$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 (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!

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 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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!