INTROThe magazine from young journalists at the BBCR1 Academy

Welcome to Intro Magazine, the publicationwritten by journalism students who took part inthe BBCR1 Academy in May and produced by theVerbal Arts Centre.Students were taught how to beprofessional reporters during a week-long series of workshopsfacilitated by the journalism department at the Verbal Arts Centre.Seasonsed journalist Leona O’Neill put the young people through theirpaces in subjects such as interview skills, music reviews, news, features,photography and magazine design before allowing them theopportunity to interview some of the biggest names in the music andentertainment industry.Our students interviewed The Script, Gabrielle Aplin and many top Radio1 DJs. They were professional and inspirational, hardworking and enthusi-astic and many of them have now decided to embark upon a career injournalism by signing up for the Verbal Arts Centre’s A-Level in journalism.Look carefully at the names of our student journalists. For in a few yearstime they will be in your local newspapers, radio and television!

Inspirationalweek at the BBCR1

Academy....

THE SCRIPT:Be teachers,be leaders,be politicians,be truthseekers

Teabags, tantrums and missing home

By Laura Brennan

STRAIGHT off the BBCRadio1 LiveLounge Stage after performing anexclusive set to an intimate crowd,

The Script joined with a group of buddingjournalism students for a 30 minute Q&Asession as part of the BBC Academyworkshops, facilitated by the Verbal ArtsCentre, which took place at the NerveCentre Derry all last week.With a strong sense of excitement,nervous shuffle of papers and softscratch of pens from one side of theroom, Irish rockers The Script sat down fora chat that discussed many matters fromteabags to tantrums. The band, justback from their Australian Arena Tour lastmonth were happy to discuss a questionposed to them about theirdecision to take upcoming Irish band The

Original Rude Boys with them as the maintour supporting act and how important itis for them as musicians to be influential intheir ability to provide that potential pro-pelling platform to support and encour-age new emerging Irish artists?Band members Danny, Mark and Glenagreed that their choice in selecting anartist to have the privilege of touringalongside them wasn’t an easy one. Gui-tarist Mark said: “We really do have thepick of the litter, there is so many bandsthat we could take on tour with us rightnow”. And for The Script, who formedback in 2001, it was apparent that as aband they felt how important it waswhen making their decision to rememberas Mark recalled how they got a bigchance to “get out of Ireland and let Irishmusic and the word of Irish musiciansspread around the world”.

“In return we feel it’s really important toselect like minded bands and we felt itwas more of an honour to choose a bandthat didn’t have a record deal and theOriginal Rude Boys where just at that pointwhere we felt they were ready to comeout on tour and they were fantastic”It’s a testimony to the musical passion ofthe Script that even as celebratedinternational artists they will never be toobig for their boots to ignore their rootsand believe strongly in upholding thefaith of championing Irish music as Markadmitted that to “see audiences thathad never been introduced to that bandbefore and to see how well they wentdown well we’re really proud of that featI suppose”.The Script are one of many headlinerswho came to the city in May to play atEbrington

The true champions ofthe Irish music industry

Script take starring role...By Aine Cronin-McCartney

DERRY’S Nerve Centre played host to the hugely successfulband the Script as part of the BBC Radio 1’s Academy inthe lead up to One Big Weekend.

Playing amoving Live Lounge cover of Rihanna’s hit ‘Stay’ the Irishrock trio blew fans away with their haunting harmonies.Singer Danny said “We are trying to evoke the spirit of The Beatles”Academy attendees were then given the chance to questionthe band on their experiences since they formed in 2001.The band who have sold over 4 million albums kept nothing to

themselves about people’s perception and how much their liveshave changed.“People’s perception is that it’s all just a big party and thebiggest reality for me is that it wasn’t,” explains Drummer Glen“The best part for me is just to be on Stage”.Giving advice to any aspiring musicians from the ‘City ofMusic’ Mark said: “Music is wonderful the way it will travel infront of you so the confines of a city shouldn’t really matter. Goin front of audiences that don’t know you or don’t care for youand when you see a real reaction in this small City then thatreaction will happen in the rest of the world”.

By Toni McGowan

HOToff the stage from their Radio 1performance, The Script entered aroom and sat in the Hot Seats with

15 pairs of young adults eyes on them.After a few hellos and getting comfort-able, the interview started. Questionswere fired at the band, from their processin selecting songs as singles to Danny’sparticipation in The Voice UK and the ef-fect on the band. Danny, Mark and Glenwere very open and honest about everyaspect they discussed and gave ex-tremely relevant answers. The theme ofthe hard work came up over again, alongwith perseverance. Having had to wait 4years to be signed, when asked to giveadvice to local talent who are slightly dis-heartened with rejections of signings, thebands main message was perseverance

and stubbornness. “We were so pig-headed that we just refused to give up’.Mark continued and explained that finallygetting signed is one of the last steps inthe process of ‘making it’. After explainingthe difference ways of ‘making it’, hestated the hard truth that if someone issigned when they are not ready, theyhave a big change of failing and not getanother opportunity like that.’ Afterchoosing an Irish band which didn’t havea record deal to support them in Australia,the band conveyed their love of Ireland,but did admit that they have to leave Ire-land to reach their dream, ‘Ireland is onlya subsidiary.’ Bringing to the table the sadrealisation that Ireland doesn’t havemuch signing power; it is important tonote that Northern Ireland is up and com-ing, with local record labels such as Small-town America Label based in Derry.

However, Danny, Glen and Mark took toAmerica and stayed there for 10 years.Previously stating that being in a band is20% music and 80% business, they boysjokingly said that they thought being in aband was party after party but their reali-sation that it was work was a kick in theteeth. ‘The biggest shock was me was[that] it wasn’t a party. Their main mes-sage in regards to music was that failure isimportant and you will learn more fromyour mistakes than the things you do right.‘...the lesson you learn is to get up off theground and try again.’So there you have it up and comingsingers and bands; work hard and playhard (for 20% of the time) and don’t giveup. You could be visiting our lovely homeas worldwide famous musicians soon, andI couldn’t be any more proud of that tal-ent that Derry is harbouring.

Work hard and keep the faith -words of wisdom from The Script

By Duana Forrest

DERRY-LONDONDERRY City ofCulture 2013 is very much on track.On Tuesday 14th of May, Danny

O’Donoghue, Mark Sheehan and GlenPower arrived in Derry ahead of their‘Radio 1 Big Weekend’ show, to performtheir Live Lounge for BBC Radio1 at theAcademy. The Irish trio from Dublin, whotook the world by force when their debutself-titled album hit the number one spotin Ireland and the UK in 2008, graced thestage of The Nerve Centre along withRadio 1 DJ Alice Levine to an intimatecrowd of lucky fans and journalists.Taking a step back from their usualexplosive ‘Big Band’ performances, theydelivered a raw and heartfelt take onRhianna’s ‘Stay’ while still bringing theirtrademark ‘The Script’ sound to theballad. Glen Power stepped out frombehind his drums for the first time todeliver acoustic pitch perfect three part

harmonies with his band mates; the songwas the perfect way to showcase thestrength of the band, creating anatmosphere that electrified the room.The silence in the room was deafeningand their pure talent was never so muchalive. Front man Danny O’Donoghueexplained that they were going ‘back totheir roots’ with this intimate performanceand chose the song because ‘it is allabout the vocals’ but assured they willdefinitely be ‘coming out Guns a Blazing’for their Big Weekend show. Once theywere off air, they graciously performed afurther two songs from their currentalbum ‘#3’; ‘Good old Days’ and ‘Hall ofFame’ for the lucky and captivatedcrowd.They then sat down with a small groupof Journalism students, answeringevery question with passion andencouragement. Discussing previousknockdowns before reaching successwith ‘The Script’ it was evident that it

played a large part in getting them towhere they are today. Band membersDanny and Mark, whose band ‘Mytown’was released from their contract in 2001after five years withUniversal Records, highlighted that it isimportant to get knocked down, buteven more important to come back fromit and learn from mistakes, with Dannyexplaining ‘treat a small gig like Derry asif it were the O2 because you neverknow when it’s going to be your last’. Theband also showed a lot of love andpraise for the internet believing that ‘itshould be embraced’ and wouldencourage up and coming artists to usesocial media such as YouTube andTwitter as a platform to help get noticed.Three genuine and talented boys,making it big in the music industry,brought an abundance ofencouragement and inspiration for notjust aspiring musicians, but also futurejournalists in Derry.

‘Being knockedmade us stronger’

By Shannon Weir

The BBC Radio1’s academy was in Derry-Londonderry from the 11th to the 17th ofMay. I was at a journalism workshop andgot to watch The Script in the Live Loungeand afterwards interviewed the band.Being such a talented band, I felt nervousand excited. The journalisms workshopco-coordinator Leona O’Neill helped mestructure my questions and give me abetter understanding of journalism. I wasslightly afraid when I asked my question tothe script as I thought my question may bestupid, but they answered my question andmade me feel really comfortablethroughout the interview and gave meconfidence.The question I asked was: “How do you feelyou performed in the Live Lounge?”Their answer: “We haven’t heard it. We onlygot back straight in the car to try anddownload it straight from the BBC website.A couple of texts came through telling uswe sounded good. We are our own worstcritics. Everything we listen to we’re alwayscritiquing it at all times. I feel it went wellthough.”I was overwhelmed with my experience ofBBC Radio 1’s academy. It was amazing.

‘We are our ownworse critics’

Nick Grimshaw Q&AACADEMY HAPPENINGS

Aplin’s voice of an angelBy Ruaidhrí Mc Court

FROM the momentGabrielle Aplin steppedon stage, she con-

veyed a very quiet andtender approach but shesoon discarded anythoughts of shyness as shestarted to sing. Gabrielleopened her act with hernew single “Panic chord”she immediately stunnedthe audience from theoutset with her soft melodictones, harmonising with abacking vocalist. Theupbeat soft tempo en-thralled the audience.Aside to the opening, be-fore her next song Aplinhad took the time to talk tofans with in the audienceeven accepting a fan CD

and letter and then tookquestions from Radio Onejournalists, this was a greatexperience for theaudience of about thirtywho got the opportunity tomeet someone they idoliseso much. Aplin then thrilledher audience further witha very powerful renditionof Imagine Dragons“Radioactive”. Once againshe opened with a softharmonic tone, graduallygetting stronger andstronger before a verypowerful finish withaccompanying guitar andviolin. As described by alistener “pure talent”Gabrielle Aplin hadgrasped and thoroughlyentertained them through-out her performance.

Singer’s gentle lullcaptivates crowd

By Laura Mullan

It was the intimate stage ofthe Nerve Centre which firstintroduced me to theintricate realm of live musicand has recently show-cased the delicate lull ofGabrielle Aplin. The firststrum of a guitar chordsignalled the beginning ofGabrielle’s hauntingrendition of her latest singlePanic Cord taken from herforthcoming debut albumEnglish Rain. Panic Cordvividly identifies itself aspoignant song with aunique sense of lyricalweight apparent as shesoothingly concedes “I wasfull of doubt and youbelieved”.Lips silently mouthed along,echoing her lyrics perhaps

highlighting her unique abil-ity to alignherself with a diverse crowdthrough relatable yettouching lyrics. Thecaptivated silence isbroken momentarily for anoutburst of applause beforeGabrielle Aplin began alingering performance ofRadioactive by ImagineDragons. The song wasdeliberately unhurried,complimented by the rawquality of Gabrielle’s voice.Her tone is suspended by achilling violin and pianoaccompaniment all ofwhich accumulated to adramatic crescendo deliv-ering a truly pure and capti-vating performance. Herdebut album perhaps signi-fies her progression lyricallyand melodically as an artist.

By Sorcha Kelly

The Nerve Centre, at the

heart of Derry’s music scene,

holds 620 people. Gabrielle

Aplin, at the heart of Radio

One’s new music scene, plays

to over a 1000 people. Yet, as

part of Radio1’s Academy, I

was part of what must have

been 18 people to exclusively

witness Aplins incredibly

intimate Live Lounge. Aplin is

proof as to why live music will

never die. Hearing her most

recent single “Panic Cord” on

the radio is nothing com-

pared to the depths of her

live vocals and the acoustic

arrangement (which included

a very chilled violinist called

Tadgh who easily could have

been Yannis from Foals).

Given her travelling since

4am, Aplin still manages to

effortlessly sing through Panic

Cord and her highly original

cover of the Imagine Dragons

hit Radioactive. I quickly

became captivated by

Aplin’s performance. The au-

thentic sound that only a

homegrown singer-songwriter

can muster allows us to realise

that Aplin is made for music.

Being “a pop star”, as many

call her, all seems to come as

second nature (before her

performance Aplin is seen

taking photos of herself with

her two live musicians as if

they are sitting in on a Sunday

afternoon). In less than five

minutes, the three of them

played live to the UK and the

world to great acclaim.

Intimate performance

Aled Jones Q&AACADEMY HAPPENINGS

DJ Skills Workshops

Mairead Kelly asked: You're known for gaining great mediasuccess at a young age but could you tell us about your biggestcareer blunder and how you recovered from it?

Well I spent most of my early twenties in the public, people sortof saw me grow up on Radio1. I was 21 when I started thereand I'm now 27, I think you change a lot between 21 and 27. Idon't think I've really had a blunder per see, I have never sworeon the radio or anything but what I have learned is that evenwhen you land your dream job, some people, people whodon’t even know you will criticise you and what you do. Iremember on my first show on Radio1 seeing negativecomments coming in on the text and I thought, why are yousaying this? But that’s just one of those things. Also I was in ahigh profile relationship, I used to go out with Ellie Goulding, andit was strange seeing things written about you, in papers youread and you just think, why? I’m just a normal person.

GRILLINGGREG:Radio1 DJGreg Jamesgets a grillingfrom youngjournalists...

Ryan Brolley asked: Do you feel you have a duty tohelp those aspiring to get into the music industry as youhold such a high place in the British media?I love to help those who want tips on gettinginvolved in the industry and often listen to aspiring DJ'sdemo tapes, of course I do, I was once like them, itmeans a lot to help someone, after all I was once intheir position.

“I have never swore on theradio or anything but what Ihave learned is that evenwhen you land your dreamjob, some people, peoplewho don’t even know youwill criticise you and whatyou do. I remember on myfirst show on Radio 1 seeingnegative comments comingin on the text and I thought,why are you saying this?”

Duana Forrest asked: You’ve had a lot of opportunity totravel and work with charities because of your highprofile radio 1 job, what was your experience trekkingthe Zambezi for Comic Relief?

Jack Dee, Dara O’Brian, Mel C, Chelsee Healey,Olympian Phillips IdowuIt and I trekked the Zambezi tohelp build schools in Zambia. It was a very difficultexperience; none of us who were taking part in it hadreally prepared ourselves for how tough it would be.We were paddling on the Zambezi around eight hoursa day and at one point Dara O’Brian and Jack Deewent the wrong way down the river. We thought it wasfunny at first but it ended up being such a terrifyingsituation because the Zambezi is not easy tomanoeuvre. We did end up going to see the areawhere the school would be built and that made it allworthwhile. They have next to nothing yet they con-tinue on with their lives; it made any problems we haveseem like nothing. It was such a worthwhile journey andthe money we raised was fantastic.

Our aspirations....ACADEMY HAPPENINGS

By Conor Hughes

I ENTERED this workshop expecting tolearn some valuable information fromexperienced journalists, when I found outthat I would be interviewing Radio1 DJPhil Taggart I saw an opportunity to testmy skills not only as a writer, but as aninterviewer.After a 15 minute research session wewere introduced to Phil. He came in andafter hearing about our intense researchdecided it better to sit than to stand. Wegot started on an odd foot which set thetone for the entire interview, What is yourbiggest pet peeve and why? To whichhe replied, “This may sound weird but I

hate people eating on buses, especiallyeating apples because all you can hearfrom them is munching next to you, itdoes my head in!”After this question I was forced on to thepodium, my question was who wouldbe your dream person to interview andwhy?“It may sound weird coming fromsomeone who reviews newmusic but I’dlove to interview someone like BruceSpringsteen, the older musicians are theones who will have lots of stories to tell.”I asked him about his dog Toffee who hesaid on his Twitter recently was feelingquite poorly,“It’s not looking good, I’m going home to-

morrow to spend some quality time withhim, I’m going to buy a big joint of hamand just lie in my house feeding him ham.”In several questions he highlighted someof the highs and lows of his time inter-viewing local bands. “My worst interviewwas probably my first time interviewingThe Vaccines, I didn’t really know what Iwas doing so I basically just started talk-ing to them and it was really awkward.”“My weirdest experience in interviewingwas when a band came into the studiowith a present for me, it was a shoeboxcoated in nail varnish, inside this shoeboxwas a dead mouse sitting on a bed ofpeas, this was when we decided to sendthem out of the studio.”

I hate people eatingapples on buses! Phil Taggart’s

pet peeves

By Niamh Walsh

For BBC Radio1’s academy we got thechance to interview Phil Taggart aradio 1 DJ. I asked the question: “Havepeople ever not been able tounderstand your accent when youwere on the radio or interviewingsomeone?Phil Taggart answered by saying-“It was very difficult at the start. TheNorthern Irish accent is very fastanyway but when I first started Radio1I was very nervous so I just spoke reallyfast and all my words mumbledtogether so nobody had a cluewhat I was saying!” He also said “Mostnights I get a text in saying it’s greatto hear Collin Murray back on theradio”I also asked the question: “Whenyou were younger did you everthink about becoming a Radio1presenter?”Phil Taggart replied by saying- “I wouldbe lying if I said I didn’t think about itwhen I was younger. But I thought youhad to be a different breed of personto be a radio DJ, I thought all DJs werearrogant and confidant and I couldn’tsee myself fitting in with that”

‘No one had a cluewhat I was sayingdue to my accent’

PHIL

TAG

GA

RT

By Clíona Edwards

DO YOU watch ‘The Voice of Ireland’?Well, yesterday I interviewed the well-known quirky 23-year-old Irish personalityand presenter – Mr Stephen Byrne, oncevoted the sexiest male TV star.Before starting to work on the show backin January of this year, Stephen washugely a phenomenon on a popularvideo streaming website where he postedmostly vlog type videos from his bedroom.Before rising to fame with his account inSeptember 2008, Stephen’s thoughts were“Who would ever watch this; it’s just mefooling around and being random?”And still to this day, he finds himselfnervous with the content he puts upbecause his fan base is so huge. He justwants to keep everyone happy. Stephenexclaimed that the Internet is “ananonymous playground” where there isthe potential for a lot of hate.When asked his biggest highlight, hecommented that he was a “big nerd”and got to meet J.J. Abrams - the writerand director of the television hit ‘Lost’. Theadvice he has given for anyone inter-ested in working in presenting is that“there is no specific way”. He suggeststhat people “become a runner on ashow” and to be sure to “connect withthe appropriate social networking sites”.On top of that, make sure that “some ofyour own material is online”. Finally,Stephen remarked that he now sees“celebrities as normal people, who allhave different backgrounds andexperiences”.

Stephen Byrne lends his ‘Voice’ to BBCR1 Academy

STEP

HEN

BYRN

E

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