Plan B (magazine)

Plan B is a bi-monthly music magazine based in Brighton, England. It caters mainly towards independent music but does not discriminate between the relative popularity of the bands it features. Plan B also documents alternative culture such as film, comics, video games, visual art and books. The Editor-In-Chief and principle architect of the magazine is Jerry Thackary, an English writer of some notoriety.

Background

Plan B was born from the ashes of the short-lived Careless Talk Costs Lives magazine, which shared a similar ethos and many of the same contributors. Whereas CTCL had been an exercise in testing the water, Plan B is a more cohesive and conscious effort to document what has become known as Outsider Art. In the tradition of many of the artists covered in the magazine, the emphasis is deliberately not on exposure or commercial appeal. Plan B is atypical of other music magazines because it does not have a marketing budget or a central office where the magazine is compiled. Instead, it is mainly created in the homes of it's contributors in the style of a fanzine.

Ethos

The concept originally laid down by Thackary was to exist under the radar of the mainstream music press such as the New Musical Express or Q, both of which are seen as the antithesis of Plan B. Although Thackary used to work in the mainstream media throughout the nineties under the pseudonym Everett True along with his CTCL compatriot Steve Gullick, he became disheartened by the lack of individuality and increased focus on commercialism. Thus, Plan B (along with Gullick's Loose Lips Sink Ships) was created to champion causes apparently forgotten in the mainstream press. Plan B tries to mirror the artistic nature of it's content by including dramatic full page photography, colourful illustrations and daring design. This is largely due to the peerless work of art director Andrew Clare and photographer Sarah Bowles. It is also printed in full colour on thick, satin paper, which creates a pleasant musky scent.

The emphasis of Plan B is on nurturing young talent and subsequently, many of the writers are unknown within their field. Several regular contributors do freelance work for the mainstream music press but their work in Plan B is usually more varied due to the dramatically differing style of editing. In Plan B, the printed content will invariably be exactly what the writer or illustrator has submitted. Invariably, the prose found within will be a more anecdotal, emotional response to art - a style which is discouraged in the mainstream press. This is reflected in the magazine's reviews, which do not contain the 'grading' or 'marking' system so commonly found elsewhere. Also, Plan B only contains advertising appropriate to the content of the magazine such as independent record labels and distributors.

In keeping with this ethos, Plan B commonly covers artists with little mainstream appeal. When bands are featured that have been signed to major record labels, it is usually because they were championed in CTCL before the band found commercial success. The contributors as a whole do not distinguish between artists within the mainstream and those in the left-field but the bias is certainly towards the latter. Thackary is also renowned for being a champion of equality within music, whether sexual, gender-based or racial. Indeed, detractors have in the past labelled his supposed bias towards female-helmed bands to be over-zealous. Of course, this could also be seen as a genuine attempt by Thackary to redress the balance in a male dominated music press. Perhaps in response to such critique, Plan B's Editor is a female writer, Frances May Morgan.

Content

Plan B's lay-out traditionally follows this pattern -

• The Void - a catch all phrase for the content that falls between the other more specific sections.
• Features - contains interviews with artists and the cover story.
• Live - this section is reports on live shows but does not rate them.
• Albums - reviews of records, albums, EPs and singles are also not rated.
• Media - articles on books, films, video games, visual art shows and comics.

Covers

The following bands have been on the cover of Plan B magazine -

Chicks On Speed, Joanna Newsom, Magnetic Fields, Smoosh, Afrirampo, Arcade Fire, Black Dice, Sonic Youth, The Research, Cat Power and Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Credits

Plan B is credited to the following people -

Editorial

Everett True - Editor-in-Chief

Frances May Morgan - Editor

Daniel Trilling - Albums Editor

Gracelette - Live Editor

Stewart Gardiner - The Void Editor

Emily Graham - The Void Editor

SF Said - Film / DVD Editor

Nick Bradshaw - Film / DVD Editor

Kieron Gillen - Games Editor

Alistair Fitchett - Comics Editor

Pil & Galia Kollectiv - Art Editors

Andrew Clare - Art Director

Sarah Bowles - Photography Editor

Publishing

Chris Houghton - Publisher

Nick Taylor - Advertising Manager

Amy Guthrie - Classifieds

Ahsen Nadeem - Plan B Events

Richard Stacey - Subscriptions & Orders

Alex Capes - Web Editor

Jonathan Sebire - Web Editor

Plan B Magazine is published by Plan B Publishing Limited. Distribution through Warners Group Distribution (Newsagents, Borders and International), Worldwide Magazine Distribution (HMV/Virgin) and Cargo Records (Record Stores).

Links

Plan B website; includes forum and information on back issues.