www.musicweek.com


FEATURE ON THE RADAR DESPERATE JOURNALIST


n BY CORAL WILLIAMSON R


est easy, music scribes – Desperate Journalist aren’t named after you.


“It’s a reference to The Cure’s


song,” lead singer Jo Bevan tells Music Week. “They did a version of Grinding Halt in a Peel session, where they changed all of the lyrics to snippets of Paul Morley’s review of their first album, which was...unfavourable.” Wearing their influences on


their sleeves, the Fierce Panda signings released a self-titled album digitally earlier this year, with a physical version coming out in 2015. “Everyone streams music online anyway, so what’s nice for us is to have it out already, so people can hear the songs and decide whether they like it,” Bevan explains. “That’s how people consume


music anyway. They’ll go to a blog and there’ll be leaked mp3s, then you can gauge whether or not to buy a physical copy. That’s how I consume music.” “We’re doing limited edition


12.12.14 Music Week 7


ESSENTIAL INFO


RELEASES Out now


Album Desperate Journalist LABEL


Fierce Panda


MANAGEMENT James Taylor


getting a show somewhere. It’s really saddening to see venues dropping like flies. “It means that the only people


who get gigs these days, if they’re starting out, need to have a lot of backing behind them. “That requires money, so it


vinyl, so if people love it enough to buy a copy, it’ll be special.” The LP was recorded in just five days, as the band tried to capture the energy and “slight madness” of their live shows. “They’re direct, emotional


songs,” the singer says. “It wouldn’t feel right for them to be super polished.” Bevan describes playing


SYNC STORY SONOS


• Brand Sonos • Spot Melt • Title You Took Your Time • Artist Mount Kimbie feat. King Krule


• Master Rights Warp Records • Writers Campos, Maker, Marshall


• Publisher Warp Music, BMG Chrysalis


• Music Supervisor Jason Bentley • Ad Agency 72andSunny • Creatives Glenn Cole, John Boiler, Frank Hahn, Josh Fell, Rey Andrade


• Film Co 1st Avenue Machine • Director Roman Ruetten • First Air Date 2/11/14


n BY CHAS DE WHALLEY


It’s not every day that a top LA DJ gets to sort the sounds for a major international TV campaign. Or that he puts young British bands centre screen. But then Jason Bentley is no


ordinary DJ – and Sonos’ current crop of smart home stereo spots are no ordinary ads. When not appearing at festivals


and clubs, Bentley is music director at KCRW, a public broadcaster


based in Santa Monica. However eagle-eyed film fans


will also have seen him credited as music supervisor on Hollywood sci-fi blockbusters such as The Matrix triology and Tron Legacy. Creative agency 72andSunny


invited Bentley to work on a series of seriously surreal commercials designed to show how Sonos’ cutting edge wireless audio systems ‘can transform your home’. Shot in Argentina during the


summer and currently being shown


across North America and Europe, these films focus on stark white rooms which suddenly develop lives of their own. “My job was about finding


the right mood and tempo to accompany each sequence,” says Bentley. ”There was a real interest from Sonos to support emerging artists. As music director of an NPR station, I tried to bring fresh ideas to the table.”


Which meant names like 2012’s Mercury Prize winners Alt-J,


ADBREAKANTHEMS TWELVE MONTH TRENDING SYNC SPOTS (%) OCTOBER 2013 - SEPTEMBER 2014


Independent Music Supervisors* ■ Platinum Rye 16.78% ■ Leland Music 15.73% ■ The Sync Agency 6.99% ■ Soho Music 6.64% ■ Native 4.55% ■ Soundtree Music 4.55% ■ Tin Drum 4.55% ■ Jeff Wayne Music 4.55% ■ Others 35.66%


* Independent music supervisors worked on 286 syncs tracked by adbreakanthems during the period


Advertising Agencies** ■ AMV BBDO 6.47% ■ Leo Burnett 5.42% ■ Grey Worldwide 29 5.07% ■ Tag TV 4.90% ■ Wieden+Kennedy London 4.37% ■ Others 73.78%


** Based on 572 syncs tracked by adbreakanthems during the period


live as the most direct way to communicate with people musically. It’s no surprise then that she has strong views about 2014’s spate of venue closures across the country. Desperate Journalist played


Highbury’s Buffalo Bar in November, only a fortnight after the venue announced it too was shutting its doors.


“It’s symptomatic of what’s


wrong with London as a whole, with the homogenisation of everything from leisure industries to housing,” says Bevan. “It’s becoming this giant bland


suburb, and it’s really depressing because London should be exciting. “You should be able to form a band with a bunch of your mates and have some chance in hell of


filters into a result where people playing in bands end up being quite privileged.” She adds: “I’m not necessarily saying they wouldn’t be any good, but you don’t want only one section of society being in bands.” Live-loving Bevan namechecks London Calling in Amsterdam as one of the highlights for the band so far. “It felt really momentous and exciting,” she says. “We were absolutely terrified


before we went on; I was almost sick. But people seemed to enjoy it.”


Southampton indie rockers Band Of Skulls and Warp Records’ highly acclaimed London-based duo Mount Kimble – whose 2013 post dubstep single You Took Your Time, featuring vocals by King Krule, underpins the Melt execution. “I knew Mount Kimbie from


earlier airplay we gave them at KCRW while King Krule did a session for us some months back. It was his lazy delivery which really scored here,” Bentley explains. According to Warp’s head Of


Every month www.adbreakanthems.com provides a unique breakdown of data on over 50 current TV ads featuring copyrighted music tracks. To find out more visit http://video.adbreakanthems.com or contact Chas de Whalley at c.dewhalley@adbreakanthems.com


licensing Will Theakston, the full effect of this Sonos sync “is hard to gauge.”


“Sync potential isn’t a key


factor when we sign new artists to Warp although we have a dedicated licensing team in the UK and go through Zync in the US,” he continues. “But Mount Kimbie’s Made To Stray has also just been included in the expanded version of Rockstar Games’ GTA 5. So they’re certainly gaining fans in the sync world.”


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