Read on… enjoy… and tell your friends!
A brief history
The Beginning
Every story starts somewhere, and this one starts in Newbury, Berkshire.
It was December 2008, and too much festive shopping boredom allowed my mind to wander. A short moment to reminisce about gigs past, playing in Germany in a military barracks, drumming so hard your hands blistered… and then… in a moment of mental clarity it suddenly became very apparent that for the pausing shopper, or casual browser, coffee drinker or anyone with a little time to fill there was nothing to read that told you about the local music scene.
I cast my mind back to days or yore in the Midlands, where gig listing magazines are easy to obtain, venues are well publicised and the fans support their local bands.
I looked around the Newbury high street and wondered whether there was a music scene here at all.
There must be.
After a little digging around it became apparent that there was indeed a local music scene. Nothing massive, but something certainly worth cultivating.
Cue a short break to the Midlands and Sheffield over the festive break to spend time with family.
The Idea
The best ideas are simple ideas. Why not shed a bit more light on the local music scene? Music is a passionate endeavour and the energy and vitality generated from good music should be spread liberally!
The Midlands and the North seem to grasp the idea of promoting their musicians, and local music magazines give fans an opportunity to read up about their favourite bands, find venues and places to shop. Why not start a magazine? A real, hold-it-in-your-hands magazine.
Why start the magazine?
The Newbury area is home to a vast array of musical stuff. This ranges from various styles of music, different types of performers, a mix of venues and a whole bundle of talent. We knew that the area needed more publicity to promote the local bands, venues and services which is why we started the magazine. We wanted to let everyone know how much musical goodness there is in the area, and to show what sort of things go on outside of the town too.
Working with the idea
Every good magazine relies on good content. It would be essential to chock as much musical goodness into the magazine as humanly possible. There would also be the matter of finance, but other magazines cover their costs with advertising so that principle should work.
A raft of letters and phone calls were made to link up with local venues, bands and shops to gauge the vibe for supporting the magazine. Responses were very positive.
A few critical responses allowed us to tailor our approach and to deliver something that would really delight music fans and casual readers alike.
What about the target area?
Since it is important to know your limits, and our boundary would fall at Oxford, Reading, Basingstoke and Swindon. The base would be in Newbury, however since music knows no boundaries we realised that it would be important to include material from the rest of the world when appropriate. Our focus first and foremost would be local music, but being a little flexible in our approach would allow us to be more appealing. Anything outside our target area would be donned as ‘out of town’, because we wanted to include as much music-related material as we could.
Towns directly in the BSE area include:
Swindon. Didcot. Wantage. Blewbury. Oxford. Basingstoke. Reading. Newbury. Thatcham. Marlborough. Shalbourne. Uffington. Abingdon. Pangbourne. Compton. Burghclere. Aldermaston. Farnborough. Shaw. Brimpton. Tadley. Kintbury. Kingsclere. Highclere. Hampstead Norris. Hermitage. Bucklebury. Donnington. Boxford. East Hagbourne. Sutton Courtenay. East Hendred. Harwell. Grove.
However, in keeping with our holistic approach, up to now we have also featured gigs from Derby, Manchester, Birmingham and Sheffield.
What about a name?
Marketing gurus will probably say that a brand name is very important. The name can suggest things to people and associations can develop before they know what your product is about.
After long nights of head scratching and a few creative moments, we wanted something that captured what the magazine was going to be about.
Picture the scene…. it’s February 2009…..a quiet musical scene is in desperate need of more support. The base is Newbury, and looking on a map all of the main musical venues are out in the big cities of Swindon, Reading, Basingstoke and Oxford. If the local press were to be believed then everything musical disappears as you approach Newbury. It’s almost like the Bermuda Triangle. But, well, it’s more like a square. A kind of Bermuda Square Effect.
Hang on.
We might be onto something.
Bermuda Square Effect.
Ok, you don’t need to be a geometrician to know that it’s a very rough square, but it’s close enough.
Bermuda…Square…Effect.
But the best names are unique, and tend to be a bit mad. It’s kind of unique, but mad, it doesn’t seem like it.
Hold on.
Abbreviate it to BSE and you’ve got the maddest name for a magazine going. It certainly sticks in your brain, whether you like it or not.
Bermuda Square Effect it is.
The first issue
After gathering shed loads of information, including gig reviews, gig listings, band interviews, taking photographs and a few late nights we collated our very first issue. We sent it to print and distributed the 5,000 copies around our target area, predominantly in Newbury, Reading, Basingstoke, Oxford and Swindon, but also in the towns around and in between. The immediate response was amazing. Literally as we delivered the first few hundred we had phone calls and texts from people saying how good it looked and that they were glad that something like our magazine had arrived in the area. Fine praise.
The second issue
As any band will tell you, the second album is always the hardest. Everyone knows your first work, and will undoubtedly draw comparisons between it and your second release. For us, the same difficulties lay in wait.
How could we ensure we not only maintained, but grew, our readership?
What content would draw people in?
Potential disaster struck when the peculiar economic climate meant that our promises of advertising support for the second issue were withdrawn. No finance = no magazine. Gutted.
However, the need is still there. The music scene still needs stirring up. It must continue.
Our first issue had been in hard copy format, and was accompanied with a digital online version available through our web site.
Our efforts moved to support the online format. It would allow us a quicker turnaround to issue each months magazine and it would allow us more flexibility with the content. Although we would lose a physical presence in the real world we had the benefit that our content could be accessible 24/7. This would work for the time being.
Our second issue hit the internet at the start of June 2009, and has remained online since that date.
2009-2010
2009 was a busy year for music. We covered a range of events, local gigs, large festivals, local festivals, reviewed demos and had an awesome time doing it. However, change is inevitable. If you’re prepared for it then you can make it work in your favour.
The original Bermuda Square Effect website was shared, so after a little development we moved to our dedicated site at www.bse-live.co.uk, on New years eve 2009. We took on a new magazine theme, which looked more clean and professional than our earlier issues.
Here and Now
Who is Bermuda Square Effect for?
First and foremost anyone! We don’t aim to exclude any readers, but our focus is on music. We are looking to appeal to any fans, musicians, promoters, venue owners, song writers, photographers, journalists, basically anyone related to the music world.
What sort of things do we cover?
Anything and everything to do with music. Local music is important to us, so we include gig listings for our target area, features with local bands, plenty of photographs, music news, special articles and helpful bits and pieces about music.
How can you get involved?
We are always on the look out for people to get involved with BSE. Send us an e-mail or give us a call using our contact details through the links at the top of this page.
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Reviews
If you fancy writing a review, then please send in your material. Review writing lets you get your work in print, and allows you to let people know what you thought of a band. Our perspective is to be constructive with reviews, rather than slating a performance.
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Photography
We always welcome photo’s too. Often a good photo can sum up a gig, so if you have a snap that you want to get included please send it to us. The photographer will be credited and will retain copyright of the image.
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Gig Listings
Send us your listings!
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Articles
If you have an idea for an article, or something else you think we could offer, then please get in touch. We are keen to support as much of the musical community as we can.
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Creativity
Trying new things and experimenting a little is always good. If you have an idea that you think we might like then let us know. Creativity is something to be embraced!
The future
The magazine
The aim has always been to create a hard copy, real magazine and we are working on a variety of strategies to make this a reality. Our first hard copy received an extremely positive reception and it really captured the enthusiasm we were trying to foster. Our view has always been to present something unique and this theme is deep-rooted in our magazine strategy. The next hard copy venture will again represent something more than other paper local music magazines. Should you be interested in helping out with developing our new magazine, or being involved in some way please contact us with the details available through the link at the top of the page.
The spirit, the focus
We aim to provide a focal point for live music, especially in the local area. We want to provide a place for people to find venues, bands and services related to music. With this, we want to broadcast the fact that music in the area is viable and exciting.
Small Print
Copyright
As we mentioned earlier, photo’s are credited to photographers and the image copyright will stay with them. The same goes for any other material submitted. Your material will only be used in relation to the magazine and articles related directly to it. Because we have a copyright clause at the front of our magazine, if we find that someone had done a sneaky PDF (or other copy) of a piece from the magazine, we will contact them to let them know they are in breach of copyright. Following that we will expect them to remove the offending article or request permission for use from us. Once any requests come to us, we will in turn request permission from any contributors.