Pitch

Magazine Article - Second Attempt

Its been over two years since ‘The Futures Youth’ released their debut album, ‘Nowadays: It’s too crowded’ and as the summer of 2011 comes along they have their second studio album to deliver. We got to speak with Sam Worthington, James Smith and Harry Hextall. We already know that the group is a real success story for unknown unsigned acts as Sam found fame and fellow band member Harry through Myspace. Their new single ‘Out for the kill’ is available from iTunes now and ‘I speak the truth when I want to’ is scheduled for the end of May, just in time for the festival season! James indicated to us that the album is more about their contribution for music and not just money driven, at Echo we totally agree with this you can see that they have incorporated their own statement style of electronic synths and bass line but add over vocals from the lead singer Sam. A track on the album we really like is ‘you only loose when you finish’ in which they collaborate with renowned female singer Katy B. But don’t be fooled the whole album is not hit club songs, their are some where we get to listen to the softer side of Sams’ voice and this makes a refreshing change the heave dub step we most commonly see.

Its not just the songs that got heads turning, the album artwork is something to be admired, it has the daring of Kanye West: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy but without the nudity and numerous covers, other similarities is the the artist George Condo also did the art. Harry told us that after seeing the mock ups for Kanyes he was immediately on  the phone to George and asking him to help them out. It features the group but as you’ve never seen them before, and we will leave that as surprise until the launch date. With this however has come criticism that they still haven't found their own style and they are nothing more than a copy of big names in the music bizz. We then got them onto the conversation for the summer, we already know they will be doing a 30 date tour up and down the country before they move onto europe in winter 2011. We did ask what it felt to be moving to Europe to which Sam told us ‘I see it as an honor that we can spread out into other cultures and we hope day that we can go to any country and be recognized’. Its allot to ask be we feel that they can do it with the forthcoming album. 

But what we wanted to know is if they have any plans for the summer as their tour dates a few and far between at that time. They seemed very reluctant to tell us what it was they had planned but after a bit of arm twisting and a cup of tea we got it out of them. And we can reveal here EXCLUSIVELY that it is confirmed that ‘The Futures Youth’ will be headlining at both Reading and Leeds. Will you be going? I know I will. We asked them how it felt to be playing at such a renowned music festival to which Harry replied ‘I couldn’t believe it, I still find it hard to get my mind round it now, but at the same time we think that our music and ourselves have come along enough to play to such big audiences’. We hope they can produce a set to rival some of the previous big headliners including ‘Daft Punk’ who in 2008 had people crowding at the main stage. On the note of playing to mass audiences I wanted to know what their best gig was and what made it. ‘Well for me it had to be one we did at Leicesters: The Auditorium because it was in the early days when we weren't being played on the radio and I was nervous how our unique sound would be received but after playing our opening verse the whole place seemed to just explode with excitement’ said James. One thing that we couldn’t not talk about whilst we had time with the group was their style, they are commonly snapped in the celebrity magazines as best dressed. 

Their smart casual look never fails to impress the masses that follow The Futures Youth, it was james that described to us why they dress the way they do, he told us that because the majority of their music is made on a computer then their is no room for error and the sound should be clean and the cleanliness is what we try emanate in their clothes. Finally I wanted to know what the future lies for them; have they started on a 3rd album?. ‘No, no third album as of yet we just want to get on the tour and then I have planned a months holiday to just relax. But after that I hope we can make another album, if the demands still their for us’ said Sam

Draft Selection

Out of the mock ups these are the ones that i think turned out the best what i shall turn into my drafts for the final magazine.

I like this one of the front covers the best as i think it has a real magazine style about it, i also think how the colours interact with each other works well. For when i hand in my final draft i need to add a date under the price and issue number. 

This was my original idea for a contents page and its what i still feel is best for my magazine, i still need to replace the celebrity photos with ones that i have already taken. Looking at it again i do feel also i need add the persons names over the picture. i may do this by using a font that fills the whole of the picture as a style point.

Final magazine contents page 

For the double page spread i picked this page, i feel that the way the columns are presented with the different sizes of fonts adds dimension to a large block of text. I needed to add the tour dates as the artice wasn't big enough to fill the whole page, i now think that this is something i want to to keep as a feature on the page. 

Double Page Spread Mock Up 3 - Real Photos

Evaluation 

I feel that the way the columns are presented with the different sizes of fonts adds dimension to a large block of text. I needed to add the tour dates as the artice wasn't big enough to fill the whole page, i now think that this is something i want to to keep as a feature on the page. i did need to use one of my first photos my final ones didn't have enough black for the layout i wanted to use. 

Contents Page Mock Up 3 - Real Photos

Evaluation

This was my original idea for a contents page and its what i still feel is best for my magazine. Looking at it again i do feel also i need add the persons names over the picture. i may do this by using a font that fills the whole of the picture as a style point. i also like the use of making the groups picture a black background which sets it apart from the others.

Frontcover Mock Up 3 - Real Photos

Evaluation

i took the style of the previous front cover but slightly changed it to see how it looks, overall i think out of the two this has the less impact factor of the other one. this i feel is because of the white circle and the big + sign. 

Double Page Spread Mock Up 2 - Real Photos

Evaluation

Here i took my on board the style of the 3 columns and i like the effect it has produced, the big I in the background comes from some inspiration in previous posts. I do really like this page but i just don't think it has what is required of a magazine double page spread. 

Contents Page Mock Up 2 - Real Photos

Evaluation

What i think is the best part of the page is the top half, i really like the big photo of my group and the title of the page. the bottom half however has some concerns, i want to use the theme of different boxes for each different part of the magazine but i feel that it lack images and the big fonts lack the professional touch. to overcome this is think i would take the idea of the old style polaroid pictures of the first contents page and use them in this layout.