Tyler Douglas profile piece

In class for an assignment we had to do a profile piece. We had to get a transcrcibed interview and make a piece out of questions and answers. The guy I chose was Tyler Douglas a man I met in America when I was doing a hockey tournament. Working time zones out was difficult but here is my finished piece.

Tyler Douglas, Profile Piece.

Set in Loganville GA, Skyline Recording Studios isn’t the average recording studio; it is fully equipped but is provided for local artists who can go there to record professionally for an affordable price. They know what they’re doing and Skyline Studios is slowly on its way to the top of the Music Industry and has made a big name and great reputation already. It provides an excellent environment for everyone to give their best shot at the mic and caters for artists/bands at a range of different genres from Hip-Hop to Acoustic and Metal. The studios are operated by non-other than twenty-one year old Tyler Douglas.

 

Born on October 8^th 1990 to an American/British family Tyler grew up in Atlanta GA. As a teenager he studied at Loganville High School. He became interested in sound and music whilst at school and it went from there. ‘’My favourite subject at school was Physics, I loved learning about how sound travelled and how it could be manipulated to the human ear.’’

 

From High School Tyler went on to study Audio Engineering and became a Master engineer at SAE Institute Of Technology. Here he would learn everything he needed to get a job in the music industry. He recalls ‘’I chose my career in the music industry because once I started getting involved in bands my friend had a tape recorder and we would just use that to record ourselves. I would put the songs onto the computer and mess with the sounds to make things sound better.’’

 

Tyler was born into a sporty family, whilst at High School he played for the Ice Hockey team Loganville Red Devils. During his time there his main position to play was defence. As a team they played in the State Championship and went on to win the National Championships later that year. When asked if he still played he replied ‘’I still play hockey for fun with some old friends but I don’t find the time anymore to play at high standards.’’

 

He started work in 2005 at Skyline Recording Studios while he was still at High School. He worked with a great deal of artists, mainly local and made his way up to running the studio himself where he is currently positioned. In his seven years there he has worked with the likes of Katy Perry, Usher, Drake and Justin Beiber where he got to spend time with them recording new material. ‘’Katy was my favourite person to work with she was so down to Earth.’’ He addresses her first name only which suggests they became friends while she was recording there. However Tyler’s time spent with Celebrities is kept pretty private, he is modest and not one to boast.

 

When asked if he has had any bad experiences at the Studio he seems eager to answer. ‘’I haven’t really had any bad experiences here at skyline studios. You just get those little problems every once in a while, but hey, its music business, you never know what’s going to happen. Things don’t always run smoothly, one minute it could be going perfect and next there could be a blown speaker Either that or the artist has had a bad day at the office and is giving everyone a hard time. No matter what happens Tyler is always at hand to help with the recordings. When Tyler is not working At Skyline studios he is usually found working at other studios or working for as a stage tech for Live Event Solutions, a production company that delivers professional Audio, Lighting and video.

 

One Christmas Tyler’s parents bought him some microphones for his drums so he could record demos and covers of him playing. ‘’From there I knew this is what I wanted to do, I kept building on my equipment and that’s how I got to where I am today.’’

 In fact Tyler has been in bands himself and recorded in Skyline Studios. From 2007-2010 he was in a band called Fortune Favors The Brave again playing drums. They were unsigned but released songs for listeners over music website Myspace. They gave off the sound of electronica/Pop Rock. Whilst together they recorded 15 demos and 2 EP albums before going their separate ways. ‘’My commitment to Skyline Studios and side projects means I no longer have time to commit to playing in bands anymore myself, I do miss it but me and the guys remain great friends.’’

Download Festival 2012

Last week was actually amazing. We arrived in donnington at half 7 on the weds and by the time we had pitched our tents an gazebo it had started raining so badly. We explored of the village on the Thursday and half of it got shut off for a few hours the floods and mud was that bad. The mud was awful but I didn’t let it ruin the week. My mate amber left early Fridaywithout seeing any bands. I saw so many bands and loved it my favourites were steel panther, tenacious D, Metallica and of course black sabbath. chants of Fenton, butt scratchahh and badgers and camping with 12 good mates made the week even better.

Big venues vs small venues for concerts (UK)

 We had to do a feature for Radio on anything we wanted to do with the music industry. I did a voxpop of fans outside Leeds Cockpit and Interviewed support band The Swellers.

Cue:

There has been much discussion over the years as to what size venue is best for concerts. Smaller venues suggest more intimacy between fans and the band. But some people feel a bigger venue makes the band feel more accepted and that they have finally ‘made it’. Smaller venues bring the better sound and sell tickets quicker whereas big venues allow the artist to put on more of a show as space allows them to do more on stage.

INTRO: Deaf Havana fans outside Leeds Cockpit, Bar staff in gig venues and American band The Swellers talk about their opinions on this topic.

Journalistic Writing exercise 4

Hopes Die Last
Who are they? A five piece, post- hardcore/screamo band from Rome, signed to Standby Records. They formed in 2004 and although released 2 ep albums have been kept pretty quiet on the music scene. Their first ep released in 2005 consisted of six songs and they were classed as pop punk/emo, it doesn’t surprise as emo was one of the biggest genres around in the rock industry at this time. ‘Your face down now’ EP released in 2008 is the album that is classed as Post hardcore/screamo. After playing a few dates in America and Europe, the bands former vocalist Nick decided to leave the band claiming on Myspace he loved them to bits but he wasn’t happy playing that kind of music anymore.
‘Six years home’ is the 2009 album that includes new singer Daniele Tofani. Only one music video ‘some like it cold’ was released in promotion of the album. They have also done covers of songs such as Katy Perry’s- fireworks. The band are working on a new album out later this year and are promoting it by going on a UK tour supporting American band Attack Attack! A tour in Europe follows.
For people who like. The devil wears prada, Chiados, Asking Alexandria.

You Me At Six plus supports Live review.

Date 28^th March 2012
Venue: Manchester O2 Apollo
Line-up: The Skints, Mayday Parade, Kids In Glass Houses, You Me At Six.

London’s own reggae/ska band The Skints come onstage just fifteen minutes after doors open. They bring the rap vibe onto the scene straight away singing so fast it’s impossible to hear what is being said. To play to a 7,000 strong crowd there for mainly You Me At Six, it is hard to please the majority. The only song that seems to get the audience moving is a cover version of Katy B’s – On A Mission.

Next up are Mayday Parade, the only American band in the line-up.  They are the first band to get everyone psyched for the night ahead. With microphone tricks, hit songs and a good interaction with the crowd they live up to expectations. The only disappointments are that they don’t play one of the better known songs ‘Miserable At Best’ and that the twenty minute set isn’t long enough.

Kids In Glass Houses have been on the rise since the fresh pop rock scene of 2006 and seem extremely grateful to be back in Manchester. Halfway through the set list, singer Aled Phillips appears to have a torch in his hands which is in fact the microphone stand. He uses it to separate the crowd and form a wall of death before the heavy guitar riff to ‘Fisticuffs’ fills the room and everyone goes crazy. The atmosphere in the room is on a high, Kids In Glass Houses are definatley crowd pleasers.

It’s been a great year so far for You Me At Six. Their 2010 album ‘Hold Me Down’ went gold earlier this month. ‘Sinners Never Sleep’ got a top ten spot in the album chart and three of the band members have their own clothing lines. They’re becoming extremely successful and this is their biggest headline tour to date. In fact so big that they added extra dates to the Manchester leg of the tour.

For the first time in a while the band have added effects to the show. From a silhouetted curtain drop to dry ice from the beginning it looks like the venue are in for a treat.

They kick off the set with intense, quick riffed ‘Loverboy’ and the energy stays put for the rest of the show. Josh Franceschi has a great stage presence about him and creates a special connection with the crowd. Halfway through, the band takes a break from the fast tempo songs and plays some of the slower ones. ‘Crash’ proved most popular with fans holding up lighters, phones and getting on shoulders.

Following ‘Crash’ is the encore, from the front to the back for the final three songs everyone in the Apollo is bouncing and singing along.  The only things people could possibly complain about was a lack of songs played from their first album ‘Take Off Your Colours’

You Me At Six show they want to move away from the pop route to a rock sound, they finish with ‘Bite My Tongue’ with Josh belting out the screaming part that belong to Oli Sykes and the crowd mosh pitting away. All in all it is a great gig with nothing to be faulted.

Journalistic writing exercise 2

The Skints
The Skints are a Reggae/ska/rock band from London. They are currently signed to record label Bomber Music. The band has toured regularly since 2008 and has supported the likes of punk ska idols Less than Jake and similar genre band The King Blues. They formed in 2005 as students at Woodbridge High School after two years of experimenting with sound and changing members of the band they settled with the final lineup in 2007.The bands first ‘publicity’ came from playing at a pub in Walthamstow, they were heard by Radio One Executive Producer Rhys Hughes, when three of their members were only 16. Soon the Skints songs were heard on Radio one.
Find the Skints supporting You Me At Six on their UK tour this month
For fans of The King Blues, Sonic Boom Six.

Journalistic Writing exercise 3

Marmozetes Who are they? The Marmozetes are a quintet from Bradford. They first formed in 2007 and were often compared to Pop punk band Paramore. It’s hard in today’s society to not be compared to Hayley Williams if a band have a female singer. The Marmozetes have been highly praised by Rocksound Magazine and Kerrang magazine plus more. The truth is they are so far away from pop-punk. Marmozetes prove to have their own sound by pushing the boundaries with guitar sounds and the occasional screamo. They sure do show attitude and front woman Becca Mckintire is no pop- punk princess. Make sure you keep your eyes peeled this band are looking promising.

For fans of  Everytime I die, Rolo Tomassi.

Journalistic writing exercise part 1

Modestep
Modestep are an electronic rock/dubstep act from London. They formed in 2010 and are quickly becoming known as the British version of Pendulum. Modestep is in fact made up of two brothers Tony and Josh Friend. They amazed everyone during their set at Download festival 2011.They began work on their debut album in January 2011 releasing their first single ‘feel good’. Another track called Bite The Hand was released and the single reached number 5 on the independent releases chat and number 5 on the dance chart. Modestep were becoming noticed more and more, by July 3^rd the new single ‘sunlight’ passed 1 million viewers within four days. They made the Radio 1 A-list and were at number 16 in the UK charts.
If this is what they have achieved since their debut album then its pretty sure Modestep have a lot more to live up to. They will be on tour around the UK supporting welsh rockers, Lostprophets in April. New album Evolution theory is due to be released this May.

For fans of. Chase & Status, Pendulum, Skrillex