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State Issue 7 – The Details

By Phil Udell on Thursday, 2 October 200819 Comments | Print this post | Email

Been a long time since we rock -n’ rolled. Well actually it’s only been two months but, you know what, we missed you and we missed putting out a fine music magazine. Our time was well spent though, launching a new look website (nominated for Irish music site of the year by the way) and working on a plan of action that would enable us to get State to as many people as possible for as little as possible.

And so State is now free, and you don’t get much littler than that. It is also available to pick up in over 200 locations over the next week and will be stocked in more places all the time. State is also going on tour and will be available at upcoming gigs from Fight Like Apes, The Blizzards, Skinny Wolves, Messiah J and The Expert, Super Extra Bonus Party and Phantom 105.2′s First Friday. If you’d like to stock it in a shop, cafÃ©, bar, venue or whatever, get in touch. If for some reason you can’t get a copy, subscribe with us and we’ll send you one. In the meantime you can always read a version here on this very website (see below).

Apart from that, very little has changed here at State. We’re still dedicated to bringing you a mix of the biggest artists in the world alongside the new, the old and the plain fascinating. This month’s cover stars Kings Of Leon are making a bid to become one of the former and aren’t doing that bad. State Assistant Editor Niall Byrne met up with the band in London to hear why they want stadium status so bad and why they don’t particularly care for their first two albums. Fight Like Apes are just starting on their ascent but are already creating a huge stir – we spent the summer with them as they prepared to release their debut album and threw in a stunning exclusive photo session to boot.

The Virgin Prunes may have done their time on the frontline but there’s is a unique story. Gavin Friday looks back on their mission to bring art and anarchy to 1980′s Ireland. In their own way, The Roots have been a similarly radical force in their own world of hip-hop. We hear how they did it and why they consider Obama a ray of light. Mike Skinner of The Streets, meanwhile, searches for the answers to the big questions and tries to find a way forward.

Last time we were here, we were genuinely excited about the state of the Irish music scene. We still are, maybe even more so. In this issue The Blizzards talk rock -n’ roll instead of sex and drugs and why they need to grow up in public. Messiah J & The Expert have made one of the albums of the year but still aren’t happy, we hear why. Circuit Breakers previews the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival, DEAF to its friends. On the new band front, we hail Talula Does The Hula, the Japanese Popstars and Rarely Seen Above Ground. And that’s not to mention Scarlett Johansson, Morrissey vs the far right, Faith No More, Blog Standard, Brendan Canning, Beijing and the misery of Irish restaurants. All for nothing – now that’s what we call value for money. Enjoy.

For your convenience, there are now three ways to get a copy of State:

1. Pick it up – see our list of stockists.

2. Subscribe or Buy Online for the cost of postage and packaging.

3. View Online right here in our viewer. Click magazine to enlarge.

Open publication in full-screen

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19 Comments »

wheatln2 said:

Looks really great, and that issuu viewer is a thing of real beauty! Who needs print?!

2 October 2008 at 4:45 pm

Quint said:

The Online Viewer is amazing. The shape of things to come….

2 October 2008 at 9:08 pm

Ed said:

Way to go chaps and chapettes! Great to have youze back in the game. The online viewer is absolutely swish. Quality music musings ahoy!!!

2 October 2008 at 11:17 pm

CiarÃ¡n said:

Looks ace. That online viewer is swish too…

Nice one.

3 October 2008 at 9:43 am

Ken said:

Take a bow state online viewer is fantastic!

3 October 2008 at 9:44 am

Joe said:

I agree that the online viewer is great, but have to say the list of national stockists is fairly anemic.

3 October 2008 at 11:31 am

Niall Byrne said:

Joe, we’re working on it. We are few. Suggestions are welcome.

3 October 2008 at 11:58 am

Enda Casey said:

Rapture

3 October 2008 at 1:34 pm

Aaron said:

Excellent stuff, glad to see it in action.

3 October 2008 at 1:51 pm

Joe said:

Well, you do say more Cork venues are coming but I’d recommend

Cork City
- Plugd Records
- UCC (In the old bar it’d be lapped up)
- Vibes and Scribes

Mallow
-BPM Records

Clonakilty
- De Barras

Then I’d lash it into places in the midlands like Athlone IT, Mulvey’s in Carrick On Shannon and the music centre in Longford for example.

3 October 2008 at 2:15 pm

Dave said:

I have to say the magazine looks great based on the online thingie- you could probably have been forgiven for cutting down on design features for the free edition, but it looks great. I like that Irish bands are more prominent now- is that just a consequence of the unusual number of high-profile releases or should we expect more of the same in the coming issues?

3 October 2008 at 2:39 pm

Niall Byrne said:

Thanks for the suggestions Joe, will check those against our distro list.

3 October 2008 at 2:47 pm

UnaRocks said:

viewer is awesome-o

great content too

bravo

3 October 2008 at 3:55 pm

Dan D said:

Great edition – just picked up a copy.

The viewer really is super awesome-o too!

5 October 2008 at 10:46 am

RuthD said:

Like this magazine and love the viewer,quality-well done!

5 October 2008 at 11:25 pm

Phil Udell (author) said:

Dave – the Irish element isn’t due to any change in editorial policy, more that we feel there are a lot of great bands to write about. The Irish / international balance will always be a good one we hope. Thanks for the nice words everyone.

6 October 2008 at 3:26 pm

Ronan said:

My local stockists didn’t have it Friday, but I picked it up yesterday. Fantastic. I expected it to be page after page of ads, but you guys have done an amazing job making it free!

7 October 2008 at 1:06 pm

Samuel said:

It’d be nice if some copies were put into The Hub (the Students’ Union) at DCU at the same time as they’re put into the Helix next door. I know I’ll forget about an issue through not walking into the Helix sometime in the future.

9 October 2008 at 12:53 am

aidan said: