Goodbye NME | A Story For the Trailblazing Magazine
Today NME magazine said goodbye to their print version, and although it may not have meant a lot to some of the younger generation, it helped and influenced so many people.
This is just a story of how the NME had such an impact on me and this website, I’m sure there’s many stories like this, but I needed to tell mine.
As a young person I never had much of a passion for music, as that often rested with the love of football. However as I slowly fell into a very deep music hole in my late teens, the NME was there to help introduce new up and coming bands as well strengthening my love for those acts I already gained an insight to.
The countless hours that were spent sitting on my bedroom floor reading the weeks magazine back to front then back again are countless. Yet I wouldn’t change a second of that time, as the magazine constantly entertained me while pushing new music into my ears.
Their live music reviews were a rich source of culture, as each of their live reviews captured the feel of the band and the entire night itself. The real nuggets of gold were when they covered off the cuff parties, one of which I had the pleasure of being in attendance when the NME rolled through on of Jacky P’s house parties. These reviews geared me towards going to see The Cribs, as they often raved at how chaotic their shows were, and since going to their shows I’ve never looked back since, so I owe them for that. On top of that their live photos were incredible, regardless of which show it was they had some great shots of the performers.
As time went on and I grew older the print version of the NME fell down my list of priorities. Although this happened I managed to create probably one of the worst band collages at the tender age of 20, however it was a constant reminder of how much the magazine influenced me.
When I started University the magazine made a swift entrance back into my eyesight as a lot of the bands around the area were being featured like Peace, Swim Deep, JAWS and Superfood. Along with a nudge from a University tutor, the NME heavily influenced me to create this website, to write about music, feature shows I’d been to along with writing about anything that’s going on in the music scene.
One thing that rubbed off onto this this site is the conversational manner of the interviews. Each of the NME’s interviews had such a laid back approach to them, it never came off that the acts were uncomfortable. This is something I persistently try to achieve on the site, as I hold the NME’s approach in high regard.
Of course as the years rolled by and the NME’s website and entire platform changed it slowly started to lose its edge as they tried to appeal to everyone. It’s understandable you want the widest audience range you can possibly get, however it was their unique and cornered supporters that brought them to the dance. The magazine quickly became free of charge at a various outlets, which was weird to see happen. The magazine became smaller and was nowhere near as jam packed. Yet whenever I saw it I always picked it up and slowly made my way through it.
Regardless of the way the NME slowly fell from the perch, it has to be respected as one of the leading music magazines that brought a lot of bands to the forefront and help them gain exposure, for some reason The Maccabees spring to mind.
Unfortunately this is what will happen to a lot of print media, and it was just the NME’s time. However the time they had influenced thousands of people and it did fall for nothing, so for that I thank you NME.
Words by Alex Wise @AJWise
Words For Music - New Music Reviews 