Music Journalism Workshop - Merthyr Rock

On Saturday I had the fantastic opportunity to help run a music journalism workshop put on by Merthyr Rock. The workshop invited youngsters from around Merthyr to learn about the tricks of the trade and put their own skills in music journalism to the test. 

The workshop offered perspectives from two individuals at different stages in their career and working on different types of music journalism. The session was run by Rhys Milsom, music editor and sub-editor for various review sites in the online world, and he was joined by Arts Correspondent for Media Wales and Wales Online, David Owens. 

With participants ranging from 14 to 21, the workshop got them thinking about the sort of music career they'd like to go into, the music they enjoy followed by a hands on section which saw them writing about music that many had not heard previously. Rhys Milsom offered some great techniques for getting them to think about how you can write about the different elements of music and how to put it together into a review. 

Milsom and Owens offered valuable insights into their own career paths and how they got into the industry, along with some encouraging words for the group to inspire them to pursue their dreams. 

It was an excellent opportunity for aspiring music industry professionals and a worthwhile way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

On a personal note it was great to see people getting stuck in and getting over their initial nerves to take part in something productive and fun. I'd love to see more of these workshops about, I would have loved to get involved in something similar when I was younger. It's excellent to be a part of a festival that does much more than just put on some great music but gets people involved in so many ways! 

If you're heading to Merthyr Rock this weekend then make sure you check out the workshops and other opportunities they have on offer. Get involved, you won't regret it! 

Have you ever been to or helped out at a similar workshop?
How did you find it? I would recommend getting involved with something so worthwhile and interesting either helping out or attending!

Merthyr Rock - Kids in Glass Houses Interview

The countdown to the Merthyr Rock weekend has well and truly begun!

I've loved being involved with Merthyr Rock again this year as their blogger and had some great fun re-doing the blog and jazzing it up for the second year of the festival. If you've been following or checking up on the blog (I hope you have!) there's being a variety of news, updates, competitions and great music being posted and creating more excitement for the big event. 

But I also have some really exciting news about an upcoming piece I will be doing on the blog...

an interview with Welsh rockers, Kids in Glass Houses! 

Not only will this be a great piece for the fans following welovemerthyrrock but it is a fantastic opportunity for me to test my interview writing skills. Although my interviews have been very varied throughout the past with the likes of popular fashion bloggers, lecturers, campaigners and more, I haven't done as much work as I'd like to with bands... and where better to start than with one of my own personal favourites and Merthyr Rock's Saturday headliners? 

It's made even better by the fact that we want KIGH's fans to get involved too, so if you fall into this large bracket or even if you just have an interesting question then we'd love to hear it!

Check out the blog post here! 

MRock want YOU to message us (on the Tumblr) with the questions you've always wanted to ask Kids in Glass Houses or if you think you've got an interesting question that they'll never have been asked before then ask away! I'll be picking some of the best to go alongside my own interview with the boys.

Please check out the interview once it's posted up on the blog!

Merthyr Rock 2012

I'm really happy to be able to say I'll be working with the Merthyr Rock team again this year!

If you didn't know (...which rock have you been hiding under!) Merthyr Rock is a new Welsh rock festival in Merthyr (surprise surprise) and after a successful first year featuring headliners Ocean Colour Scene and The Blackout, they are back for a second year with big names such as Razorlight, Kids in Glass Houses and Skindred.

After my internship with them last year, I was eager to get involved for the second year of the Welsh Rock Festival. Of course, when I was offered the chance to run the official festival blog again (after setting it up and running it last year) I jumped at the opportunity! If you would like to find out about my experience last year as Crew Member, you can read about it here. Back to the blog...

Here it is, all fresh and updated for 2012!

I'll be frequently updating the site with news, information, interviews, features, competitions and fan posts/submissions!

I'm really excited to get stuck in with making the blog as interesting as possible so please take a look and tell me what you'd like to see on there. Make sure you get yourself to the festival too, I promise you will not regret it. There will be an amazing atmosphere, awesome selection of bands and an all-round fantastic weekend on offer.

Alpha She - Studio shoot

I mentioned in a recent post that I was hoping to be involved in another band photoshoot and as promised I'll share my photos and experiences with you! 

The girl band, Alpha She, were great fun to work with - which is always a bonus! Up until now I haven't had the pleasure of working with female 'models' (other than on my Richard Avedon inspired shoot in which, with a little persuasion, I got my friends involved with) so this was a great opportunity to do some work with females.  

The style of the shoot was based around an updated 60's theme... meaning big hair, classic poses and neutral colours. The main focus was to take separate images of each member of the trio in order to create a sequence. The final images are going to be used in the girls' promotional material so I wanted to get a good selection of images that would work well together but also be strong stand-alone images too. I also took the chance to try out a variety of different lighting set-ups and styles to get a wide variety of shots, which you will hopefully notice in the selection of photos here!

I use my trusty Canon EOS 550D on photoshoots and in this I used both dark grey and standard white backdrops in order to get some variation, to compliment the different poses and styles of images and to work with the 60s style. I personally love the grey background for studio work and after researching I noticed a lot of 60s photography features a black and white effect so thought grey would work well in this instance for updating the look.

If you'd like to see more of the shoot then head over to my flickr page - you'll also find lots more including my other studio work and different styles of photography so feel free to check those out too! If you do, let me know what you think. I'd love to get some feedback or constructive criticism! I'm still in the process of learning about lighting and improving my knowledge regarding studio work. Hopefully the more work I do, the better I will get! 

The shoot was great fun and I shall hopefully be doing more photography work with London Calling Management (the team I arranged this and the previous studio shoot with) later this year and next year so keep your eyes peeled for more!

Marina and the Diamonds

Cardiff, The Coal Exchange – 27^th June 2012

The Lonely Hearts Club tour hit Cardiff last week with all the pink, plastic and pizazz that would be expected of Miss Marina Diamandis. The half Greek, half Welsh popstar headed home to celebrate the successful release of her newest album, Electra Heart, which bagged her a number 1 ranking and a top 10 single.

Amongst the backdrop of the impressive venue, the stage was a small affair but made up for it in set-up. With a silk nightgown floating, purple chaise lounge waiting and 70’s style TV buzzing, the stage promised nothing less than a spectacle of typical Marina-style. Like a florescent halo, the words Electra Heart hovered over the stage letting the fans know that the newest album of the 26-year old star was ready to be showcased. The Diamonds were ready and waiting for their Queen to take to the stage.

Kicking things off was supporting act, Meredith Sheldon. It’s easy to see that the vocals and thought-provoking style was in-keeping with Marina’s, however Meredith failed to completely engage with the excited audience. Sheldon exuded an effortless air of cool as she took to the stage in a ripped up t-shirt and rock ‘n’ roll appearance but with little connection to the audience her set was a personal and somber affair.

Anticipation soars as the lights go down; the crowd erupt as the Abergavenny-girl floats on-stage in a plastic-pink dress and a white veil. Light floods the stage as Marina’s hauntingly sweet vocals burst into ‘Homewrecker’, provoking an explosion of confetti from her hands. The fans’ expectations are certainly met in the impressive opening and the room bounces their way through the first track.

Removing her veil, the faux-bride turns to her heart-shaped glasses and moves on to ‘Oh No’, which sees her move around the stage in a playful, whirlwind manner; setting the tone for the rest of the show. This certainly isn’t just a gig, it’s obvious that Marina has considered every song and every outfit – that’s right, the star makes 2 outfit changes throughout the set, as well as incorporating a few extra minor changes to boot.

   

The next dress is a baby pink, glittery knee-length number. Ready for a theatrical performance of ‘Power and Control’, Marina begins the song from her damsel in distress position on her purple chaise lounge. But once up again, Marina bursts back into her cheeky interaction with the crowd.

Marina played the role of everyone’s friend as she chatted with the crowd, particularly highlighting the overwhelming heat which saw everyone agree that inside the venue was ‘our summer’. The one-of-a-kind queen of thought-provoking pop gave a shout-out to her family who were hidden amongst the fans in the crowd and responded warmly to the constant calls of “we love you Marina!” with “I love you too!”.

Playing a host of songs from the number 1, Electra Heart and her 2010 debut studio album, Family Jewels, Marina took time to showcase her vocal talents without the pomp and glamour that EH calls for. Taking to the keyboard, she sang both ‘Obsessions’ and ‘Teen Idle’, reminding every fan just why Marina is a diamond. Her voice resonated around the hall and the goosebumps could be felt all around.

The set enthusiastically draws to an end with the single, ‘Primadonna’ and finishes with the euphoric ‘Radioactive’ which sees the venue turn momentarily into a club as the crowd jumps along with Marina.

Leaving the stage, the crowd begin chanting for the encore. Murmurs ripple through the crowd as fans wonder what she’ll return with. A majestic-styled Marina returns in a silky green dress. But of course, Marina has to sprinkle her own signature flair over everything she does and falling across the dress is a sash reading ‘Teen Idle’ – of course leading to the track.

The finale was always going to leave the fans wanting more, what else would you expect from Miss Diamandis? The giant burger and cheerleader pom pom come out to accompany the hit track Hollywood, which ends the night on an incredible high.

Marina’s enthusiastic engagement with the Coal Exchange saw her not only bring Electra Heart alive with stunning vocals and glittering glamour but made the night a memorable spectacle for all her diamonds. With her Lonely Hearts Club tour, Marina brought home a slice of summer with her cheerful nature and passionate on-stage performance! 

(*Photo taken by myself)

Bella Diem - The Campaign

I mentioned a while ago that I was working on a campaign for the quirky and talented Bella Diem. The project with Epigraph PR has now come to a close and so I'd like to share some of my work on the campaign.

Our campaign was based upon their up-coming EP release on the 10th June 2012. Our focus was therefore promotion of the EP and the band through online and physical promotion, but also through the distribution of press materials. Alongside this focus we aimed to update Bella Diem's appearance and give them more structure and direction as a band. We did this through creating a professional, focal website to draw together all their material, producing professional photographs that portrayed their unique style and dream-like quality and through producing a range of visual materials such as posters, cards and video flyers. All our material focused on strong branding, Bella Diem's signature style and consideration of their audiences needs. We tied all the aspect of the promotion in with updating them as a band generally.

Within Epigraph PR, I took on the role of Press Management which involved producing the press release for the EP, the band's biography and the emails to the targeted media outlets. Alongside this I developed a selection of promotional materials for the campaign based on the band's EP release such as a promotional Facebook banner, a balloon 'flyer' and a 'bundle' competition for the fans.

Here is the press release I produced for the EP Release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BELLA DIEM PREPARE TO MELT HEARTS WITH THEIR NEW EP

Bella Diem are like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. Floating around in the indie genre, this quintet have formed their own unique take on music, placing you right in the middle of their dream-like world.  Bella Diem have crafted a sound packed with catchy melodies, haunting harmonies and heartfelt lyrics that will have you humming for days.

Birmingham’s Alternative Indie-Pop 5-piece, Bella Diem will be setting free their sultry sound in their highly-awaited studio recorded EP released on the June 10^th 2012. Drawing inspiration from all corners of the musical spectrum, the self-titled EP promises a diverse range but always with Bella Diem’s notable signature style firmly in place. Not only born from a host of musical influences, Bella Diem attribute their sound to a passion of “nature, space, movies and animé” – just a hint of the eclectic sounds you can expect to hear. 

The EP “Bella Diem” will be available on iTunes and the band’s Bandcamp. The double a-side will feature two original songs by the band, ‘An Hours’ Time’ and ‘Easily’. Soon to follow will be the band’s first feature video.

The band offers something fresh in the form of two vocalists, Lucy Dines and Stuart Killick. With such soul-soothing tones and harmonies, it seems the duo were fated to combine their blissful vocals. Hannah Maiden on bass, Russ Vale on lead guitar and James Bird on drums; these three offer the perfect backdrop for the marriage of sweet, sad and starry-eyed vocals with their clear-cut rhythms infused with dance-along beats.

So be prepared on June 10^th 2012. The two-track triumph will fill your ears with an offering of musical delight s that will melt your heart, kiss your ears and leave you in Bella Diem’s signature whirl.

Links:

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Bella.diem.music

Website: http://belladiem.wordpress.com/

Bandcamp: http://belladiem.bandcamp.com/

 For more information, please contact:

PR Manager at Epigraph Promotions
Hannah Durham - hdurham@Epigraph.com

Notes for editor:

The band will be showcasing their new EP around England with their upcoming live dates:

-          Maze, Nottingham  -
June 28th 

-          The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham-
 June 15th, July 27th, September 7th, October 19th and November 29th 

ENDS

Here is the Facebook banner idea produced by myself and realised through Carlie Hare's photography and Ash Dhindsa's visual production skills: 

Also, this was the prototype for the balloon 'flyer' idea. I created these to mirror the band's quirky and dream-like image but to maintain also the strong branding. The tag line ties in to the release of 'An Hours Time' and the mysterious nature invites the audience to visit the new website we produced for the band. 

I thoroughly enjoyed working with Epigraph PR on such an interesting campaign with a theme. I have more promotional worked planned for the future as I am in the process of setting up a major music project and so the skills develop within this campaign will certainly come in to play!

What do you think of the campaign? Have you listened to Bella Diem? Let me know what you think!

Capturing real life on film

Sorry for the absence recently! I have had numerous project deadlines coming up so my focus has been on working on these.

However, I am back with some new material. I have uploaded new photos on to my Flickr - some images from my Easter break back home in Wales and some film images from the summer of 2011. 

The SLR images are from a sunny day in Porthcawl - I went wandering with my camera and ended up in the dunes. I found some wonderful flowers, plants and scenery. It was great to get back out with my camera. 

Here's one of my favourites from the day:

Also, I have uploaded some film images. They were taken on a standard disposable camera but I love the effect and gritty reality that film produces. I plan to do much more photography over the summer with different types of film camera to capture for raw, real life images. I have done no editing to the film images as I prefer to leave them as natural as possible.

The first is from Hereford and the second is on the seafront in Porthcawl. After seeing the result I realised how much I enjoy the quality and style of film and can't wait to try it out further. 

I hope you enjoy the images! 

Which do you prefer using; film or SLR cameras? This summer is going to be a great opportunity for me to get much use out of both, so expect much more photography in the near future! 

I have another band studio shoot lined up for the end of the month so if everything goes to plan I'll be able to share those images with you. 

However, in the meantime, please check out my Flickr to see more of the images from these sets and my other photography work.