportunity to thank our fans, first-time readers, bands, PRs, labels et al from the bottom of my black heart! I/we appreciate the support that you give Soundsphere magazine constantly, like you wouldn't believe!

Will there be another print issue? Probably. In some form or shape. It's a hard job with only two (and sometimes three) people at the core (and none of us do it full-time), but thanks for understanding. I feel good about the future though... here's how good I actually feel... can you see it in my beautiful eyes on the picture below?

If you want to have your say on what goes in ISSUE THREE, and how it's done, then please take some time to fill out this delightful form (it should only take a few minutes). Also, if you still fancy buying copies of our printed issues, then stockists are here: FiXT Music (United States), Heaven Forbid (in-store, York, UK), Tokyo Royale (in-store, Manchester, UK), Resurrection Records (in-store, London, UK), Musicnonstop.co.uk (online), Trash Vogue Records (online).

But yeah, you can now view both print publications (featuring artists as diverse as Placebo, Pendulum, Frank Turner, Skindred, Enter Shikari, Gary Numan, Killing Joke, Combichrist, Paradise Lost, Hyro Da Hero, Officers, Patrick Wolf, The Pigeon Detectives, Patrick Wolf and Patrick Stump) online via the epic publishing platform that is Issuu.

ISSUE ONE

ISSUE TWO

I/we hope you enjoy them. Please share the publications (they are available for download), and comment on what you like/dislike about 'em!

Cheers again, and much love.

Dom Smith (editor) and the Soundspheremag.com team.

After looking at my face... relax with a nice Frank Turner video. Yeah!

My thoughts on Yorkshire's music scene in 2012

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 03:11:57 -0800

Yorkshire's indie and rock music scenes are positively thriving. With great bands and venues across key areas including York, Hull Leeds, Sheffield and Bradford, there is talent collectively busting a gut to be heard and seen.

The biggest problem that all regional promoters and bands seem to have, is getting people away from their computers and into venues to check out these energetic and awesome acts when they perform live. Venues such as Bradford's 1-In-12, The Cockpit and Nation Of Shopkeepers in Leeds, Stereo and Fibbers in York, Black Flag in Wakefield, The Riverside in Selby, Yardbirds in Grimsby, Corporation and The Boardwalk in Sheffield, The Dome in Doncaster, The Pavilion in Halifax, 1:22 Club in Huddersfield, Vivaz in Scarborough, The New Adelphi and Fruit in Hull and even the new Milton Rooms in Malton keep me constantly motivated and entertained on a very regular basis. I wanted to speak to a few musicians from key areas in and around Yorkshire about why they love their city's scene so much.

Ian Stockdale (Promotions, The Corporation, Sheffield) says: “There are a lot of new styles and sounds that quickly take off in this city. And there are many open minded promoters and musicians who are willing to put time and effort into both their music and events.”

Tim Hornsby (Promotions, Fibbers, York) says: “York has punched above it's weight for many years it is still only a small city, a glorified town. Giants of all genres lurk amongst the walls. Shed Seven, Glamour Of The Kill and One Night Only to name but a few. On any night, you can find great live music of some feather or colour.”

Jim Dog (Promotions, 1in12, Bradford) says: “Once again, the 1in12 club finds itself at the centre of a newly active and newly politicised movement for affordable, DIY music in a city raging against the attacks on our social structures created under yet another aggressive Tory government. In many ways, the conditions now are remarkably similar to those that created the first wave of our scene back in the 80s and so there is a lot of room for optimism.”

Mark Hall (Promotions, Fruit, Hull) says: The city, lacking an Academy or O2, rather unfairly misses out on a lot of big touring bands which are routinely steered through Sheffield and Leeds or York; but this hasn't stopped the live scene blossoming. Since opening Früit less than two years ago, I have witnessed a definite increase in diversity and quality emerging in the music of local bands including The Neat, Late Night Fiction and endoflevelbaddie all make it an exciting time to be running a venue in Hull!”

When it comes to bands, there's some really stand-out new talent across the region including the Gary Numan-endorsed Officers (Leeds), NME-dubbed indie oddballs Hungry Ghosts (York), Mickey Dale's Talk To Angels (Bradford), Hey Sholay (Sheffield) and the Zane Lowe-approved Late Night Fiction (Hull).

Jamie Baker (Officers) says: “Leeds has given us the room to breathe and helped us establish who we are as a band and label we want to run. Anyone creative in the city seems to have an ethic in them to help each other and transcend the scenes and cultures and prejudice you might find in other cities.”

Adam Wilson (Hungry Ghosts) says: “I think York is one of those places where bands get along. There's rarely any of the arrogant competition when you turn up to gigs, where bands all sit in their own corner, cross legged, playing Angry Birds. With it being a small city, people involved in the music scene tend to make an effort with other folk in the music scene.”

James Thompson (Late Night Fiction) says: “Just this underdog mentality that pulls people together. We love being part of one of the friendliest scenes going.”

Laurie Allport (Hey Sholay) says: “Whether it be the legacy left by experimental legends such as Derek Bailey, to the pure embracing of unorthodox technology such as 'Harleylikesmusic' - a new young musician who multi-tracks in a live situation using only two Nintendo Gameboys. Sheffield will always remain a true Alluvium for creatives.”

Mickey Dale (Embrace/Talk To Angels) says: It's a vibrant place to live, around the city centre there's a number of venues who still do things their own way and some truly amazing music is being performed. Bradford's 1 in 12 Club, The New Beehive, Delius Lived Next Door and The Polish Club all put on regular live music nights featuring anything from Electronica, kraut-rock, folk, indie, shoe gaze, math rock, post rock and more.”

There is so much opportunity now for you as a music lover to take advantage of; with all the venues listed above working hard to bring you the best in live music, from fresh-faced local talent to acclaimed acts. Dare I say it, it this may just be the most explosive year for Yorkshire music in the last decade or so.

For more information on my own publication Soundsphere magazine, and how we are trying to help the Yorkshire music scene, click here.

Here are some videos, by some of the bands I've spoken about here:

Reviews of Castle Howard and Burton Agnes Hall in Rough Guide to Accessible Britain

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 13:24:02 -0800

I have reviews published in the new book!

That's pretty cool. I am proud; it is a pleasure to be a part of this long-established series.

Check the link out below to see the whole book... there's great reviews of venues around the country that the whole family will find useful.

http://gb.zinio.com/reader.jsp?issue=416213940&o=ext&WT.mc_id=PUB_WW
W_Free_USA_32712_Rough_Guide_To_Accessible_Britain_2012

Working on York Stories 2012

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 05:36:41 -0800

It's been a pleasure...

We're finally (nearly) there with this project. It's been supported by York City Council, so we've (The Creative Condition) had to make a number of small changes to suit various policies and people's ideas. But, I believe the changes that have been made away from our original site plan are for the best.

It's been exciting for our team (Jonathan Sillence, Colm O'Rourke and Mike Leigh Cooper are also involved) to chat to the people of York and collect their stories. We've had tales of love, loss, location and success; the great thing has been, not just getting these stories in an audio format, but also as written and video articles.

It's going to be great to see this project "rolled out" over the coming months, and also to witness just how much impact it might have on the city of York as a whole.

Massive thanks to everyone who has helped us (and will continue to) collect data for this project. We are very proud to be involved in it; of course, I am speaking for the whole TCC team here. But yeah, it's been a long, but rewarding project.

The holding page for the whole thing is here: http://www.launch.yorkstories2012.com/launch/

The Twitter for the project is here: https://twitter.com/yorkstories2012

The Facebook for the project is here: https://www.facebook.com/YorkStories

The Creative Condition's site and main info is here:
http://www.architectsofdesign.co.uk

Also, I am sadly mourning the death of one of my favourite bands of the last decade, this month. UK alt-rock act Japanese Voyeurs are gone, but not forgotten.

Speak soon,

Dom

It's very nice to be nominated for stuff... The National Diversity Awards 2012

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:24:21 -0800

So, it's been an abnormally slow day in the Soundsphere magazine office, but I've had some very good news. See, it turns out that I've been nominated for an award... a rather cool one at that... it's an award for Entrepreneurial Excellence of the Year (within the category of disability) at the National Diversity Awards to be held in Manchester at the end of the year - September 2012.

If you see this, and you know about my work with Soundsphere magazine, The Creative Condition and Disabled Entrepreneurs (oh, and there's a few more things coming up that I can't tell you about yet... shhh), then please do vote for me - the link is as follows: http://www.nationaldiversityawards.co.uk/#/excellence-disability/4554539883. Obviously, you've got a while, but yeah, I am just happy to be nominated. To win though, would be a dream!

Anyway, so I wanted to share that with you. My day has been interesting, and I am excited.

Here's a tune for you to enjoy, by an awesome band that I have just discovered called Diagrams - we just had their PR through, and it's some fantastic work by a bloke called Sam Genders who used to be in Tuung. Nice and chilled. Yeah!

What about the video below that one? Well, that's just Bad For Lazarus. I'm putting them on at a show in York this March!

Thanks, as always, for reading my ramblings. All the best, and much love to all. Yo!

What started it all.... my BBC North Yorkshire interview with Venno of Beyond All Reason from 2006 (and then... a recent gig guide)

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:25:05 -0800

20060513_beyond_all_reason_int.ram
File Size:	0 kb
File Type:	ram

Download File

dom_-_gig_guide.mp3
File Size:	2501 kb
File Type:	mp3

Download File

Listen. Enjoy. Have a giggle. This was the first thing I ever really did related to journalism.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/northyorkshire/content/articles/2006/05/12/beyond_all_reason_feature.shtml

I've also attached below that, a version of my gig guide for BBC North Yorkshire, completed earlier this week - Tuesday, January 17, 2012 (on behalf of Soundsphere magazine), and you can hear just how far I have come in the world of broadcasting... ha. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-14532949

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo film review

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 07:47:33 -0800

Here are my thoughts on the film!

I hope that you enjoy it.

A very Happy New Year to you all.

Dom

---

Borrowing slightly from the James Bond film franchise and its artsy introductions, the opening sequence to David Fincher's take on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo features wires made up of an oily substance moving about wildly, meshing with one-another and reforming. This is fittingly soundtracked by experimental rock music's finest Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Karen O with their excellent cover of Led Zeppelin's 'Immigrant Song'. This opening is worth mentioning because it provides some insight into the dark world of violence, sex and cyber-crime that Fincher has created as a much sleeker, yet equally as evocative answer to his other mentally stimulating and musically-driven work on Fight Club and The Social Network.

Many fans of the record-breaking 2009 movie adaption (directed by Niels Arden Oplev) will note the various similarities within Fincher’s version to the Swedish film in terms of mood and tone, but lovers of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy (featuring The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo) and that last film will doubtless be relieved by how true this new version is to its roots, with various parts of the production being shot in Sweden. Larsson's book also heavily examines the effects of sexual violence, particularly upon anti-hero Lisbeth Salander, and as one might expect (you've seen Se7en right?), Fincher does not shy away from this uncomfortable, yet completely essential aspect.

Daniel Craig gives a convincing performance as disgraced journo Mikael Blomkvist who has been enlisted to uncover the secrets of a wealthy and misogynistic old family (the Vangers) with a questionable past of lies, debauchery and Nazism. While Craig's performance in this certainly deserves special mention, (this cool and collected demeanour does rival the impact of his Bond persona), Rooney Mara steals it as the punky computer hacking powerhouse Salander. Mara is more suited for this role than Noomi Rapace who played Salander in 2009 – there's an aggressive and damaged quality to the former's character that gifts this film its heart and soul. Through this, Mara effortlessly crafts a personality that will impress many, simply because of her strength and “cheeky” intelligence.

For Fincher, it's business as usual. A plot centring around the search for a unapologetic serial killer is his well-established comfort zone, and it allows him to go to great lengths to grab at, and hook attention (see the brutal encounters between Salander and her corrupt legal guardian Nils Bjurman [played expertly by Yorick van Wageningen], or the high-speed chase scene between Salander and Martin Vanger). Indeed, this is helped in no small part by Reznor and Ross' insidious score which is used by the director (much like in The Social Network) to indicate key points of discovery and enhance the ever-present element of tension.

This adaption is worth viewing in celebration of its non-stereotypical take on the whodunit-style mystery that keeps those new to the story intrigued through over two-and-a-half hours of viewing time. Now, it will be interesting to see how the other two books in this series will be interpreted.

Dom Smith talks about the benefits of volunteering for European Year of Volunteering 2011

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 07:36:20 -0800

I recently took part in a video case study for the European Year of Volunteering 2011.

For this, I talked about how volunteering (for organisations like Khaoz Media) and getting work experience, placements and internships (with T3, Stuff, Metal Hammer, BBC, Rock Sound, Hull Daily Mail and more...) helped me to form my professional life as a journalist and get consistent paid work.

I hope that it is useful for people!

Cheers.

Dom

Merry Christmas from me, and a new video interview with Dimmu Borgir on the Soundspheremag.com site

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 07:20:27 -0800

Hi guys,

Thanks so much for the support this year. I really appreciate it.

Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year 2012!

Check out the new video interview (ABOVE) that our magazine did with iconic black metal act Dimmu Borgir! Enjoy!

Also, I am really enjoying new Gary Numan stuff at the moment. Here's 'The Fall' (BELOW). 'av it!

All the very best! See you in '12.

Dom

Dom to take part in York St John University's ACES Mentoring Scheme in 2012

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 06:38:13 -0800

Taken from Yorktalk – The news magazine for York St John University (December 2011)

ACES (Aluminate Career Enhancement Scheme Scheme), a joint initiative between the Alumni Development Office and the Career Development Team, will be launched in January 2012.

Over 25 alumni will be paired up with students to offer mentoring and advice on their career paths. Brett Arnall, Alumni Development Manager, said: “We are sure the success of this scheme will harness further mentors from our supportive and engaged alumni community. Dom Smith, a 2007 graduate in Film and TV Production, has already signed up to be a mentor. He runs his own magazine, Soundsphere (www.soundspheremag.com), and is currently involved in a new creative business venture (The Creative Condition) housed in the incubation units in the Phoenix Centre.”

Student Services are also launching a Buddy Up Scheme (BUS) early in the New Year: international students will be allocated a student to support them when they arrive at York St John.