Don't think I'd have been able to make it either way, but it's a shame... had you been practicing up till now just in case?

Really hope things calm down next year. The winter might get a bit tough, but after that...

I've been keeping up with my own personal regular practice, even doing a bit of stage precence practice so it's not just about the music, but I know some of the other band members haven't been able to practice so much (eg: Andy on drums since he's not had access to a full kit). We've not been able to practice together as a band since January though. I had a practice with Eamon last in February just before the first lockdown, and I think Andy and Sam got together for a practice at some point between the lockdowns (maybe July?), but that's about it.

Yeah. The Addlestone gig was the final one we had booked, but even the promotor said it's not likely to happen whether we could make it or not, and being locked down in Leeds, there's no guarentee I'll be legally allowed to go anymore even if gigs are still going forward (which I doubt). He recons things won't start getting better until spring at the earliest, but no way to tell at the moment. Hoping to have a band meet-up at Christmas time, but at this rate, I'm not sure whether that'll be allowed or possible either. It's a play it by ear situation at the moment.

No zoom-like sessions huh... that's a shame. :/

It's locked down again now?! Do hope restrictions get lifted for Christmas at least, seems like the right thing to do no matter what the consequences, but as for the corona situation calming down before then: I wouldn't have too high hopes. With less sun, more indoors time, D-vitamin deficiency building up with a lot of people... feels like things will probably be getting worse again for a few months at least. Not so hopeful about winter.

Hope you're staying healthy either way! And that next year those gigs can finally come to fruition.

Not so far no... we've had Zoom chats, but no jams due to the syncing issues. Still a problem with regards recording everyone effectively too (eg: drums), even if it was a record seperately and edit together sortof job. Perhaps in the future, but difficult for sure...

Well my area is locked down again now as of last Friday. Not even allowed to meet-up with anyone who I don't live with (so basically I'm only allowed to see Eva XD). The whole country isn't locked down yet though, just specific areas. Yeah... I'm not holding my breathe for it, but it'll be a very difficult holiday time if we're not allowed to travel and see family... Just going to have to wait and see. Indeed, I'm staying healthy at least I think, and hopefully next year will be MUCH better!

$5+ rewards are out: Jabun's Daydream album (Mp3s, WAVs, Art + a behind the scenes photo) + an exclusive sneak peek at next year's 3rd Jabun album for the $10 patrons!

Hi everyone and hope you've had a great September! It's the final Wednesday of the month which means I've just sent out the $5 and $10 Patreon rewards and this time we've reached the final piece in Jabun's discography (so far), Jabun's 2017 debut full-length album Daydream!

After releasing Distance and Home in 2013 and 2014 respectively (which would be remastered for the Daydream album in 2017), I started formally working on the album which would become Daydream in summer 2016. After the high energy ska punk adventure that was Better Than The Book's Two Years On (released February 2016) and having just moved away from my parents to the seaside town of Herne Bay with Eva, I was ready to explore some experimental and chill vibes as Jabun once again from that makeshift IKEA coffee table studio which I've mentioned in past posts. Shortly before the move I'd bought myself a Yamaha Reface CP mobile keyboard which is basically a truckload of vintage electric pianos and effects in a 3 octave portable package and would be the most valuable player in much of my Jabun music to come! Along with my mpc1000, sm58 microphone and a few synths, I put together a lot of that album throughout the rest of the year, firstly from the floor of our Herne Bay flat, then later from my first purpose organised studio room in Margate. A photo of the Margate beach at sunset would become the cover for the album which was released on May 4th 2017, a heartwarming, chill journey which would be featured in many online zines / blogs, on YouTube music channels, and even a game on Newgrounds (along with some Newgrounds awards)! It's an album I hold close to heart and brings me back to those days living by the sea!

Included in the reward download packages are the full 10 track 43+ minute album (Mp3s and WAVs), album art and alternative album art, and a picture from day 1 of recording, my equipment spread out on the floor after recording track 07 Palindrome! I hope you enjoy Daydream!

Tracklist:

01 Dreaming (Parts I - III)

02 Morning

03 The Grind

04 Distance

05 Daydream

--------

06 Anxiety

07 Palindrome

08 Home

09 Evening

10 Dreaming (Parts IV - VI)

Listen to Daydream on Bandcamp:

https://jabun.bandcamp.com/album/daydream

For the $10+ patrons, you've also got an exclusive sneak peek at next year's 3rd Jabun album 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 including the full Better Than The Book and Jabun discographies and much more! 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!

$5 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080123

$10 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080119

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

That's it for this post! With Daydream finally out to the patrons, that's the entire Jabun discography available on Patreon now! As such I'll be taking a short break to finalise things ready to announce Jabun's 2nd album in November, and you can bet that there'll be a tonne of Patreon rewards to celebrate that! Until then, I hope you enjoy all the music and thanks as always for supporting Jabun, Better Than The Book and my various projects on Patreon! All the best, take care, and I can't wait to show you Jabun's brand new 2nd album next time! Look forward to it!

Mmm. I wonder how other bands manage, watched this the other day and they seemed to manage pretty well: https://youtu.be/h0rSYEoBMYM

Maybe the editing's pretty heavy after all. Or their network technician's just on a whole other level.

Surprised how much Zoom is taking over btw! Hadn't even heard of it at the start of the year. Market shares must be rising like crazy.

Daaamn... Christmas over Zoom too maybe? Well I hope they give y'all a break in time. Shouldn't be as big a risk if they at least open up the roads; let people at least get around like that.

Hope so! Bit of an off start to the decade this year, but 2021... it can't possibly get any worse than this can it. :P *knocking heavily on all nearby tables and panels*

Should've responded a bit quicker huh! Way to jump back into negative topics after this so very positive note...

Awesome reward with this one.

Ah, Goldfinger have been doing some great quarantine videos this year! I doubt it's live from a performance point of view though, and certainly not through Zoom. I recon each of the peeps records themselves seperately playing to a metronome then they sync up all the videos and cut between them, then mixdown the audio. Very involved process, and certainly not something in my area of expertise from a video editing point of view. Gotta have a certain amount of tech to pull it off too (on everyone's ends), and these guys are at the top of their game (considering John Feldmann's producing Blink-182 at the moment)! Yeah, I'd not heard of Zoom before all of this either. I'm sure they're doing well!

Geez don't jinx it XD It might have to be a Christmas Zoom though...

Cheers CD and no worries XD

They really give the impression it's live! Interesting. That'd really complicate things in regard to solos, but if even those are so ingrained a part of the performance they're always the same length hmm. Saw some other old band reuniting over zoom where it clearly wasn't - the drummer was drumming in the air, everyone didn't even have their instruments ready. XD

Are you maybe tuned into Yungblud btw? He's becoming a favorite lately. This one's definitely live at least, if you want to just jump right to the music here... https://youtu.be/usms-qHCADA?t=92

Hehe, oh man...

Best cheers 2020! ;)

Indeed! I was thinking too, I'm sure there was a track where the same guy was playing (overdubbed) all the brass instruments too XD Definitely great impressions of liveness though. Hehe fair dos on the actual zoom reunion XD

Btw, something I managed to catch last month was a one off (mostly) acoustic "campfire" style livestreamed show with everyone playing in the same "room" very far apart. It was ELLEGARDEN, so I think the Japanese restrictions are very different, but such an amazing concert! I didn't realise they'd finally ended their hiatus last year too! Amazing show, though it was just in the moment; there doesn't seem to be a replay of it on YT to watch. Extra special that way I suppose. I think I must've missed only the first few minutes (and caught the next 2 hours)!

Ah yeah! I know of him, his hometowns actually maybe 20 minutes from where Eva and I used to live (still only an hour or so away at the moment)! I think I first heard of him through MGK (and Travis Barker), but he's been on the radio a fair bit over the last few years :) Not super familiar with his stuff, but the stuff I've heard has been pretty darn good!

And to you too CD!

Aha. XD

Oooh, would've been cool to catch that, I must have listened to ELLEGARDEN before but can't recall any particular songs... that is pretty cool! All the more like a live show when it's all in the moment...

Exactly the same discovery process here! :D With the first 'I Think I'm Okay' collabo I suppose? He hasn't made his way to the radio here, understandably I guess, but I keep stumbling into his stuff online lately. Them algorithms. Really enjoy the energy!

And in case you missed it, double entendre: best year's 2020. ;)

All the best!

I've got the "Riot On The Grill" album which is great :) You might know something from that, or maybe "The Autumn Song" or "Salamander" or "Make A Wish"? Lots of great stuff and indeed with regards to the live show sentiment too. REALLY wish I had a recording of their live acoustic version of Salamander though. It was SOOO good!

Indeed that one was it! Love that track! Hehe, them algorithms indeed!

Hehe XD I totally missed that one! Have a good one!

Nothing rings a bell there but maybe it will if I start listning again! I'll check 'em out. A little ELLEGARDEN YT marathon this weekend maybe...

And MGK started making punk rock music too. :) Good times lately. In musical regard. I mean.

You too!

Enjoy :D

Indeed! I've really enjoyed that side of his music for sure!

*Thumbs up* :)

It's Bandcamp Friday again!

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

It's Bandcamp Friday once again, and in support of musicians impacted by the coronavirus, Bandcamp is once again 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 2nd of October, 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/

All the best and enjoy the music!

$1 Patreon rewards are out: Jabun's Daydream album (Mp3s, Art + a behind the scenes photo) + an exclusive sneak peek at next year's 3rd Jabun album for the $10 patrons!

Today's the first Wednesday of the month and so last week's Patreon rewards are now available for the $1 patrons (mp3s and artwork only). This month we arrive at the final entry in the Jabun discography (so far), Jabun's debut album Daydream! Read more and grab the rewards below:

Read more: https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080121/

$1 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080120/

$5 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080123

$10 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/40080119

And thanks for supporting my projects!

A 3 part interview on Newgrounds.com (my longest and most detailed interview to date!)

Hi everyone and hope you're having a great week so far!

I've got something super special to share with you today and something I hope you enjoy! Last month I took part in my biggest and most detailed interview to date, a 3 part discussion with The Interviewer here on Newgrounds.com all about my musical journey so far! It goes right back to my musical roots, through many of my notable projects including collaborations, bands from my teen years and beyond, through to my solo projects Better Than The Book and Jabun, discussing great memories, not so great ones, and my advice for musicians and creators from my own experience. It's a long journey, but I hope you get something out of it and enjoy the read!

A huge thanks to The Interviewer ( @The-Great-One ) for inviting me to take part in this, and I'd like to share some of his kind words before you read:

"Today's guest is quite possibly one of if not the hardest working musician here on Newgrounds. With his project Better Than The Book being a success here on Newgrounds and acclaim for his assistance towards other musicians here on the site. His skills are incredible as a composer, lyricist, singer, and guitarist. His story is long, but an amazing one and I wish for you to read it all the way to the end. I am most pleased to welcome, @Jabun."

"Jabun is a rare talent that you don't see in too many musicians nowadays. He is a musician of many hats which is what a lot of musicians used to be like. His songs are not factory produced by writers who are looking for that zany lyric or melody that will stick in people's minds. He makes music that not only he likes, but he thinks people will like. He is truly one of the best here on the site. I know this interview was in three parts, it is the longest interview I have done to date, and I felt it needed to be. Jabun's story needed to be told and I wanted you to experience the journey in hopes that it would inspire you. If you're a musician just starting out, I hope you learned something today and will take it with you."

Without further wait, I hope you enjoy the ride! Read the full interview below:

Part 1: https://theinterviewer.newgrounds.com/news/post/1119983

Part 2: https://theinterviewer.newgrounds.com/news/post/1119986

Part 3: https://theinterviewer.newgrounds.com/news/post/1119990

And thanks as always for supporting my projects in all the ways you Take care!

So awesome that your 'biggest and most detailed interview to date' happened to be one for the Grounds too. :) First part was fantastic, though I think I'll have to get to the remaining bits a bit later, it really is a bit lengthy...

It really is! You'll have to thank @The-Great-One for his superb research when sorting the questions! :D Super glad you're enjoying it so far, though word of warning it does have its dark moments later. Hope you enjoy the rest when you get around to it though! Its really an open book on many aspects of my journey so far!

Definitely appreciate all the work @The-Great-One puts into these! So many great interviews over the years, always thoughtful questions, and it feels like both pace and diversity of interviewees has really been picking up this last year too.

Ah, good knowing, life's not all sunshine for sure but hopefully it at least ends on a more positive note! Hopefully all the more to appreciate when you've had those dark spots along the journey too...

Completely agree with you! It was an amazing experience to be interviewed with such thoughtful and personal questions, and reading through some of his other inteviews it's seems very much the same with everyone. No copy+paste set of questions for each person, it's all very individual!

Yup I think it does :D Such is the way of life too.

They are very much individual ones indeed! So much more fun to read ones that bring out the best in the interviewee too. He's like the Nardwuar of Newgrounds... sort of. But cooler.

Not sure if they were always this elaborate though, don't really remember the early ones now...

Fo rizzle.

Mr. Knife featured on the Halloween Phonograph playlist in Newgrounds.com's Tank Tribune Halloween special!

Hi everyone and man does it seem like a while since the last post! I've been super busy working on some new Better Than The Book demos as well as some cool collaborations and sorting out stuff for the next 2 Jabun albums! Exciting times are coming! On top of that, after months of hard work, research and waiting on post, I've finally 100% fixed my vintage Yamaha YC-25D combo organ! So pleased and relieved to have it working at full capacity and you'll definitely be hearing it in the next BTTB album (and the upcoming demos for those in the $10+ tiers!). Busy busy but good times ahead!

Some cool news to share with you today as an old Nick Standing classic track "Mr. Knife" was featured here on Newgrounds.com's @TheTankTribune Halloween special (and the Halloween phonograph playlist)! Big thanks to The Tank Tribune for having me on and I hope you enjoy this old track of mine! Check it out below:

The Tank Tribune:

https://thetanktribune.newgrounds.com/news/post/1124008

Halloween Phonograph:

https://www.newgrounds.com/playlists/view/f916b0f36858c4cafa5ef09d01c34988

Mr. Knife is available on the Nick Standing Bandcamp page, and I'll be adding it soon to the Patreon back catalogue as we explore my Nick Standing and soundtrack work next year! Hope you're looking forward to it and if you can't wait until then, check it out on bandcamp below:

https://nickstanding.bandcamp.com/track/mr-knife

And of course have a listen here on NG:

Things are going to be getting very busy with posts again soon, and with another Bandcamp Friday coming up as well as a big announcement from Jabun next week, I think I'll have my work cut out for me with all this typing! Until the next one, I hope you're all doing well and thanks as always for supporting my projects! Stay safe and take care!

Seems like that interview opened some doors too! Good things all over lately! All the best!

Indeed indeed!!! Hopefully only more great things to come :D Cheers CD!

A brand new hip hop collaboration with @Cyberdevil: "Away Fear" (Free Download)!

Hi everyone and hope you're having a good day as much as you can! Today I have a long-time-in-the-making hip hop collaboration with the one and only Cyberdevil to share with you, a brand new track called "Away Fear"!

For the past 2 years, CD's been taking part in his own version of the Inktober challenge where he writes, records and releases a new acapella track each day and every day throughout the whole of October, (with the occasional collaborations for good measure)! Last year I created an experimental 808 based instrumental for what was going to be the Halloween grand finale of last year's batch, but due to various circumstances it ended up being placed on the back-burner despite all being written at the time. When I heard that CD was taking part in the tremendous challenge again this year, it seemed a great idea to reignite that collaboration, but since it was all written last year (and keeping true to Cyberdevil's daily writing challenge), we decided to give what was going to be a more rough and ready inktober production the FULL Jabun production treatment, going all out with this revamp of last year's collab that was never released! With hypnotic distorted 808s and vocal editing, thunderous distorted bass guitar slides and of course Cyberdevil's signature intense rap flow, I'm super pleased to present to you our first collaboration since 2016 (?!) "Away Fear"! Head over to the Newgrounds audio page to hear what CD had to say about it and if you enjoy it, it's completely free to download on SoundCloud and Newgrounds too! Check it out below and I hope you enjoy "Away Fear"!

https://soundcloud.com/cyberdevil/away-fear

There is the possibility of more Cyberdevil related news coming soon, but I'll be keeping that on the down-low until everything's set in stone!

That's it for this post and I'll be back tomorrow for a Bandcamp Friday reminder before next week's big Jabun album announcement! See you all then, hope you enjoy the new music, and thanks as always for supporting my projects! Take care!

You really know how to sell these things! :D With introspective touch no less.

Been a blast to work on this; looking forward to the other bit too once it's hopefully all set in stone!

Hehe! Cheers CD! +1 to all the sentiments and see you soon for that next one!

It's Bandcamp Friday again!

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

It's Bandcamp Friday once again, and in support of musicians impacted by the coronavirus, Bandcamp is once again 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 6th of November, 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 (Maybe the recently featured "Mr Knife" perhaps?), now's the best time to do so! Feel free to check out the Better Than The Book, Jabun and Nick Standing 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/

In case you missed it yesterday too, remember you can grab a free download of my new collaboration with @Cyberdevil "Away Fear" here on Newgrounds.com! Go check it out if you haven't already:

And thanks as always for supporting my projects in all the ways you can! See you next week for a huge Jabun announcement and take care!

Announcing Jabun's 2nd album "15-4-20" (releasing December 16th 2020)! Artwork revealed, pre-orders and pre-release single coming next week + a tonne of Patreon rewards are out in celebration!

Hi everyone and hope you’re having a great November so far! Some super exciting news to share with you today as 3 years after my debut album as Jabun - Daydream, I’m finally announcing my follow-up 2nd Jabun album “15-4-20” to be released on December 16th 2020! 

When I first started writing Jabun demos again in November 2019, this was certainly not the album I expected I’d be releasing in 2020, but having said that, 2020 was not the year any of us expected it would be either! As it so happens, 15-4-20 would be the album I knew I could finish before the year was out, and although I’d planned on releasing a more traditional album to directly follow Daydream, I thought I’d release this experimental project first while other albums were still in progress!

15-4-20 is a one take per track live improvised ambient exploration and the first of its kind in my discography. The entire 33+ minute, 3 track album was recorded on the evening of April 15th 2020 (hence the title) with no overdubs or edits, just a single take for each track recorded live. All tracks were recorded with just my Korg SQ-1 sequencer controlling my Yamaha Reface CP electric piano and its built-in effects, directly onto a single stereo track in Ableton where I added some more reverb and echo and the usual master processing for each track including fade outs. 

Now I can't quite call this a live album because one minor edit I made to tracks A and B was to simply slow down the recordings in the same way as altering the tape playback speed, so that the pitch drops giving it a deeper / different feel. This simple edit gave a different vibe to each of the tracks despite their similar set-ups. 

The project that would become 15-4-20 was originally meant as just a fun experiment for the evening, but the results I liked so much I thought there was no point in keeping it to myself! The challenge was that instead of improvising on the piano's keyboard as I usually would, I would control the piano instead via an analogue sequencer designed for use with synthesisers. The sequencer is an array of knobs which determine the speed and pitch of what notes will be played, as well as some switches and buttons to dictate how the sequencer will operate and perform other functions. I also allowed myself to move the controls for the pianos effects section(s), but not to touch the keyboard at all. Needless to say, it was a bit of an alien experience to me but a very fun and exciting one full of surprises and just the right amount of chaos which was exactly what I wanted! 

Whether you sit down to listen intently, have it on in the background while doing something else, or simply relax in the sounds, I hope you enjoy this ambient experimental soundscape, a snapshot from an evening in lockdown during the strange spring of 2020. The photo for the album artwork was taken on the following morning, April 16th 2020!

With just over a month to go until “15-4-20” releases to the public on December 16th at 8pm GMT, there’s an exciting few things happening before then! Pre-orders will be opening next Monday exactly 1 month before on November 16th at 8pm, along with the release of the pre-release single for the album “15-4-20 A” which will be premiering on the HurpADervish YouTube Channel at the moment of launch! Tune in below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBVOhWL1OeY

Of course my supporters on Patreon have lots of rewards to look forward to in celebration of this new album launch! 

For the $1 patrons, you’re getting the full resolution album art today, as well as an mp3 download of the pre-release single “15-4-20 A” when it’s released on November 16th, and of course the full mp3 album and all the additional artwork when it’s released on December 16th! 

$1 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41340506/

For the $5 & $10 patrons, you’re getting early access to the full album download package today! All 3 tracks (Mp3 & WAVs) and all artwork! For the $10 patrons, you’ll also be getting another sneak peek demo from next year’s 3rd Jabun album!   

$5 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41340517

$10 rewards: https://www.patreon.com/posts/41340556/

If any of that sounds good to you, then become a patron today for as little as $1 a month and remember that you’ll be also getting access to all past rewards for your tier including the full Better Than The Book and Jabun discographies, many Patreon exclusive bonus tracks and more! I hope to see you there!

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

I hope you’re as excited as I am for the single launch on Monday 16th November and until then I hope you have a great week chilling in any way you can! See you for the premier and thanks as always for supporting Jabun and my various projects! Take care and all the best!