A few things have happened since I last posted here. I've left my office at The Phoenix Centre at York St John University (after an amazing year in "incubation" there, and I've also published the second issue of Soundsphere magazine which is available here, and kept plugging away at my new projects Disabled Entrepreneurs (promoting help and advice for disabled people in business), and also The Creative Condition. The latter option (if I haven't mentioned it), is a collaborative project between myself and York film-maker Mike Leigh Cooper aimed at mixing skills and using both journalism and video to support businesses. Our first client has been Creative York and we are currently working on that brief. It's exciting times. I won't be forgetting the magazine and its website through this process which should run through August/September, and will continue to promote that with news updates and interviews.
Moving on, I am very proud of what we have managed to do with this second issue and the strength of bands that we had involved (including Enter Shikari, Pendulum and The Pigeon Detectives), and I am looking forward to seeing what new challenges this "beast" that I have created, offers me as we approach 2012. Please, if you get the opportunity, check the magazine out. I (along with my talented designer Jamie Mahon) really poured my heart and soul into the thing to make it as good as possible for readers, so any feedback is most welcome.
Now that the mag has been unleashed upon the world, and I have finished my contract as Features Editor for York St John University Connect, it's going to be a real challenge to keep motivated and stay "in the game". Though, I seem to really enjoy challenges and the pressure that comes with working as a writer. I say seem, because I don't want to believe that, but I guess that I really do need the stress and pressure that dominates my life (and indeed, the life of any other writers and professionals who are self-employed, and self-motivated). Regardless of these facts, I think I will always be addicted to doing this type of work in some form.
Running this magazine over the last three years has taught me a few things:
1) The music industry is in fact one of the most generous (and exciting) in the world and while it is in-relenting (in that the news never stops coming), most of the people within it are great,contrary to popular belief. That bit of wisdom came from Terrorizer magazine publisher Miranda Yardley who explained to me during and interview and made me appreciate what I am doing a lot more.
2) You can't really (or, you really shouldn't) do this kind of thing (building and publishing a printed magazine) alone. It's too stressful - get a partnership (and an office/space) together, make contacts, meet people and share the passion!
3) It's important to be diverse. Having released a very "goth" first issue (that I am still incredibly proud of), I needed to do something much more accessible with the second issue and that move has opened us up to so much more exposure to the public and media too! Obviously, there are some great examples of niche magazines that just... work, but we didn't have that luxury (I think because we'd just started out), and with the types of bands that we have access to (recent interviews on the site [and in the mag] include Incubus, Patrick Wolf and Judas Priest), it seemed a real shame to ignore them. But yeah, be diverse - we also cover arts and culture stuff as well (galleries and conventions) and it's been really positive for us.
In a reflection for this incredibly random post, I have been so lucky to have the support of my friends and family to do this throughout, and I have been able to access help and advice from local and national press and influential figures, sponsor festivals and travel the world. It's been a wonderful experience, and long may it continue. To the next step, and such...
In the meantime, check out this awesome band. They're called Arcane Roots (cheers Devil PR) and the tune is called 'In This Town Of Such Weather'. I really dig their mix of progressive and metal influences. I reckon that they fall somewhere between Biffy Clyro and...err, something a lot heavier. Meshuggah, yeah, them!
Moving on, I am very proud of what we have managed to do with this second issue and the strength of bands that we had involved (including Enter Shikari, Pendulum and The Pigeon Detectives), and I am looking forward to seeing what new challenges this "beast" that I have created, offers me as we approach 2012. Please, if you get the opportunity, check the magazine out. I (along with my talented designer Jamie Mahon) really poured my heart and soul into the thing to make it as good as possible for readers, so any feedback is most welcome.
Now that the mag has been unleashed upon the world, and I have finished my contract as Features Editor for York St John University Connect, it's going to be a real challenge to keep motivated and stay "in the game". Though, I seem to really enjoy challenges and the pressure that comes with working as a writer. I say seem, because I don't want to believe that, but I guess that I really do need the stress and pressure that dominates my life (and indeed, the life of any other writers and professionals who are self-employed, and self-motivated). Regardless of these facts, I think I will always be addicted to doing this type of work in some form.
Running this magazine over the last three years has taught me a few things:
1) The music industry is in fact one of the most generous (and exciting) in the world and while it is in-relenting (in that the news never stops coming), most of the people within it are great,contrary to popular belief. That bit of wisdom came from Terrorizer magazine publisher Miranda Yardley who explained to me during and interview and made me appreciate what I am doing a lot more.
2) You can't really (or, you really shouldn't) do this kind of thing (building and publishing a printed magazine) alone. It's too stressful - get a partnership (and an office/space) together, make contacts, meet people and share the passion!
3) It's important to be diverse. Having released a very "goth" first issue (that I am still incredibly proud of), I needed to do something much more accessible with the second issue and that move has opened us up to so much more exposure to the public and media too! Obviously, there are some great examples of niche magazines that just... work, but we didn't have that luxury (I think because we'd just started out), and with the types of bands that we have access to (recent interviews on the site [and in the mag] include Incubus, Patrick Wolf and Judas Priest), it seemed a real shame to ignore them. But yeah, be diverse - we also cover arts and culture stuff as well (galleries and conventions) and it's been really positive for us.
In a reflection for this incredibly random post, I have been so lucky to have the support of my friends and family to do this throughout, and I have been able to access help and advice from local and national press and influential figures, sponsor festivals and travel the world. It's been a wonderful experience, and long may it continue. To the next step, and such...
In the meantime, check out this awesome band. They're called Arcane Roots (cheers Devil PR) and the tune is called 'In This Town Of Such Weather'. I really dig their mix of progressive and metal influences. I reckon that they fall somewhere between Biffy Clyro and...err, something a lot heavier. Meshuggah, yeah, them!
