Indeed indeed! Lots of IKEA stuff in this house now XD Pencilling all done for that cover now too. Time to start on pens and final shading next week I recon :)

March 2025 Patreon & News Post: Better Than The Book and studio build updates, "Is This What We Want?" collaborative "silent" album protesting UK A.I. laws, more videos + more!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to spring. It's been a super busy month over here with some trips in between working frantically to get this Better Than The Book album ready for release (more on that in a moment), and getting the studio set up too (also more on that in a moment). More news to share along with some more videos as usual so let's get to it!

First of all an update on how Better Than The Book's upcoming album preparations are going! It's been much slower than I'd hoped for many reasons but things are getting there (It's a HUGE project). Album credits are mostly drafted up along with the finalised lyric sheets on Bandcamp and the artwork is well on the way to completion too! As it stands all the final penciling is finished, all the final line-work penning is done too, and it's just some shading, clean-up and lettering left to take care of before it's time to take it to the scanner. After that there'll be some cropping and digital clean-up to do and very thankfully, my twin Eamon has lent me one of his old graphics tablets to help with that. Thanks Eamon! I'm sure this'll make things much easier than my usual mouse clean-up. I cannot wait to share this artwork with you as much like the audio, I think it's my best yet (certainly from an attention to detail point of view) and is going to blow your socks off! If you're $10 Patreon supporter though, you've got a sneak peek collection of work in progress, non-draft artwork photos to look forward to this time. Hope you enjoy it!

Next up on the news, some more studio updates. Again this has been slow progress for many reasons including ordering a flat packed shelf but finding a piece missing and then having to wait an extra 2 weeks for this tiny part to arrive to finish it... With that finally sorted though, the studio is now well equipped with a load of shelves at the back filled with vinyls, CDs, Magazines, charms, files/admin stuff, art supplies, tools, spare parts, manga and more! Next up will be to sort the final few acoustic tiles so I can get this room fully treated and calibrated! I'm playing around a bit with stands too for all the instruments to be effectively out on display and ready to use (while taking up as little room as possible) but that's proving a little difficult at the moment... I'll get to it when I can (Better Than The Book artwork is top priority at the moment)! On top of that after a visit down south to the overwhelmingly generous Martin (who I'm really not sure where I'd be musically without), I have now finally (after almost a decade living without one) acquired a full 88note (controller) keyboard again, as he had recently upgraded his own and wanted his old one to go to a good new home. It's been amazing to finally be able to play piano with the fully compass of the keyboard again, and after some catch-up practice I'm positive I'll be recording some proper piano compositions again very soon! Oh and before anyone asks, no piano and organ are not the same. They're more akin to a spoon and a fork (for lack of a better analogy). Fun times a'commin'!

Next and an interesting piece of news which I think everyone should know about, especially those of you making ANY creative content (artwork, music, writing, etc...) in the UK specifically. In February, myself and over 1000 musicians jointly released a "silent" album title "Is This What We Want?" to protest the UK government's planned changes to copyright law, which would essentially hand the life's work of the country's musicians (and more) to AI companies for free, without compensation, consent, or any real framework implemented to opt out. Not only are they stealing from musicians and artist as above, but they're using our work and passion to train models which aim to replace us. This is unacceptable.

"Is This What We Want?" is an album of recordings of empty studios, which is a stark illustration of the impact it'll have on the music industry and musicians if the government's plans go ahead. You can listen to and read all about it here and all profits from the album will be donated to a musician's charity. You can also see a list of all the "contributors" to the album where I'm listed as Jabun alongside such musicians as Damon Albarn, Imogen Heap, Hans Zimmer and many more people. On a side note, if you're into field recordings and ambient sounds, it's actually a very cool album musically (though harrowing). Here's to hoping it gets the message across to the UK Government:

https://www.isthiswhatwewant.com/

Track list:

1) The

2) British

3) Government

4) Must

5) Not

6) Legalise

7) Music

8) Theft

9) To

10) Benefit

11) AI

12) Companies

Finally for this months news it's the usual video round up! I didn't actually meet my recording target (again) last month, and with this April marking a full 2 years of releasing 2 video a week consistently and without break, I'll be announcing a reduction / step back from "content creation" after that 2 year mark. Details to come, but in the mean time here's the update playlist and a list of the latest additions:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWEmqIhrNPvQTBoOjZdKLgL4ecTvLz6sm

• New Studio Part 4: IT'S ALL HERE
• Jazz Bass Series Parallel Mod Tone Test
• Testing Guitar with Ashdown Bass amp
• The Seeker - The Who Guitar & Vocal Cover (Rush Feedback)
• Crunch guitar tone on Ashdown Bass amp
• Cleaner guitar tone on Ashdown Bass amp
• Messy Combo Organ Jams through my Ashdown Bass amp
• Combo organ through Leslie AND Bass amp at the same time!

This coming month we're back to some slide guitar and alternative tunings, playing some bass with the whammy pedal, and more! Hope you're looking forward to it!

That about wraps things up for this post! I'll be trying to finish the artwork for Better Than The Book's upcoming album soon which also means the second single will be due very soon too! On top of that there's a tonne of stuff still to do setting up the studio, as well as admin to prep for the BTTB album release. No shortage of busy times at the moment, but exciting stuff to come soon! Until then, thanks as always for supporting my music and more however you can and hope you enjoy what's to come! Take care!

$1 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/123307878

$10 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/123216355

Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842

Find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Had not heard about the UK government's planned changes to copyright law at all, sounds pretty draconian; definitely hope this (and reasoning, common sense, etc etc) puts a stop to such folly... but what an awesome collaborative artist initiative to be involved in! Curious what the process contributing to that was like? Does everyone play a part in the audio, or is it more so a list of names + a smaller assortment of individual studios?

Either way very cool... definitely did not expect to see you share in the production of a creative musical score with legends like Hans Zimmer this month!!! *mind blown*

Somewhat dwarves other ongoing news here but: looking forward to that big album reveal too; all good news overall!

Yeah things are pretty dire at the moment, and it kind of undermines the whole point of copyright in the first place so I really hope it gets the message across well. Unfortunately yeah, my contribution was just a name in the credits (and I could only pick one name to be listed as rather than have Better Than The Book separately). I'm not actually sure which artists contributed to the recordings. I think one of the points was that it was supposed to be anonymous in a sense, though there are rumours that Kate Bush was involved. I imagine the logistics of having to collate over a thousand contributed records (and in such a short time to get it out quick enough to protest) would be a nightmare so just having my name in there amongst some of the greats is a real honour :)

I actually heard about the protest through one of my rights organisations, either PRS or PPL, and all I needed to do was to send an email the organiser showing my support and requesting to be a part of it by adding my name. On a separate mass organised protest though, I did write a letter to my current local MP about the issue asking for fairer treatment of creatives regards UK A.I. Legislation. Gotta do my part :)

Trying to discern differences in studio ambience between tracks made me wonder if it was actually just the single studio for all, they seemed pretty alike, though that seems unlikely. How many studios actually had their cameo here very cool. Definitely would've been a gargantuan task to include everyone...

Oh if it was PPL I might've gotten that send-out too, ought read those a bit more carefully! Nicely done with the letter too, do hope they stop this.

I definitely felt some differences in the "room tone" between all the tracks. If not each track being a completely different studio then potentially different rooms in the same big studio for some tracks at least though? :)

Maybe! I don't usually read in detail but I do have a skim through rather than just delete them XD It may or may not have included you since you're technically not a UK artist? Yup Hopefully something good comes out of it. At this point I don't think there's any stopping generative A.I. content (for better or worse), but at least I hope them make it fairer for the creators they're training from and the artists who have essentially built the framework for their existence.

Mmm that could be. I'm sure you pick up much more nuance than I do here too, though admittedly I skimmed a little, haven't yet (not sure if I will, though it would be an easy type of album to have in the background) listened in full...

Was thinking as I wrote that maybe inclusion was reserved for registered UK artists regardless, it'd make sense if it was. :) I did read through 'em newsletters initially, the pace and quantities of various send-out's as such has increased a bit much alas, I don't read most I'm not so affiliated with now, only if a title piques my interest. And probably do miss some good things.

Yeah, I hope so. I'm having a wavering time embracing chatGPT (and the like) in daily dues and work myself, it can be a great assistant, but it also somehow feels just wrong to start relying on/help grow a technology that may eventually overtake my skillsets entirely... in computer-related work I wonder if it's just an inevitability, like being able to Google something when you need more information, it seems like it'll become a part of everyday processes whether we want it to or not, and so it may be best make the most of it. But still.

Music and more animated media though, that seems a potentially very different field, I wonder how much AI and human will intermingle, if it'll seep into all production tools as well as the medium itself, or finally be regulated; limited to certain areas of said work...

Maybe it won't, but ultimately there really is something special in all art that's human. Like why are acoustic performances always the most gripping ones? Feels like even if AI masters the 'craft' it oughtn't be able to really encompass the 'spirit' of it. Or if it somehow still does, the fact that it's AI will allow less connection anyway, music's a very human thing...

It's worth a listen, and indeed, easy to lose that 50minutes in background vibes while working :)

I know the feeling re the the abundance of newsletters. Mostly a skimmer myself too, occasionally unsubscribe to those less relevant now (if they've made it easy to do so)

I really do think there are some great uses for A.I. but it seems we're generally focused on so the (IMO) not so great uses for it like replacing creativity or creative skill. There's a lot that can be said about the "Google Generation" who basically has the world's knowledge at their fingertips in their pocket, but I do feal that maybe in these latest developments, rather than replacing factual knowledge will be replacing skillsets, like the creative arts or programming, especially in the digitally recorded media.

It's crazy what even non-a.i. corrections etc... can do in a "live" performance situation. I agree with what you said that indeed those unplugged and intimate performances, or those handdrawn / painted pictures can be the most captivating. Spirit is subjective I guess? What is "art" anyway? XD I do feel it's a very human thing though, at least the enjoying of it should remain that way :)

I suppose I shall pause my endless queue of background podcasts; try this instead a while, good to know. :)

Indeed, occasionally I hit a breaking point and go on a purge of unnecessary newsletters too. XD Slowly but surely they somehow start adding up again... some I wonder if I haven't unsubscribed from already, it's like they just pause a while and then decide to add you back in again...

Indeed. The question I ponder in my case too I think is: what defines a creative skill? Webdesign work for example relies on a lot of structural programming that AI's great with too, but if it helps with a part of it, then it replaces a part of your skillset as well, and it seems similar to the structural help you could get in other areas. Like surely noise removal isn't a creative skill, so if you just use AI for that. But start with one thing and it's easy to get into more, I imagine when there's pressure on the business it's all too easy to start getting assistance with more and more things in the realm of production, or in aspects of drawing, or in adding in keyframes to smooth existing animation, there are so many productive little steps that could ultimately end up entirely dehumanizing any artform out there, and ultimately they are all a business, so if some are willing to use AI and some arten't, it'll be increasingly difficult for those who don't compromise with any aspects of what they do to compete. I'm not sure where the line between 'help' and 'replacement' really goes.

Yeah, information's been the selling-point for a while now, maybe that's shifting, maybe the big market really is functionality now. We have the info, we just have to find better and better ways of processing and using it.

In the case of music, I was listening to this podcast recently with Smashing Pumpkins singer, where he correlated to the emotions in a performance to the frequencies used. That basically some singers are just so much better at drawing on frequencies that correlate to certain emotions, like there are frequencies you associate with sorrow, more than a voice itself. Plus the foundation of our world is built on frequencies, so it's like we tap into the building blocks of the universe when we channel sound a certain way. Something such. He phrased it better.

Spirit's surely subjective too, and changing, it seems in how you don't gravitate to old things always for their aesthetics as much as for their grandeur, maybe since there's less a visual connection between times...

Yeah it does seem that way. :) Though plants and animals seem to enjoy good music too! Or at least: certain frequencies.

And yes, agree, humans ought for sure be the lead controller on artistry.

I know that feeling too XD

I guess what it comes do to in the end is that A.I. is a tool whether you want to embrace it or not, but you have the choice as to which areas you'd want to embrace as to make your life easier, or not to as to keep that more hands-on control and maintain a useful skillset. The problem, as you say is the cutting of costs when viewed from a business point of view (not to mention the detatchment from human-ness when it comes to creating what should be expressive pieces rather than technical ones.

Agreed

Not sure if frequencies is the right term (over simplification of things?) but I get what you mean :) Too true that this stuff isn't just a human thing, though it definitely doesn't feel like something we can just delegate to algorithms and machine learning :)

Sometimes I really think they actually don't remove you at all. XD

Mhm, indeed, it becomes a matter of principles and ethics beyond simply the practical aspects, it's up to you how far you want to take it... though unfortunately to some extent also up to companies in large how much they want AI incorporated into; what it becomes a professional norm to use it for. Yeah, the cutting costs thing seems the biggest danger in AI use potentially just going way out of control; getting integrated with everything...

*solemn nods!*

Well I did mean the literal frequencies. :) And how they interact with us on a physical level beyond the psychological correlations you get from the sound you perceive yourself. We're all electrical beings after all. For example a quick Google mentions Bruce Tainio found the optimal frequency for the human body is 62-70 MHz.

That's not exactly what I'm talking about in regard to how different frequencies in voices potentially have an effect on how your mind actually perceives the intent, but the actual frequency possibly going beyond what you can perceive consciously when it comes to association was the idea they explored in the pod, as I understood it. Which is fascinating.

I think it's probably a matter of both, but either way the emotion definitely seems like a human thing, it's like we can convey soul, whether there's an actual formula to it or no I hope that's never systemized AI-wise either way...

I know that feeling too XD Various nods re the A.I. stuff too

Ah, you did mean that! Fair dos XD

Only time will tell I guess! That'd be quite the breakthrough. I guess this comes towards the ideas of Artificial Intelligence vs, Inorganic actual intelligence. Kinda depends on one's definition of soul too XD That's a whole different kettle of fish though!

I'd send a podcast link if I thought you had time for long conversations, but I assume time's in all too sparse supply over there. ;) And background listening isn't so easy when you're actually working with sound...

Mmm it would be, development's going so fast too, however advanced AI gets I wouldn't really be surprised anymore... but yeah, the soul's hard to define, possibly impossible to recreate, though emulate maybe, like how current VR really does seem able to challenge the basis for our perception of what's real and not...

Interesting times to live in.

That's a fair shout and you're indeed correct XD Lots of listening time over here already!

Agreed on the sentiments. I guess only time will tell...

Announcing the 2nd single and title track "Side Character In My Own Life" from Better Than The Book's upcoming 3rd full-length album! Check out the album art and join me for the premier on YouTube on Friday March 28th at 8pm GMT!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to spring 2025! It's almost time for another big music release and I'm

super happy to finally announce the next single (and title track) from Better Than The Book's upcoming 3rd full-length album Side Character In My Own Life! The track will be premiering on YouTube on Friday March 28th at 8pm GMT before

the digital download goes live on Bandcamp! Come join for another premier on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcAvNmSILp8

Subscribe to JabunAudio to keep updated and in the loop:

https://www.youtube.com/@JabunAudio

And read more on the Bandcamp page below:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/track/side-character-in-my-own-life

Not only that, but I'm super happy to finally reveal the album cover artwork and I really think it's my best piece of art yet! It's all hand drawn in pencils and inks with just some light digital touchups! What does it all mean?! Things will start falling into place when you hear the new single on Friday! I hope you get a kick out of it!

(I'll upload it to the art portal when the album drops)

More details to come soon, but in the meantime, Bandcamp pre-orders are now open along with the first single Plot Holes (Radio Edit) ready to download, and I'll be updating the page with credits, extra information and more as things progress! I still don't have a concrete release date just yet, but I'm still aiming for spring / early summer this year and more will be revealed come Friday! Check out the track list for the new album below and I hope you're looking forward to all the music still to come:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/album/side-character-in-my-own-life

Better Than The Book - Side Character In My Own Life

01 - 2020 Was A Write-off, But What Comes Next?

02 - Side Character In My Own Life

03 - Mood Swings

04 - Red Kite

05 - Rewrite

06 - Don't Be Too Hard On Yourself

07 - Hold Me Tight

08 - Bump In The Night

09 - Plot Holes

10 - You'll Never Be Too Old For This

Bonus Tracks

11 - Hearts Racing Backwards

12 - Plot Holes (Alternative Version)

13 - Hold Me Tight (Non-Acoustic)

14 - Side Character In My Own Life (Acoustic)

+ Additional Radio Edits for Tracks 07, 08, 09 & 10

Written, performed and produced by Nick Standing [Jabun]

Recorded, mixed and mastered at JabunAudio by Nick Standing [Jabun]

Artwork, images and photography by Nick Standing [Jabun]

No generative A.I. tools were used in the creation of this album.

More album credits and special thanks are to come but for now I'd like to extend an immediate thanks to my family and

friends (both online and offline) for their support and a big thanks to the current supporters on Patreon with extra mention to $10+ patrons: Nathan Puray, and Michael White! Thank you all so much for your help and support in making my musical dreams a reality! You folks are amazing!

Of course my supporters on Patreon are celebrating today with some rewards! All patrons will be receiving the

full-sized high resolution album cover art today and the new mp3 single when it comes out on Friday, but for the $10 patrons, you have FULL early release access to the entire Side Character In My Own Life album today, including

artwork, mp3s and WAVs and all bonus tracks! If any of that sounds good to you, then consider becoming a patron for as little as $1 today, and remember you'll be getting the full back-catalogue of rewards for your tier when you join, including the full Better Than The Book, Jabun and Nick Standing discographies, bonus Patreon exclusives and much more! Find out more below:

$1 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/124775784

$10 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/124775779 ​

Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842

Find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

That about wraps things up for this post and I'll be back on Friday for the Side Character In My Own Life single launch and

more Patreon rewards! Until then, I hope you enjoy the album art (and new album if you're a $10 patron) and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my music however you can! Mark your calendars for Friday March 28th at 8pm GMT and see you on Friday!

Finally the grand reveal is here! :D This album cover certainly turned out the dopest one yet, so much detail, and fun details at that. Throwbacks to the past, hopes for the future, a crowd ghastly and super...

Looking forward to that official launch and release party.

Perfect time! I'll be there.

Thanks so much CD! Indeed I'm super pleased with it :) I guess that premier is 9pm your time? Looking forward to seeing you there!

Oh I forgot about the +1 on timezones! Good note, shall adjust calender scribble... till then indeed!

Hehe XD If in doubt I guess just check the video link and it'll let you know how many hours etc... at left when it gets closer to the time. At least the way your time zone works you're more likely to be early than late (I think?) :) Good to be aware indeed!

Right, I'd probably have been made aware of the timezone difference then if naught earlier. XD Indeed seems YT's synced to my timezone, 9 PM there... good to know too. Indeed, would've just been there a tad bit too early, but TY for the note either way!

The 2nd single and title track "Side Character In My Own Life" from Better Than The Book's upcoming 3rd full-length album has been released! Listen now along with the first single "Plot Holes", pre-order the album on Bandcamp, and get even more as a patron (including full early access to the album)!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to spring 2025! It's time for another big music release and I'm super happy to finally share the next single (and title track) from Better Than The Book's upcoming 3rd full-length album Side Character In My Own Life! Check it out along with the album cover art below and I hope it blows you away!

Bandcamp: https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/track/side-character-in-my-own-life

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcAvNmSILp8

And it's here on Newgrounds as well:

Side Character In My Own Life (the song) is an honest mental deep dive into trying navigate this crazy music industry (especially) as an introvert and at the same time coming to terms with the pandemic shoving all plans aside just when I thought things were starting to look up. It discusses stage fright, anxieties about sharing that art you worked so hard on with the world, feeling like you're not in control and just watching your own life from the sidelines, and not being able to get a word in to get your voice heard (amongst other things). If I'm being candid, musically this track is really my take on a Zebrahead vibe (one of my biggest influences) and I'm really pleased with how it turned out, from my rap delivery (definitely helped working with @Cyberdevil while I was writing this album), to the album artwork which was hand drawn in pen and pencil before some digital touch-ups (and I think is my best yet)! You'll no doubt see the lyrical scenes from Side Character In My Own Life in the artwork while there's also a tonne of lyrical references to find from all the other songs on the album too (at least one per song). All will become clear when you hear it in full)! I hope you enjoy and can find something relatable in both the song and the artwork!

The Side Character In My Own life album is more or less a snapshot of the time in my life since Hopes and Dreams, and with another 5 years of performance, writing, audio engineering and production experience under my belt, I really believe this is my best collective release to date! With the album cover art finished now, apart from some promo preparation and album credits to sort the album is almost ready to be released BUT I thought I'd go all out this time by announcing that along with the usual digital release of the album, I've been working on a simultaneous CD and VINYL release for this album too! As it stands, I've found a service, audio has been provided and I just need to finish off the packaging art and order test prints to check everything is good to go! It's very exciting times and if this all goes well I hope to go back through the BTTB (and Jabun) discographies over the next year or so to bring all my main album project (where possible) to physical media! More details to come soon. Get excited!

In the mean time, Bandcamp pre-orders are now open along with the Side Character In My Own Life and Plot Holes (Radio Edit) single ready to download, and I'll be updating the page with credits, extra information and more as things progress! Due to the lead times on the physical releases, I still don't have a concrete release date just yet, but I'm still aiming for spring / early summer this year and will be announcing the release date (and physical release details) when the 3rd and final pre-release single arrives soon! Check out the track list for the new album below and there's a lot of music still to come:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/album/side-character-in-my-own-life

Better Than The Book - Side Character In My Own Life

01 - 2020 Was A Write-off, But What Comes Next?

02 - Side Character In My Own Life

03 - Mood Swings

04 - Red Kite

05 - Rewrite

06 - Don't Be Too Hard On Yourself

07 - Hold Me Tight

08 - Bump In The Night

09 - Plot Holes

10 - You'll Never Be Too Old For This

Bonus Tracks

11 - Hearts Racing Backwards

12 - Plot Holes (Alternative Version)

13 - Hold Me Tight (Non-Acoustic)

14 - Side Character In My Own Life (Acoustic)

+ Additional Radio Edits for Tracks 07, 08, 09 & 10

Written, performed and produced by Nick Standing [Jabun]

Recorded, mixed and mastered at JabunAudio by Nick Standing [Jabun]

Artwork, images and photography by Nick Standing [Jabun]

No generative A.I. tools were used in the creation of this album.

More album credits and special thanks are to come but for now I'd like to extend an immediate thanks to my family and friends (both online and offline) for their support and a big thanks to the current supporters on Patreon with extra mention to $10+ patrons: Nathan Puray, and Michael White! Thank you all so much for your help and support in making my musical dreams a reality! You folks are amazing!

Of course my supporters on Patreon are celebrating today with the full download package of the Side Character In My Own Life single which includes Mp3s and artwork, but for the $10 patrons, you have FULL early release access to the entire Side Character In My Own Life album, including artwork, mp3 and WAVs and all bonus tracks right now! If any of that sounds good to you, then consider becoming a patron for as little as $1 today, and remember you'll be getting the full back-catalogue of rewards for your tier when you join, including the full Better Than The Book, Jabun and Nick Standing discographies, bonus Patreon exclusives and much more! Find out more below:

$1 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/124775794

$10 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/124775793​

Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842

Find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

That about wraps things up for this post and I'll be back in a few days for the usual monthly round-up of news! More Better Than The Book is coming soon as I prepare for this biggest album launch yet and after hearing Side Character In My Own Life and Plot Holes I hope you're as hyped as I am for the rest of the album (and I hope you early access $10 patrons get a kick out of it before anyone else)! Until the next and final pre-release single launch and more, I hope you enjoy the new music and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book and my music however you can! Take care and get ready for a ska-punk filled summer!

Such a good one too! Looking forward to the third and final, and the grand release after that!

Thanks so much CD! Looks like it got a front page feature too. I wonder if I can make the triple single front page combo?! We shall see :D

Nice! Congrats on that! Here's hoping. :) There's probably a portion of luck involved just with the right people having to be around to notice and frontpage around release time, if the time's just right it seems very possible it'd get one too!

Cheers! Indeed I recon that's the case too. Fingers crossed for next time :D

April 2025 Patreon & News Post: Better Than The Book's Side Character In My Own Life (single) is out, CD test pressings for the upcoming album have been ordered (with vinyl to come), press features, videos and more (+ an extra $10 reward)!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to spring! It's been a super busy time over here as I'm sure you already know if you've been following the usual posts and stuff. I decided to delay the monthly post given that it was April Fools Day yesterday, but now that that's all over I can post without worry of any misunderstandings! With such a big release less than a week ago I thought there'd just be the one shared news post for all Patreon supporters this month, but I managed to whip something a little extra up for the $10 patrons anyway! More on that in a moment, but let's get started with the news!

First of all, the big news in case you've not heard it yet: Better Than The Book released the 2nd single and title track from the upcoming 3rd full-length album Side Character In My Own Life on Friday! Not only that, but the cover art for the album has also been revealed as well as a vinyl and CD release for the album being announced too! Not only that, but $10 patrons now have full early digital access to the album too! I've already posted about it so I'll not repeat myself here, but read more and check out all the details in the Patreon post below:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/124775796

And listen on Bandcamp:

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/album/side-character-in-my-own-life

As it currently stands, the digital release is pretty much ready to go, and I've just ordered the very first CD test pressing from the distributor! If that comes back all good I'll go ahead and order a test vinyl too! All the physical release packaging is pretty much done, so all that's left to sort once the test pressings are approved is to solidify the release date (taking into account release lead times) and get the (personal) online streams sorted (YouTube, Newgrounds, Soundcloud etc...)! The next and final pre-release single is already pretty much ready to drop and I'll be announcing the concrete release date for the album when that goes live in a few weeks time once the test pressings are approved (if all goes to plan). Exciting times!

In the mean time, following from the physical release progress I have an extra reward for the $10 patrons this time! The vinyl release includes a lyric sheet for the main album (not including bonus tracks), so as an early access patron, you now have an early download for the lyric sheet to look forward to! If you're a $10 patron, head over here to grab the download:

$10 reward: https://www.patreon.com/posts/125676704

And the lyric sheets will be available to the rest of the patrons and on Bandcamp when the album drops in full in May/June!

Following the big launch, the Side Character In My Own Life single has racked up a few press features already in its first week live! Big thanks to The Punk Site for sharing the new music, The Retweeter Hits Radio for adding the track to their radio rotation, and to the great peeps at Newgrounds for the front page feature award! That makes both singles which have met the mark for all 3 of these features. Will the next single (and album) complete the collection? We'll have to see!

March 31, 2025 - Better Than The Book's Side Character In My Own Life single featured on ThePunkSite.com

​March 30, 2025 - Better Than The Book's Side Character In My Own Life (Single) added to The Retweeter Hits Radio Rotation

March 29, 2025 - Better Than The Book's Side Character In My Own Life (Single) receives Front Page award on Newgrounds.com

Away from Better Than The Book news, the home studio set-up is pretty much all set up now too! All the acoustic treatment (for now at least) has been sorted including a ceiling panel I'm very pleased with, and all that's left to do now is a quick speaker/room calibration when I have a free quiet evening. There may be a few stands to get/swap out but functionally it's finally back to how I've been wanting it to be now to get on with making music again properly! The next thing to do in the studio will be to plan out and set up a patch bay to integrate much of the electronics. It's something I've not done before so it's going to be a challenge and will take some capital to invest in all the cabling etc... so that might not be for a little while, but I'm looking forward to the challenge. Before that, I recon the next major project will be to add a grill onto the front and sides of the homemade Leslie speaker though so it'll be time to draw up some plans for that soon!

Next and lastly for this month's update, more videos on YouTube! This past month has been filled with some bass and slide guitar fun times and experiments, as well as my first saxaflute (bamboo saxophone) video! Check out the updated playlist below:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWEmqIhrNPvQTBoOjZdKLgL4ecTvLz6sm

And here's a list of the latest additions:

• Homemade Superfuzz on Bass sounds like brutal thunder
• Open G Tuning Acoustic Slide Guitar
• Alternative Tuning Experiment for Acoustic Slide Guitar OpenGSus2 DGDGAD
• Alternative Tuning Experiment for Acoustic Slide Guitar DGDF#AD
• Bass with Digitech Whammy Detune Effect
• Funky Bass with Digitech Whammy Octave Effect + MXRPhase 90
• Bass with Digitech Whammy Harmony Effect
• Jamming on the Roland J-6 with the Hold and Arpeggiator functions
• One month of learning the Bamboo Saxophone (uncut practice)

The next month is set to be my last month of regular YouTube videos (for a while at least) while I prepare for the big BTTB release. It'll also mark 2 full years of uninterrupted videos on YouTube so there's that too! More music to come soon though so you'll not be able to get rid of me just yet!

That about wraps things up for this month! I'm hoping that by next time I'll have a finalised test CD (hopefully even a vinyl too) in my hand, perhaps the next BTTB single out, and a concrete release date set in stone for the next BTTB album too, but now that all depends on how sorting these physical releases go (manufacture times etc...). Exciting times ahead and until the next one, thanks so much for supporting my music and I hope you enjoy the new music and videos this month (and to come)! Take care!

$1 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/124775854

$10 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/125676704

Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842

Find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

May 2025 Patreon & News Post: CD Test print for Better Than The Book's upcoming album APPROVED (Vinyl on its way), features on Ska Time Radio, a Sonic The Hedgehog x BTTB mashup album(?!), stepping away from regular YouTube + more!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great spring so far (and not battling hayfever hard like I am)! It's been a heckin' super busy month since the last post (only set to get busier) and there's tonnes of news to share so let's get straight to it!

First of all in the big news, the CD test pressing for Better Than The Book's Side Character In My Own Life album arrived in the post from the distributor and looks and sounds BEAUTIFUL! 2 weeks before their estimated delivery date too! There are a couple of minor unexpected quirks, like CD text not showing up, or being cropped strangely depending on the specific CD Player (as well as the CD not working in my super old player from '86 which isn't entirely unexpected), but the printing looks great and the CD plays smooth and gapless (in players which support gapless playback) so that's veeeery nice! After multiple tests on various systems, I can say that this CD release has been APPROVED! If you're a supporter on Patreon (free or paid), then you've got a sneak peek of what the CD release looks like right now (see links at the end of this post)!

On another note, the test print for the 12" vinyl version was sent off for and apparently is now due to arrive TOMORROW, 4 weeks before their estimated delivery date! Fingers crossed that everything looks and plays great on that version too and if so it'll be time to solidify that release date, prep that final single (and full album) release and get ready for some much overdue ska punk mayhem! Not long now! Get excited!

Speaking of Ska Punk Mayhem, the title track of the new album got its radio debut by being featured on Button Down Radio's Ska Time show episode 14! The show was celebrating the London International Ska festival as well as showcasing a pick of the new ska tracks from around the world so it was a big honour to be part of it. Check out their post about it below:

https://www.facebook.com/buttondownradio5446/posts/pfbid02RxuGgBWKo7hL9qSsFhXdSQkikKhpdEuYctjUxgH5ubiwVZrffFCHYz5qrCkwCh6Gl

And you can catch up with the full radio show over on Mixcloud! There's some great organ work in this one. Fantastic stuff and thanks again to the Ska Time show for spinning the track!

https://www.mixcloud.com/CuttersChoiceRadio/ska-time-w-button-down-radio-ep14/

Next on the news, it was my birthday last week and on April 24th 2025, my twin Eamon (TallismanRogue) released the Sonic The Hedgehog X Better Than The Book - Endless Hopes and One-way Dreams Mashup EP to celebrate! It's incredible! Thanks and love you so much, Mon! I highly encourage you to check it out below. Gotta go fast!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QAg8Mu49JQ

Keeping in with the birthday theme, as a present to myself, I'm back to some wood/metalwork to FINALLY (after 3 years?) finish my homemade Leslie speaker by adding some grills! For the past 3 years, it's been all to easy to stick you hand/foot into the rotating drum while it's spinning, but now that'll be safely behind a few millimeters of perforated steel mesh. SAFE! As it currently stands, the 2 sides and top have been fitted with a permanent grill each while the front panel grill is complete (apart from possibly a custom badge on the front) and easily clips on and off for maintenance and if you want an open grill for stage presence. All that's left to do is sort out the grounding for electrical safety, give the mechanics their annual service and oiling, and put it back together and calibrate again! Hoping to have that done by this time next month with any luck and I'll be sure to put up a video of the completed project when it's done!

And on the topic of videos, after 2 full uninterrupted years of 2 videos a week on YouTube (that's over 200 in total now), I've decided to step away from regular scheduled YouTube content to focus on music creation (and releasing this upcoming album). April 2025 marks the last full month of videos and while there has already been one video released in May, for the first time in a LONG time, I don't have any new videos scheduled currently. That said there are a few more I have planned, and there's a WHOLE lot of new music to come very soon too. Check out the updated playlist below:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWEmqIhrNPvQTBoOjZdKLgL4ecTvLz6sm

And here's a list of the latest additions:

• New Studio Part 5: Shelves up and Art
• Volca Modular Keyboard Transposing Sequencer Tutorials, Tricks and Tips
• Korg EM-1 Keyboard Transposing Sequencer Tutorials, Tricks and Tips
• Korg ESX Arpeggiator Tutorials, Tricks and Tips
• Acoustic Guitar strumming in AGCFAD Tuning
• Homemade Superfuzz and Ashdown Bass Sub harmonic effect on Guitar
• 2 Years on YouTube + 35th Birthday
• New Studio Part 6: Acoustics Sorted + Acoustic Ceiling Tiles

Lastly for the news this month, after many years for the first time ever, there are currently no $10 patrons, and so I will not be posting a $10 extra reward this month. If the situation's the same for a while I may decide to change things up regarding Patreon rewards, but there are more urgent things to attend to currently so I'll be playing things by ear. To all the Patreon supporters past and present though, I'd like to say a HUGE thank you to you all for all your support over the years. I hope you're still enjoying the music and content ramblings and hope you're as excited as I am for all the new music still to come!

That about wraps things up for this month. With a vinyl test coming tomorrow, unless something's drastically wrong I should hopefully have a concrete release date for the Side Character In My Own Life album and maybe that final pre-release single to share with you (as well as other stuff) next time. Until then, thanks as always for supporting me and my musical endeavours however you can and I'm super looking forward to sharing what's to come very soon! Take care and all the best!

$1 Rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/126129247

Reward Archives: https://www.patreon.com/posts/50344842

Find out more: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Cool to see you're sharing the Sonic X BTTB mashup here too. :D Good news all around here, nice to hear the album's getting some good radio time too!

May the hayfever test of time pass soon! 🙏 I suppose it'd be problematic doing live shows at this time of the year too huh...

Shame to hear about the lack of Patrons on the $10 tier... hope you get some back there. Definitely is a big monthly commitment though overtime up at that level.

All the best; till the next update; hyped for the official album release soon!

Cheers CD! Indeed that (mostly) surprise mashup was great :D Yeah hayfever's never fun and I have played some very rough gigs with it before which I'd not like to do again if avoidable DX Such is the way re Patreon. I think there are so many extra financial commitments these days so no hard feelings to anyone, I'm just super thankful for any support at this point :) Indeed indeed, the vinyl test print arrived yesterday so I'll be setting the release very soon (looking to be mid-june now). Exciting times!