AVENUE
the relaunch issue
WINTER 2012 ÂŁ1.25 WHERE SOLD www.avenuemag.co.uk
karma kid jermaine riley make the noise
MUSIC EDIT
FASHION EDIT
4. A note from the editor
8. Jermaine riley
17. Winter 2012 lookbook
5. Need list
10. Midlands bass scene special
21. Make The Noise Clothing
6. Most wanted 28. BORING SPORT illustration
11. Hardy
30. 2Pac Illustration
14. Karma kid
12. Polkadot
16. Armeria
22. Street style snaps 25. Down with the kicks 26. Jump off!
03_AVENUE MAG_winter 2012
REGULARS
04_AVENUE MAG_winter 2012
a note from the editor Well here we are people. After an 8 month break since publishing issue #1, we are back in a happy place and proud to present to you issue #2 of Avenue. My god it feels so good to back, I’ll always regret taking such a long break from publishing the magazine but that doesn’t matter now because we are back. Anyway, enough of the heartfelt talk let’s talk about the new issue, winter 2012. This issue is focused on the Midlands bass scene, fronted by the amazing Karma Kid, we also caught up with fellow young producers, Armeria, Hardy and Polkadot to find out why the bass scene is creating such a buzz right now, especially in the Midlands, and how excited they are to be apart of the movement. Then you are all in for a treat as we up our fashion game to share with you street style snaps by Millie Hunt, a winter lookbook and our top picks for the approaching cold and wet season. So sit back and enjoy the return of Avenue Mag. THIS TIME WE ARE HERE TO STAY! Ashley Allen Founder and Editor
FOUNDER AND EDITOR Ashley Allen @ashleyallenuk ASSISTANT EDITOR Haydn Allen @haydnallen FASHION PHOTOGRAPHER Millie Hunt @milliehunt WITH THANKS TO Haddon PR Rich London PR Radiator PR Sam Waddingham SOCIAL COMMUNITY TWITTER @avenuemaguk FACEBOOK avenuemagazineuk EMAIL news@avenuemag.co.uk AVENUE MAG is published quarterly (March, June, September, December) by Avenue Media, 50 Richmond Avenue, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, DE7 8QY (07581 023661). www.avenuemag.co.uk Printed by FaceMediaGroup.
RECYCLE
ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT: This magazine can be recycled through your home collection service or via a local recycling point. Visit www.recyclenow.com and enter your postcode to find out more.
need list
All the best gadgets and tech releases of the last season. We’ll pick your Christmas list for you.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
www.callofduty.com
Bass Buds The latest in-ears from the UK’s headphone pioneers, Bass Buds feature new Built-in high Spec Call Mic/MP3 Controller You’ll enjoy quick-access to answering/ ending your calls, play/pause your mp3 player, skip forward and backwards through your music. www.bassbuds.net
Speck PixelSkin Soft and durable rubberness defines the PixelSkin HD iPhone 5 case. Its durable, flexible casing pops on and off with plenty of ease. The raised bevel protects the front panel well against any accidents.
www.speckproducts.com
05_AVENUE MAG_winter 2012
Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 is one of this year’s most anticipated titles, infact, it was even before the franchise released the new trailer. This time round its online mode is an even bigger deal, meaning the biggest hype in gaming just got even bigger. Be prepared to argue with your girlfriends.
Kindle Fire HD
04_AVENUE MAG_winter 2012
Amazon may have taken its time to release the Kindle Fire HD but the wait was well worth it, becuase this is not just your bog standard tablet. For starters, it has a bookshop, music store, newsstand and movie streaming in HD. Oh, and all the rest of the stuff tablets do. If you’re in the market for a tablet, for £159 the 16GB Kindle Fire HD could be yours. It offers better value than the Nexus 7 and it comes with an amazing amount of built-in content. All in time for Christmas? Amazon have pulled it out the bag.
need list
DETAILS HD SCREEN 7�, 1280x800 full HD scream. Perfect for catching up on TV and movies.
STORAGE 16GB or 32GB built-in memory and unlimited cloud storage via Amazon Cloud. Tech Specification Processor: 1.2GHz dualcore Battery Life: 11 hours Size/Weight: 193x137x10.3mm, 395g
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DUAL WI-FI You can easily switch 2.4GHz and 5GHz bandwiths if you have a good signal strength. King of fast downloads, buffer-free streaming and more.
08_AVENUE MAG_winter 2012
JERMAINE RILEY
THE 26 YEAR-OLD ARTIST HAS BEEN PUTTING IN SOME SERIOUS GRAFT IN 2012. IS IT ALL ABOUT TO PAY OFF FOR HIM?
You’re currently battling it out to win the MTV Brand New for 2013 Unsigned competition. What do you think winning this competition will do for your career? I think winning the competition would shed some light on how hard I’ve been working. Recognition is important at this stage and I just want my shot. There’s so much talent in the world that doesn’t always get the platform it deserves. I’ve been doing this for a while and just want the world to see what I’m capable of. That’s why I’m really humbled by the support I’ve been getting, it really keeps me going.
You’ve just released your free mixtape, what’s the fans reaction been like? The reaction to Ten Eleven Twelve has been amazing! It was important for me that my supporters enjoyed this body of work because it’s the first time I’m talking about actual real life and not through the eyes of Superman. All my previous work has been conceptually based around Superman. I’m glad people are connecting with this mixtape because it’s bridging the gap between Hello Earth and my next album. The likes of Ne-Yo and Geffen Records are amongst your friends in the industry. How did this come about? We [FDM] were mentored by Ne-Yo, whilst being signed to Geffen Records in the states. We recorded an album in ATL/ LA, unfortunately things didn’t work out. But I really value the experience and it’s really strengthened me going forward in the music industry.
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You’ve been busy this past year working on your solo career. How’s this been for you? It’s been an interesting journey. You reap what you sew really and as long you work hard you should see the fruits of your labor, you just have to stay strong and keep on going. So far I’ve been getting a positive response from the music I’ve been putting out and I’m very grateful.
HARDY
How does it feel to be a part of the exciting young bass scene that is taking the music industry right now? It’s been great to get recognition as a producer for what just started off as a hobby. Its almost a strange feeling knowing people like my music, want to follow what Im doing and also want to hear more about what I’m working on and when new tracks are coming out. There’s been so much progression in this last year in bass/electronic music that it’s been quite hard to keep up with what’s new but that’s what’s so exciting about it. I’m enjoying being a part of a fast growing genre and scene as you never really know whats around the corner. What can we expect from you in 2013. Can you tell us a bit more about your project and what we can expect to hear? I’m hoping to release some of my tracks through a record label in the New Year and get organised for some live performances. Im also working on a few collaborations which are coming along really well, so keep an eye out for those.
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Please introduce yourself and tell us how you Hardy came about. My name is James Hardy, I’m 17 and I’m an electronic music producer from Derby. I’m also a student at Confetti Music Studios in Nottingham. I can’t really remember the exact time when I first decided I wanted to make music but I started off about 2 years ago making simple dubstep loops on FL studio and showing some of my mates at school and we’d have a laugh about it and show each other tracks that we’d found and I started to upload some of the better tracks onto my SoundCloud. Then through YouTube promoters such as Eton Messy and Fhinq Music I started to build a name for myself and it grew from there to what people recognise today as Hardy.
Polkadot 12_AVENUE MAG_winter 2012
Armed with an incredible following already, Polkadot continues to educate himself and produce game-changing bass music
For those that don’t you know, introduce Polkadot to these people? Well I’ve just turned 18 and I’m currently living in a small village just outside Wolverhampton. I try to make bass music that has a melody of some sort. I’ve been producing for about a year properly, before that I was in countless bands playing guitar or drums. But I’ve always had a love electronic music since my dad used to play ‘the prodigy experience’ to me when I was a kid
Several young producers from the Midlands, is this something that excites you? Yeah definitely! Especially with Karma Kid getting attention from the likes of Annie Mac and Pete Tong. And then there’s relatively new people like Armeria causing such a buzz, rightly so though, he hasn’t made a bad tune! I’m a big fan musically of both of those guys, as well as friends. It’s really exiting, as well as certain blogs and youtube channels based in the Midlands like Fhinq Music, they’re really pushing the scene Where do you see this scene heading in the future? I can only see it getting bigger and better. It’s great because there’s a small
community of producers that are all making really fresh and different music. More importantly, we are all friends and support each other. The music we are all making sounds different. It’s not some sort of phase. It’s the future of modern pop music. What new directions influence you the most with your music? Garage, R&B, hip-hop? I love all kinds of music. Mostly I was brought up on guitar music like Radiohead. But also stuff like The Prodigy. From being in bands I was into your typical Arctic Monkeys sort of thing, and I still love it. But I’ve always had a love for electronic beats. I remember me and my brother trying to set up a pirate radio station, failing, and pretending we had one. Nowadays I’d say my music is mostly influenced by electronic stuff. When I was making my new EP I was listening to N.E.R.D, Flying Lotus, Artful Dodger and Radiohead. But anything inspires me, just sounds. Can you tell us about any future releases you have planned? Yeah, I have an EP coming out on Fuyu Record, they’re the sister label to Sounds Of Sumo.
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POLKADOT
Karma Kid
Sam Knowles is an 18 year-old producer who was born and raised in Matlock and is now part of the exciting young bass scene. We caught up with him to find out more.
How did you get into producing at such a young age? I got involved with production through my love of eclectic music and curiosity to create my own. I started messing around with beats when I was 14 and it’s grown organically from there really. No one in my local area produced music seriously before me but now I’ve noticed that quite a few people are becoming interested in it, which is really cool.
What was it like growing up in Derbyshire as a budding producer? It has been kind of tricky because there are very few people that actually like bass music around my local area, so it was initially difficult to spark interest in what I was doing. Soundcloud has been incredible really. It is the most powerful networking site for producers, musicians and DJs. This site is kind of breaking down geographical barriers for musicians,because anyone in the world can be noticed and listened to. It’s been handy for producers like me and Bondax who live in relatively remote areas!
At the moment young producers such as you, Disclosure, Madeon and Bondax are smashing the bass scene, why do you think this is? I think that this current bass scene is aimed at a younger audience, so naturally young producers will want to get involved with it. I also think that it’s easier for younger producers these days because we don’t have as much responsibility as ‘adults’, and we have more free time to make tunes. It’s also a lot cheaper to produce music than it used to be. Very little equipment is needed to create something cool. Do you think there’s a limit to how much you and these young acts can propel the bass scene? Not at all. There’s very little boundaries with this scene as it is and it gives us so much room to experiment and create new sounds. I have no idea what is next, we’ll see. What can we expect from Karma Kid in 2013? I’ve got a few remixes to come out (Russ Chimes, Bebe Black, etc) and I’m working towards the next single currently. Expect loads of shows in the next few months as well. I’m travelling all over the place.
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What inspired your style of music? My music is inspired from a few sources. R&B, Garage, House and Hip-Hop are obvious influences genre-wise. I listen to a lot of soul music like Etta James and Charles Bradley when I’m at home, but I think the biggest influence for my music was being surrounded by 90’s house music from a very early age.
What do you think about the local music scene? I think the local scene is growing actually! As far as I know there is me, Armeria, and Hardy. We all produce with a similar style and it’s cool to have local producers to talk to.
Johnny S Photography
ARMERIA 16_AVENUE MAG_winter 2012
The Derby born youngster is lifting the lid on a new generation of superstar producers The relaunch issue of Avenue is all about the Midlands bass scene. Are you proud to be a part of this? I think that it’s definitely something to take note of at the moment, especially with the quantity of good young producers in the area. Also, with the majority of the producers being young I think it can only really get better, especially when there’s cities like Nottingham that seem to push this kind of thing, and after seeing what Karma Kid’s doing now it definitely motivates other
producers do the
to same.
Why do you think there is so much buzz around the bass scene at the moment? I think this is down to producers - who’ve been making this music - being in the l i m e l i g h t now. Massive artists like Disclosure and Bondax have sort of made the general public aware to the emerging different types of “dance” music, and made bass music more available. Which is fantastic for new producers. Any of them that you would like to make music with? I’d love to work with Jamie xx, just to find out how he does what he does. But mainly at the
minute, i’d just absolutely love to work with a vocalist. What can you tell us about the music you have coming out? The music I have coming out next is like before, but hopefully a bit more danceable, and something that wouldn’t feel that out of place if it was heard in a club. What’s next from Armeria? I’m just trying to get gigs and build up my experience in that area a bit at the moment. After doing my first gig as myself with Lil Silva, Kidnap Kid and Wookie at a CMYK night in Nottingham and just absolutely loving it!
fashion edit trends|street style|brands
Model wears Plastic Guns Pink Pistol T-Shirt
17_AVENUE MAG_winter 2012
what to wear this winter
18_AVENUE MAG_winter 2012
Model wears Duffer of St George Hiker Gilet Jacket, Marshall Hoody and Jog Pants
Model wears Miko Spinelli Autunno Leaf Jacket and Cap
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Model wears Puffa Original Parka Jacket
Make The Noise Clothing was started by University students Ryan Eborall and William Green in early 2012. It started after Ryan & Will provided some basic t-shirts they created for artists and it’s blown since. makethenoiseclothing.com
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MAKE some nOISE
street
22_AVENUE MAG_winter 2012
style
Nottingham Trent University Fashion Communication and Promotion student Millie Hunt took to the wet streets of Leeds to scout the coolest looks in the town, from hip-hop heads to skate kids to smart geezers, to casual guys, Leeds had it all. milliecharmaine.tumblr.com
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24_AVENUE MAG_winter 2012
STFD, a brand and house party themed club night launching at Bad Papa’s Tiki Shack, Hockley, Nottingham, Thursday 22nd November 2012. Created by two students in Nottingham, we’re working with local talent and students such as DJ’s, graphic designers, videographers, photographers and event organisers to make the brand come alive! Visit our website to keep up to date with mixes from our resident DJ’s and our soon to launch clothing range.
PUMA BASKET, £40
NEW BALANCE 373, £50
NIKE BLAZER VINTAGE SUEDE, £67
adidas zx 500 tech, £62
Onitsuka Tiger Mexico 66, £70
NIKE pegasus ‘89, £65
down with the kicks sports trainers teamed with a pair of jeans is the look to have right now
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Diadora B-Elite, £50
gourmet the 35 trainers, £100
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RUM KNUCKLES, £49
EDUCATE AND ELEVATE,£30
JUMP OFF!
BOY LONDON, £55
KEAR & KU, £30
BOON! APPAREL, £15
FLY53, £45
HYPE X REPRESENT, £40
BECK & HERSEY, £45
27_AVENUE MAG_winter 2012
The weather has dropped, so that can only mean one thing. Prepare to load your wardrobe with jumpers and lots of them. You know it makes sense.
2Pac by Nathan Knowles behance.net/NathanKnowles
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