Hi everyone and hope you're having another great week so far! It's Wednesday which means another track from Better Than The Book's new Hopes and Dreams album is now up on Newgrounds! This time it's track 05 "Brighton" all about my favourite city by the sea! Check out the link below for nostalgic and summery vibes about fond memories growing up on England's south coast! Enjoy!

Purchase the “Hopes and Dreams” album on Bandcamp:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Or grab the full album and complete Better Than The Book discography now when you become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

On top of that, it’s been another crazy week for radio features! Better Than The Book made its debut on Button Down Radio on Sunday, and there’s still a few more chances to catch “Artificial Ignorance” in the Featured This Week segment before they refresh the playlist this Sunday. Check out the Facebook post below for more details:

https://www.facebook.com/BetterThanTheBookUK/posts/2293233827459546?__tn__=-R

Additionally, the opening track from the Hopes and Dreams album "The Hardest Part" has been added to Fresh Picks on idobi Radio too! Tune in and read more in the Facebook post below:

https://www.facebook.com/…/a.87174076627…/2295408820575380/…

That makes 4 out of 10 tracks from Hopes and Dreams to have been featured on the radio so far! Amazing times, and a huge thanks to all the shows and stations who have been playing them! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the new music!

Finally this week some major updates on my Patreon page: "Announcing REWARD ARCHIVE posts for 4/10/2018 -> 7/8/2019 including the full Better Than The Book Discography & more!"

Today I announce the first set of "Reward Archive" posts for the convenience of Patreon supporters and new patrons!

You can now use the tag "REWARD ARCHIVE" to access posts which summarize and collect all the rewards for your tier from October 4th 2018 to August 7th 2019, instead of having to search through posts manually to find the past rewards for your tier when you sign up!

These months' rewards cover the full discography for my ska punk / pop punk project Better Than The Book (as of August 2019), and the posts are there for your convenience so you can pick up all these rewards (Mp3s, WAVs, artwork and more depending in your tier) in one place!

Become a monthly patron for as little as $1 to access all the music so far (including a few Patreon exclusive downloads) as well as all the music to come in the future while you remain a patron!

Check out the full post on Patreon for all the details and thanks so much for supporting Better Than The Book, Jabun and my various music projects on Patreon!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/28928832

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

That’s it for the news this week (so far)! Next week we'll be onto track 06 of the album and the beginning of Hopes and Dreams side B, but before then, I'm sure there'll be many more pieces of news to share! Until the next one, have a great rest of the week and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my projects! Take care!

Hi everyone and hope you're having another great week so far! It's Wednesday which means another track from Better Than The Book​'s new Hopes and Dreams album is now up on Newgrounds​ and this time I'm sharing track 06 "Get A Haircut" all about un-fun times and people being pricks! Check out the player below for a rage filled pop punk anthem about bullying and my first week in a town which shall remain nameless! At least I got a song out of it :D Enjoy!

Purchase the “Hopes and Dreams” album on Bandcamp​:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Or grab the full album and complete Better Than The Book discography now when you become a supporter on Patreon​: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

It's also been another exciting week for radio features and more! The Ska Show with Beefy on Southern FM​ is back again for another re-run and this time track 05 "Brighton" from the Hopes and Dreams album played right after my favourite ska track of all time "The Impression That I Get" by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones​! Such an honour and thanks so much to Beefy for having it up on the show (playing alongside, Reel Big Fish, The Specials and Madness too)! Listen in via the Facebook link below and "Brighton" plays at -18:16 from the end followed straight on by a shout out! Amazing stuff :)

https://www.facebook.com/TheSkaShowwithBeefy/posts/2421871267901264

That makes 5/10 tracks to have been featured on the radio worldwide so far too! Crazy feeling!

But the radio news doesn't stop there! All 10 tracks from the Hopes and Dreams album are now on Seattle based internet radio station Bob's Ska Radio​'s rotation! You can even request any of the songs to be played with a dedication if you wish too: just search "Better" or "Book" and choose which track you'd like played! Check it out and listen in below! Thanks Bob's Ska Radio!

http://www.bobskaradio.com/index.php/playlist-requests

Next, some more press news to share today as the Hopes and Dreams album has been featured in Broken Arrow Magazine​! Check it out and read more in the link above, and thanks so much to Broken Arrow Magazine for featuring the new music!

http://www.brokenarrowmagazine.com/have-you-heard-better-than-the-book/

Finally this week, yesterday was a historic day for BTTB as for the first time since its conception in 2012, 4 guys (including myself) got together to jam the tunes live! Super fun and exciting times, and we'll see where it all goes from here! Who knows!

That’s it for the news this week! Next week we'll be onto track 08 of the album (another pop punk one), but I'm sure there'll be many more pieces of news to share before then! Until the next one, have a great rest of the week and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my projects! Take care!

Hi everyone and hope you're having another great week so far! It's Wednesday again which means another track from Better Than The Book's new Hopes and Dreams album is now up on Newgrounds and this time I'm sharing track 08 "GG" all about fun times playing video games! Check out the player below for a fun pop-punk anthem filled with nostalgic video games references and some chip-tune inspired extra sounds! Enjoy :D

Purchase the “Hopes and Dreams” album on Bandcamp:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Or grab the full album and complete Better Than The Book discography now when you become a supporter on Patreon:

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

It's onto track 09 of the album next week, but I'm sure there'll be more exciting news to share before then! Speaking of which, the Hopes and Dreams album turned 1 month old earlier this week and what a month it has been! Check out all the press, radio and podcast features so far over on the Better Than The Book website! Exciting times!

https://betterthanthebookuk.weebly.com/press.html

That's it for this post, and until the next track and the next post, have a great rest of the week and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various music projects! Take care and enjoy the music :)

Hi everyone and hope you're having another great week so far! It's Wednesday again which means another track from Better Than The Book's new Hopes and Dreams album is now up on Newgrounds and this time it's track 09 "You've Got A Lot To Say". This track is one of the more serious ones I've written (with less ska vibes and a more alternative rock feel), all about loss and being there for loved ones in hard times. I feel like "I hope you enjoy it" isn't the right thing to say, but I hope you get something out of it at least and take the message to heart. Check it out via the player below:

Purchase the “Hopes and Dreams” album on Bandcamp:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Or grab the full album and complete Better Than The Book discography now when you become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

It's onto the final track of the album next week, and what a journey it's been over these past few months. Also, with the BTTB discography all on Patreon now, the $5+ / $10+ rewards have started up again today to start sharing the back catalog of my other main music project: Jabun (electronic / cinematic), starting with my debut track from back in 2012 "Bergamot"! Check it out and read more about it in the post below and I hope you enjoy this other side of my musical personality! Don't worry if it's not your jam though as more exciting things from Better Than The Book are already in the works!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/29106006

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

You can also listen to Bergamot here on Newgrounds:

For the $10+ patrons too, I'll also be continuing with the monthly behind the scenes articles, this time taking a deep dive into the creation of track 05 from Better Than The Book's Hopes and Dreams album, "Brighton". I hope you enjoy it, and again feel free to check out the finished track here on Newgrounds:

Finally this week, not a whole lot more news to report, but it sounds like Better Than The Book is getting some love over on Button Down Radio, which is always nice to hear! Check out the post below for some more ska radio fun:

https://www.facebook.com/buttondownradio5446/photos/a.1712323415706155/2389026961369127/

And that's it for this post! Until the final track and the next post (where the next $1+ Patreon rewards will be released too), have a great rest of the week and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book, Jabun and my various projects! Take care!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! It's Wednesday which means I'm sharing another track from Better Than The Book's new Hopes and Dreams album on Newgrounds and this time it's the final and title track "Hopes and Dreams" which brings everything Better Than The Book has been about since 2012 to an intense climax to close the album! Prepare for some major feels, heartfelt lyrics, and references all the way back to One Small Step! Check it out via the player below and I hope you enjoy it:

Purchase the “Hopes and Dreams” album on Bandcamp:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Or grab the full album and complete Better Than The Book discography now when you become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

With that final track out now, you can now listen to the entire Hopes and Dreams album on Newgrounds via the playlist below too. Enjoy:

https://www.newgrounds.com/playlists/view/4de7b9bd11545537f082fae812c1395f

Just one more thing to share next week before the formal promotional campaign for the album comes to a close, but what and incredible journey it's been over these past few months! Thanks all so much for helping spread the word about this music I've poured my heart into over the past year and supporting Better Than The Book! You folks are awesome!

In other news today, the $1 rewards have started up again on Patreon which you can read all about here (Same as the early access rewards from last week's post):

https://www.patreon.com/posts/29106009

There's also been some major updates to the Patreon page in general with revised descriptions, goals and tier rewards (now only 3 tiers to choose from) + REWARD ARCHIVE posts for the convenience of new patrons so you can grab all the past rewards for your tier (including the full Better Than The Book Discography) in one place when you sign up! Neat! You can read all about the new updates via the post below:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/28931894

Next this week, Better Than The Book will be featured tonight (Wednesday) at 6pm EST (11pm BST) on The Undiscovered Sound on idobi Radio which is very exciting! Which track will play remains a mystery to even me, so you'll just have to tune in when the time comes via the link below! Thanks so much for spinning the tunes on the show!

https://idobi.com/

And finally this week, it seems like Better Than The Book just keeps getting more and more love over on Button Down Radio, which is always nice to hear! Thanks so much for playing the tunes and check out the post below for some more ska radio fun:

https://www.facebook.com/buttondownradio5446/posts/2397008467237643?__tn__=-R#

That's it for this week, and until next time and the final Hopes and Dreams related post, have a great rest of the week and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various projects! Take care!

Apologies... apparently I was given the wrong time for the idobi show in the previous post, but fear not, there should be a re-run on Saturday at 11am (BST). Sorry about that.

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! Today is the final day of the formal promotional campaign for the Hopes and Dreams album and to celebrate, I've uploaded a stream of the full album to Newgrounds which you can check out for the full 39+ minutes of uninterrupted heartfelt ska punk / pop punk that is Better Than The Book's Hopes and Dreams! I hope you enjoy it!

Purchase the “Hopes and Dreams” album on Bandcamp:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Or grab the full album and complete Better Than The Book discography now when you become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

A whole lot more radio news to share this week too as “Artificial Ignorance” was featured on The Undiscovered Sound on idobi Radio! Thanks so much to Jeff for featuring the music and you can read more about The Undiscovered Sound on their site here:

https://idobi.com/show/the-undiscovered-sound/

On top of that, "Artificial Ignorance" was also featured on Channel One Radio’s The Warp Factor! Thanks so much Kirk and Craig for playing the track, and no worries at all on getting the name wrong (you're not the first)! Ironic considering the title too! You can listen to the full radio show again via the link below for many great tunes and a history of punk segment too! “Artificial Ignorance” plays in the last half hour of the show:

https://www.mixcloud.com/thewarpfactor/the-warp-factor-ultimate-punk-with-craig-cabell-6th-sept-19/

Lastly in the radio related news for this week, Button Down Radio and Tonic Ska Radio both seem to be expressing their love for Better Than The Book recently too! Thanks so much for playing the tunes and you can listen in and read more via the Facebook posts below:

https://www.facebook.com/buttondownradio5446/posts/2401291610142662

​https://www.facebook.com/tonicskaradio/photos/a.920763794801085/1091865371024259/

https://www.facebook.com/tonicskaradio/photos/a.929833417227456/1093440354200094/

With that final full-album stream released, it feels crazy to me that after almost 5 months of pre-hype and post-promo, the formal Hopes and Dreams album promotional campaign has finally come to a close, and what a heck of an adventure it has been so far! Let's take a look back at everything the album has achieved so far since the first single dropped back in May:

Before the album was even launched, Hopes and Dreams, was featured in a number web magazines with one of the singles “(The Travelling To See Eva Song)” earning Better Than The Book its Australian FM radio premier on The Ska Show with Beefy, the #2 ska music podcast in the world! Fast forward to today, and less than 2 months after the album’s release, 5 out 10 of the tracks have been featured on radio shows and podcasts worldwide including:

Idobi Radio’s Fresh Picks, Spinning Thoughts, and The Undiscovered Sound shows (California)

Bobs Ska Radio (Seattle)

Channel One Radio’s The Warp Factor (UK)

Button Down Radio (UK)

Tonic Ska Radio (UK)

The Masita Ska Show with Beefy on Southern FM (Melbourne)

Bear in mind that many of these shows have featured and played multiple tracks from the album in multiple episodes too! On top of all the radio features, Better Than The Book has been featured and/or interviewed in a number of web magazines and music blogs too including:

Broken Arrow Magazine

Pete's Rock News And Views

Happy Metal Geek

Breathing The Core

The Punk Site

World Beyond Blog

A special mention of course goes out to good old Newgrounds too where the 2nd single “Artificial Ignorance” (which seems to be a crowd favourite across the board) earned a front page feature award too! A HUGE thanks to everyone who’s shared and played the music and helped spread the word with a round of applause for the album’s PR extraordinaire Meg who especially made many of the magazine/blog features and interviews possible! Thanks Meg! Check out all these features in full, reading interviews as well as re-listening to many of the radio show/podcast features on Better Than The Book’s press page below! I hope you enjoy them:

https://betterthanthebookuk.weebly.com/press.html

And if you’ve yet to hear the Hopes and Dreams album and see what all the fuss is about, the full album is now streaming on YouTube, SoundCloud and Newgrounds as well as available in all the usual places (iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, etc...) and of course on the Better Than The Book Bandcamp page! Enjoy:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/album/hopes-and-dreams

(and of course you can listen via the video too!)

Onto other news if you've not yet heard, now that the Hopes and Dreams album is out, it felt like a great time to make some updates to my Patreon page, and so I’ve revised the descriptions, goals and tier rewards (now only 3 tiers to choose from) as well as added REWARD ARCHIVE posts for the convenience of new patrons so you can grab all the past rewards for your tier (including the full Better Than The Book Discography and more) in one place when you sign up! Read all about the new updates via the Patreon post below:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/28931894

With such a big BTTB related project just finished, the newer rewards which started up again this month will focus mainly around my other musical personality Jabun (electronic / cinematic) for a little while, but don’t worry, Better Than The Book is not done yet which leads me to the final piece of news for today:

Last month for the first time since its conception in 2012, 4 guys (including myself) got together to jam the tunes live as a Better Than The Book band! It was just a casual living room jam, but the results were promising enough that over the past month we’ve been hard at work arranging and learning our parts for our first full band practice at the start of October! I can’t say for sure what’ll happen next if that all goes well but there is a definite possibility that after 7 years of being solely a writing/recording project, Better Than The Book may be hitting the stage! Many logistics to figure out before then first, but it’s certainly an exciting time for the project (as if the last year wasn’t exciting enough)! Crazy!

A friendly reminder that Better Than The Book is significantly fuelled by my Patreon page, and while recording everything myself is relatively cheap and just takes a huge time investment, taking things to the stage is a bit more of a financial challenge. If you’d like to contribute (for as little as $1 a month) head over to my Patreon homepage to read more about the various rewards you can receive, the goals for the project and pick up the full Better Than The Book discography (including some Patreon exclusives and bonuses) if you decide to sign up!

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

If you’re unable to contribute at the moment, then no worries at all! Sharing the Bandcamp or Patreon link on social media is also a huge way to help spread the word and only takes a moment! Thanks for supporting Better Than The Book in any way you’re able to!

And that wraps up this post! I hope you’ve enjoyed all the amazing news this time and throughout the campaign, and I have a feeling that there’ll be more press features to come and big news to share soon (we’ll have to wait and see). If you’re itching to hear more then head over to the Better Than The Book Facebook or Twitter (@BTTB_UK) for the most immediate updates, or consider supporting my music on Patreon for a front row view of all the action! Until the next post, a huge thank you for supporting Better Than The Book and my various music projects and I hope you have a fantastic week whatever you’re up to! Take care!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to October so far! It's the first Wednesday of the month which means the rewards post for the $1 patrons is here, and this time we're continuing the Jabun back catalog of music with my first ever remix as Jabun: "Nine Fifteen Ft. Jess" by Diamond Eyes!

This track was made for the very first remix competition I took part in back in December 2012 only a few weeks after "Bergamot" was released and a few weeks before Better Than The Book's debut EP One Small Step was released too! It's one I hold close to heart and the first of my more experimental and cinematic / electronic fusion tracks, with eastern elements mixed among western orchestra and synth driven electronics! Become a $1+ patron to download the Mp3 and artwork now, or become a $5+ patron for all that as well as the full quality WAV file and early access to all future rewards, and I hope you enjoy this less chill side of Jabun! Listen here on Newgrounds:

For the $10+ patrons, I'll be diving deep again into the creation of another track from Better Than The Book's recent "Hopes and Dreams" album, the video game nostalgia trip that is "GG"! Become a $10+ patron to access that article and many more now, and remember that you'll gain access to all historic rewards and posts for your Patreon tier too when you become a supporter! With the new REWARD ARCHIVE tag it's never been easier to catch up with all those posts and music downloads you've missed too! I hope you enjoy them and if you've yet to hear it here's GG:

Another Jabun track will be coming for the next set of rewards as we move into 2013's Jabun discography!

In other news, my internet connection after moving house is finally back and it's been an exciting time in terms of news for Better Than The Book's Hopes and Dreams album while I've been away, so here's a quick round up of what new and awesome things have been happening!

First of all, "Meteor Shower" was featured on the "Distilled Endless Summer" show on Downtown Radio-Tucson! Thanks so much for playing the music, and that makes 6/10 tracks from the album now to have been featured on the radio around the world so far! Amazing stuff and feel free to read more via DJ Testerman's post below!

https://www.facebook.com/DJTesterman/videos/332541597528856/

Next up, a while back I was interviewed by Love It To Death about the Hopes and Dreams album and BTTB in general, and the interview was finally published a few weeks back! Check it out below for discussions about the origins of BTTB and the project name, the themes and influences in the new album, and the future of BTTB! Enjoy the read and thanks to LITD for having me:​

https://loveittodeathreviews.wordpress.com/2019/08/16/__trashed-4/

Finally, "Artificial Ignorance" which seems to be a crowd favorite from the album was featured once again on The Ska Show with Beefy on Southern FM! Always a pleasure to be on your show Beefy and thanks as always for sharing the music! You can listen to the show via Beefy's post below and BTTB plays at -33:13 from the end followed straight on by a kind shout-out by Beefy! Thanks so much!

https://www.facebook.com/TheSkaShowwithBeefy/posts/2511672885587768?__tn__=-R

And check out the full playlist for the show below:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/the-ska-show-with-beefy-on-southern-fm/playlist-10th-september-2019/2485030768251980/?__tn__=HH-R​

That about wraps things up for the news this time and if you've yet to check out Better Than The Book's Hopes and Dreams, you can find it in all the usual places as well as on Bandcamp! Enjoy the tunes, take care until the next post and thanks as always for supporting my music!

Purchase the “Hopes and Dreams” album on Bandcamp:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Or grab the full album and complete Better Than The Book discography now when you become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! Some cool stuff to share today so check this out!

My buddy @Cyberdevil (who was featured on "Head Above Water" from Better Than The Book's Two Years On album) was a guest on the "A Couple Of Crickets" podcast here on NG and made a lovely shout-out to our collaborations and Better Than The Book too (at 56:55)!

The episode also earned a Front Page Award too! Neat! Give it a listen to hear more about CD, his Newgrounds history and more via the link above and check out CD's Inktober awesomeness, a new rap acapella for each day of October as well as his usual Inktober drawings! You can find all those and more on his profile below: Thanks CD!

https://cyberdevil.newgrounds.com/

And another little bit of news, Better Than The Books new album is still very much getting lots of love around the world including on Tonic Ska Radio in London. Thanks Tonic Ska for playing the music and feel free to read more via their Facebook post below:

https://www.facebook.com/tonicskaradio/photos/a.920763794801085/1117175341826595/

That's it for today's news roundup and as always thanks for supporting my various music projects here on Newgrounds! Hope to have more music to share soon, and take care until the next one!

Thanks for the shoutout on that shoutout (and more) too! :D I did technically mention Meteor Shower as the main thing, new and relevant and all in all awesome as it is, but props on shouting out the (equally awesome) collab track from back in the day also briefly mentioned in said segment. Should've mentioned so much more in that pod too, alas, live shows...

Awesome spotlights keep dropping in! Hope the hype keeps on strong.

No worries at all CD :D For those who haven't heard it yet here's "Meteor Shower" as well:

Which is available for purchase in all the usual places as well as on Bandcamp with the rest of the "Hopes and Dreams" album. Hope you enjoy it!

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/album/hopes-and-dreams

Such is the way with LIVE stuff as well too CD, and congrats on your first live performance too! Sounded great to me! Thanks for all the well wishing, and I too hope the hype train continues to chug along as it has been :D

Got in a good promo there too. :) For sure, and thanks! It's good to get in some practice with that stuff too.

Hopeful times ahead!

No worries at all :D And indeed! I gotta get some of my own practice in for potential live stuff in the future too. Should be fun!

HUGE NEWS to share with you today and hope you're having an excellent week so far!

Today Wednesday 23rd at 7-9pm BST, Better Than The Book will be making its BBC Radio debut on "BBC Introducing: The South"! Super exciting times! Check out the BBC's Facebook post below for all the juicy details of how you can listen in and take part on Twitter, Facebook and more, and I can't wait to tune into the show tonight:

https://www.facebook.com/BBCIntroSouth/photos/a.423129657865927/1323914041120813/

And as quoted from the post above, you can listen in and take part via the various methods below!

BBC Introducing: The South, 7-9pm Wednesdays

BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey, BBC Sounds app & DAB

Listen in Brighton on 95.3 FM

Listen in Sussex & Surrey 104-104.8 FM

Listen globally online via the BBC Sounds App

Text in during the show (you need to start texts with the word ‘radio’) on 81333 (normal rates apply)

Twitter/ Instagram/ facebook: @BBCIntroSouth

In case you can't make it for the LIVE broadcast, the episode will also be available for a month on the BBC Sounds app and at www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p001d7kh too! With the track they'll be playing (which I'll leave as a surprise), that'll be 7/10 tracks from the Hopes and Dreams album to have been featured on the radio worldwide so far! That's crazy to me!

If you've still yet to hear the album, it's available in all the usual places as well as on Bandcamp, and of course you can pick it up on Patreon along with the rest of the BTTB discography and more when you sign up for as little as $1 a month. Hope you enjoy it!

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/album/hopes-and-dreams

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

That wraps up this post! Hope you're able to tune in tonight and I can't wait to listen in LIVE! I'll be making more posts about this on Facebook and Twitter today and on Thursday after the broadcast too, so feel free to head to those various places for the latest news and updates! Until the next one, hope you have a great rest of the week, hope you can join in tonight and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various projects here on NG! Take care!

Thought for sure I'd be tuning in live to this one, but it seems the time might align badly with an inevitable pre-commuting errand... alas! Good thing they've got that archive. Looking forward to hearing how they introduce you; how it all sounds in official big radio context and all!

This is a pretty amazing step.

Ah no worries! The re-run is only for a month unfortunately, but I'll DEFINITELY be sampling the big moment on my MPC to save for my own archives :D Kinda nervous but also super excited!

One Small Step ---> One Giant Leap!

At least it's not a live premiere right. ;) Hope it goes well!

Hell yeah! :D

Amazing show on BBC Music Introducing: The South (BBC Sussex / BBC Surrey) last night! Thanks so much for playing "Get A Haircut" and for all the kind words, tweets and more! For anyone who missed Better Than The Book's BBC Radio debut, you can catch the show again on the BBC Sounds App / website for the next month! Check it out:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07pp6j9

And if you want to hear more from the new "Hopes and Dreams" album, check it out on Bandcamp, here on Newgrounds and in all the usual digital places!

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/album/hopes-and-dreams

Patreon post: "The $5+ rewards have been sent out: Jabun's "3rd September 1939", Better Than The Book's "Get A Haircut [Radio Edit]" which was featured on BBC Introducing (Patreon exclusive download) + an in depth look into BTTB's "You've Got A Lot To Say" for the $10+ patrons!" (Mp3s, WAVs & Artwork)

https://www.patreon.com/posts/31102201

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great October so far (and have fun plans for Halloween tomorrow too if it's your jam)! It's the final Wednesday of the month which means another set of reward posts for the $5 and $10 patrons are out, and this time we're heading into 2013 continuing the Jabun back catalog of music with another remix-contest track: "3rd September 1939"! I'm also sharing a bonus Patreon/Radio exclusive Better Than the Book track this month: the radio edit of "Get A Haircut" which was featured on BBC Introducing! Just a little extra reward but I hope you enjoy it! 

Onto this month's Jabun track, "3rd September 1939" was created back in February 2013 for a remix context which if I remember correctly was to promote the release of some sample packs. Unlike last month's track which was an actual remix of a pre-existing song, this time contestants were given royalty free stems to compose with and my entry was the track below. Back then I was still experimenting with finding my own voice as Jabun and remix contests like this are always fun opportunities to experiment with new styles in a low-pressure "have some fun" environment. I wouldn't say I'm completely happy with this one but there are a tonne of elements I do like and it was a great learning experience back in the day! I hope you get a kick out of it at least, and without further wait, here's "3rd September1939"!

Listen on NG:

Onto the bonus Better Than The Book Patreon exclusive download: I have the radio edit of "Get A Haircut" which was featured on BBC introducing earlier this month. It's nothing too exciting in that it's the same as the album version apart from having the word "prick" muted (at the request of the BBC) but as my closest supporters I thought the patrons would appreciate a download of it!

Listen to the album version on NG:

For the $10+ patrons, I'll be diving deep again into the creation of another track from Better Than The Book's recent "Hopes and Dreams" album, the solemn number on the album "You've Got A Lot To Say"! Become a $10+ patron to access that article and many more now, and remember that you'll gain access to all historic rewards and posts for your Patreon tier too when you become a supporter! With the new REWARD ARCHIVE tag it's never been easier to catch up with all those posts and music downloads you've missed too! I hope you enjoy them :)

Listen to "You've Got A Lot To Say" on NG:

And that's it for this month's rewards! Another Jabun track will be coming next time as we continue with 2013's Jabun discography, but until the next post, I hope you have a great Halloween and month to come and thanks as always for supporting Jabun, Better Than The Book and my various music projects! Take care and enjoy the music :)

Note: This month's tracks ($5 rewards: Mp3s, WAVs + Art) will be made available to the $1 patrons (Mp3s + art only) next week on Wednesday 6th November.

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to November! It's a little later than anticipated, but after almost 2 months of downtime, I'm super excited to announce that my audio production business JabunAudio is finally relocated, calibrated and open again to help with all your digital mastering, music production, and animation audio needs!

Feel free to explore the portfolio and services list to see what JabunAudio is all about, and if you're a creator who uses audio then I look forward to working with you on your projects soon!

https://www.jabunaudio.com/

Some small website updates as well as a new mastering demo reel for 2019 will be coming soon too. Feels great to be back to it!

That's it for this update post! The next set of $1+ Patreon rewards go out this Wednesday (November 6th) so exciting times ahead this week (see previous post for details)! Until then I hope you have a great few days and thanks as always for supporting my projects!

Quick bonus post: With JabunAudio open again as of yesterday I've made a special bonus reward post on Patreon: A tour of the new workspace with Q&A in the comments! Join in for as little as $1 and pick up all previous rewards for your tier when you do!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/31329452

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

The previous rewards include the entire Better Than The Book discography (+ bonus tracks) too: "One Small Step EP", "Two Years On (+ [Instrumentals])", "Hopes and Dreams" and more all for just $1, with more rewards coming to the $1 patrons tomorrow as well. Hope to see you there and thanks for supporting my projects :)

Ey, mascot and everything! :D Looks like a professional setup, reminiscent of the old one but equipment seems to be increasing with each one of these... and definitely a bit more texture on the walls. More padding too, or more so placed more collectively...? Looking good either way.

Hope there are some windows somewhere else in that room.

Indeed and many thanks CD! Yup, definitely collected more gear since the previous move 2.5 years ago, biggest addition probably being the dedicated audio production desktop computer (though also the TR-08 and TR-505, and some more stuff I'm sure!).

There's actually about the same amount of acoustic paneling as before, but this room is a bit smaller than the previous one, so it's more tightly packed in. The window is in front of the desk so there's lots of natural light in the daytime, but it was difficult to get good photos when it was day. I do very much love the electrical lighting in this place though! Makes for a nice and cosy listening experience when working late :D Thanks for checking it out and your support as always!

And just to let everyone else know, those $1 rewards have just gone out! Check out what you might be missing via the post below, and pick then up for as little as $1 when you become a supporter on Patreon!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/31102203

Hi everyone and hope you've got a fun weekend lined up!

For those of you interested in the audio production work I do (from a creative, technical or business point of view), I've just put out a new Mastering and Music Production Demo Reel for 2019 featuring music from Better Than the Book's recent "Hopes and Dreams" album! For each pair of clips, the first version is the final mix made up against a generic limiter (to match loudness with the final master), and the 2nd is the final master as released. As well as being the mastering engineer (as demonstrated in the reel), I was also the composer, performer, recording and mix engineer, and producer for all these tracks, so this serves as a demo reel for those services too.

Check out the description in the audio portal and explore my services and portfolio as JabunAudio for more information, and I look forward to working with you on your own projects!

Listen to and purchase the full “Hopes and Dreams” album here:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/album/hopes-and-dreams

And find out more about Better Than The Book on the project’s website:

https://betterthanthebookuk.weebly.com/

More HUGE NEWS to share today and hope you're having an excellent day so far!

Tonight at 7-9pm GMT Wednesday 13th, Better Than The Book will be featured again on "BBC Introducing: The South" with a special radio edit of "Hopes and Dreams" (from the album of the same name)! Check out their Facebook post for all the details of how you can listen in and take part tonight, send in a text or tweet if you're listening LIVE for a shout-out on the radio, and I can't wait to tune in to listen! Awesome news! 

https://www.facebook.com/BBCIntroSouth/photos/a.423129657865927/1345277258984491/ 

And as quoted from the post above, you can listen in and take part via the various methods below!

BBC Introducing: The South, 7-9pm Wednesdays

BBC Sussex and BBC Surrey, BBC Sounds app & DAB

Listen in Brighton on 95.3 FM

Listen in Sussex & Surrey 104-104.8 FM

Listen globally online via the BBC Sounds App

Text in during the show (you need to start texts with the word ‘radio’) on 81333 (normal rates apply)

Twitter/ Instagram/ facebook: @BBCIntroSouth

As with last time, in case you can't make it for the LIVE broadcast, the episode will also be available for a month on the BBC Sounds app and at https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07r91qx too! If you've still yet to hear the album, it's available in all the usual places as well as on Bandcamp, and of course you can pick it up on Patreon along with the rest of the BTTB discography and more when you sign up for as little as $1 a month. Hope you enjoy it!

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/album/hopes-and-dreams

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

With this being a never-before-heard new-and-special radio-edit of the track too, I'll be making it an extra bonus reward for all patrons shortly after the live broadcast! Unlike the censored version of "Get A Haircut" which was a Patreon exclusive download, I may decide to make this Hopes and Dreams radio edit available for streaming and download elsewhere at a later date, but for now, it'll be a Patreon exclusive download, and patrons at least will be the first to be able to get it!

That wraps up this post! Hope you're able to tune in tonight and I can't wait to listen in LIVE! I'll be making more posts about this on Facebook and Twitter today and on here on Newgrounds on Thursday after the broadcast too, so feel free to head to those various places for the latest news and updates! Until the next one, hope you have a great rest of the week, hope you can join in tonight and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various projects! Take care!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a splendid day! 

Following up from the last few posts, it was another amazing show on BBC Introducing: The South (BBC Sussex / BBC Surrey) last night and thanks so much to Melita for playing that special radio edit of "Hopes and Dreams" and for the amazing shout-out, reading all my tweets on the air, and more! For anyone who missed the show you can catch it again on the BBC Sounds App / website but as with the last one, it's only available for the next month! Check it out via the links above and below:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07r91qx

And if you want to hear more from the new "Hopes and Dreams" album, check it out on Bandcamp and in all the usual digital places, or pick it up when you become a patron for as little as $1!

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/album/hopes-and-dreams

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

A big shout-out to my good friend By Hand And Heart who was featured on the show as well this week! Well done bro! 

For some key times in the show keep an eye out for the following, though don't skip through as there are some cracking tracks in the show this week! I hope you enjoy it :) 

0:29:41 - Better Than The Book Tweet readout 

1:26:00 - Better Than The Book Tweet readout  

1:31:40 - Better Than The Book's "Hopes and Dreams [Radio Edit]" + a shout-out before and after  

1:48:56 - By Hand And Heart's "November Freefall" + a shout-out before and after 

As promised I have an extra bonus reward for all the patrons this week too: an exclusive download of that special radio edit of "Hopes and Dreams" that was featured on the show! As mentioned previously, I may decide to make this radio edit available for streaming and download elsewhere at a later date, but for now, it's a Patreon exclusive download, and patrons at least will be the first to be able to get it! Become a patron for as little as $1 a month to access this track and many more now, and remember that you'll gain access to all historic rewards and posts for your Patreon tier too when you become a supporter! With the new REWARD ARCHIVE tag it's never been easier to catch up with all those posts and music downloads you've missed too! I hope you enjoy them :) 

That's it for this post! The next set of $5+ rewards will be coming in 2 weeks so not long to wait in the grand scheme of things, but until then I hope you have a great time, enjoy the BBC show and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my various projects! Take care :D

More Patreon rewards have been sent out: Jabun's "Apollo" + an in depth look into Better Than The Book's "Hopes and Dreams" for the $10+ patrons!

$1 rewards (mp3 + artwork): https://www.patreon.com/posts/31102211

$5 rewards (mp3, WAV + artwork): https://www.patreon.com/posts/31102206

$10 rewards ($5 rewards + an in depth look into Hopes and Dreams): https://www.patreon.com/posts/31102207

Become a patron and find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to December! It's the first Wednesday of the month which means another set of reward posts for the $1+ patrons are out ($5 and $10 posts were out last week), and this time we're continuing with the 2013 Jabun back catalog of music with another original track: "Apollo"!    

"Apollo" was released back in March 2013, and was another track where I was still experimenting with finding my own voice as Jabun too. It's got a more beat driven chillstep vibe to it, and the instrumentation and overall feel were heavily influenced (perhaps a little too much) by one of my finger-drumming heroes Araabmuzik, known for his lovely MPC performances. Interestingly too, "Apollo" is the only Jabun track to date which features my own lyrical sung vocals, and was the first track which I recorded vocals with my SM27 mic too. Of course having received such a crisp and clear sounding condenser mic for Christmas, the first thing I did was negate all that clarify by running the vocals through a telephone style effects chain XD Whatever the case though, I'm still pretty happy with the way this one turned out, and it was probably the first Jabun track to get a little bit of external attention too, even if that was by someone using it to launch their own YouTube music showcasing channel without asking permission first... oh well! In any case, without further wait I hope you enjoy "Apollo"!  

Listen here on Newgrounds:

For the $10+ patrons, I'll be diving deep into the creation of the final and title track from Better Than The Book's recent "Hopes and Dreams" album! Become a $10+ patron to access that article and many more now, and remember that you'll gain access to all historic rewards and posts for your Patreon tier too when you become a supporter! With the new REWARD ARCHIVE tag it's never been easier to catch up with all those posts and music downloads you've missed too! I hope you enjoy them :)   

Check out Hopes and Dreams on Newgrounds:

Become a patron and find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

That's it for this post! Another Jabun track will be coming next time as we continue with another remix from 2013's Jabun discography, but until the next post, I hope you have a great December to come and thanks as always for supporting Jabun, Better Than The Book and my various music projects! Take care and enjoy the music!

More Patreon rewards have been sent out: Clare Jeffrey - 60 Days [Jabun Orchestral Mix] + 10 minutes of exclusive demos from Jabun's upcoming 2nd album for the $10+ patrons!

$1 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/32058625

$5 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/32058620

$10 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/32096914

Become a patron and find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Happy New Year 2020 everyone, and hope you had a great holiday season and New Years however you celebrated! Another set of rewards for my supporters on Patreon are out, and this time we're continuing with the 2013 Jabun back catalog of music with another and one of my favourite remixes: Clare Jeffrey's "60 Days [Jabun Orchestral Mix]"!

This remix really takes me back and was one of my first real attempts at orchestral writing (which was released), something I'm very much planning to get back to in the upcoming 2nd Jabun album next year. In summer 2013 Clare, who was a friend of mine and close with the people I hung around with at the time, came to me to record a lovely acoustic + vocal song “60 days”. We recorded that in an afternoon I think in the same makeshift bedroom studio that Better Than The Book’s “Two Years On” was recorded in and with the recording ready for me to mix and master at the end of the day, I began my usual work. I often find when I’m listening to music, especially with my “production hat” on, these things really mix and arrange themselves, telling you what they need and where in order to bring out the best in the melodies or atmosphere, and while I was mixing this lovely acoustic version, the song was saying to me that I had to try making it sound HUGE as well! The result was “60 Days [Jabun Orchestral Mix]” which was really only made for the fun of it but I’m super pleased with it even to this day. With that said, I think I’ll let you hear it for yourselves, I hope you enjoy it, and a huge thanks to Clare for having me record and produce the original as well as have fun with the remix too! It was a blast!

Listen here:

For the $10+ patrons, I have a VERY special treat for you this time: a download package with 10+ minutes of rough demos from the upcoming 2nd Jabun album as well as articles on the composition/production process for each of the tracks contained! Become a $10+ patron to access that article and many more now, and remember that you'll gain access to all historic rewards and posts for your Patreon tier too when you become a supporter! With the new REWARD ARCHIVE tag it's never been easier to catch up with all those posts and music downloads you've missed too! I hope you enjoy them :)

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

That's it for this month's rewards and another Jabun track will be coming next time as we continue with the final original track from 2013's Jabun discography! Until the next post, I hope you have a great January and 2020 to come, and thanks as always for supporting Jabun, Better Than The Book and my various music projects! Take care, enjoy the music, and I look forward to bringing you more exciting things in 2020! All the best!

Some more super exciting news coming later this week so keep your eyes on this page!

Will do, here or elsewhere! Happy 2020 Jabun!

Cheers CD, and indeed I like to keep some extra NGness to these NG posts :D I can't post all my content here (covers and such) but if I can share it on NG I always will!