In our group we have a created a band consisting of a boy and a girl – they are a two piece band with the girl, Malena on vocals and the boy, Thor on guitar. They are under the working title of Faulkes. The pair have been friends since a very young age, as they went to school together. They are from Sweden and went to Art School over there. They have always shared a love for music, they decided one summer to try and make it in the music industry. They wanted to be recognizable and show the world their talent; however the felt staying in their small town in Sweden was not going to make their dream come true. The duo decided to hit the road and travel through Europe promoting their music in the hope for when they arrive in the UK they will have built up a fan base and have a strong star image which will give them the opportunity of being signed. Thor is 22, and Malena is 21 and they had been on the road about 8 months before reaching the UK, however they have been performing together for about 6 years in local venues around their hometown and then performed all across Europe in the hope of becoming a success. They have a strong star image in the sense that it is quite unlikely to change as they pair have been together a while, Malena is mainly vocals and she is more the front man in the band. Also, there is this whole mystery on whether the duo or an actual couple or not, this concept keeps them current.
The genre of music they play is Alternative Indie, this helps shape their star image as they are both quite individual characters with a real Art School feel about the two of them, they both seem quite dark characters yet their music represents something more vibrant and happy – yet this contrast works well and helps gives them a concrete star image. The style of Faulkes is something similar to Everything but the Girl from the 80s, using this whole image of the woman being the main icon somewhat in the pair. However their music ability is something far different, something more like the Ting Tings or the White Stripes. When looking at the pair for the first time they will be portrayed as unique individuals with a sense of mystery however their music abilities are far different making them appeal to a wider audience. However, this could be seen as a risk as it could be seen as having commercial implications, although the genre is popular there is a lot of competition in the market at the moment. Nevertheless their strong brand image and the uniqueness of being a male and female duo act is somewhat different to the norm and therefore the commercial implications should be minimized.
Faulkes would be under Polydor records which is a subsidiary of the Universal Music group. Polydor was originally set up as an independent record label before become part of Universal, so it has to ability to handle more of an independent style band but to make them a huge success allowing them to have bigger budget for music videos, performances etc. Other acts signed to Polydor are a huge success in the UK, with acts under their belt like Girls Aloud, The Kaiser Chiefs, Sophie Ellis Bextor and many more. And it also is the UK label for American acts such as Gwen Stefani and Lady GaGa. This choice of label I think would be beneficial to Faulkes as there more relaxed approach will be taken upon and they would become more celeb like making them fit more into the industry but still allowing them to keep their unique approach. Also being a subsidiary of Universal Music Group will allow them to become more a synthetic act but still keep their organic principles.
Faulkes would appeal to both a male and female audience between the ages of 15-25. The target audience I think will be quite a middle class, Caucasian audience all with a higher education, being a band that originates in Europe the target audience have to be able to understand and empathize that they are from a different culture etc. I think, typically fans would listen to chart music but also really enjoy unique acts they have found themselves from browsing on MySpace for example, I think there fans have a real mix in taste of music – seeing as the band have an Art School influence, many of their fans will also come from this background and are able to appreciate them more. Even though they are mainstream they have a real individual context to them.
The visual image for the band is quite different, both Malena and Thor are quite individual in their style and quite dark and mysterious yet their songs and the imagery used for posters and magazines etc. is quite vibrant. The contrast is effective and captures the eye of the target audience. Also the image of Malena being more the front man in the duo – with the careful placement and structure of the images makes their style very unique but work really effectively. Faulkes have not actually made a music video yet – although they have been performing for a while and have wrote more and more songs a video has not yet been created. So this video is the bands promotion, it will be somewhat of a similar quality to its competitors in the same genre. The video would be exhibited on popular music channels such as MTV2, BoxHits and NME TV. We want the music video to be a real representation of the band – really showing their unique quality of this contrast between dark and mysterious and vibrant.
These ideas were agreed on after working through the following key considerations:
Name: FAWKES Jessica Madsen
Genre: Alternative indie rock
1. What is the history of the band/ artist you have used? The two met whilst studding fine ant and new media at royal university collage of the fine arts in Stockholm in 2006. The both shared a love for art but a further passion and love for music. The two would meet to sing and play together, with a few other of their friends until they began to build a strong friendship and partnership which led to the formation of their band. After distributing there music on my space they were scouted by poludore. This took them to London where thay are currently producing their first album, working closely with ploydore to fore this successfully.
- How long have they been performing? 3-4 years
- How has their star image changed or developed over time? Well considering that they have been performing with each other for over 3 years, their individual image will have changed as they have developed. In relation to Malena her image transformed into a stronger quirky individual indi, look as her understanding of who she is slid into focuses as well as the importance of creating a striking star image. Thors star image evolved in a similar way, however they did not exactly form themselves to be complimentary or reflect one another in an obvious way. Although there image compliments each other they are different in respect to style as they both strive to resemble the importance of finding your own self style. They neither represent a good girl/boy image nor a bad girl/boy image, they sit more I between the two, representing level headed natural beauty down to earth types. All of which reinforces their organic natural appeal.
- What Future developments are likely? Well with out a doubt as they mature and develop as musicians they style will also mature. For example Lilly Allen went from quirky almost unmoral teen to a developed mature and respected woman. I see a similar transformation possible with Flukes.
2. What Genre’s of music do the band fit into? Alternative Rock
- Who are there influences? Girl, boy bands such as White stripes, Everything but the girl, Pj Harvey, Black keys, The Cure, The Strokes.
- Who are their contemporaries or competitors? White Stripes, Everything but the girl, The ting tings, the kills, and wolfmother, Bowerbirds, Handsome furs, Florence + The Machine.
- How does the genre help to shape their star image? As Alternative consists of various subgenres that have emerged from the independent music scene since the 1980s, such as Indie which best describes Fawkes represents their obscure uniqueness. The terminology Alternative helps to identify Fawkes for this reason.
- What are the commercial implications of their choice of musical genre? Defining music as "alternative" is often difficult because of two often conflicting applications of the word. "Alternative" can describe music that challenges the status quo and that is "fiercely iconoclastic, anticommercial, and antimainstream," but the term is also used in the music industry to denote "the choices available to consumers via record stores, radio, cable television, and the Internet. Alternative rock has been largely defined by its rejection of the commercialism of mainstream culture. This statement presents the fact that Alternative artists interests lies in their music as apposed to there are commercial constructed imagery.
3. What record lable are the band signed to? Fiction Records
- What kind of company is it? They are a record Label that support mostly new Alternative musicians. Which if successful later lead to other more mainstream labels like polydor and universals.
- What other acts are singed to this lable? Fiction has released records from the likes of Stephen Fretwell, Jacknife Lee, Delays, Alberta Cross, Guillemots and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The current Fiction stable includes Ian Brown, The Maccabees, Kate Nash, Elbow, White Lies, Yuksek, Filthy Dukes, and Detroit Social Club.
- What effect might the choices of label have had on the development of the band? Fiction records are a very nurturing supportive label who try to promote their acts in a successful light this is achieved through external links such as, Fiction Records Official Website, Fiction Records Myspace, Fiction Records LastFM, Fiction Records Facebook, Follow Fiction Records on Twitter. This will bring recognition to the unique quality of the band as it will be displayed universally, due to the labels further and constant recognition with having produced the like of Kate Nash and the cure.
4. Who are the bands audience?
- What sore of demographic does the band appeal to?
Gender: Girls
Age: 15- 25
Ethnicity: British (due to the record label) Scandinavian (due to the bands origin).
Education: Art school
Class: Middle class
- What type of life style would the typical fan demonstrate? Free willed, independently driven life style perhaps a bit rebellious yet passionate and driven. A festival goer as apposed to a nightclub attendee. Someone who is more mentally creative than academically sophisticated.
- What other music might the fans listen to, typically? Bowerbirds, Handsome furs, Starfucker, The White Stripes, The Ting Tings and Florence + The Machine.
- What other kinds of media products might they consume, typically? A subscription to NME Magazine, itune membership, plus HMV membership (a member ship with materialistic benefits such as gig tickets and singed merchandise)etc.
5. What kind of visual image has the act/band created for themselves?
- What kind of imagery is used on CD sleeves, posters, magazines and indeed digipacks etc. And why is this effective? In regard to the Cd/digipack, promotional magazine poster/davert the bands image very much reflects their star image, natural, independent, passionate and free willed. There for the images would reflect these describing words, selling to the audience the effectiveness of originality. For example in a magazine spread perhaps the photos would have been shot in the out doors where they are surrounded by nature, or in a space that they have created for themselves or that reflect them and there progressions as artists.
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