As already stated we have researched in great detail many other music videos while retaining our focues on the Pop-Punk Genre yet we explored the alternative rock and grunge styled music videos aswell as these would further help us implement the bands influences to correlate with other music videos which are inspired by these genres, these music videos ranged from the following artists:
- Greenday (Basket case) (Holiday) (Boulevard of Broken Dreams) (American Idiot)
- Blink 182 (All the Small Things) (Up until Midnight)
- Biffy Clyro
- Rancid
- Rise Against (Savior)
- Paramore (Misery Business)
- Alien Ant Farm (Smooth Criminal - Cover)
- Shine Down
- Jimmy Eat World
- Foo Fighters (The Pretender) (Walk) (Rope)
- New Found Glory
All these music videos by these artists contain various elements that we wish to inform our final piece with, all these videos and artists as such and as already previously stated fall into the pop Punk genre or contain elements from the Grunge or alternative rock genres that work in correlation with the influences and styles of the band our efforts are focused on.
We also researched a vast selections of album and EP covers of various artists within these genres and through analysis we were able to draw numerous conclusions that would further help inform our final piece.
We finally researched website layout and design of a number of these bands official websites we looked into the following: its aesthetics, audio present, user friendliness/accessibility, colour scheme, whether it was modern/simple/complex or intricate in design and numerous other features that would further inform our final piece.
Tuesday, 24 December 2013
Conclusions
From examining and analyzing all of our research and various similar styled videos we have come to numerous conclusions on the Punk genre, concepts as well as codes and conventions prevalent throughout the music and finally how we will end up using these to influence our final piece.
We have made crucial progress with this stage of the course, from the early defining of codes and conventions and further concreting our influences and methods to which we have analysed and adopted stylings from many similar artists and their respective music videos (album art and websites).
The conclusions we have made throughout this journey have allowed us insight into how to target our chosen target audience and demographic in accordance with the codes and conventions of the punk genre.
Some conclusions we have came to are as followed:
- Dark environemt is critical
- Lighting is important
- Emotive close ups are very common
- Groups shots are also
- Taboo topics and actions are often performed (drinking smoking drugs etc)
- Live performance is essential
- Narrative is often told in exaggerated ways
We have made crucial progress with this stage of the course, from the early defining of codes and conventions and further concreting our influences and methods to which we have analysed and adopted stylings from many similar artists and their respective music videos (album art and websites).
The conclusions we have made throughout this journey have allowed us insight into how to target our chosen target audience and demographic in accordance with the codes and conventions of the punk genre.
Some conclusions we have came to are as followed:
- Dark environemt is critical
- Lighting is important
- Emotive close ups are very common
- Groups shots are also
- Taboo topics and actions are often performed (drinking smoking drugs etc)
- Live performance is essential
- Narrative is often told in exaggerated ways
Further Stereotyping and Expectations
From the videos we have examined and analysed in great detail numerous aspects remained fairly common throughout, as a result these alter the perception and exceptions to which the audience approach other videos from the same genre with. These ranged from the following.
- Clothing typically dark (emphasises the dark narrative/mood present and further expresses the emotions that the band intends to convey) as evident by Greenday in the likes of American Idiot and Blink-182 in I Miss You.
- Clothing also can be vibrant (this is to create a more humorous atmosphere and similarly to the use of dark clothing can be used to express the various emotions that the song wishes to portray) as shown in Basket case and All the small things.
- Cultural interests are often expressed in great and explicit detail through lyrics and set design such as the burning flag in American Idiot.
- Eccentric or hard hitting narratives are fairly common, from toilet humour parody videos to videos about bullying, drug addiction and social problems, these wish to attract the attention of social groups who typically experience these problems.
- Strong emotions are also shown by the band members in various ways from their choice of close ups to over-exaggerated facial expressions combined typically with a close up of various band members faces.
- Both live performances in derelict environments and narrative stories are fairly common and are typically used together to further emphasise the meaning and emotive nature of the song.
- Make-up and tattoos are usually on display by the band, this is to further express the bands uniqueness in terms of aesthetic style (their look) in hopes to attract an audience or to capture ones attention.
Informing our Final Piece
So far with regards to research and development we have explored the codes and conventions of the Punk/Pop-punk genre (energetic movements, poor hygiene - spitting etc, group shots of entire band, unique looks, selling points, shock factor, humour or seriousness, deep meanings behind lyrics or parody styled songs etc.). We have also obtained results of numerous surveys covering personal taste in music, opinions and influences from not only punk bands (Green day/Blink-182) but also bands from the alternative rock and grunge genre (Biffy Clyro/ Alter-bridge). This allowed us to get a taste of what people like from each genre, what is the unique selling point, what is visually attracting and what is influential to the viewer.
Next we researched various elements of the Punk genre, from fashion, morals, spends, demographics and the target audience we learned where to target our work and what is most effective to engage them as a result. So far we have researched what the Punk Genre is, its history, the people, their social interests, their culture, how they interact with each other, the diversity contained within the subculture and essentially the evolution of the punk genre. This combined with the research into codes and conventions, demographics, target audience and the results gained from our surveys we have begun to inform certain aspects of our final piece music video.
Our next step involved researching various music videos of the punk genre, the choice of music videos to research was influenced by our surveys and as a result we knew where to focus our attention to on certain aspects prevalent throughout the videos.
The first video we looked at was the parody song "all the small things" - Blink-182. From this song we were able to deduce that the band had created its own unique look (in Blink's case this was the three band members each having their own unique style with gelled spiked hair, piercings, shorts, colourful T-shirts and comedic attire from giant diapers etc.) this unique look created a memorable impression of the band on the viewer no matter how strange it my seem, we wish this aspect to inform our music video - to create a unique look, one that creates a lasting impression on the viewer.
Also from this video various technical aspects can be perceived such as shot types (Group shots are most prevalent, with typically mid shots also commonly zooming into close ups of the band members, focus pulls are often common as are untraditional almost unnatural styled transitions such as blurs while reverse zooming. Scenic panning shots are also commonly seen as they gradually reveal more of the band or more of the scenery or backdrop. Wide and two shots are also seen repeatedly these are used to create a more grunge styled atmosphere which is nicely contrasted with the upbeat and colourful instruments vocals and saturation. It's also worth noting that the misé en scene, lighting and props all follow the codes and conventions of the punk genre, as they retain the surreal saturated vibrant exaggerated atmosphere common to the genre and over emphasise certain elements for comedic effect along with the introduction of taboo elements and toilet humour to further "poke fun" at the target of this parody while keeping it funny, unique, weird and engaging for the audience, this is also fairly common of the Punk genre. We wish to include certain elements reminiscent of these aspects in our music video, such as the group shots, shots of the instruments either in use or as a prop, the introduction of a surreal atmosphere to further emphasise the narrative contained within the music video, possible panning shots to reveal the environment to emphasise the narrative further.
One thing we found prevalent in this video and also in many others of this genre was the lack of a filter (common in the Punk genre), but what is used quite frequently in its place is an exaggerated over saturation (as shown in "all the small things" and "basket case") this overuse of colour creates a virtual world, in which any non-realistic narrative can be told. It became apparent in this video that the narrative was not intended to be serious nor was it intended to represent reality, rather it creates an exaggerated representation of reality where it is ok for people to be dancing in giant diapers infront of crowds of fans etc. and the audience doesn't question it, they are drawn into the narrative through this exaggerated and unrealistic atmosphere.
Yet while over saturation is extremely common of the punk genre so is its polar opposite, undersaturation. This is the inclusion of only minimal colour to create a more serious grunge styled atmosphere, this is not a monotone filter this is just a desaturation of the natural colours present (as shown in "after midnight" and ''up all night") this creates a more realistic portrayal of a narrative in a music video, it suddenly becomes more 'real', emotive and hard hitting, this is often accompanied by more serious styled lyrics and resulting narrative. This knowledge and research has influenced our intentions on how we approach our final piece, we have decided to approach it with a more serious and mature attitude common with this style prevalent in the punk genre, the use of desaturated filter ( yet possibly with the inclusion of over saturated elements such as instruments to contrast against). This has also influenced our decision on narrative, we wish now to approach also with more serious intentions as opposed to a humorous or parody song.
Overall it became clear while watching this video and others that certain conventions are common and to be expected within the Pop-Punk Genre, from lyrics, to shot types, filters, clothing, movements, narrative and the combination of scenes of drama and of the band playing. From these we were able to find the typical location (usually a deserted environment such as a warehouse or a skate park), the lighting is usually dark with crisp casted shadows created from an artificial light source which is come cases shown (floodlights etc.) this convnetion can be contrasted though in some videos which have bright environments but retain the sense of isolation or create an eccentric exaggerated environment.
Next we researched various elements of the Punk genre, from fashion, morals, spends, demographics and the target audience we learned where to target our work and what is most effective to engage them as a result. So far we have researched what the Punk Genre is, its history, the people, their social interests, their culture, how they interact with each other, the diversity contained within the subculture and essentially the evolution of the punk genre. This combined with the research into codes and conventions, demographics, target audience and the results gained from our surveys we have begun to inform certain aspects of our final piece music video.
Our next step involved researching various music videos of the punk genre, the choice of music videos to research was influenced by our surveys and as a result we knew where to focus our attention to on certain aspects prevalent throughout the videos.
The first video we looked at was the parody song "all the small things" - Blink-182. From this song we were able to deduce that the band had created its own unique look (in Blink's case this was the three band members each having their own unique style with gelled spiked hair, piercings, shorts, colourful T-shirts and comedic attire from giant diapers etc.) this unique look created a memorable impression of the band on the viewer no matter how strange it my seem, we wish this aspect to inform our music video - to create a unique look, one that creates a lasting impression on the viewer.
Also from this video various technical aspects can be perceived such as shot types (Group shots are most prevalent, with typically mid shots also commonly zooming into close ups of the band members, focus pulls are often common as are untraditional almost unnatural styled transitions such as blurs while reverse zooming. Scenic panning shots are also commonly seen as they gradually reveal more of the band or more of the scenery or backdrop. Wide and two shots are also seen repeatedly these are used to create a more grunge styled atmosphere which is nicely contrasted with the upbeat and colourful instruments vocals and saturation. It's also worth noting that the misé en scene, lighting and props all follow the codes and conventions of the punk genre, as they retain the surreal saturated vibrant exaggerated atmosphere common to the genre and over emphasise certain elements for comedic effect along with the introduction of taboo elements and toilet humour to further "poke fun" at the target of this parody while keeping it funny, unique, weird and engaging for the audience, this is also fairly common of the Punk genre. We wish to include certain elements reminiscent of these aspects in our music video, such as the group shots, shots of the instruments either in use or as a prop, the introduction of a surreal atmosphere to further emphasise the narrative contained within the music video, possible panning shots to reveal the environment to emphasise the narrative further.
One thing we found prevalent in this video and also in many others of this genre was the lack of a filter (common in the Punk genre), but what is used quite frequently in its place is an exaggerated over saturation (as shown in "all the small things" and "basket case") this overuse of colour creates a virtual world, in which any non-realistic narrative can be told. It became apparent in this video that the narrative was not intended to be serious nor was it intended to represent reality, rather it creates an exaggerated representation of reality where it is ok for people to be dancing in giant diapers infront of crowds of fans etc. and the audience doesn't question it, they are drawn into the narrative through this exaggerated and unrealistic atmosphere.
Yet while over saturation is extremely common of the punk genre so is its polar opposite, undersaturation. This is the inclusion of only minimal colour to create a more serious grunge styled atmosphere, this is not a monotone filter this is just a desaturation of the natural colours present (as shown in "after midnight" and ''up all night") this creates a more realistic portrayal of a narrative in a music video, it suddenly becomes more 'real', emotive and hard hitting, this is often accompanied by more serious styled lyrics and resulting narrative. This knowledge and research has influenced our intentions on how we approach our final piece, we have decided to approach it with a more serious and mature attitude common with this style prevalent in the punk genre, the use of desaturated filter ( yet possibly with the inclusion of over saturated elements such as instruments to contrast against). This has also influenced our decision on narrative, we wish now to approach also with more serious intentions as opposed to a humorous or parody song.
Overall it became clear while watching this video and others that certain conventions are common and to be expected within the Pop-Punk Genre, from lyrics, to shot types, filters, clothing, movements, narrative and the combination of scenes of drama and of the band playing. From these we were able to find the typical location (usually a deserted environment such as a warehouse or a skate park), the lighting is usually dark with crisp casted shadows created from an artificial light source which is come cases shown (floodlights etc.) this convnetion can be contrasted though in some videos which have bright environments but retain the sense of isolation or create an eccentric exaggerated environment.
Sunday, 17 November 2013
Influence - Greenday
Billie Joe Armstrong was born on February 17, 1972, the youngest of six children to Andy and Ollie Armstrong from Rodeo, California. The family was strictly working class – Andy was a truck driver while Ollie worked as a part-time waitress at Rod's Hickory Pit. A musical atmosphere surrounded Billie from birth – his father was a jazz drummer, and his mother, whom Andy Armstrong met at a gig, shared his love of music and dancing. Billie Joe and his siblings were always encouraged to learn to play instruments – especially the drums.
Unfortunately, when Billie was ten his father Andy was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Four months later, in September 1982, Andy passed away. To support her six children, Ollie began working full-time at her waitressing job, therefore keeping her away from the family for much of the time. Billie comforted himself with records of bands his brother passed down to him, particularly The Beatles, and focused on learning to play the guitar, which he had an uncanny talent for. For Christmas one year, Ollie bought him the guitar that changed it all – "Blue" – from his guitar teacher, and since then it has appeared on almost every Green Day record and tour.
Billie Joe and Mike met at 10 years old while attending Carquienez Middle School, and they formed an instant bond. "I think they just allowed each other to be themselves," says Billie's sister Anna Armstrong-Humann ("Nobody Likes You", 2006). Soon after, Billie began teaching Mike how to play guitar, and he picked it up very quickly. The duo began jamming, which turned into song-writing sessions that they took very seriously which "made them a tight unit even before they had any rhythm section." By the time the boys were in tenth grade, they had added friend Sean Hughes on drums. By eleventh grade, the whole band had transferred to Pinole Valley High School. They also had a permanent name – Sweet Children – after trying such oddities as Condom and Desecrated Youth.
Billie Joe and Mike dove into the punk scene, smoking weed, and honing their craft. Eventually, they met up with other punk rock kids in their area, and with them they finally felt as though they fit in somewhere, and that somewhere was 924 Gilman Street, the launching point of Green Day's explosive career.
When Billie Joe and Mike first attempted to book shows at Gilman, they consistently failed to even get the lowest slot on the bill. Their demo tapes were dismissed as not being punk enough. In 1987, their luck changed when they drunkenly asked John Kiffmeyer (nicknamed "Al Sobrante") to join their band as a drummer.
As the band became more popular, they began to attract attention from prominent figures in the bay area music scene. They met Larry Livermore, founder of Lookout Records, at a house party where they had performed, and he was instantly captivated. He says, "the band travelled] 200 miles to play a gig in a freezing mountain cabin for about five bored teenagers, and still managed to pull it off as though they were the Beatles at Shea Stadium" (source, 2009) . Soon after meeting him, the band was signed to the label and began to release EP's. Right before their first release, 1000 Hours in 1989, Sweet Children made the spontaneous decision to change their name to Green Day, inspired by a song Billie wrote for the album. During the Christmas holiday in 1989, the band recorded their first full-length album 39/Smooth, followed by a second EP titled "Slappy" which was released in summer 1990. All three releases were combined and released as a compilation album 1039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hours
The album made quite a buzz in the Gilman scene, and in June of 1990 Green Day embarked on their first tour of the US, leaving on the day that Mike graduated high school. Many of the shows were played to small audiences, some just at someones house, but the band experienced success in many areas while in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They managed to book several shows due to the area's budding indie music scene, and Billie Joe met his future wife Adrienne Nesser at one of these shows. Upon going home and being once again engulfed by boredom and loneliness, he wrote the song "2,000 Light Years Away" about her.
On the Kerplunk tours, the band began filling venues that they previously couldn't even book. They even began to make some money, enough to buy new equipment and a converted bookmobile for touring. The band even went overseas and toured Europe with this album. Their label was flabbergasted with the success – Kerplunk was selling out across the board, and cities that previously had fifty kids watching the boys play would have three hundred when they came back around.
This amount of success inevitably attracted attention from major labels looking for a new trend. The trio's early days with John Kiffmeyer taught them how to properly manage themselves, and they used these skills to their advantage in dealings with scouts. The most important thing to the band was having control over their music and image, and after talking with several labels they finally found their match with Rob Cavallo and Reprise Records. Green Day signed with Reprise, a division of Warner Brothers, in the summer of 1993. On September 23rd of that year, they played their last show at Gilman Street. This would mark the last time the band was welcome there for nearly a decade.
In November of 2003, Green Day hit the studio once more and recorded an album entitled Cigarettes and Valentines. They left the studio one night, leaving behind the finished tracks , which would be mastered during their next session. When they came back, all of the masters had been stolen, and until the 2010 North American tour, none of the tracks were ever heard by the public. Instead of re-recording the stolen tracks, the band decided to sit down and write something better and more ambitious, something that would eventually become American Idiot.
During one particularly long night, Billie challenged Mike to write a thirty-second song to give him something to do while he was alone in the studio. Mike came up with "Nobody Likes You." Soon after, Tré decided to give it a shot. His idea turned out to be "Rock ‘N Roll Girlfriend." Billie had his hand at it and wrote about "Jesus filling out paper work" on "East 12th Street." All of these pieces meshed together, and formed the operatic nine-and-a-half minute song, "Homecoming." This song was only a taste of the ambition that would be displayed through American Idiot.
The term "rock opera" had been thrown around as early as the recording sessions for Nimrod in 1997. However, they started taking the possibility of this format seriously after recording "Homecoming" and other songs like "Give Me Novacaine," both of which received brilliant feedback from anyone who listened. The idea became permanent once Billie wrote "American Idiot," which was inspired by the ever-growing news coverage of the war in Iraq. This was Billie growing up and expressing his rage over the state of the nation. He decided, in that moment, to organize the band's new songs to form a concept album that reflected all of this angst. With the title track and ending to the story under his belt, Armstrong began work on the character that is essentially the centerpiece of the story, and the poster-boy for disenfranchised youth: the "Jesus of Suburbia."
Armstrong describes the story as "…this Jesus of Suburbia character [who's] pretty disenfranchised. He hates his town. Hates his family. Hates his friends. He needs to get out so he leaves and goes into the city. He starts dealing with what true rebellion means. Rebellion could be disguised as self-destruction." St. Jimmy is JOS' alter-ego – his rebellion, his drug-dealer, his dark-side. Whatsername is the love of his life, who he eventually loses to the evils that Jimmy introduces him to. Green Day managed to tell this whole story (which feels eerily like a reminiscence on a personal struggle) while also confronting the "idiots" running our nation. They did it well, too. In the beginning, however, some diehard fans disagreed.
Many people who read the web-circulated rumors regarding Green Day's "new sound" in early 2004 weren't as excited as the band was. They thought that Green Day was history, and that the album would fail miserably. The band ignored these sentiments and indulged every creative impulse while recording in LA. They took their sound to places it had never gone before, and the people who were listening to the process were far more supportive than those merely judging based on the gossip.
As the album neared completion, the band recruited director Samuel Bayer to produce the video for the first single, "American Idiot." They knew that it had to be explosive and catch people's attention; Bayer was the man for the job. After they explained their vision to him, Bayer immediately knew the direction in which he wanted to travel. His envisioned ideas for not only the first single, but for the entire album's promotion (he directed the videos for each of the album's five singles). The single hit airwaves like a punch to the gut – the riff was punchy and concise, and the message was screamed out loud and clear. The emotions that it provoked, both good and bad, in people around the world helped to propel the band into relevance again, and certainly paved the road for the immense success of the album as a whole.
The five year span between American Idiot and the release of Green Day's ninth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, saw the members of Green Day venturing to places they had previously never been. In September of 2006, they collaborated with U2 and covered "The Saints Are Coming" to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims. The two bands came together and performed the song live on September 25th, 2005 at the Louisiana Superdome's grand reopening. In June 2007, the band recorded John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" for the benefit album Instant Karma, whose profits went towards the conflicts in Darfur. On May 23, 2007, the band played the song live on American Idol's season finale. December of this same year would bring Green Day fans the most exciting happenings since the band had stopped touring. In October of 2007, a mysterious Myspace page popped up, exhibiting a few songs that featured a lead singer who sounded a bit too much like Billie Joe. In December, a six-track EP became available for free download. Later, in 2008, Billie Joe admitted that Green Day were in fact behind the Foxboro Hot Tubs. In May of 2008, the side-band released a full album entitled, Stop, Drop and Roll!!!, and went on a mini club-tour of the west and southwest parts of North America that summer.
After the raucous, whirlwind mini-tour, Green Day decided to get serious about making their next record. In an unexpected move, they signed Butch Vig on to produce the new album instead of Warner Bros exec Rob Cavallo, who had produced each of the band's albums from Dookie to American Idiot. In May of 2009, the long awaited follow-up to American Idiot was released. It was also a rock-opera, with a storyline similar to that of American Idiot running through it. 21st Century Breakdown tells the tale of Christian and Gloria, vigilante punk-rockers who set out to change post-Bush America, but ultimately fell to their own demons. Although it wasn't near as successful as American Idiot, the new album debuted high on the charts, got great reviews, and went on to win several VMAs and the Grammy Award for "Best Rock Album" in 2010. The band promoted the album on several TV shows, including the kick off of Good Morning America's summer concert-series. They also played a handful of small shows in California clubs, during which they played the album front to back. The most notable of these taking place at the Fox Theater in Oakland, California. In July of 2009, the 21st Century Breakdown World Tour began in large-scale venues across North America.
Amidst the growing popularity of the musical, the band had also started a second leg of the 21st Century Breakdown Tour in North America during the summer of 2010. Fans were greatly pleased with the old, rare songs ("One For The Razorbacks," "At The Library," "Paper Lanterns") that made appearances during this outdoor arena tour. The Green Day Rock Band video game was released on June 8, 2010 as the band begun this leg of the tour. That June, American Idiot won two Tony Awards, though it lost out on "Best New Musical" to Memphis. The collection of songs from the musical performances also won a Grammy Award for "Best Musical Album" in March of 2010. On March 21, 2011, Green Day released their second full-length live album/DVD, boldly entitled Awesome as Fuck. The title reflected the band's respect for their fans, as it was these same fans who first started holding up "Awesome as fuck!!!" signs at gigs, following Billie Joe's use of the phrase in an interview. The live tracks came from various locations across Europe and North America, and the DVD was filmed over the course of two shows in Tokyo, Japan.
During the summer months of 2012 that lead up to the releases of the three new albums, Green Day did many an interview. Fans found more about what to expect from the three monumental albums coming their way. The band announced that two documentaries would be released in the near future: one on the making of the trilogy (¡Cuatro!), and one using pre-Dookie archival footage. In early August, the band played one more secret show at the Echoplex in LA before heading off to Japan and Europe for a 10-show festival tour. Green Day was forced to cancel their final appearance of this tour, at the I-Day fest in Italy, due to Billie Joe being briefly hospitalized for a stomach issue. The band returned to the US, and gave a vicious, energy-charged performance of ¡UNO!'s "Let Yourself Go" at the MTV VMAs on September 6. Green Day then jetted off to New York to appear at Irving Plaza for a club show on September 15.
They carried their never-ending supply of energy right into a set at the iHeartRadio festival in Las Vegas, NV. At the end of the band's allotted time slot, Billie Joe stopped the band mid-song after seeing a monitor which said that the band had only a few minutes left to play. He felt that their time had been cut into by a previous artist, and went on an expletive-laden rant that ended in the angry smashing of a guitar and a bass. A few days later, Green Day released a statement in which they apologized to "those they offended" at the festival, and revealed that Billie Joe would be going through a rehab process for help with substance abuse. As a result, some US tour dates got cancelled or postponed, and ¡TRÉ!'s release date was moved from January 15 up to December 11th. Official release dates for ¡UNO! and ¡DOS! stayed at September 25 and November 13, respectively. Now, after all three albums' releases and a few more cancelled/rescheduled tour dates, fans eagerly await the band's return to regular touring in March and the impending release of the full ¡Cuatro! documentary.
Influence - Blink-182
Blink-182 is an American rock band formed in Poway, a suburb of San Diego, California in 1992. The trio consists of bassist and vocalist Mark Hoppus, guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge, and drummer Travis Barker.
They are furthermore considered one of the key bands in the development of pop-punk, the combination of fast paced pop melodies punk rock created more radio friendly music than previous bands. The band can also be considered to be Alternative Rock, while their earlier music was more skate punk styled, their newer music more mainstream styled music became more 'pop' punk styled, while taking influences from indie punk, hip hop and arena punk.
The bands fashion would typically consist of t-shirts, shorts and typical spiked or slicked hair, while more recently it has became more modernised as the band members typically wear darker coloured shirts and jeans as opposed to bright colourful clothing.
They seem to have a lot of contact with their fan-base, often having group interviews, give a ways, and so on, on many social media websites such as Facebook. Many band members often feature on many music channels such as Kerrang as hosts, this further more empahsises their mainstream success and how they interact with their fans.
While the fans of Blink-182 react positively to this many fans from other punk bands would consider them "traitors" or ''sellouts'', to have sold their values, their punk roots for mainstream success.
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Coldplay (Survey Results)
Question 1 (Multi-Choice)
How were you introduced to Coldplay ?
Word of Mouth
Question 2 (Essay)
Why do you tend to listen to Coldplay ?
My parents like them and i gradually became more interested and eventually went ot see them. I really enjoy their music and it continues to entertain me.
Question 3 (Essay)
How do Coldplay typically interact with its fans?
Concerts, signings, acoustic gigs, charity gigs.
Question 4 (Essay)
How are the fans/typical listeners represented in media products (such as magazines)?
Not really, some of their music is quite poppy and is sometimes in the charts so they are usually represented in a good manner.
Question 5 (Essay)
Other than this band, what other artists would you typically listen to?
Kate Bush
Fleetwood Mac
Twenty One Pilots
All Time Low
Fleetwood Mac
Twenty One Pilots
All Time Low
Question 6 (Essay)
What would the typical clothing be that you or other fans would wear to see Coldplay in concert?
Coldplay T-shrits
Quite generic clothes
Quite generic clothes
Question 7 (Essay)
Do you beleive that as the band has evolved over the years they have changed how they interact with their fans in any way?
Yes, they have gotten much bigger and there music style has changed, but not in a bad way. They probably don't have as many chances to interact with fans as they used to as their fan base has gotten bigger over the years.
Question 8 (Essay)
Do you believe that Coldplay have changed their music style over the years? If so how do you react to this.
Yes but not in a bad way, like most musicians they have evolved but their basic music style hasn't drasticaly chaned.
Alter Bridge (Survey Results)
Question 1 (Multi-Choice)
How were you introduced to Alter Bridge ?
TV
Question 2 (Essay)
Why do you tend to listen to Alter Bridge ?
The music is amazing and the complexity of riffs, baselines and drum tracks as well as the vocal superiority of the singer
Question 3 (Essay)
How do Alter Bridge typically interact with its fans?
Positively, through meet and greets and interaction during concerts
Question 4 (Essay)
How are the fans/typical listeners represented in media products (such as magazines)?
Positively as good fans
Question 5 (Essay)
Other than this band, what other artists would you typically listen to?
Incubus, Soundgarden, Kings of Leon, Foo Fighters, Metallica, the Game
Question 6 (Essay)
What would the typical clothing be that you or other fans would wear to see Alter Bridge in concert?
A t shirt of the band, with informal shoes and jeans
Question 7 (Essay)
In a recent interview guitarist Mark Tremonti said "Alter Bridge doesn't feel fully established". What is your reaction to this statement ?
That it is true, and that they are not fully established because of the great areas of expansion that their music is able to reach
Question 8 (Essay)
Has the band altered its music style over the years? If so how do you react to this change?
The incorporation of Myles Kennedy as a guitarist as well as a singer and the progression from alternative rock to a sort of light version of Nu metal. I have a positive reaction to this!
Blink-182 (Survey Results)
Question 1 (Multi-Choice)
How were you introduced to Blink-182 ?
Word of Mouth
Question 2 (Essay)
Why do you tend to listen to Blink-182 ?
Because I like their music
Question 3 (Essay)
How do Blink-182 typically interact with its fans?
Through concerts and after concerts
Question 4 (Essay)
How are the fans/typical listeners represented in media products (such as magazines)?
sterotypical, rebellious teenagers
Question 5 (Essay)
Other than this band, what other artists would you typically listen to?
my chemical romance, panic! at the disco, fall out boy, daft punk
Question 6 (Essay)
What would the typical clothing be that you or other fans would wear to see Blink-182 in concert?
jeans, t-shirts, converse, vans
Question 7 (Essay)
How do you react to the criticism that Blink-182 have changed too much over the years?
its nonsense, a band has to evolve as the music scene changes
Question 8 (Essay)
Blink-182 has betrayed their fans and traded their values for mainstream success. How do you react to this statement.
they didnt.
Survey Results
We decided we were going to conduct numerous surveys, for each participant they were given a general music survey centred around personal interest and opinions, for others a more redefined band specific survey was given out, these ranged over the three genres we are focused on alternative rock, grunge and pop-punk, many of these bands have at least some similar elements to the band we have chosen to focus our work on, while others are included to further emphasise how certain people feel about certain genres and about the respective fans, ultimately how fans of certain genres interact with that genre and others.
The personal survey covers a range of topics from favourite bands, genres, fashion, views on pop-punk, grunge and alternative rock and are they influenced by certain elements of the band and what they promote etc. This was to obtain a range of results from people interested in a multitude of genres and music style, collectively we should be able to gain a wide range of opinions, this should give us a glimpse into how the audience interacts with its fans for each genre and most specifically the Punk(pop-punk) and how they relate to or contrast fans of other genres.
Next we developed band specific surveys, some bands more rock (alternative rock), some more grunge and others being very Punk styled bands, this was to further decipher how certain fans feel about their favourite bands and genres and compare them with the audience of others. It is also useful because the majority of these bands have many similar elements to the band our work is focused with, from music stylings, the 'sound' or 'feel' of the music, fashion, genre, inspirations, influences and so on. there is no band included here that isn't relevant to the band in some way. Each band has considerable links to the three genres of influence ( Punk, Alternative Rock and Grunge).
Something that we wanted to make clear is that this is a genre specific set of surveys. We got a huge range of responses, both for and against the punk genre. It should be made clear as well that these surveys were not the sole motivator to inform our coursework but rather a component of the overall demographic exploration and research. In fact many respondents didn't listen to or even have a positive opinion on the pop-punk genre further emphasising its existence as a niche genre (although it was more popular than other genres_.
The personal survey covers a range of topics from favourite bands, genres, fashion, views on pop-punk, grunge and alternative rock and are they influenced by certain elements of the band and what they promote etc. This was to obtain a range of results from people interested in a multitude of genres and music style, collectively we should be able to gain a wide range of opinions, this should give us a glimpse into how the audience interacts with its fans for each genre and most specifically the Punk(pop-punk) and how they relate to or contrast fans of other genres.
Next we developed band specific surveys, some bands more rock (alternative rock), some more grunge and others being very Punk styled bands, this was to further decipher how certain fans feel about their favourite bands and genres and compare them with the audience of others. It is also useful because the majority of these bands have many similar elements to the band our work is focused with, from music stylings, the 'sound' or 'feel' of the music, fashion, genre, inspirations, influences and so on. there is no band included here that isn't relevant to the band in some way. Each band has considerable links to the three genres of influence ( Punk, Alternative Rock and Grunge).
Something that we wanted to make clear is that this is a genre specific set of surveys. We got a huge range of responses, both for and against the punk genre. It should be made clear as well that these surveys were not the sole motivator to inform our coursework but rather a component of the overall demographic exploration and research. In fact many respondents didn't listen to or even have a positive opinion on the pop-punk genre further emphasising its existence as a niche genre (although it was more popular than other genres_.
Biffy Clyro (Survey Results)
Question 1 (Multi-Choice)
How were you introduced to Biffy Clyro ?
Word of Mouth
Question 2 (Essay)
Why do you tend to listen to Biffy Clyro ?
They connect to me with their lyrics and they use of chromatic notes as well as odd time signatures and odd keys intrigues me.
Question 3 (Essay)
How do Biffy Clyro typically interact with its fans?
Biffy clyro Play a lot of live shows and tend to sometimes play very small gigs like in Laverys and the empire in Belfast they tend to play very personal music and shows as well as the use of social media.
Question 4 (Essay)
How are the fans/typical listeners represented in media products (such as magazines)?
Fans tend to be represented as very dedicated, they are normally described as diehard biffy fans,
Question 5 (Essay)
Other than this band, what other artists would you typically listen to?
Arctic Monkeys, Twin Atlantic, Manchester Orchestra
Question 6 (Essay)
What would the typical clothing be that you or other fans would wear to see Biffy Clyro in concert?
Normally you would wear converse skinny jeans or dark jeans with a top that wouldn't stay on very long (Due to biffys tendency to remove clothing during gigs)
Question 7 (Essay)
How do you react to the criticism that Biffy Clyro have changed too much throughout their evolution?
My reaction would be "Of course they changed" What band didn't/Hasn't/wont change its all about the evolution of their music, its to attract a different audience Music is all about change and to those who say the new material isn't their thing and they don't like it is not a problem, my problem is people saying that the fact that they changed and started playing different music is a problem, because lets face it if listened to the same type of music from that band and it never changed we could stick it for a while but in time we would hate them, and thats why I say change can bring Nothing but good.
Question 8 (Essay)
By going to America to record their latest album, the band has ''lost sight'' of where they came from. How do you react to this statement?
I don't think this is in anyway true their decision to record in america seems to me like it came about for two reasons, One: To connect with Americans and America to which Biffy have not yet become big in yet . The fact that during their stay in America they missed home so much they rang complained about not having their favorite drink "Iron Bru" and got a lot of it sent out as well as the fact they had bag pipes in their Music, I think where ever they go they will bring home with them.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)