BWD Magazine - March 2014

book review and

anima

a smashing release

a clutch

“wrong place wrong time”

LAW

dAvidPerLmutterdAvidPerLmutter

LAW

of aces

the mumbLecores

the mumbLecores

animaMarch 2014

worldwide indie Music, lifestyles, entertainment Magazine

OVER a dEcadEs wORth Of ExpERiEncE and knOwlEdgE

“GAMING AT ITS BEST”

AKA

Lakesha Washington

AKA

Lakesha Washington

2 • BWD Magazine • www.bwdmagazine.com

features

04 chill will da donA Scholar Of The Streets

06 law aka lakesha washingtonWhere Only The Strongest Survive

10 adamplaysYt One Of The Top Gaming Channels

16 the BurgeoningTaking Listeners On An Adventure

18 the mumblecores Standing Apart From All The Others

21 lil gee Weaving Lyrical Missives Between Rhythmic Melodies

22 the whereabouts Music Of Merit, Real Integrity AND Worth

cover storY

12 animaA Clutch Of Four Aces

lifestYle

08 put it On my tabTrio Of Touch-Tappy Apps For The Musician

14 5 tips for making a music VideoOne-Eye On Your Budget, The Other On Your Future

eNtertaiNMeNt

20 Bwd Radio (sponsor) Your Top Indie Artist’s ‘Global’ 24/7 Non-Stop Music

Radio Station - Commercial Free - #1 in Genre Variety,

Live Shows and Contest Giveaways!!

24 BOOk REViEw: david perlmutter Wrong Place Wrong Time

25 Bwd Records (sponsor) The Independent Music Label of the South

BWD Magazine • www.bwdmagazine.com • 3

Editor in chief V Keach

associate Editor

J Addams

lead contributing writerJ Addams

contributing writerV Keach

art directorV Keach

graphic artistV Keach, BWD Graphics

circulation/sales Officer(s)V Keach/J Addams

froM the eDitorBridging the gap across all media platforms BWD Magazine is dedicated to turning the spotlight onto the figures and faces, names and in-the-knows hitting the headlines and filling the attentions of the entertainment world.

From musicians to models, ground-breaking acts to art-ists and artisans, imagination is the only limit in BWD’s ambitions in bringing the audiences of the world to the names we feature.

With over a decade’s worth of experience in the music industry and a crowd of millions worldwide spreading the word with each new release, BWD has established itself as the leader in its field.

BWD Magazine- ‘Leading Whilst Others Follow’

bwDMagaziNe.coMbwDraDio.coM

facEBOOk.cOm/BwdmagazinE

twittER.cOm/BwdmagazinE

facEBOOk.cOm/BwdRadiO

twittER.cOm/BwdRadiO_

twittER.cOm/BwdpROmOtiOns

last issue

buffalo bites..... monthly feature cOming in apRil!


From one of the toughest neigh-

bourhoods constrained within

the streets of Bryan, TX to the

steps of greatness leading to

the top of the music charts Chill

Will Da Don is turning the hard knocks of life into

hard hitting lyrics, frustration into fruition, and

furious determination into fanatical demand.

Born Will Robinson in July ‘84, Chill Will’s early

years were spent in a state of upheaval, the

road more of a home than any bricks and mortar

building in William Robinson senior’s pursuit of

providing for his family.

Eventually settling in the neighbourhood of

Beckstreet, Chill Will witnessed the once pros-

perous surroundings decline; submerged within

a charged environment of tension, angst, and

untenable frustration at the situation around

him; it was through the tight bonds of family

life that kept Will from joining the path leading

to a life of incarceration and a future without

promise.

As a sanctuary to raise a family or find security

for a bright and prosperous future it was sorely

lacking; but as nurturing grounds for the inspi-

ration and determination that pours from Chill

Will Da Don’s ever sharp insight, those dangerous

streets and darkened alleys became an invalu-

able resource.

Having laid the kindling with the experience of

everyday life on the streets, Will’s musical fires

were sparked into life when his Uncle James

introduced him to the music of the legendary

West Coast Rapper Too Short.

Charged with the flames of inspiration, they

were further stoked when his brother Blue led

him to the world, words and wisdom of artist

Tupac Shakur.

The fires now ablaze, Will Robinson began the

metamorphosis into the artist Chill Will Da Don,

fervently scoring his own world of words as his

inspirations had shown him as he’d developed

his own voice and style.

Like the cocoon of command within the com-

poser his understanding of the word-play and

erudition to express same started to break out

the chrysalis, define him as a scholar of the

streets while uniquely able to realize his own

thoughts so that the audience didn’t just under-

Support is very key to

an underground

artist and I appreciate

all the support I get,

especially from you

guys! “


chill will Da DoN

“it’s very

hard For up & coming

artists to gain the

stand the music and meanings from within him; they empathized

with them, Chill Will’s words coming at them as if describing their

own struggles and strife.

College saw him taking the football field by storm, the chance of

a hitherto unseen talent with the pig-skin turning his NFL-Shaped

career into being cruelly denied when an injury side-lined the star.

Dispirited with the game and interest waning he chose not to

dwell on the negative and instead embraced it as the Silver Lining

he knew it to be, throwing himself back full force into music with

a renewed charge.

When 2011 rolled around Chill Will Da Don’s first single ‘Money To

Blow’ burst onto the radio, turning up the heat as it turned Texas

airwaves decidedly Chill-ed.

With his 2012 release ‘Streetfame’ (hosted by 97.9 The Beat’s DJ

M Squared) Deonte - aka Hot Rod - collaborated with Chill on the

single The Good Life and was produced by Legacy.

Ending the year with fellow label C Dot Smoka the two collabora-

tors released the Late Nite Muzik: EP, cementing Will’s reputation

as an artist in demand and providing his audience with a new

world to explore.

Twelve months and over one hundred tracks later The Saga

Continues was released with a huge anticipation. Featuring pro-

ducers Legacy, Kiese and KC3D; This Feeling was the first single off

the album that received to critical acclaim, with the second - Her

Feeling - likewise rewarded.

Currently preparing for his next full album release entitled ‘Power

Moves Only’ and due to drop in 2014 BWD Magazine sat down to

talk with Chill Will Da Don about his feature win and the music

behind the man.

‘This award means a lot to me,’ he explains, ‘because it’s very hard

for up and coming artists to gain recognition before we hit the main-

stream. Support is very key to an underground artist and I appreciate

all the support I get, especially from you guys! ‘

Contact Information:

Website: latenitemuzik.bandcamp.com

Twitter: @ChillWillDaDon

Facebook: ChillWillDaDon

Photo Credits: Chill Will Da Don - All Rights Reserved

recognition.....”


here are many laws in life one has to obey; the law

of the land, for example, which governs society’s

behaviour. The law of the jungle, where only the

strongest survive.

Within music we have a new law being written which is proving

just as impossible to ignore as the draw of the beat, its compelling

presence felt and turning to adulation amongst audiences and art-

ists alike.

Representing harmony as it forms the bonds of emotional connec-

tion felt by any who have experienced the bitter-sweet sting of love,

loss, and re-building the ties that bind the humanity to its heart, this

LAW in question is known to her fans as Lakesha A. Washington; the

Canadian ‘soul of the sirens’.

Weaving melody and words into a heady concoction of creation and

connection LAW first found the drive of emoting when still in her

home of Canada; with the initial impetus looking for an outlet to

build upon, it was when a move to the States found Lakesha alone

and almost invisible. In unfamiliar surroundings she began turning

those emotions into prose, pouring her pain at being so lost in a

crowd into music.

Awakened, the drive she had felt before now had a direction to trav-

el, a moment in time to look deep within her soul and examine to

understand the finer details of it all. Bringing the influences of her

contemporaries throughout genres as far-reaching as Contemporary

Christian, Jazz, Neo-Soul and R&B, emotions took form and a

mirror was held up to the emotional experiences life seems too

bequeathed to us all.

With her talent in full bloom she became a lighthouse of lyrics for

lost artists unable to extemporize the feelings they felt, penning

several of the tracks on the smash debut release of music group

Certain in 2003.

A collection of her writings became Lakesha’s own debut release,

the album So Far So Close releasing on iTunes and exposing her

as a singer with a voice as expressive as the words they sang with

such passion.

With the joining forces both in life and business to her husband

Mark, LawMark Music Productions was born. The commitment

brought to her own lyrical soliloquies is now available to help the

frustrated musician or producer lacking an ability to articulate, their

emotions described with a pin-sharp clarity only Lakesha seems

able to ascribe.

Feeling drawn to her presence and unwilling to defy the LAW, BWD

Magazine sat down in the company of Lakesha A. Washington aka

LAW to talk about her blessed gift, her inner thoughts, and where

the future may lie.

BWD: Thank you for granting us this interview; please, introduce yourself..?

Well, I am Law. I call myself this as this is not only my music name but

also the initials to my name which is Lakesha A. Washington. I prefer

Law though..Lol.. I am a songwriter and producer with LawMark Music

Productions. Glad to be able to share and thank you for the opportunity

in this interview!

BWD: With an exclusive fan base it might be fair to say that our audience are more familiar with LAW then they realize?

t

exclusive interview


It’s really been wonderful having the response from various radio sta-

tions, dj’s, blogs, family and friends. The foundation of what I do in

music begins with writing and I am hoping plenty will hear my song-

writing through both inspiration and R&B music. I want to write about

life in general. There is so much to talk about. I’m thankful for anyone

who has taken the time to listen. I have a new single out called Holy

Spirit which I’m so blessed to have had the opportunity to produce and

record this record with a writer of the song and great friend Oshawn

Jefferson. This song has been encouraging folks and I’m grateful.

Definitely take a listen; to those who haven’t.

BWD: They say you should never work with children or animals, but working with a marital partner can be equally as precarious; yet despite this you and your husband Mark founded the LawMark Music Productions. How did you manage to strike the right harmonic working balance?

That’s funny because like a marriage, it takes work. We both have our

differences that we hear in music but it keeps it interesting while we

are being creative. We have realized that you have to be open to ideas

and that production is a process with many phases. Trial and error is a

lot of times how you find the right ingredient. We started doing music

together in 2007 and knew very little about working the ‘development’

of a song from start to finish. However, you see that’s just what we

needed to learn and grow together. Creating music together offers the

opportunity to work on many more songs. We are ready to work with

artists, producers etc. It’s the best part, hearing thoughts and words

come to life!

BWD: From the words you write it seems impossible to understand the power of emotion that inspired them..?

Writing is an amazing outlet. I tend to internalize and so when it’s time

to express, they can be very descriptive and from my ‘gut’ feelings. Life

is tough no matter who you are though. When I was younger I fell into

depression and I quickly realized that God was someone I could talk to

when I wasn’t comfortable sharing my struggle. Now I tend to also talk

through my writing, as well as other people’s lives through observation

and identifying.

BWD: Do you ever feel burdened by the mixed blessing of having to experience the loss, the heartache of life’s lessons, if you will, to be able to capture such emotions in song?

Yes very often. It’s human nature. The lessons and burdens in life give

you more perspective and without the clashes in life it can make for a

less interesting song at times. I believe people want to identify with

what is true and what is real in life’s experiences and we want to con-

nect with the song that also expresses this.

BWD: And finally; what would you like to be remembered as most; a good person or a great songwriter?

Wow...that’s easy. A great songwriter. Being remembered as a great per-

son is great but I try not to get too caught up in people’s opinion of who

I am. Once they hear my songs and if they then get a chance to know

me, they’ll see I am not perfect but I am a ‘real’ person and hopefully

they’ll see my heart and understand the great person I am on the inside.


Website: soundcloud.com/lawmusic20

Twitter: @LawMusic20

Facebook: Law20

Photo Credits: LawMark Music Productions

All Rights Reserved

lawaka

lakesha washiNgtoN


Dinner-table sized desks exploding with banks, dials and switches beside bulky lumps of grey towers chugging away beneath a fog

of cigarette smoke and producer sweat is a thing now consigned to the murky past of the music world, joining reel-to-reel tapes and

wax cylinders.

Being little more than engorged in mobile phones minus the actual ability to make calls or send texts means you have an incredibly

powerful microcomputer fighting the grip of your palms with its overly bevelled frictionless edges, and fully capable of taking over

your life.

Whether it’s an Apple or Android there is an app out there designed to do something you’ve been doing for years without any serious

problems but can now do it from the comfort of the toilet without worry of having to halt mid-way and risk losing precious missives

to answer the hammering on the door or apply a courtesy flush.

We shall be roving our beady eye across the various out-lets for applications vying to stand beside the bloat ware and corrupted sec-

tors on your hard-drive or external memory, downloading the most interesting or useful of those we find worthy of further inspection,

and dropping our pointing pinkies upon their touchy-trickery and reporting which few of the many finds favour upon our ‘Pads, brings

‘appiness to our Android.

This month we shall be looking at a trio of touch-tappy apps for the musician. (Apple and Android)

put it oN MY tab


So you’re cruising down the freeway with

the wind in your face when inspiration

strikes! A melody more addictive than

sugar laced Crack is banging about the

ole think tank like a hostage in the back

of a van; far from your home studio and

desperate to record the tune, a compositional coup comes in

Beatwave.

Simply fire-up the home screen and press your digit into employ

and onto the apps widget and within seconds you can be building

your magnum opus with minimum fuss.

A synth based app, its simple interface allows you to build layers

of various instruments by the expeditious nature of tapping a grid.

Seconds after loading an entire orchestral piece can be produced

from within its confines, and additional instruments can be pur-

chased should you despair at the lack of frugal horn in the free

version.

Once built, the track can be stored for later attentions, or sent and

shared via email with less effort than falling down the stairs, pos-

sibly to our next choice of app.

Before the world got Dropbox, hard-drives

were home to every last bit of byte your

brilliance deemed worthy enough to keep.

Upload, download, save or delete a multi-

tude of files from your mobile or Tab, synching when desired across

numerous devices and throwing in the ability of previewing any

files marked Favourites for ease of identification.

Again, functionality is as competent and simple as you really need

for what is essentially a virtual junk-drawer, and the freedom to

be able to upload, download, side-load and send whether on the

beach on the bus or in the bog means no information or file need

be lost to bad filing or poor memory or losing that piece of paper

with the antidote written on it.

Which brings us nicely onto our third and final app in this triple

app tappings.

Exactly what an app offering all the func-

tionality of a traditional pencil and paper

note taking set-up should be. Evernote

provides an infinite amount of blank can-

vases for you to scribe your most inti-

mate of missives and keep safe for future

perusal.

You can change the colour of the ‘paper’ to highlight particular

notes, and whether it’s scribings, scribblings, documents, web clips

or images, the ‘Note can take it all and then some and remember

the lot wholesale and verbatim.

Lyrics can be transcribed and saved on your mobile to the track you

composed earlier on your work Tab when your boss thought you

were finalizing the figures for the month, uploaded and saved on a

cloud of bits and bytes that won’t get lost beneath the mountain of

take-away boxes and socks and letters from your boss demanding

those figures for the end of the month.

beatwave everNote

Dropbox


rom the anonymous surroundings of Lancaster in the

United Kingdom, to the sounds of a clamouring audience

battering the ‘Like’ button on YouTube - AdamPlaysYT is

one of the many growing gaming channels competing

in the entirely self-fought battle to find and develop an

audience. Currently absorbing both the attentions and

bandwidth of over twenty-three thousand subscribers,

AdamPlaysYT stands at the head of the charge, leading adventurers into

a new world of online content creation, seemingly destined for a victory

thoroughly deserved.

As a prolific gamer possessing an encyclopaedic knowledge of all things

Minecraft - Adam’s natural enthusiasm and magnetic charms have seen

this fifteen year old school boy

become a well-respected gamer

and vlogger in the YouTube com-

munity. As part of the number

one entertainment network for

gamers around the world, the

behemoth, known as Machinima,

Adam helps add to the huge

network of channels whose pro-

gramming accrues over one and

a half billion unique views each

month.

Not bad for a lad of only fifteen years of age, it has to be said.

With each upload honing his craft as one of the internets most respected

voices leading the charge to sustain the appetite of an audience enamoured

by the voracious vlogging community, AdamPlaysYT continues to be the

channel bringing the thunder and lighting the fuse of this exciting new

world of gamer-centric online broadcasts.

Bringing his own no-nonsense honesty and compelling commentary to the

fore, Adam incorporates missives and insightful facts alongside compelling

play-through and informational videos. Collaborating with other luminar-

ies of gaming, Adam throws out some of the finest unscripted viewing and

gameplay you could trouble your bandwidth with, your time on his channel

an investment that pays back ten-fold.

In showing it‘s neither hype nor hyperbole behind the humour and hubris,

Adam’s audience continues to grow with each update of the channel. Various

well-respected gaming companies, such as Elgato Gaming, help bring spon-

sorship to sit alongside him beneath the umbrella of the mighty Machinima,

an endorsement Adam never dreamed he could achieve.

With a corner of the offices knee deep in old Cheetos bags and a pile of

NES cartridges this high BWD Magazine has long since committed the

Konami code to memory, known for some time how ‘the cake is a lie’, so

with the DS fully charged and our sunny Floridian offices echoing to the

enchantments of Zelda’s Lullaby

we slipped through a nearby

warp pipe, umbrella in hand and

bowler hat upon head, surfac-

ing in the birthplace of Atari

and Adam himself to ask this

philanthropic player about his

gaming credentials; how he

broke out of his bedroom and

Britain itself to become a bona-

fide voice of gaming across all

continents and shores, and chat

about Machinima and Mario,

GamesMaster and more.

exclusive interview

BWD: Hello and welcome to BWD Magazine; would you care to introduce

yourself to our audience..?

Hello, my name is Adam and I’m 15 years of age. I live in the North West of

England in a county called Lancashire in which I created, developed and main-

tain to this day my YouTube channel - AdamPlaysYT.

BWD: So what is AdamPlaysYT all about..?

F


In short, basically I create videos on the internet and make money off it! I created

the channel back in September of 2012 as a way of sharing my encyclopaedic

knowledge of everything Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition - a game that I was hooked

on at the time and which still is a huge part of my life till this day!

Minecraft is a hugely popular game on the YouTube scene. Its gameplay

commentaries, music video parodies and informational videos rack up millions

and millions of views every month (a huge audience of which I’m proud to say

I share!).

The game is about placing blocks (basically a huge game of LEGO) and build-

ing enormous structures as high as the sky can do. The possibilities are endless

you could say, the survival mechanics of finding resources and exploring dun-

geons also create highly entertaining online multiplayer play - which is some of

the types of content that I produce.

When playing with friends and other YouTubers, I record the footage and

upload them for the world to see on YouTube, and somehow, 25,000 people

enjoyed the videos enough to subscribe to my channel and the channel has an

accumulative 2.1 million views!

The past year or so has been a complete blur, with YouTube and all the

excitement that comes with it - making new friends, generating a following and

discovering an audience - and I can’t wait to see what’s around the corner in

2014! This year I plan to expand my creative reach into other games and even

try my hand at weekly vlogs (documenting my everyday life and the lead up to

my GCSE exams and beyond), comedy videos and real life skits (although these

are just a few of my ideas!).

BWD: The all-inclusive/wholly open invite that is YouTube and the internet

has allowed people such as yourself to develop a career around their hob-

bies/interest by sharing their passion and enthusiasm globally to others of

a similar mind; gaming specifically has seen an exponential rise in channels

offering a gamers-view to see the world through, the competition for an

audience is fierce yet your channel on the Machinima Network has accrued

substantial subscribers – would you say this endorsement of your channel is

a mark of the quality within the vlog’s you produce?

Machinima Inc. (in my eyes) is a brilliant network of gamers which do the same

thing that I do every day, and some as a full-time career. My affiliation with

Machinima came about shortly after I left the RPM Network, which is a sub-

sidiary of Maker Studios which owns Polaris, the coveted invite-only managed

YouTube Network for huge YouTubers. Since I first started my YouTube channel,

my dream has always been to partner with Machinima since back then they

were the biggest and only, to my knowledge, well-respected gaming network

at the time. Nowadays, their reputation in the YouTube scene and the gaming

community isn’t what it used to be since the rise of Curse and IGN but they’re

everything I need right now. It still receives a colossal 2 billion views a month

on YouTube with all of its partners uploading daily videos!

BWD: Do you find having such a public profile difficult to handle? How have

you managed to deal with the pressure of a watching world?

Right now I’m coping pretty well with a public profile, but in the past I struggled

a lot with the typical internet troll comments like “I hate you.”, “You’re gay.” & “Go

die.” My advice to anyone starting out a YouTube channel would be that whilst

there can and will be very vocal internet trolls in the comments section of your

videos, there will also be a fair few loyal watchers who don’t leave any sort of

textual feedback and who just enjoy the video.

As a plus side to having a public profile, I recall meeting several of my view-

ers (fans or subscribers/followers) at gaming & technology events such as The

Gadget Show Live at Birmingham’s NEC last year in April. It was a joyous experi-

ence and for me, at the time a 14 year old schoolboy, meeting, greeting, taking

pictures and signing autographs was a little surreal! I can’t wait to do the same

at EGX Rezzed in March this year!

BWD: Your approach to your channel and quality of updates speaks highly

about the level-headed professionalism you approach AdamPlaysYT..?

As far as creating content goes, I have three types of categories for them.

Firstly, pre-mediated videos. These can be anything from an informational video

about some news regarding new features that could be added to Minecraft, a

discussion video about something new and upcoming that I find interesting or a

product review. These types of videos usually have quite a bit of planning going

into them but some might just be a basic script or mind-map of ideas I need to

touch on in the video.

Secondly, spontaneous gameplay commentaries. Basically, these are videos

that I decided I am going to record there and then. These types of videos are

usually longer and feature minimal post-production editing such as special

effects, etc. Videos of this type can include but are not limited to; dual com-

mentaries with other YouTubers, playing online multiplayer games with friends

and discussion videos.

Finally, live-streams. These aren’t pre-recorded and are done live (as the

name suggests), which funnily enough can sometimes lead to somewhat hilari-

ous technical issuers! For me, these live-streams are usually spontaneous and

don’t follow a weekly schedule unlike other YouTubers. Most live-streams

will occur on my Twitch channel and will be announced across social media

(YouTube, Twitter & Facebook etc.).

BWD: Who do you click n’ sit to enjoy; which contemporaries do you person-

ally see as doing something different or unique?

When it comes to watching other YouTubers, I have a few favourites. For

many years I had an unhealthy obsession with TheSyndicateProject’s ‘The

Minecraft Project’ videos, but since the dawn of my YouTube channel, unfor-

tunately I haven’t had much time to sit, relax and watch his videos which

makes me a little upset. I also love watching KSIOlajidebt’s FIFA videos as

well as wroetoshaw and a few others.

I also watch a lot of my friends’ videos including stampylongnose (who

recently hit one million subscribers so - congrats mate!), MessYourself,

lifeofkodi & more.

BWD: And on that bombshell would you like to bring things to a close with

a little information regarding what will AdamPlay next..?

I’m always so indecisive about what I’ll do next but I’m really getting into live-

streaming at the moment. The prospect of being able to do a video live and to

get comments as you’re “making it” is fascinating to me and I’m at a stage in my

career where this is possible now! I hope that in the future I can do many more

live streams on TwitchTV channel.

Contact Information

Website: www.twitch.tv/AdamPlaysYT

Twitter: @ AdamPlaysYT

Facebook: AdamPlaysYT

youtube.com/AdamPlaysYT

instagram.com/AdamPlaysYT

Photo Credits: AdamPlaysYT - All Rights Reserved


aNiMa

ontinuing the legacy of being the hub for all new and exciting

things music-wise in Birmingham; the United Kingdom has

once again thrown down its winning hand to reveal a clutch

of four aces known as ANiMA, scooping the pot with a sweep-

ing gesture that leaves little room for argument in the wake

of their devastating call.

With a sound so fresh as to currently defy present conventional pigeon holing

of genres; Dan Sheridan, (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Christopher Charles Lutha

Sheridan (guitar, vocals and keyboard), Mike Bar (bass) and Adam Wakefield

(drums) have forged an uneasy truce with aligning ANiMA to the tag of grunge

enforced upon the group by lazy journalism and those under-developed of the

music-gland.

More rock than remonstration ANiMA’s grasp of how a song is more than

an invite for your ears to become distracted from the chitter-chatter of the

modern world, an investment of emotion and interest that extends beyond the

nonsense and noise in the air-waves, began in the not-too-distant-past of 2011.

When ANiMA vocalist Dan Sheridan realized his then-current band The

Fairytale wouldn’t be the group able to bring to fruition the compositions he

had in mind, and not wanting to be in a position where he wasn’t giving one

hundred percent commitment to the group, and made with the farewells.

Having a clear vision of sound in mind he began piecing together the group

that could not just play the sounds he heard in his head but take them above

and beyond any levels of perfection he’d envisaged, collectively creating music

that would see the single ‘The Sun & The Moon’ receiving airplay on Kerrang!

Radio and BBC WM.

As the old saying goes, nothing good is easy and nothing easy is good; as the

band themselves would attest, perfection takes time, and even though bass

player Mike Bard and guitarist Christopher were quickly welcomed into the fold

it would take a few more months and bodies to fill the seat behind the drum-kit.

When a mutual friend introduced the threesome to a drummer by the name

of Adam Wakefield; chance, happenstance, or even fate could be called in for

the line-up over being responsible for the paths that were about to be crossed;

a chemistry found and friendships forged, ANiMA burst onto the gigging scene

as a toned and honed slice of solid sonic songs and explosive stage presence.

Influenced by bands such as SOAD, Suede and Smashing Pumpkins ANiMA

brought change to the ears of the audience and chagrin to the pens of the

media, their combined artistry birthing a sound that mixed the hook-laden

hitting power of rock with the familiar pattern of popular music in tightly deliv-

ered radio-friendly three minute slices of ‘superb’.

Debut release Homeopathy showed the group in the raw, almost visceral state

of a band holding a legion of power beneath their structured insurgence of

shock and awe. As the band have grown so too has their craftsmanship, though

it stands as a point of merit that opening track Dysphoria was so well received

it remains a fan favorite and one of the bands most popular songs.

Before 2014 has a chance to get underway proper and snatches ANiMA away

from our grasping hands BWD Magazine threw a fistful of air-miles at the Buy

Tickets Here desk jockey sitting behind the counter, scorched across the skies

and, remembering to replace any uses of the phrase ‘I am’ with the somewhat

Zen-like ‘Om’ we tracked down the band ANiMA to talk about how it all came to

be and where it will go, being RGG Band of 2013, and Birmingham’s burgeon-

ing band scene.

Photo Credits - ANiMA - All Rights Reserved

c

Website: ANiMAnoise.bandpage.com

Twitter: @ANiMAnoise

Facebook: ANiMAnoise

exclusive interview

BWD: Like a breath of fresh air direct from Birmingham, please intro-

duce us to ANiMA..?

Chris: ANiMA is a four piece rock band. For those new to us, we strive to

explore variations on the genre, pushing the boundaries of what can be

achieved with heavy guitar music, not liking to be tied down to any specific

scene or genre so that we keep our own personality and integrity, and can

continue to react to what’s going on around us at the same time.

Dan: To be a bit less abstract however, listen to us if you want music that

hurts your ears, and at the same time retains melody and hooks.

BWD: Birmingham has always been known as the land of new music

and genres, with ANiMA it seems coy about defining the style; so what

does the band call their music?

Dan: The only genres we feel comfortable being closely associated with

are rock and alternative. Rock because, plainly, we are a noisy, guitar driven

band, but adamantly we avoid clichés, trends and artistic compromise, so

we definitely sit on the alternative fence also.

Collectively some of our most notable influences are Nirvana, Radiohead,

System of a Down and fellow brummies Black Sabbath. Individually, we

carry our own personal weight of inspiration. As the main songwriter, I’ve

learned a lot from the likes of truly great rock and alternative writers such

as Billy Corgan, Amanda Palmer, John Lennon, David Bowie, Thom Yorke

and Kurt Cobain, although lately I’ve been inspired more by some of the

aNiMa


Cover Story

emerging Midlands bands like Youth Man. It’s once more a great time for ‘guitar

music’ in the Midlands, heavy bands are thriving again.

I also listen to a lot of classical music, particularly romantic composers like

Rachmaninov, Grieg and Chopin. I think this also finds its way into our songs in a

way, if more subtly than the distortion, wailing and...Horrific screaming.

We’re not afraid to work outside rock convention, this is how music moves for-

ward. I’m kind of sick of ‘retro’ acts. It’s stale. Why waste time attempting to create

a ‘pseudo sixties’ production on a track, or dress like Madonna or whatever? The

world has already been there.

The more time this band has to evolve, the more you will hear an exploration

of new sounds and concepts. We’ve got a LOT of a new ideas, and our ambition

isn’t faltering.

BWD: Though almost a world away from your debut EP release Homeopathy

ANiMA have managed to retain that initial spark of explosive creativity whilst

moulding it creatively..?

Dan: Well in many ways this band is a different one to the band who released Ho-

meopathy. We were only just discovering our own sound and I think it definitely

took recruiting Adam on drums last September to really round this off.

Adam: The Sun & The Moon single combines the heaviness of the earlier songs,

but has a sing-along chorus and clean, driving vocals.

Dan: Yeah we took a lot longer getting the right vocal representation for that

single. For Homeopathy we just recorded as much as we could in the limited

studio time we had. That resulted in me doing all the vocals in one or two hurried

takes. We definitely pushed for more of a ‘radio single’ sound with The Sun & The

Moon. It has that kind of anthemic quality so I think it works.

Homeopathy was rawer, and it’s the record you should listen to if you want to

hear the transition from, basically, a metal band, which is how ANiMA began, and

the band you hear on The Sun & The Moon.

BWD: How did the band feel at becoming RGG Band of 2013?

Adam: It’s great to be rewarded for the gigs and EP for last year and how, hope-

fully, it will help to widen our listeners and get us further acclaim/attention.

Dan: It feels good to be recognized for the work we’ve done and it really has been

a long, mostly unrewarding slog – for us at least -since 2011 when we formed

the band. We really can’t thank Nick Townsend of RGG enough for putting us for-

ward for that. I know he’s a fan of what we do, and that feeling is mutual. In fact

he’s putting us on at his place, Base Studios in Stourbridge on March 28th. That

should be a real triumphant show for us, I’m looking forward to it.

Chris: We were very excited by the extent to which ANiMA were covered in RGG. It

was obvious Nick was impressed with our sound, but we were delighted to have

some recognition, we’ve got everything it takes to make it far! To get recognition

like that really shows us the impact we can have from just one show!

Dan: Yeah the whole ‘Band of the Year’ identification was off the back of one

performance. So all in all it was extremely encouraging.

BWD: And finally; what’s 2014 looking like under the eyes of ANiMA?

Dan: We’ve been working tirelessly to be honest. Personally I’m really shattered!

A lot of energy is going into the new EP, ‘Remember it’s a Memory.’ It’s a kind of

concept record, based around the theme of memories, and how we perceive them.

Like, when you remember a certain event from your life, how similar an emotion

is evoked to the one you experienced at the time? Is it at all similar?

So essentially it’s a record about questioning self-beliefs. The past makes us

what we are in the present, but memory and the past can be very different things.

It’s fairly contemplative, I don’t claim to have any answers, but hopefully it will

be a satisfying exploration.

We’re treating this release as a genuine work of art rather than merely a collec-

tion of songs. All the tunes will be standalone tracks, able to be enjoyed in their

own right, but hopefully for the audience who allow themselves to be drawn into

the record as a whole, it will be a rewarding experience. I appreciate the era of

the ‘album’ is over, and most people want a quick fix, but I think in the name of art

that belief needs challenging. We get enough disposable bull thrown at us every

day, why should music be like that? When you buy clothes they’re soon replaced

by new ones, or a computer will soon become outdated, it will creak around the

edges and eventually stop working. Art shouldn’t be disposable. Yeah, in tangible

cd form it will eventually deteriorate, but music itself can be ageless. Beethoven’s

fifth symphony certainly hasn’t broken yet, and who hasn’t heard a Beatles song?

Back to the point, the titular track ‘Bad Memory’ will be pretty new for most

people, and there will be a brand new track we haven’t played live yet. So even

for those who go to all our shows there’ll be a surprise or two for ya!

‘Remember it’s a Memory’ is out in May, but you can wet your appetites with

the new promo video, featuring ‘The Sun & The Moon’ which will be found on the

record when it’s out. It’s on YouTube. We hope to have more releases before the

year is out, we’ll be playing plenty of gigs if you want to catch us live, including

at least one festival, hopefully more.


When MTV first launched way back in the hair-sprayed decadence of the leopard-

print eighties no-one could have foreseen the impact it would have had on the

music world; whereas before an artist or band had to rely on the printed media

and a life on the road for eighteen months of the year to establish themselves

and find their audience they could now attract as much - if not more - attention in

a three and a half minute video.

As a promotional tool the benefits of a music video were ten-fold; the costs

involved in bringing new music to the peoples of the world was suddenly consid-

erably less than it would’ve been to hit every stage between here and Who knows

Where, Europe, and being able to shove the band/artist into the faces of millions

of potentially interested eyes at any time of the day also cut down on the amount

of printed media (such as flyers or adverts in magazines) circulating about the

landscape and draining precious funds ear-marked for the bowl of brown M&M’s

and serving dwarf at the post-gig soiree from the budget.

Since then, of course, the world has opened up to allow anyone with an internet

connection and the wherewithal the opportunity of sharing their sounds and

accompanying sights with a global audience waiting to discover themselves some

fresh new sounds. As far away as the furthest tip of a penguin’s tail whilst still

being just on the other side of a lens, a musicians audience is closer now than

ever before; so once you’ve got your music on a cloud somewhere burning up the

download charts it’s time to take the next step and brush them teeth and put

yourself before the digital Cyclops and make with the music-video.

So with one eye on the dwarf budget and the other on your future, here’s five tips

to help you on the way to seeing your name under the headline ‘Midgets Reveals

M&M Madness of Musician!!!’

Or ‘Latest Video from Global Smash Sensation!!!’

Whichever; both are good...

5 tips for MakiNg a Music viDeo

So what do you want your video to look

like? What impressions do you want to

convey to your audience? What moves

and looks are you going to pull as you

whip your hair back and forth before the

cameras ever-staring eye? Storyboarding a song is as simple as

drawing a line from A to Z, as long as you have at least a rough

idea on the overall theme you’re looking for.

It doesn’t have to be an Orwellian novel with a cast of thousands

searching for some far-reaching truth of humanities deepest

emotional strains; most videos are essentially a performance of

the artists/bands stage act, and anything beyond that is a fairly

straightforward story-line built around the lyrics of the song itself.

Start with a few simple outlines of what you see in your head

when the song is being played; write down everything that

springs to mind or catches your fancy - you can always trim the

fat after, and even a bad idea may end up working really well

when pinned down onto celluloid (a perfect example would be

Estranged by Guns N’ Roses; no idea what’s going on but damn, it

looks good, and even has dolphins in it!).

Once you have a general idea what style or theme you like, start

with the brainstorming to flesh it out. Write it out on a large sheet

of paper and draw connecting lines to other ideas, or fire up the

movie maker program on your computer and have stick figures

move stiffly through possible scenarios or motifs. Either way,

being able to see your ideas writ big as it were will make it easier

to see what you like and works, and what you don’t and doesn’t.

i have a DreaM

1.


Even putting all the ideas into a hat or bag and then randomly

selecting one at a time to build a single continuum could deliver

surprisingly effective results - if it’s good enough for Bowie when

writing songs, and all that.

On stage or in a bus depot? A back alley

or a gentleman’s club? Your bedroom with

a black curtain behind you hiding the

Garfield wallpaper, or a churchyard that

sees you dodging angry looks from mourn-

ers between shots?

Where you choose to film will be limited by what restrictions - both

legal and moral - are imposed on the location. See what and where

you have available; do you own a cellar big enough to recreate a

live gig situation, or a window box perfectly sized for some Lego-

inspired film noir? Do you know someone who knows someone

who runs their own business and has a building going handy for

a shoot, or can you film it at two in the morning when you’re sup-

posed to be jockeying the till like a certain Mister Kevin Smith of

Clerks/Red State fame?

What you have available is what you will likely end up using, at

least in the first instance. Anywhere you own or is public property

should be considered fair game, though communal areas such as

parks and municipal buildings (ie: libraries, court houses, public

restrooms) will have some law governing what is and what is not

considered acceptable behaviour.

If unsure, check. Google exists for a reason, and even though it

probably isn’t to find out the legalities governing banana whip

covered dirty rockers bouncing through the pink aisle of Toys R’ Us

it should be able to tell you if the cheese flavoured hammer-head

shark pushes you over the line of good social accordance and into

the attentions of the local constabulary.

What you choose to record your cinematic debut

on will be the most crucial part of the whole

process.

After effects and such can make even the most

ambiguous dross seem like it was touched by Kubrik’s genius, but if the

original shots are all out of focus and all over the place then no amount

of computer capitulations will iron out the dodgy framing and replace the

singers head.

Once again the smartphone revolution comes to the fore, nearly everyone

now having access to a quality visual recording device. The more megapix-

els the better, of course, but with an app market waiting for your dextrous

touch we can all bring forth a picture perfect encapsulation onto memory

card the visions of a Shakespearian performance strutting its funky stuff in

accompaniment to the song.

Point, click and capture the moment music found its new Master Of The

Moves on your mobile with a quality of image, the envy of any eighties

band, the crystal-clear clarity far better than the inside of a custom-made

diamond cut crystal candy bowl. Again. And again. . .

...and again.. .Speaking of which...

It may be dull, it may be tiring, and it probably will

be frustrating towards the end as you yet again

mime and mouth along to the backing track for

the umpteenth time that day, but you won’t know

if you have the perfect shot until you’ve tried to

record it. Much like the music you’re filming for your video it will represent

you as an artist and you as a product; why invest either money or interest

in something that doesn’t engage you? Knowledge of shutter speeds and

where sells triple espressos at four in the morning aren’t needed, just an

ability to step back, watch what you’ve shot and say ‘Does it work?’

Fancy angled and up-the-nose shots are all well-and-good but a surprising

number of videos adopt a ‘run through it once whilst filming from several

angels’ method of video-shoot, which lends itself well to the arm chair

director amongst us and has the added bonus of being incredibly effective

when cut together right.

It may even be down to the musicians why you are still shooting the same

scene fourteen hours after you began. It can take a while for some perform-

ers to get comfortable ‘acting out’ on cue and away from the stage. Keep

calm and call to mind the six ‘P’s of music: Practice some Patience; a Perfect

Performance is Persuasive Promotion.

As with everything, promotion is key. Once you

have your story boarded and your shooting

schedule sorted you might want to be making

announcements of an upcoming reveal to your

followers and fans. With social media sites afford-

ing you a captivated - or at the least, reachable audience to inform of your

daily dealings you can use the sweat off their brows and likewise connected

friends to bring even more hype to your campaign or promotions.

For Example...

A post informing the world of your future plan is also an invite to anyone

wishing to become a part of music and film history by being part of the

crowd on this day in this location.

Engaging your audience is infinitely easier when it involves them directly,

will make promoting yourself and your music far easier and further reach-

ing than hammering the re-tweet button for three solid hours.

locatioN, locatioN.....locatioN?

take thirty seven

i’M reaDY for MY close-up

coming soon to now playing

2.

3.

4.

5.


ince 2011 one band has led the way in creat-

ing new ways to break the old rules of music

previously ensnaring creativity and imagina-

tion through composing songs that take the

listener above the hum-drum of a four/four beat

and squealing guitars, and on an adventure into the unknown;

an unknown wherein those who dare to follow find portraits of

soundscapes, visions of greatness, and a tune you can hum long

after the last note fades out, reality comes back and reality comes

a-knocking once more.

Influenced by British Indie-Rock and bringing only the best

melodic mastery of other genres The Burgeoning are more than a

band with a tune or two in their back pocket; they are a cavalcade

of chords, crowd cap-

turing choruses, and

cataclysmic creations

intent on tearing

down the traditional

and rebuilding it

into something quite

extraordinary.

Individually going

by the monikers of

Logan Thierjung (lead

vocals and rhythm

guitar), Alex Thierjung

(bass), Brandon

Bradley (drums), and

Marc Giovanetti (keyboard/synth/lead guitar) these Bensalem,

Pennsylvanian artificers of sound began their creation of celebra-

tions in 2011, when brothers Logan and Alex found themselves

looking at the current state of music and finding it lacking for

imagination, invention, involvement and – above all – the invest-

ment of emotion to carry crowds through both chaos and clouds

and leave the listener breathlessly spent for it.

With fellow Pipers of Pied Brandon and Marc of the same mind

and talent to create gold from the leaden scene The Burgeoning

was formed, the band’s name taken from the definition of same;

to whit, to expand, to grow, to become something more.

Quickly the band established themselves in the venues of their

hometown, winning over crowds and hypnotizing listeners with

their incredibly energetic performances and contagious set-lists;

soon they became Philly’s latest unsigned explosion of sound, and

after finding fellow state-shifting stalwart in the artist known as

GONZ, collaborations were formed and The Burgeoning released

into the wilds a new unstoppable beast of brilliance.

Born from a mix of Indie and Hip-Hop the bands own unique

sound have earned them their place at the Table of Tunesmiths,

the band showing themselves as pioneers offering places on their

voyages into opportunity of opulence and revelations of rhyme.

Hearing the call of the band and finding our feet unable to resist

the melody BWD Magazine waltzed its way into the world of The

Burgeoning to talk tunes and tempo; songs and success, and which

tag-team titans would come up trumps in the ultimate music

throw down.

BWD: To start, hello, and you fine gentlemen are..?

Logan Thierjung on vocals

and guitar, Marc Giovanetti

on guitar and keys, Alex

Thierjung on bass and

Brandon Bradley on drums:

We are The Burgeoning.

BWD: From listen-ing to your tracks The Burgeoning seem to be

more than just a band; indeed, there’s a highly creative imagina-tion at work behind these songs..?

When fans listen to our music, we want them to feel they can

embrace themselves and their own truest and deepest adventurous

spirit. We want to be the inspiring gateway force that plunges them

out of any problem, life situation, or insecurity. Almost as if we are

the soundtrack to their own self-discovery to who or whatever they

want to be and do. As a band we tend to look at our sound or genre

as untamable and not particularly describable, but if we had to sum

it up with a few words, we can be described as a boundless-unchart-

ed-muse-euphoria (B.L.U.M.E.). We ourselves were all kids with differ-

ent toys in the same sandbox. Our mascot, “Blume” the robot, is the

symbolic collective of our own individual personalities and quarks.

BWD: How did the collaborations with Gonz come about?

Gonz is the blood related cousin of Logan and Alex. Growing up we

weren’t the closest relatives however later in our lives only a few

s

the burgeoNiNgthe burgeoNiNg

exclusive iNterview

exclusive iNterview


years ago we discovered we all have musical talent between all three

of us. Logan and Alex were introduced to music since the dawn of time,

as well as Marc and Brandon. Gonz started with music at his early

twenties. As cousins and friends we all decided to jam one day, and

from there it was history. We make new tracks all the time jamming,

and recreate Gonz’s original tracks as well bringing our own melodic

indie rock edge.

BWD: How confident were the band that there would be an audi-ence for this new mix of styles and sound?

With any art form comes the artists’ conscious motive and essential

deepest lack of concern that people will fully understand or even

like our sound/music. In this world if you feel a certain way, someone

somewhere is bound to feel the same or close enough to connect even

if it is one person. Since the world is a big place, we have nothing but

faith in ourselves and what we love to do, and that is all anyone really

wants to see. People doing what they love, with originality and style.

We’re confident in saying we have something new and exciting to bring

to the ears of everyone on this earth.

BWD: Clearly many people are grateful the band took the bold step, the acclaim and appreciation The Burgeoning have received undoubtedly promising a future for the band..?

Our relationship with BSMG is more of a partnership. We are both

working together to pave the way for other independent artists to get

out there and build their brands. Amongst still building our own brand,

we are in the creative process of writing our first full length album,

called “Adventure”.

BWD: Penultimate question time! Who would win in a tag-team fight between Biggie and Tupac versus brothers Liam and Noel Gallagher (of Oasis fame)?

THUG LIFE.

BWD: And finally; what’s on the horizon for The Burgeoning in 2014?

More visual media, music videos, cover videos, vlogs, new merchandise,

and writing our first album songs. Possibly, some promotional raffle

contests to win some cool stuff personally styled up by the burgeoning.

Contact Information

Website: www. theburgeoning.com

Twitter: @TheBurgeoning

Facebook: The.Burgeoning

Photo Credits: The Burgeoning - All Rights Reserved


escribing themselves as pop at heart with a grunge-

rock body The Mumblecores are the epitome of a

band fully in the driving seat of their own career;

seeing the future as something they not only want,

but have the tools, ability, and hook laden tracks to

make it an almost unbelievable reality.

Breaking through the embarrassment of musical riches, the

Midlands in the UK is known to birth as no easy feat for a band

wanting to stand apart from the others and establish themselves.

However, with a canny eye to the connected world online; Kraig

Fallows, Chris Jones, Anthony

John Ellis and Reece Mason

are delivering the audience

of the internet the extraordi-

nary explosion of sound and

superb substance known col-

lectively as The Mumblecores.

Since their formation in

2010 the band have pushed

forward with their mix of

infectious hooks and ravag-

ing riffs to crowds across

their home county, perform-

ing with an unbridled adren-

alin rush to the happy glands of aural appreciation that sweeps up

the crowds and carries them along through the rapids of rock riffs

and grunge grit. Such shows established The Mumblecores as more

than just a band, the overwhelming response garnering the band

much praise from a quickly established and vastly growing fan

base as word of the new group spreads.

Upon completion of their debut EP ‘Quiet, Loud’ the band released

it across all platforms; from iTunes to Amazon to Sony Music Hub,

they even made it available through the XBOX marketplace for the

gamers in their audience. Quickly snapped up for airplay across

the Midlands, the groups unique sound and solid reputation was

starting to precede them. Justification for such missives of The

Mumblecores and their music came in the guise of REChead Records,

a music label who spotted the bands intense performance and

undeniable tracks and made them an offer to sign there and then.

Already featured as ‘Band Of The Day’ in Counteract Magazine and

being listed as ‘Band Of The Week’ on music review website Audio

Pulse are but two of the reasons BWD Magazine grabbed our pass-

port and headed to the airport, our destination Birmingham in the

land of bowler hats,

our mission being

one of tracking down

and tackling the four

piece of performers

who call themselves

The Mumblecores to

find out just what

makes this band one

of the most intrigu-

ing on the music

industry’s radar; what

is it about them that

has lifted them from

the crowds of other

bands to where they are now, where they hope to go, and if it isn’t

what you do or the way you do it, what is it?

BWD: With a clearing of the throat we say hello; who are The Mumblecores?

d

exclusive iNterview

the Mumblecores


We are a four piece post-grunge/rock band from Birmingham. We first

started writing music as a band in late 2010 but have been gigging

and recording with this line up since July 2013. The Mumblecores

consist of Kraig (Vocals & Guitar), Chris (Guitar), Anthony (Bass) and

Reece (Drums).

BWD: Your reputation as being an incredible adrenalin rush to the ears is certainly justified after hearing your EP ‘Quiet, Loud’… We are so pleased with how the EP turned out! We really wanted to try

and capture the raw energy and feel of our live shows, and with the

help of Tom Bickley (Guitarist & Producer in ‘Everybody Looks Famous’),

who recorded and co-produced the EP, we feel we have done that. We’ve

had really good reviews and feedback from various people and fans of

the band, and the tracks have been featured in both local and national

media which is always nice!

We’ve always found that our music has swayed more towards ideals

that we believe in as a band and as individuals. We don’t consider

ourselves to be a politically motivated band and we certainly have no

agendas, but we are all very passionate about what we feel is right

and wrong in society and life in general. This EP and all our music is

influenced by that. We also like to let the listener make up their own

mind as to what each song is about, rather than giving a breakdown of

each lyric line by line. It’s always nice to hear how someone else has

perceived your work and their interpretation. Kraig has always found

it easier to write more aggressive and angrier sounding material, so I

wouldn’t be expecting any ballads anytime soon!

BWD: Clearly the hard-work and promotion has already started to pay off, the band recently signing to the label REChead Records…? REChead are a new label from Birmingham who found us online

and have really helped us push the presence of the band around the

Midlands and further afield. They are young, ambitious and want to

succeed, just like the band, so it’s great to work together to try and

push the band to the next level. As they are just starting out it’s cool

to share ideas and be there from the beginning to see it take shape

and grow bigger.

BWD: You’ve bestrode the stage up and down the land, receiving critical and fan acclaim with almost every step; but has it really been the life of ‘Reilly’ it appears on paper..? We’ve had the attitude from day one of “if we can plug in and play, then

we’ll play!” I think that’s one of the joys of this band! We take what we

do very seriously, but we’re also just happy to be playing and doing

what we all love! Whether that’s in a little pub shoved in a corner, or

on a huge stage like the ‘Academy’ it makes no difference to us, we’ll

treat it exactly the same! If we play to 3 people or 300 people it doesn’t

matter to us, we just try and make those that are there to watch us,

remember us, and hope they’ll come to watch us again. We started this

band to play songs that we love and hope other people like what they

hear and nothing will ever really change that. With all our gigs, we try

to advertise them as much as possible, and not only using the usual

internet, social media side of things but actually going out with flyers

and talking to people about our shows. We’ve found that a little face

time can give people a reason to come and spend their hard earned

cash on coming to see you play!

We’ve had some interesting moments on stage along the way for sure!

Kraig spent a good twenty minutes before going on stage thinking

he’d broken his amp before realizing that he had actually just knocked

a dial down to zero and it was working perfectly but just removed all

the tone. Crisis averted! Reece, halfway through a song lost his snare!

He didn’t break it, but it literally ended up halfway across the stage

because he’d been hitting it so hard!! Ant has had a bass that had been

cutting out during a song, and then in the process of punching it to fix

it, just proceeded to smash the pickups on it to pieces! The worst of the

bunch though would have to go to Chris, who managed to blow his

amps mainboard and tubes after just three songs of a set! He ended

up having to play through the stage PA for the rest of the set, and trust

us when we say that, with an electric guitar and distortion pedals, it

sounds horrible!! But these things happen when you do live shows! We

survive, laugh it off, grab a beer and roll onto the next show.

BWD: As a band still quite early into its career, what milestones have you set for yourselves? We just want to get our name out there as much as possible, playing as

many places as possible and hopefully somewhere along the line more

and more people will start coming to our shows and enjoying what we

do! It would be nice to play a few big shows this year and maybe get

on a few festivals around the UK. We’re back in the studio in March/

April time to get a new EP recorded and we’re really excited to play our

first ever festival called ‘L2G Festival’ that is showcasing some of the

country’s biggest unsigned talents, so it was really great to be asked

to play! We just hope that people who listen, either on record or live,

see the passion we have for what we do and feed off of that and will

want to hear more.

BWD: Penultimate question time! Finish this sentence; It ain’t what ya do, it’s the way that ya do it; that’s...? What makes you stand out from the crowd!

BWD: And finally; what can we expect to see and hear from The Mumblecores in the upcoming year? More of the same! More shows, more songs, more promotion and just

generally having a great time and trying to meet as many new faces

as possible!

Contact Information

Website: www.themumblecores.co.uk

Twitter: @TheMumblecores

Facebook: TheMumblecores

Photo Credits: The Mumblecores/Sean Shore Photography

Flashback Studios - All Rights Reserved


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Answering the call to music that goes beyond the human impetus

to weave lyrical missives between rhythmic melodies, entwining an

emotional depth of integrity to create the genre of Street Gospel, Lil

Gee - aka the artist Gregory Bell - is LA’s and the music scenes finest

example of the passion within personal belief.

This Baton Rouge boy has been building his musical mansions of

sound since age 14, a prolific composer and writer whose self-pro-

duced recordings showed his talent was a match for the desire to

extemporize beyond the thoughts of his peers.

When a suitable genre for him to fall into failed to appear he simply

created his own, having found his own subtle blend of sounds and

religious thematic tones brought a richer indulgence and more sat-

isfying experience than simple pigeon-holing would allow.

This drive to follow his own path saw Lil Gee sign to a fresh new

label called JustDFire Records, a label able to allow his unique vi-

sions their full reign of reach. Though far-seeing in scope, the label

and Lil Gee parted ways two years later; but the foundations had

been laid for what a further two years of hard work would reveal,

Lil Gee’s upcoming and much anticipated full album debut release

Hood Religion.

Showing the world his own visions through consumptive composi-

tions and hypnotic hooks of almost unparalleled command, it’s hard

to imagine this is all coming from an artist still only 22 years old.

Poet, musician, and an artist who finds ears to listen to his words

whenever he speaks, it’s only a matter of time before Lil Gee’s mes-

sages are heard across the world.


Twitter: @TheOfficialLilG

Facebook: LilGee

Instagram: TheOfficialLilG

Photo Credits: Lil Gee

All Rights Reserved

.

lil gee


When the Swinging Sixties came to a close the Disco

Seventies planted its eight inch high sequined platform foot

squarely on the dance floor, the air was rent asunder with the

sound of an army of Pac-Man’s, the wacka-wacka soundtrack to

falsetto’d chaps in disturbingly tight trousers crowing about walk-

ing with a fever at night; the guile and almost subversive feel of

the music talking to teenagers and troubling parents of the time

quickly overwhelmed by an out-pouring of immodest clothing,

curly chest hair and epileptic inducing light shows.

Music as a whole became more about pouting and posturing then

producing something of merit with any real integrity or worth; it

was all about the posturing and posing, pretending as if music

hadn’t existed before the disco-ball was born and only ever

acknowledged significant works in the way one excuses childish

behaviour as simply not knowing any better.

The excess of the Eighties raised the stakes further still, increasing

both chest hair and shoes height and painted it none-more-black,

calling it hair metal and/or glam-rock. Spandex was made and

against all reason became even more an affront to the senses than

before, though now bulges were more leopard print and stripes

instead of sequins and such.

Somewhere along the lines things went completely awry, and so

now we are looking for new leaders of those lost in a landscape

of jeggings, leggings and Limp Bizkit, a band of bringers-back-to-

the-fold of fans of music from a time when it was all about the

sound rather than the style.

Forget eye-liner and long hair, torn-up T’s and tattoo’s; no gangsta

nor geezer nor bling or big shoes, bullet-nutters bringing beef or

vocalists with issues. Those with a Hank-ering for some Hol(l)y

good tunes without hyperbole or hairspray or horribly contort-

ing trews need look no further than the land of the lyricist and

Emerald of Isle, see the blinding light of clarity shining above

the fug of falseness and fake and know, in your bones, that The

Whereabouts are all about the melodies and music.

Stripping away the tantrums and Travolta-alikes to leave their

songs as a direct and to the point as a needle to the eye; Wayne

Watters Reilly (lead singer/rhythm guitar), Evan Murphy (lead

guitarist), Joseph Adcock (bassist/backing vocals) and Dara Curtis

(drummer) are an honest-to-goodness breath of fresh air from

Ireland known as The Whereabouts.

Carrying a strong sense of rhythm and blues feel and style as

that other Fab Four, ‘The Whereabouts’ are a finely honed rock &

roll band, have taken all the bloat and blah other musicians use

to pad out their sound and delivered the landscape a clean slate

to appreciate the music, become invested in the sound, and feel

as involved in the performance as if you were nose close to each

member belting out the notes.

the whereabouts


Influences from the likes of Chuck Berry, Dr Feelgood and, of

course, The Beatles, are worn with a badge of pride rather than

attempt an homage or imitation; like a jazz player in a group The

Whereabouts understand their genres range and run freely within.

They’ve captured the style and delivery of their peers and thrown

it right back out there for us, their audience, to inspect and explore

and confirm there is no excess of bulk or added padding agents

here. There is simply the leanest cut of melody and music from

the finest stock, raised on nothing but the choicest organic-grown

sound discovered in the Sixties, and delivered by the Silver Service

of music to deliver a thoroughly satisfying experience.

Feeling somewhat peckish for an order ‘to go’ BWD Magazine hit

the internet highway to seek out ‘The Whereabouts’ of these Irish

lads and ask them a bit more about the band; their substance

over style and why not some ‘crunch’, their recent appearances

and reaction from their fans, and what we can tell from the way

they walk.

BWD: Before we get into things proper, what are The Whereabouts all about..?

The Whereabouts are a Rock n Roll band from County Cavan Ireland.

We started as a band in early summer of 2013 through a mutual

love for 60’s music. The band currently consists of 4 members, Evan

Murphy-Lead Guitar, Wayne Watters Reilly-Vocals & Guitar, Dara

Curtis-Drums and Joseph Adcock-Vocals & Bass. We recorded our

debut EP towards the beginning of September and was released at

the end of September.

BWD: The sound of the band is reminisce of the Sixties own rock backing track; on the surface it seems clean and wholesome through lack of distortion or screamed vocals, but just underneath you can sense a ‘knowing look’ of understanding, an intensity of passion that goes beyond the words..?

We all began learning to play our instruments in our early teens. We

grew up listening to bands like The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The

Who, The Beach Boys, Bo Diddleys and all the main R&B groups of

the 60’s and 50’s. Over the past 8 or 9 months we have moulded our

own sound but we got our own sound by watching and listening to

performances of all the named bands, it really helped to watch them

perform as we got to see what amplifications and brand of guitars

they used.

BWD: Your recently released EP TwentyThirtyThree has garnered some favourable acclaim since its September 2013 release, featur-

ing three original compositions alongside three cover versions..?

We wrote our three originals (TwentyThirtyThree, Fever and Shakin’)

in the space of around 2 to 3 weeks. We wasted no time in rushing

into the studio to get them recorded. We wrote all the songs and all

the lyrics together as a band in our rehearsal room. The three covers

we done just happened to be the three strongest songs on the set

list at the time.

BWD: Do you feel The Whereabouts mark a new page in music’s ledger, where people began to eschew the false and flamboyant and get back to it being just about the music?

Music nowadays is more of a popularity contest rather than a music

contest. For us Rock n Roll is real music and takes talent to play. We

don’t think it’s fair that people get thrown into the music limelight

for 2 or 3 having to record songs 5 or 6 people have written for them

just so people can make money for a young talent.

BWD: Usually we’d ask your thoughts on any contemporaries but uniquely The Whereabouts appear to have none..?

There are a few different bands out there doing the same as us and

we love the fact we aren’t alone in bringing back Rock n Roll.

BWD: Penultimate question time! Finish this sentence; ‘Well you can tell by the way I use my walk I’m-?’

......a woman’s man?

BWD: And finally; what does the future hold for The Whereabouts?

World domination.... of the world.

Contact Information

Website: www. thewhereaboutsofficial.com

Twitter: @TheWhereabouts_

Facebook: TheWhereaboutsPage

Photo Credits: The Whereabouts - All Rights Reserved

exclusive iNterview

Experience, as those who have it will tell you, is what we call those

moments in life that find you in a completely alien situation and having to

adapt and adopt a hitherto unacknowledged set of life-skills with which to

deal with your current situation.

As is the case laid out before us in Wrong Place Wrong Time, an almost

confessional of celebration and calamity that has rightly earned author

David Perlmutter the number four position in True Crime and True Accounts

in the UK, and twice topping the charts to sit in the much coveted number

one position of the charts in both Spain’s Real Events and the US Amazon

charts.

Such endorsement of electrifying erudition has credited David’s book with a

place under the noses of several movie makers eager to turn this incredible

tale into the blockbusting film it promises to be.

Recounting the tales of a young David Perlmutter he tells us how his care-

free gadabout days of drink, decadence, and dalliances with the fairer sex

led him from the safety of the somewhat mundane London to the moribund

surroundings of a Spanish jail.

A richness of detail recounting finite minutiae turns what could have

so easily come across as one man’s extravagance in both ignorance and

indulgence instead engages the reader within his world as an emotional

witness to it all.

As a captivating insight into the world of one embracing the moment as

it happens, of living ‘in the now’ and taking each step with a leap into the

unknown; with us as willing voyeurs, it is also a sobering cautionary tale as

to the ease with which it can all go so horribly, horribly wrong.

What could have come across as an author recounting the lowest point in

his life as an almost Twelve Step Confessional and sermon into the wages of

sin instead reveals the details of such raconteur richness with an unbiased

tone; moves you into the position of an observer witnessing the events

without pomp or pretence or protestations of anything other than the old

adage of life being stranger than fiction truly prophetic indeed.

Never once making excuses for how things turn out, he accepts his fate

is down to his own hand, and likewise it is he who must sort the whole

mess out.

A biographical tale of unbelievable fate, this father of four can rightly claim

the crown as Europe’s Ulysses, London’s Laureate, and also the South West’s

Shakespeare.

Read for yourself why Wrong Place, Wrong Time has earned over one-hun-

dred and eighty-five 5-Star reviews and another forty 4-Star endorsements

of erudition!

Website: www.thewrongplaceatthewrongtime.blogspot.co.uk

Facebook: wrongplacewrongtimebook

Twitter: @davepperlmutter

Photo Credits: David Perlmutter - All Rights Reserved

book review


DaviD

perlMutter

bwD recorDs, llci n d e p e n d e n t m u s i c l a b e l o f t h e s o u t h

Continuing to set the standard for others to follow

BWD Radio has extended its vast reach in the me-

dia with the launch of its own record label, BWD

Records, LLC ‘The Independent Music Label of the

South’.

Taking over a decade’s worth of industry knowledge

and experience BWD Records, LLC - ‘The Indepen-

dent Music Label Of The South’ - is the culmination

of BWD’s vast expertise in the field of music and

artist promotion; not content with simply waiting

to see what single or artist reaches number one

BWD Radio took their position of being known

globally as the leaders in discovering new indie

acts and on the 26th of October 2012 launched

their own record label, BWD Records. Dedicated to

finding the best as-yet unknown talent out there

BWD doesn’t limit itself to one specific genre; rath-

er it extends its horizons to include all genres such

as rock, metal, hip hop and dance amongst others. A

smorgasbord of scintillating new acts are present-

ed under the BWD mantle, representing the best of

the best and most unique in their field, such as you

have come to expect from one of the industry’s top

media professionals.

Owing to their unique position within the world of

music BWD were able to snap up and sign Flori-

da based rapper 5 M.I.C-Z to their label, an artist

that brings with himself a level of credibility that

owes everything to musical talent and dedication

and nothing to a cynical self-styled back-story and

whose first release on the label – ‘Head Turna’ – has

firmly established the label as serious competition

to the established status quo.

Continuing to set the standard for others to follow

BWD Radio has proven again the need to change

and adapt in this never static landscape of media

and music is key to continued growth and success.

Pushing where others are content to stagnate is

the secret behind where BWD Radio currently find

themselves today, and with the launch of their own

label in BWD Records it gives you some idea of just

how far BWD Radio are aiming to go.

“Don’t just MAKE a Difference, BE the Difference.”

– BWD Records, LLC

‘The Independent Music Label of the South’

V i s i t w w w . B w d R e c o r d s . c o m o r w w w . f a c e b o o k . c o m / B w d R e c o r d s . l l c


Documents

BWD Magazine - March 2014