Hello fellow Newgrounders!

It's been a super busy couple of months, but I'm super excited to announce that after many weeks of plucking strings, pressing keys, programming synths, and belting at microphones, along with illness, injured fingers and lots of unexpected happenings, recording has finally finished for the upcoming Better Than The Book ska-punk/pop-punk album! It's been an amazing journey so far, and there's still much left to do as I move onto the next stage of the production process: editing, mixing and mastering! Thanks for all the support so far. I can't wait to show you how far things have come since "Two Years On"!

https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/667858   

With all that being the case, I thought it was finally time to reveal the title and tracklist for the project too:
 

Better Than The Book - Hopes and Dreams

Tracklist:

01 The Hardest Part

02 Artificial Ignorance

03 And I Fear

04 Meteor Shower

05 Brighton

------------

06 Get A Haircut

07 (The Travelling To See Eva Song)

08 GG

09 You've Got A Lot To Say

10 Hopes and Dreams

(Approx length: 39 minutes)

I really can't wait to be able to share this with you all and I hope you're as excited as I am to hear it. No ETA on the release just yet as there is much work left to do, but I'll be sharing more updates with you as and when I can. If you can't wait, feel free to refresh your ears with the rest of the BTTB discography here on NG. I hope you enjoy it!

That about wraps things up for this post. In other news, I'm still working on setting up a Patreon page, though I've been prioritising the album's production recently (as well as other work), so that's been on the back-burner. Hope to have some more updates on that soon. Anyways, thanks as always for supporting what I do and I look forward to sharing new and exciting things with you all soon!

Keep those horns blaring,

Nick Standing (Jabun)

Hello fellow Newgrounders!

It's been a couple of months since my last post, but a busy few months it's been and there's tonnes to share! First of all, I've finally made the leap to a custom domain name for my audio production website. You can now find me at JabunAudio.com!

Following from that, I've also just launched a JabunAudio monthly music & audio production newsletter, which you can read more about on this forum thread. 

You can sign up on the front page of the JabunAudio website to receive music and audio production tips sent straight to your inbox in the first week of each month. You'll also get my free PDF article "10 Essential Things To Do Before You Send Your Music For Mastering and WHY" when you sign up.

I know there are tonnes of articles for learning music production out there already so I’ll only be sharing advice and tips which have helped me personally and I’ve not seen anywhere else. Topics will focus on mastering, my favourite genres of ska punk & pop punk, as well as advice that can be applied to all styles and the occasional tangent. I hope you enjoy reading, and I look forward to sharing more audio production advice with you at the start of July! Cheers, and as per usual, let me know if you have any questions :)

Finally in terms of other news, I'm super excited to announce that recording has started for the 2nd full-length Better Than The Book ska-punk/pop-punk album! By now all the drums, bass and rhyhm guitars are done, and I'm about halfway through the vocals (after that it's lead guitar, keys, horns and any extra things to do). Aiming to have it all released before the end of the year, and I hope you're as excited as I am for some more ska-punk/pop-punk goodness! You can keep up to date with the production on the BTTB Facebook & Twitter pages, and if you can't wait to hear something, check out this sneak peek instrumental demo of the 4th track Meteor Shower on YouTube:

And that about wraps things up for this post. I've been working on setting up a Patreon page, so expect a post about that in the near future as well as more updates on what's going on. Thanks as always for supporting what I do and I look forward to sharing new and exciting things with you soon!

Keep those horns blaring,

Nick Standing (Jabun)

Hi fellow Newgrounders,

Today I had the honour of being made Newgrounds "User of the Day" so it seemed like a good time to make a long overdue update post! Thanks so much for the support and I look forward to releasing more music and being involved with more collaborations on Newgrounds soon! 

First thing to say is, I have definitely not left Newgrounds or stopped making music, and while it may seem like I've been absent from uploads I've been keeping up with things regularly when I can. Over the last few months, amongst other collaborations which are close to fruitition, I've been working on my 2nd full-length album as Better Than The Book, which is all written now, and due to start recording in this coming month! You can find an instrumental demo of one of the upcoming tracks Meteor Shower here, and the album is due for release summer 2018. Get ready!

I've also been releasing weekly cover songs on YouTube, but since NG no longer allows cover songs (to the best of my knowledge) I've been unable to share them here. Please visit my YouTube channel for 13 covers so far with another 5 to come up until mid-March (as scheduled so far). They come out at 12pm GMT on Wednesdays and so far been comprised of mainly Blink-182 as well as some Alice Cooper and Pink Floyd, with Buffalo Springfield, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Johnny Cash / Nine Inch Nails, Linkin Park and Zebrahead to come! I hope you enjoy them :)

Lastly this week, after many months of putting it off I've finally finished my audio services website JabunAudio! 

Specialising in Digital Mastering for music, Animation Audio Post-Production, and Session Guitar & Bass playing, JabunAudio offers a variety of services for musicians, filmmakers, animators, game designers and other people who work with audio on a regular basis. For examples of my work, please explore the JabunAudioPortfolio and Services webpages, and if you require any audio assistance whatever the project size, please don't hesitate to send me a message, and we can work together to provide an outstanding and engaging audio experience for your project. I look forward to working with you. 

That's about all to report for the time being, but I look forward to uploading the new Better Than The Book album here when the time comes and until then will keep up with Newgrounds goings on when I can. Thanks again for all the support over the years and hope you have a good day if you're reading!

Keep those horns blaring,

Nick Standing (Jabun)

Hello Newgrounds!

Awesome news today. It's been well overdue since both these projects are ~5 years old, but I've finally made artist websites for my music projects "Jabun" and "Better Than The Book"! Each of them contains lots of information, the discography for each project as well as links to buy, videos, a press section with links to reviews, interviews and features, etc..., an about section, a contact page with links of where to find each project around the vast internet as well, and finally a newsletter sign-up box! Better Than The Book just sent out its 3rd newletter, while Jabun is yet to start, but no harm in signing up to be ready for it!

Anyways! I hope you like the brand new websites for each project and I'd love to know your thoughts. Anything extra you'd like to see on each site? Let me know in the comments!

Jabun Music - http://jabunmusic.weebly.com/

Better Than The Book - http://betterthanthebookuk.weebly.com/

(Now I just need to revamp my business website... DX)

That's about it for this blog post, but hope to see you soon for another one.

Keep those horns blaring,

Nick Standing (Jabun)

---------------------------------------------

Visit Jabun at:

JabunAudio Website - http://jabunaudio.weebly.com/

Jabun Music Website - http://jabunmusic.weebly.com/

Better Than The Book Website - http://betterthanthebookuk.weebly.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/JabunAudio

Twitter - https://twitter.com/HurpADervish

SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/jabun

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/hurpAdervish

Hello Newgrounds!

I recently moved flats again and finally after 6 weeks of delays and downtime (mainly due to a lack of internet connection), I have a new studio set up and am ready to accept more commissions for music composition and audio production work! To celebrate I've put together a new demo reel here on Newgrounds to show you what I'm made of! Hope you enjoy it and I look forward to working with you soon:

And feel free to listen to my previous demo reels via this playlist here as well. The playlists are here to demostrate mainly my mastering work, but all the tracks featured are composed/written/performed (at least partially), produced and mixed by myself too so it gives a good scope of what I'm capable of in these areas as well. If you're at all interested in working with me, please send a message either here on Newgrounds or via the contact form on my website, and we can get started on making your productions sounding the way they were meant to be heard!

In other news, while I've been unable to access the internet and/or do any remote work, I've been back again working on my ska punk project Better Than The Book and a brand new album. Production so far is only in the writing and demo stages but it's looking to be a great one and about 25 minutes of music so far has been composed! Aiming for 10 radio ready tracks this time with 30 < 40 minutes of music in total between them, and a release date in the first half of 2018. Hope you're looking forward to it, and feel free to listen to BTTB's 2016 album "Two Years On" here on Newgrounds, or "Daydream" (2017) my lastest electronic album as Jabun. Hope you enjoy them.

And that about wraps up all the news for this blog post! Hope you enjoy the new demo reel and if you need any mastering work (or other audio stuff) feel free to give me a buzz. Usual prices for mastering are ~$50 per track with a couple of add ons if you're interested (feel free to ask when you message). Looking forward to working with you and until the next post, thanks for supporting Jabun and my other music projects, and take care!

Keep those horns blaring,

Nick Standing (Jabun)

---------------------------------------------

Visit Jabun at:

JabunAudio Website - http://jabunaudio.weebly.com/

Bandcamp - https://jabun.bandcamp.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/JabunAudio

Twitter - https://twitter.com/HurpADervish

SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/jabun

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/hurpAdervish

Hi fellow Newgrounders!

After over 5 years of making music as Jabun, I’m super happy to share with you today my first electronic/chill album Daydream! It’s been a long while in the making and I hope enjoy the chill/jazzy/orchestral/hiphoppy vibes I’ve poured my heart into. Thanks so much for all your support throughout the years, and feel free to head over to bandcamp to read more about the music and pick up a copy if you wish. Without further wait, I present to you Jabun – Daydream:

Or for a track by track playlist, click here!

Hope you enjoy it and I’d love to know your thoughts!

What’s next for me? Well I’ve already started gathering ideas for a new Better Than The Book album which I plan to release summer 2018 if all goes to plan, so if you’re a fan of my Ska-punk stuff, be sure to keep an eye out. If not, don’t worry! There’s more chill vibes to come soon as well! Thank you again for your support, and for more regular news on what's going on with Jabun feel free to like the JabunAudio Facebook page for (mostly) weekly updates.

www.facebook.com/JabunAudio

Hope you have a great day and I look forward to sharing even more music with you soon.

Take care,

Nick Standing
Jabun / Better Than The Book

Visit Jabun at:

Bandcamp - https://jabun.bandcamp.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/JabunAudio

Twitter - https://twitter.com/HurpADervish

SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/jabun

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/hurpAdervish

Yo fellow Newgrounders!

Hope you’re having a great week filled with good vibes and awesome music! It's been a while since I last checked in, but some really cool news this week so it felt like a good time for another post! Let's get to it:

This week one year ago, Better Than The Book released its debut full length album, Two Years On, and since then it’s been an amazing adventure for myself and BTTB! We’ve had our first international radio play, our first interviews, and the first use BTTB music in people’s videos, amongst many other cool things. As well as being a pivoting point in my career, both as a musician and as a producer /engineer, Two Years On has also shown me what a difference music can make to people’s lives. When I first released it, I did not expect all the amazing feedback, touching comments and people reaching out that followed shortly afterwards, and I want to thank you all soo much for all of that support!

So exactly one year on I’m releasing a little bonus album to celebrate! It’s been teased a bit on social media, but finally I can unveil the new BTTB bonus album: Two Years On [Instrumentals]. It’s essentially exactly how it sounds: The Two Years On album, but without any vocals (and “Channel Surfing” which pretty much would be a minute of silence without vocals!). As a musician, I really love being able to jam over other people’s tracks, but it’s not too easy to find instrumental versions of a lot of songs, so I thought, it’d be a cool and simple thing to do to celebrate such a great year for Better Than The Book. You can find Two Years On [Instrumentals] on the Better Than The Book Bandcamp page and as with all BTTB, it’s here on Newgrounds for your streaming pleasure! I Hope you enjoy the bonus album and that it satisfies your Ska-punk hunger until the next time I hit the studio!

You can listen to Two Years On [Instrumentals] and the original Two Years On album right here:

or feel free to listen to them track by track via the playlists at the bottom of my profile page!

BUT of course, I’d like to say an even bigger thanks to you all reading this for showing a special interest in BTTB and supporting me directly, and so to express my gratitude, for the whole month of February there’ll be a 20% discount for anything you purchase on the BTTB bandcamp page! Just use the discount code “2YEARSON” and you should be all set, and I hope whichever music you choose gets you motivated and ready to take on the world and spread some inspiration!

That’s about it for this post and hope you enjoy the music. For those of you wondering what’s next for BTTB too, I’ve been gathering ideas for the next album and aim to start production late spring, early summer this year, with the album release at some point in 2018. Before then though, I should be releasing my debut electronic / chill album as Jabun. It's all written and recorded, and just waiting for a final mix, master and getting all that good old admin stuff sorted, so keep you're eyes out for that in the next few months, and in case you can't wait, I'll embed a video teaser of the album at the end of this post! Exciting times certainly, and I’m looking forward to sharing all of that with you soon! Until then though, I hope you have an amazing week, thanks so much for supporting BTTB and my other music projects, and I hope to be back here soon!

All the best and keep those horns blaring,

Nick

Better Than The Book / Jabun

Jabun album teaser:

Visit Better Than The Book at:

Bandcamp - https://betterthanthebook.bandcamp.com/

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/BetterThanTheBookUK

Twitter - https://twitter.com/BTTB_UK

SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/bttb_uk

YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialBTTBMusic

It's been a while since I posted an update here but be sure I've been working on new material in the mean time! Crazy to think that next week it'll have been 11 YEARS since I first signed up to Newgrounds! Whoa!

Anyway, at the beginning of last month I finished up a new track, my first electronic track as Jabun since 2014. It was remix for a competition and now that the competition is over, I can finally put it up for download :D Horray! Unfortunately, I'll not be able to put it up on Newgrounds as I know we're very strict on 3rd party sampling / copywrites etc..., and with a no strikes policy even with the permissions I've been given, I simply don't want to risk it... (Not worth the hassle). You can however listen and download the track for free on SoundCloud! Feel free to check it out and grab a copy:

In case you don't want to head over to SoundCloud though, I've also got a new track out here on Newgrounds too which you can pick up on bandcamp if you'd like. This track was commissioned by David Klein II for YouTube and is a lovely combination of 2 of the genres which really got me started as Jabun: Chillstep and Chiptune. Hope you enjoy it and I look forward to making more tunes soon!

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

Anyways, that's all for this time! Take care Newgrounds and no doubt I'll be floating around somewhere until the next update. Ciao!

Just a quick one: I recently uploaded my lastest album "Better Than The Book - Two Years On" to Newgrounds and have playlisted it up if anyone's interested! Hope you like it and if you REALLY enjoy it feel free to pick up a copy on bandcamp! Here's the playlist:

http://www.newgrounds.com/playlists/view/e33f9b27abf1f073281f6d0a1c8cf122

Additionally, feel free to check out the entire Better Than The Book discography via the playlist below:

http://www.newgrounds.com/playlists/view/96219dcedc6c47deb91c079c2f410ee3

Hope you enjoy the music and head over to the BTTB Facebook or Twitter to keep updated with the project. 

Hi everyone!

It's been a while since I've posted to NG since I've been super busy with other aspects of my life, including turning my love of creating music and helping people with audio work into a full time job (a dream come true, though I've still a long way to go XD). Anyway, I'm here today to share with you guys something I've been working on throughout 2015 and a project that's really close to my heart: "Better Than The Book - Two Years On", my first full length album following from the One Small Step EP of 2012.

It's a 12 track Ska/Punk adventure which I composed, performed, produced and engineered using everything I know, and features a guest Rap from Cyberdevil, who was a legend and an honor to work with. I'll let the album speak for itself, but I'd love for you all to hear it. It's just up on Newgrounds for streaming, but if it takes your fancy, feel free to visit the Better Than The Book Bandcamp, to download a copy. Without further words, I present to you: "Two Years On"

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/667858

I hope you enjoy it, and I'd love to know your thoughts.

Jabun