This is an Oasis article from the same issue of Clash as the Kaiser Chiefs article, and this gives me an idea of what an interview for a classic band looks like. I would say they're pretty mainstream and are creating a lot of buzz at the minute with their world tour, which is why Clash has chosen to feature them. When choosing bands to feature on my own, if I do use real bands, I will take note of if they're relevant to the time.
I think the image is a generally similar style to the Kaiser Chiefs one, possibly because it is from the same magazine and therefore looking to attract the same target readers. Again the band aren't in a studio, but outside on a street, yet unlike the Kaiser Chiefs, it seems like a more suburban or industrial street not in the centre of the town filled with people, which may be in order to appeal to the slight difference in age range between the fans of Oasis and the fans of the Kaiser Chiefs. The suburban street does seem to be more grown-up, implying that it's something a bit different and that Oasis have been there, done that in regards to a photo shoot on a trendy street. It seems to be a convention that interview photos are taken outside, whereas those on a cover are inside.
The differences in features used in the images, where the Kaiser Chiefs used sunglasses, Oasis have used a lamp post. This may be a more subtle way to suggest celebrity, by giving the abstract concept that they are the ones now in the limelight (like under the lamp post light), however because it's a fairly unmotivated prop, it's easy to attract an aberrant reading of the whole image that it's just a few middle-aged men walking down the street, however it may just be me but aren't Oasis always being presented like this, even in their videos? So maybe it is just in-keeping with their style. Not to mention their facial expressions. Pure moody, grumpiness. Again connotes the right reading to their target readers that this is Oasis, back and more aggressive than ever?
Very typical clothing for a slightly older male than the Kaiser Chiefs, again appealing to those who've liked Oasis for ages. The leather jacket and waterproof style coat also give a very ruff around the edges kinda vibe, which may have a positive reading from both genders, males thinking they're cool, and females thinking they're attractive.
The slice of the extremely long article that is on this beginning double page spread is actually just an extended blurb, which I'm hoping will help me write an intriguing blurb to my own article in order to draw the reader in and convince them to keep reading. Running throughout the article is very barbaric words like "hungry","slay", "rampage", "new blood" and "relentless", which will all convey a tough, don't-mess-with-this attitude in an attempt to kick start excitement over the band's return. I think it works quite well, especially the quip "you''ll need dental surgery by the end of it" to intrigue the reader. Something it does do which I haven't noticed in other articles is that it personifies the band, but this may be to draw attention to what a legendary phenomenon they are, so a technique that may only work on a very established band.
However, it doesn't seem very casual and it is closer to the tone of the Rolo Tomassi article, however this could be just the blurb part as it isn't into the real interview stuff. Also, it seems very serious about music as a whole paragraph of the blurb is dedicated to technical music talk. I don't think this is something I'll want to focus on in my own article, maybe a way to make it more unconventional, but I may drop bits in in the style of the Kaiser Chiefs "scissor-kicking indie pop" quote. Something slightly different is that the scene is set nearer the end of the blurb, but I think this could just be because it's pretty long.
The font is again very readable and clear-cut, a definite obvious convention of the text written in the article. Also the title is big, bold and brutal which ties in very well with the theme of the article. This connection was similar for the 2 previous articles, so there may be a convention emerging there. The clean cut style of it all also matches their image and the street there on, which helps create an attractive layout for ease of reading, appealing and drawing in the reader.
The colours are pretty much black, white, grey and a bit of tan/gold. All very neutral classy colours, appealing to the slightly older fan, and works with the simplistic no-fuss layout. Although the 3 articles I've now looked at are all neutral colour schemed, I'm still not convinced it's something I want to conform to, as I'm sure a popular music audience would be more open to a variation of brighter colours.
Overall, I do think this spread is simplistically effective, as people will probably be reading the article more for the band than the intricate layout, so there's nothing to distract from the greatness that is the band themselves, or so this magazine is trying to connote, and may I say quite successfully. I think has enforced some of the conventions I've drew from the other spreads as well, like the newspaper style article layout, black on white, which is also used very credibly in this spread too.
No comments:
Post a Comment