Imagine if you had an equal amount of both now, of course according to current follower numbers. :P Would be pretty cool! That skylight does seem to be a problem though! At least maybe at nighttime the heat escapes a bit easier through the glass...?

Could maybe cover the blinds with some fabric too if that helps any, and as for cooking: cold food's not all bad either. :) Especially on days like this...

That's true. Mutation potential too. Who knows... at least it seems the initial uncertainty and angst has cleared up a bit, hopefully that helps keep us all healthier too.

Ah.

Nice. :) Used to listen to them back in the day too, though no live performance yet... hope there's still opportunity to catch some greats for real in the future.

That's be a lot on the energy bills XD No sure whether the glass locks in the heat or not, last night was the first cooler night in a while though which was a relief :) Again difficult to cover the blinds because they're very tall to the high ceiling. Cold foods pretty good though I agree :) Sushi would be great right now!

Yeah... at least we're used to the restrictions now whether we like them or not XD Less uncertainty in that department at the very least :)

Man... I still a tonne of backlogged postponed gigs I'm not sure when will be on / rescheduled for... sure hope I can go to see them. Ozzy Osbourne with Judas Priest, Steve Hacket (Genesis), The Australian Pink Floyd, etc... I definitley don't want to miss those! I guess no gigs at the park on your end for the forseable future either. That seemed like a very regular thing for you.

Certain downsides yeah. XD You'd need some more fans to pay for the energy hmm... interesting how the heatwave can actually affect pretty much the whole continent like this though. Cooler here now too. Seems like a nice place to live at least, high ceilings are rare here. :) Most definitely!

True. :) Another fear is we'll get all too used to these restrictions even after this is over ...

Ah that's a lot of good ones too! Yeah, same here, not sure exactly which artists I'd be seeing this year but was hoping it'd be similar to the last. Doesn't seem like there might be any at all this year at this point. :/

Lol XD High ceilings aren't too rare here. They're nice but come with their own challenges. Great reverb but more difficult to tame, also more energy to heat.

No nessesarily a bad thing. If there's one thing we've learnt is that for many of us it's possible to work from home effectively. Save money on petrol and the commute => better for the wallet and environment :)

Yeah... I'm hoping to be able to play a gig before the end of the year too, but that feels like a pipedream now... we'll have to wait and see

True true. Cold winters might be why ceilings here generally stay pretty low.

That bit's great yeah. :) I'm thinking more of a case where the government embraces it's newfound tendency to control, and becomes all the more totalitarian just because people allow it to. It seems easy for such a transformation to take place especially when it's under the guise of safety and good, as it is now. Applicable in so many parts of the world now too. Hopefully people still stick up for their rights; don't allow changes that'll do more harm than good in the long run.

Yeah, hope for the best there. As quickly as things can change for the worse they should be able to change for the better too.

Makes sense :)

Oh yeah! I didn't think about it like that, but that's definitely a possibility... hopefully people will all stay sensible DX

True true. Let's hope for the better!

Let's do so! Here's to staying hopeful.

Better Than The Book's "GG" makes its radio debut on PunkRockRadio.ca, making it 9/10 tracks from the Hopes and Dreams album to have been featured on the radio (+ more updates)!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to July! Some amazing news to share with you today as yesterday Better Than The Book was featured on the Welcome to PRR show on PunkRockRadio.ca with not 1 or 2, but 3 tracks!

Along with the usual favourites of "Artificial Ignorance" and "(The Travelling To See Eva Song)", "GG" also made its radio debut which means that as of yesterday's show, a whopping 9/10 tracks from the Hopes and Dreams album have now been featured on the radio somewhere around the world! Amazing, and it's still not quite a year since the album came out! A huge thanks to Paco for getting in touch and having me on the show and if you missed it, the show will be repeated on Wednesday and Friday this week at 12pm ET (5pm BST) before the tracks are added to the 24/7 mix between shows on the station. Tune in via the website below:

https://www.punkrockradio.ca/

In other news, I've finally finished another mystery metal cover song (due for release soonish) and have been back to work doing the final tweaks on the upcoming Jabun album too! More updates on those as and when but it sure feels good to be back to it! Until the next post, thanks as always for supporting my music and I look forward to sharing more new tracks in the coming months! Take care!

BIG news: Better Than The Book's "Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals]" bonus album is out, happy anniversary to "Hopes and Dreams" + more Patreon rewards in celebration!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great July so far! Some huge news to share today as Better Than The Book releases its "Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals]" bonus album in celebration of 1 year of "Hopes and Dreams" and everything the album achieved!

With 9/10 tracks featured on the radio worldwide from the USA to UK to Australia including on idobi Radio, BBC Introducing, and The Ska Show with Beefy (the number 2 ska music show in the world), dozens of web blog and zine features, and the subsequent formation of the Better Than The Book LIVE band, "Hopes and Dreams" was my most successful album to date and made a mark I couldn't have even imagined when I first launched it! A huge thanks to everyone who helped make all this happen with a huge shoutout to Meg, the album's PR extrodinaire, Beefy and Melita for their continued radio support and great vibes, the BTTB live band's Eamon, Sam and Andy for their boundless enthusiasm to take these tunes to the stage, and of course to the patrons who keep my music going with special mention to Nathan, David, and Michael! Thank you all so much!

"Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals]", much like I did for "Two Years On", is a complete off-vocal version of the album for you to sing along to, make silly mash-ups, or simply listen to when you want some BTTB but without any vocals! Check it out on Bandcamp to explore the full album credits, have a listen, and pick up a copy:

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

(Coming very soon to iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, and all major digital distributors / streaming services if it's not up there already!)

Of course, my supporters on Patreon don't need to go to Bandcamp to grab a copy! Pick up the full "Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals]" bonus album for as little as $1 when you become a patron today! Remember too that you're not just getting this album when you sign up, you'll also be gaining access to all past rewards for you tier too including the full Better Than The Book discography, a tonne of Jabun, many Patreon exclusive downloads and a whole lot more! Hope to see you in the community!

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Grab the mp3s & Art: https://www.patreon.com/posts/37814855

Grab the mp3s, Art & WAVs: https://www.patreon.com/posts/37814852

And that's it for this post! The next set of rewards will be on the first Wednesday of August as usual (final Wednesday of July for the $5+ patrons) and we'll be back to the Jabun back catalogue for the final tracks of 2016! Until then I hope you enjoy all the new(ish) music and thanks as always for supporting Better Than The Book, Jabun and my various projects! Take care, stay safe, and keep on skankin'!

Better Than The Book's The Hardest Part [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, SoundCloud and Newgrounds!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! Just a quick one today to say that Better Than The Book's The Hardest Part [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, Newgrounds and SoundCloud, and that new tracks from the Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] bonus album will be uploaded each Friday until the end of September! Check it out:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NiyKNswijM

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bttb_uk/the-hardest-part-instrumental

And if you like what you hear, pick up Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] on bandcamp along with the rest of the BTTB discography:

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

Or grab it when you become a supporter on Patreon for as little as $1 a month! More rewards are out next Wednesday for the $5+ patrons (the following Wednesday for $1 patrons)! Until then I hope you have a great final week of July and thanks as always for supporting my projects here on Patreon! Take care and enjoy the new music!

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

The $5+ rewards have been sent out: Jabun - "The Ocean Above" & "Noir" + an exclusive sneek peek at a mystery metal cover song for the $10+ patrons!

Grab the $10 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/37814830/

Grab the $5 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/37815021/

Become a patron: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great July so far! It's once again the final Wednesday of the month which means another set of reward posts for the $5 and $10 patrons are out and after a little break for Better Than The Book's new Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] bonus album, we're back to the 2016 Jabun back-catalogue of tracks again with "The Ocean Above" and "Noir"!

"The Ocean Above" was another track made from my temporary coffee table studio in Herne Bay and was commissioned by a good friend of mine, David Klein II, for background music for his YouTube channel while I was working on Jabun's Daydream album. Chiptune and chill, this track really brings me back to that summer of 2016 living by the sea with a limited set-up. In the background you can even hear field recordings of the sea at Herne Bay behind my favoured 808 drums and nostalgic synths. Great memories!

"Noir" on the other hand would have been the first track I produced as Jabun from my very first dedicated studio room (featured in the track artwork) in Margate, about 45 minutes down the coast! Margate was of course where I finished my debut album as Jabun - Daydream too. I do very much miss those days living by the sea! Short and sweet, Noir was created for a soundtrack / sound design competition with the hopes of winning some very nice Adam Audio monitors to add to my set-up. Alas, I did not emerge victorious, but it was a fun piece to compose, so I thought I'd share it here! Without further wait, I hope you enjoy the music!

Listen to "The Ocean Above" on Bandcamp:

https://jabun.bandcamp.com/track/the-ocean-above

Listen to "Noir" on the Jabun Music Website:

https://jabunmusic.weebly.com/noir.html

For the $10+ patrons, you've also got an exclusive demo from a mystery upcoming metal cover to look forward to! Become a $10 patron to access that and many more rewards 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 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 post! Next time we'll likely be completing the current Jabun discography with the 2017 debut album Daydream, but we'll see if something else comes up before then! Until then, I hope you have an excellent time whatever you're up to and thanks as always for supporting Better Than the Book, Jabun and my various projects on Patreon! Take care and enjoy the music!

Better Than The Book's And I Fear [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, SoundCloud and Newgrounds!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! Just a quick one today to say that Better Than The Book's And I Fear [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, Newgrounds and SoundCloud! New tracks from the Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] bonus album will be uploaded each Friday until the end of September! Check out And I Fear [Instrumental] below:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4gS10gIZAM

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bttb_uk/and-i-fear-instrumental

And if you like what you hear, pick up Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] on bandcamp along with the rest of the BTTB discography:

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

Or grab it when you become a supporter on Patreon for as little as $1 a month! More rewards are out next Wednesday for the $1+ patrons! Until then I hope you have a great start to August and thanks as always for supporting my projects! Take care and enjoy the new music!

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

It’s the first Wednesday of the month which means another set of reward posts for my $1 supporters on Patreon are out: Jabun's The Ocean Above and Noir (Art + Mp3s for last week's $5 rewards)! Read more and grab the rewards below:

$1 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/37815025/

Read more: https://www.patreon.com/posts/37815024/

Become a Patron: https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

Better Than The Book is back on The Ska Show with Beefy with (The Travelling To See Eva Song) [Instrumental]!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! Some great news to share with you today as Better Than The Book is back on The Ska Show with Beefy with (The Travelling To See Eva Song) [Instrumental]! Thanks so much to Beefy for featuring the new track on this special lockdown home edition of the show and for the amazing shout out, and super happy to hear people are enjoying the new Instrumentals album!

Everyone check out the show below for a great hour of ska / ska punk, and BTTB's on at ~49:45 followed by the shoutout:

https://www.facebook.com/TheSkaShowwithBeefy/posts/3243662752388774?__tn__=-R

And for the full playlist, check out:

https://www.facebook.com/notes/the-ska-show-with-beefy-on-southern-fm/playlist-6th-august-2020-pt1/10164027850725054/?__tn__=-R

More music is coming very soon, and I'll be back here tomorrow to share another instrumental from the new album as it arrives on YouTube, SoundCloud, and Newgrounds for streaming! Hope you have a great rest of the day and see you tomorrow!

Better Than The Book's Meteor Shower [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, SoundCloud and Newgrounds + it's Bandcamp Friday!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! Just a quick one today to say that Better Than The Book's Meteor Shower [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, Newgrounds and SoundCloud! New tracks from the Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] bonus album will be uploaded each Friday until the end of September! Check out Meteor Shower [Instrumental] below:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS0YCmoojG4

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bttb_uk/meteor-shower-instrumental

Also, it's the first Friday of the month which means it's Bandcamp Friday! In support of musicians impacted by the coronavirus, Bandcamp is waiving its revenue share fees on the first Friday of each month from midnight to midnight PDT (that's today)! That means that if you purchase anything from Bandcamp today, the artists you support (including myself) will get more of the sales revenue than usual since Bandcamp doesn't take its cut, and you'll be able to support the music you love more directly than ever on the platform!

So if you like what you hear, head over to bandcamp today to pick up Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] and/or the rest of the BTTB / Jabun discographies:

Better Than The Book: https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Jabun: https://jabun.bandcamp.com/

Or grab it all here (apart from Jabun's Daydream album which is due to be uploaded in September) when you become a Patron for as little as $1 a month! More exclusive early access rewards will be released next Wednesday for the $5+ patrons, and until then I hope you have a great week and thanks as always for supporting my projects! Take care and enjoy the new music!

Hi everyone and a quick bit of cool news to share this morning: Better Than The Book's "(The Travelling To See Eva Song)" has been featured in the The Tank Tribune / Sunday Phonograph playlist no. 008! A huge thanks to TTT editor @The-Great-One for sharing the music and check out the full post below:

https://thetanktribune.newgrounds.com/news/post/1110373

Enjoy, and if you dig the track, feel free to pick up a copy on bandcamp or when you become a supporter on Patreon:

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

https://www.patreon.com/NickStanding

And hope you have a great rest of the weekend!

IMPORTANT UPDATE: You can now pledge on Patreon in Euros (€), British Pounds (£) or U.S. Dollars ($)!

https://www.patreon.com/posts/40194369

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great start to the week!

An important update and some great news to share with you today from Patreon. As of August 2020, everyone in the UK, EU and U.S. can now pledge in their local currency of Euros (€), British Pounds (£) or U.S. Dollars ($)! This can help prevent you from paying extra conversion fees from your bank or card when pledging in a currency that’s not your own. Nice!

To keep things consistant with past reward posts, I'll continue to label reward posts in terms of U.S Dollars ($1, $5 & $10 tiers), but I hope you enjoy the music whereever you're listening from! 

For more information, check out this help center article if you have questions about changing your currency, or this article if you have questions about how tiers are priced in these new currencies.

That's it for today's post and on Wednesday I'll be announcing a brand new Patreon exclusive track to be release in September, and be handing out another set of early access $5+ rewards! Can't wait to show you and thanks as always for supporting my music on Patreon! All the best!

HUGE news: Jabun announces a brand new metal side project: "Jabun [Alternate Reality] - Warrior" (Kesha Cover)!

$5+ Patreon rewards are out: Early Access to Jabun [Alternate Reality]'s Warrior (Kesha METAL Cover) [New Exclusive Download] + a deep dive into the creation of the track for the $10+ patrons!

Hi everyone and hope you’re having a great August so far! It’s NOT the final Wednesday of the month, but today I have an extra special early access Patreon exclusive track to share with the $5 & $10 patrons from a brand new Jabun side project! Time for some more rewards!

The name of this new side project is “Jabun [Alternate Reality]” and truth be told, I’m not 100% sure what I want to do with it yet, but I sure am excited to announce it! Jabun [Alternate Reality] came about because there are things I’d like to release under the Jabun name which aren’t the chill or cinematic soundscapes you know me for, but are instead almost the complete opposite: Metal! I’ve been a metal fan and musician since my early teen years and it’s something that’s close to my heart but I certainly don’t feel fits under my usual Jabun or Better Than The Book banners which are more experimental/electronic/chill and ska punk respectively. I have plans to release more metal / metal inspired original music in the future, but to kickstart this project, I’m releasing a cover of Kesha’s “Warrior”, which being a mainstream pop song, gives a nice extra meaning to that “Alternate Reality” metal version I’m excited to announce today!

I’ve had this metal / metal core cover idea going through my head ever since I first heard Kesha’s Warrior years ago, and after seeing Killswitch Engage with Iron Maiden on August 11th 2018 and completing Better Than The Book’s 2nd full-length album in July 19th, I thought it was finally time to get this thing recorded! With some delays including moving house/studios, illness and more (not to mention this crazy 2020), I’m super happy to finally be able to share this first track as Jabun [Alternate Reality], the new not-so-chill side of Jabun!

Jabun [Alternate Reality] - Warrior will be released for streaming on YouTube to the public on Wednesday September 2nd at 9am BST, and will be an exclusive download for my supporters on Patreon only! For the $5 & $10 Patrons, you’re getting the full download package (Mp3, WAVs & artwork) today, and will be able to listen to the track 3 weeks ahead of the rest of the world! Become a $5+ patron to grab Jabun [Alternate Reality] – Warrior today:

$5 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080252/ 

All original songwriting credits go to Kesha Sebert, Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Pebe Sebert and Henry Walter with the original performance recorded by Kesha, and an extra special thanks to Vlad for lending his metal experienced ears during the mixing and mastering process! Couldn’t have sounded this good without your help!

Arranged, performed and produced by Nick Standing

Recorded, mixed and mastered at JabunAudio by Nick Standing

Track artwork by Nick Standing

For the $10 patrons we’re also taking a deep dive into the creation of Warrior with some WIP demos and a behind the scenes article! Become a $10 patron to access that and many more rewards 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 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 :) 

$10 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080246/

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

That's it for this month's $5+ rewards! Next time we’ll be back to complete Jabun’s current discography with the 2017 album Daydream, but I’m sure there’ll be tonnes of news to share on Patreon in the mean time! Until the next one, I hope you enjoy the brand new music and thanks as always for supporting Jabun, Better Than The Book and my various projects on Patreon! All the best and take care!

Better Than The Book's Brighton [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, SoundCloud and Newgrounds!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! Just a quick one today to say that Better Than The Book's Brighton [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, Newgrounds and SoundCloud! New tracks from the Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] bonus album will be uploaded each Friday until the end of September! Check out Brighton [Instrumental] below:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5yF8k7Jzqc

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bttb_uk/brighton-instrumental

And if you like what you hear, pick up Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] on bandcamp along with the rest of the BTTB discography:

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

Or grab it when you become a supporter on Patreon for as little as $1 a month! More early access rewards were out this week for the $5+ patrons! Find out more below:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080253

And until next time I hope you have a great August and thanks as always for supporting my projects! Take care and enjoy the new music!

Better Than The Book's Get A Haircut [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, SoundCloud and Newgrounds!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! Just a quick one today to say that Better Than The Book's Get A Haircut [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, Newgrounds and SoundCloud! New tracks from the Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] bonus album will be uploaded each Friday until the end of September! Check out Get A Haircut [Instrumental] below:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvHBS84lBmg

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bttb_uk/get-a-haircut-instrumental

And if you like what you hear, pick up Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] on bandcamp along with the rest of the BTTB discography:

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

Or grab it when you become a supporter on Patreon for as little as $1 a month! More early access rewards were out last week for the $5+ patrons! Find out more below: 

https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080253

And until next time I hope you have a great August and thanks as always for supporting my projects! Take care and enjoy the new music!

Happy 5 year anniversary to the World Beyond YouTube Channel + a new video to celebrate: "Rewind Machine"!

Hi everyone and some super cool news to share with you today!

Today marks 5 years of the World Beyond YouTube Channel and after a year and half of music videos from the 2018 album "Nobody Asked For This So I Did It" (for which I played a tonne of guitar and bass), we finally reach the last track and video for the project, "Rewind Machine"! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8rbbhkYOVE

In case you don't know, World Beyond is a cinematic music project lead by a good friend of mine Vladimir Kuznetsov and a project I've been a part of since 2013, mostly lending my ears, guitar and bass, but also the occasional other instrument (such as cello) and writing. Find out more about World Beyond in the video description on YouTube!

Rewind Machine is one of my favourite tracks of the album and this video is an amazing conclusion / bonus ending to what has been a fantastic album project to be a part of! You'll see some behind the scenes stills from our recording sessions 2 years ago, some gear showcase and more, and look carefully enough and you might find a hidden download key for the album on Bandcamp too (there's 3 to spot throughout the video so grab them fast before someone else does)! I hope you enjoy Rewind Machine and look forward to working on more tunes with World Beyond soon! Cheer Vlad, here's to 5 years of the channel, and wishing you many more successes with World Beyond in the years to come!

Better Than The Book's (The Travelling To See Eva Song) [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, SoundCloud and Newgrounds!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! Just a quick one today to say that Better Than The Book's (The Travelling To See Eva Song) [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, Newgrounds and SoundCloud! New tracks from the Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] bonus album will be uploaded each Friday until the end of September! Check out (The Travelling To See Eva Song) [Instrumental] below:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DWAd_it1IQ

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bttb_uk/the-travelling-to-see-eva-1

And if you like what you hear, pick up Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] on bandcamp along with the rest of the BTTB discography:

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

Or grab it when you become a supporter on Patreon for as little as $1 a month! Early access rewards for Jabun [Alternate Reality]'s Warrior (Kesha metal cover) are out for the $5+ patrons! Find out more below and grab it before it's released next week:  

https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080253

And until next time I hope you have a great end to August and thanks as always for supporting my projects! Take care and enjoy the new music!

Now that's awesome!

Been fun to catch up with all these announcements from the past couple months now, seems everything's still going forward, weekly grind never a seizing or slowing down...

Indeed, never slowing down over here! Another track and Patreon reward out tomorrow too! I honestly don't see the end of it XD Cheers!

$1+ rewards are out: Jabun [Alternate Reality]'s Warrior (Kesha METAL Cover) [New Exclusive Download] + a deep dive into the creation of the track for the $10+ patrons!

Hi everyone and hope you’re having a great start to September! It’s the first Wednesday of the month, and today I have an extra special Patreon exclusive track to share with the $1+ patrons from a brand new Jabun side project! Time for some more rewards! 

The name of this new side project is “Jabun [Alternate Reality]” and truth be told, I’m not 100% sure what I want to do with it yet, but I sure am excited to announce it! Jabun [Alternate Reality] came about because there are things I’d like to release under the Jabun name which aren’t the chill or cinematic soundscapes you know me for, but are instead almost the complete opposite: Metal! I’ve been a metal fan and musician since my early teen years and it’s something that’s close to my heart but I certainly don’t feel fits under my usual Jabun or Better Than The Book banners which are more experimental/electronic/chill and ska punk respectively. I have plans to release more metal / metal inspired original music in the future, but to kickstart this project, I’m releasing a cover of Kesha’s “Warrior”, which being a mainstream pop song, gives a nice extra meaning to that “Alternate Reality” metal version I’m excited to release today! 

I’ve had this metal / metalcore cover idea going through my head ever since I first heard Kesha’s Warrior years ago, and after seeing Killswitch Engage with Iron Maiden on August 11th 2018 and completing Better Than The Book’s 2nd full-length album in July 2019, I thought it was finally time to get this thing recorded! With some delays including moving house/studios, illness and more (not to mention this crazy 2020), I’m super happy to finally be able to share this first track as Jabun [Alternate Reality], the new not-so-chill side of Jabun! 

Jabun [Alternate Reality] - Warrior is an exclusive download for my supporters on Patreon only and for the $1 Patrons, you’ve got the download package (Mp3 & artwork) to pick up today! Become a patron for as little as $1 to grab Jabun [Alternate Reality] – Warrior:

$1 rewards (Mp3, Art): https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080255/

$5 rewards (Mp3, WAV, Art): https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080252/   

All original songwriting credits go to Kesha Sebert, Lukasz Gottwald, Max Martin, Pebe Sebert and Henry Walter with the original performance recorded by Kesha, and an extra special thanks to Vlad for lending his metal experienced ears during the mixing and mastering process! Couldn’t have sounded this good without your help! 

Arranged, performed and produced by Nick Standing 

Recorded, mixed and mastered at JabunAudio by Nick Standing 

Track artwork by Nick Standing 

For the $10 patrons we’re also taking a deep dive into the creation of Warrior with some WIP demos and a behind the scenes article! Become a $10 patron to access that and many more rewards 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 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 :)  

$10 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080246/ 

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

That's it for this month's rewards! Next time we’ll be back to complete Jabun’s current discography with the 2017 album Daydream, but I’m sure there’ll be tonnes of news to share on Patreon in the mean time! Until the next one, I hope you enjoy the brand new music and thanks as always for supporting Jabun, Better Than The Book and my various projects! All the best and take care!

Better Than The Book's GG [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, SoundCloud and Newgrounds + it's Bandcamp Friday!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! Just a quick one today to say that Better Than The Book's GG [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, Newgrounds and SoundCloud! New tracks from the Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] bonus album will be uploaded each Friday until the end of September! Check out GG [Instrumental] below:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnD937m_8jM

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bttb_uk/gg-instrumental

And if you like what you hear, pick up Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] on bandcamp along with the rest of the BTTB discography (more about Bandcamp in a moment):

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

Or grab it along with the new exclusive download for Jabun [Alternate Reality]'s Warrior when you become a supporter on Patreon for as little as $1 a month! Find out more below:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080256

Back to Bandcamp, in support of musicians impacted by the coronavirus, Bandcamp is waiving its revenue share fees on the first Friday of the month from midnight to midnight PDT (that's today)! That means that if you purchase anything from Bandcamp this Friday 4th of September, the artists you support (including myself) will get more of the sales revenue than usual since Bandcamp doesn't take its cut, and you'll be able to support the music you love more directly than ever on the platform!

If you've been thinking of picking up Better Than The Book's "Hopes and Dreams" or grabbing Jabun's "Daydream" or one of my other tracks or albums, now's the best time to do so! Feel free to check out the Better Than The Book and Jabun Bandcamp pages below and thanks again for supporting my music in any way you can:

Better Than The Book

https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Jabun

https://jabun.bandcamp.com/

Nick Standing (< The sillier old stuff)

https://nickstanding.bandcamp.com/ 

And until next time I hope you have a great start to September and thanks as always for supporting my projects! Take care and enjoy the new music!

Better Than The Book's You've Got A Lot To Say [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, SoundCloud and Newgrounds!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far. Just a quick one today to say that Better Than The Book's You've Got A Lot to Say [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, Newgrounds and SoundCloud. New tracks from the Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] bonus album will be uploaded each Friday until the end of September (just 2 more weeks to go). Check out You've Got A Lot to Say [Instrumental] below:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX-kuYDGtZM

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bttb_uk/youve-got-a-lot-to-say-1

And if you like what you hear, pick up Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] on bandcamp along with the rest of the BTTB discography:

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

Or grab it along with the new exclusive download for Jabun [Alternate Reality]'s Warrior when you become a supporter on Patreon for as little as $1 a month! Find out more below:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080256

Until next time I hope you have a great September and thanks as always for supporting my projects. Take care and enjoy the new music!

Better Than The Book's Hopes and Dreams [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, SoundCloud and Newgrounds!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! Just a quick one today to say that Better Than The Book's Hopes and Dreams [Instrumental] is now streaming on YouTube, Newgrounds and SoundCloud! That's all the tracks from the Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] bonus album uploaded for streaming online now, but I still have one more thing to share with you next week! Until then, check out Hopes and Dreams [Instrumental] below:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQzVnc0yD6I

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bttb_uk/hopes-and-dreams-instrumental

And if you like what you hear, pick up Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] on bandcamp along with the rest of the BTTB discography:

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

Or grab it along with the new exclusive download for Jabun [Alternate Reality]'s Warrior when you become a supporter on Patreon for as little as $1 a month! Find out more below:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080256

Until next time I hope you have a great September and thanks as always for supporting my projects! Take care and enjoy the new music!

Better Than The Book's full Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] bonus album is now streaming and playlisted on YouTube, SoundCloud and Newgrounds!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far! After many months of promo for Better Than The Book's Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] bonus album, we finally arrive to the last post of the series, and today's is just a quick one to say that Better Than The Book's Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] (Full Album) is now streaming on YouTube and Newgrounds! Check out the streams below:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGDy94xGu_E

I've also curated playlists of all the individual tracks from Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] on YouTube, Newgrounds and SoundCloud too, so if you've missed any of the tracks, feel free to listen to them online via the playlists below, or on Spotify:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLblIGQa1OFi6NGA101mVS4jdsOTi55Bjb

Newgrounds: https://www.newgrounds.com/playlists/view/2d399b083d2369a5b1f5fbf7a1e8b2cb

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/bttb_uk/sets/hopes-and-dreams-instrumentals-album

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4GUCmKQoIk3bNWGiXDGkrp

And if you like what you hear, pick up Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals] on bandcamp along with the rest of the BTTB discography:

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

Or grab it along with this month's new exclusive download for Jabun [Alternate Reality]'s Warrior when you become a supporter on Patreon for as little as $1! More rewards coming next Wednesday! Find out more below:

https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080256

That's it for this final promo post for Better Than The Book's Hopes and Dreams [Instrumentals]! I hope you've enjoyed listening to all the music over these past few months and I look forward to bringing you more Better Than The Book as soon as I can! Been back to writing recently, so hopefully I'll have more to report in the skapunk department next year! Until the next post, thanks as always for supporting Jabun, Better Than The Book and my various projects and take care! All the best!

Better Than The Book future gig updates:

Hi all and hope you're doing well.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus situation, band members being heavily restricted due to local lockdowns (including myself as of Friday), and general concerns with regards public performance at this time, Better Than The Book will no longer be attending the upcoming gig with Sweet Jonny at The Cave in Addlestone (UK) on November 7th. Additionally, we will be postponing booking any further gigs indefinitely until the live music performance industry is up and running safely again.

Apologies for any disappointment, though the safety and comfort of our audience and the members of the BTTB live band are my top priority, and we all hope to be entertaining you again soon with some well needed and upbeat skapunk when the time is right and safe for it. I'll be working hard in the mean time, practicing the tunes and writing/recording some new ones, and I look forward to bringing an even better live show to you as soon as possible! Thanks as always for your support!

All the best, stay safe, and keep on skankin'

Nick / Better Than The Book