Comments on my headline by classmates

"I love the headline! sounds very professional!''

"The headline is very catchy and is a play on the bands name This Is Suffering. Very good!"

Double Page Spread Article

This is Music. This is Pride. This is Suffering!

THIS IS SUFFERING IS THE BEST NEW BAND TO ENTER THE LIVE MUSIC SCENE IN THE LAST YEAR.

Formed in the small Welsh town of Tredegar, the boys have gone from strength to strength with their 3 track EP flying of the shelves of local music stores. In the summer of 2008 the band came together as the result of a night out and an amazing musical epiphany. Jordan Davies (lead vocals) met with his friends Mike Price (drums) and Aled Davies (rhythm guitar) for a typical Saturday night out in Tredegar. They were later joined by friends Sam Kilby (lead guitar) and Matt Indge (bass) and went to a music bar where they jammed as a group for the very first time. The cheers and praise kept coming as they spat out more and more musical magic as if they had been practising for days. That Night, This Is Suffering Was Born.

The first time I ever saw This Is Suffering was at my favourite bar, Hobo’s, in Bridgend. I went in after hearing there were fresh blood bands giving their hand at the trade that night. I paid my £3 and went upstairs to the bar to check out the new sounds, but all I heard was the same old stuff. A bit of shredding, a bit of double bass. Just as I was ordering another beer from the overcrowded bar, the silence was punched in the face by a gut wrenching scream over the sound system. It was special. Something about it made me shut up and listen… and I liked it! As the guitars came in I felt a shiver shriek through the depths of my spine, and I made my way to the front of the crowd. Who WERE these people! I hadn’t had this feeling since the first time I ever heard Bullet For My Valentine (also a local Bridgend band). As I listened on, the feeling I had was taking over the room. More and more people came to see who was making this amazing music, and for the first and only time of the night, a mosh pit was formed. They had really done it. It was EPIC! They did a set of 3 perfect songs. I can still remember them all. First was ‘Who’s The Monkey Now?’ followed by ‘Epic Fail!’ then ended with my personal favourite… ‘Disaster’. I NEEDED to see these guys again. 

‘’They had really done it. It was EPIC!’’

After their set I approached the singer (admiringly, like a child meeting Elmo!) and started talking to him about his band and found out their names and other stuff. When the bar we were at closed we decided to go out to a nightclub where we laughed and drank all night till we decided to call it a night (or do you say ‘call it a morning’ at 3am?). I asked for his facebook, as asking for numbers is kinda pointless nowadays. Jordan Davies. I got home. I searched. When I heard the band had an EP out in stores I went straight out to buy it, and it turned out to be one of the best buys I’ve ever made (and being in music journalism… I buy A LOT).  I couldn’t stop thinking of the songs I had previously heard at the club.

‘’…it turned out to be one of the best buys I’ve ever made’’

They kept going round and round in my head like the go compare ad but less mind numbing. The disc remained in my car for weeks till I knew every cleverly crafted word and riff which constructed the song.  Disaster was still my favourite song! I found that the boys were playing some venue in Pontypridd so I Google mapped it and made my way along with my best friend. I was so excited to get that rush all over again, so I wasted no time in getting right to the front! It was like a drug to me. My own personal brand of heroin.  

The lights went down and the volume cranked up. My friend Naomi was sceptical but once she heard exactly what I heard that very first time in Hobo’s, her eyes lit up just like mine did. Jordan did his usual, jumping around on the amps and climbing onto the bass drum, nearly killing Mike! Sam did an amazing solo for their second song, twanging the top of the strings with his pick like Hendrix himself.  Matt took the form of Flea, next to Aled who ripped up the stage in the style of the almighty Slash! It was even better than the first time, if that’s possible.  I remember one gig at the Cardiff International arena where This Is Suffering was supporting Bring Me The Horizon.

‘’Aled ripped up the stage in the style of the almighty Slash!’’

Jordan, Mike, Aled, Sam and Matt took to the stage and absorbed the screams and cheers of 50,000 admiring fans. I really felt why they were so special, and then I heard something that put a lump in my throat. As I watched from the side of the stage, Jordan grasps the microphone in his shaking hand and says:

‘I honestly never thought we would make it to this. Every single one of you b*****s are the reason we are standing here full of pride and ready to show you how to REALLY love music. Being in Wales tonight playing this set with our heroes is a dream come true. And I honestly cant thank you enough. We really, truly love you guys! NOW LET’S GO!’

This happened last year, and ever since then me and Naomi have religiously attended every gig This Is Suffering have played throughout the UK. They are going places, and I will definitely be going with them! If you want an experience anything like what I have had, you have to check these guys out.  This is Music. This is Pride. This is Suffering.

This is Suffering’s new album ‘’Who’s the Monkey Now?!’’ hits iTunes on 10^thth February 2011!

New single ‘’Epic Fail’’ from the new album is available now!

Find the boys on Facebook  www.facebook.com/ThisIsSuffering

Also find them on Twitter!  www.twitter.com/Suffering

Article by: Loz Williams

Double Page Spread Version 6

This is the final draft of my double page spread. I have inserted the new images which have been resized to stop the pixelated look. I positioned the pictures around my headline and moved them around to create a casual look.

I moved the recognition of the photograpghy to above a picture so it is more easily seen. On my article page I have gotten rid of my small 'T' at the start and used inspiration from 'Q' to create a huge letter that lays behind the text. I think this looks much better and I am happy with the overall look of it.

Double Page Spread Version 5

  

I started to create a shell of a page for my images to go onto whilst I edited them. I took inspiration from other magazines such as 'Q' by putting the name of the band I am covering in the top right corner of the page. I also moved my name to under the band name, which makes it stand out more to the reader.

Double Page Spread Version 4

  

After looking properly at my images on the page, I thought they were to pixelated, so I started again and re-thought my approach. I re-positioned the title of the article to make room for the new images I would de-pixelate later.
I used the ticket from my masthead in the corner of the page to represent the magazine. I then used the same design as a page number to show which magazine it was from. I also included the website of the magazine at the bottom of the page.

Double Page Spread Version 3

                   

After I tried out different backgrounds for the article page, I decided to match the background on the opposite page. By doing this, I am creating a better flow for the double page and also keeping with my desired ScrapBook theme. I also think the text stands out well against the light colour.

Double Page Spread Version 2

 

This is my second draft of my article. I experemented with a few different coloured backgrounds to figure out what looked good and what didn't. I tired to keep to subtle colours to work with the scrapbook background on the opposite page.

Double Page Spread Version 1

 

This is the first draft of my double page spread. My aim is to make my spread resemble a scrap book of memories, which is relevent to the topic and theme of my article. As of yet there is a very basic outline of what I would like, and colours etc will be added in future drafts.